Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 23:3

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jezebel’s Baalism in Judah (21:1-23:21)

The Baalism of Ahab and Jezebel remained strong in the northern kingdom during the successive reigns of their sons Ahaziah and Joram (2 Kings 1:1-15). It spread to Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram, who was married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (21:1-20; see notes on 2 Kings 8:16-24).

Judah’s next king, Ahaziah, at the direction of his mother Athaliah and her northern relatives, cooperated with the idolatrous northern kingdom, and as a result met an early death (22:1-9; see notes on 2 Kings 8:25-29; 2 Kings 9:21-29; 2 Kings 10:12-14). The kings of both Judah and Israel were killed by Jehu, whose anti-Baal revolution in the northern kingdom is recorded in 2 Kings 9:1-36.

Upon the king of Judah’s death, Athaliah seized the throne for herself. She ruled for six years, during which she did all within her power to establish the northern Baalism of her parents in Judah. But the priests and Levites remained faithful to God. The Levites were the temple guards, and the writer emphasizes the part they played (in cooperation with the palace guards) in getting rid of Athaliah and restoring the throne to the Davidic dynasty. The Chronicler also points out that although the coup took place in the temple grounds, no one except the priests and Levites entered the temple buildings. People still had to respect the temple’s holiness (22:10-23:21; see notes on 2 Kings 11:1-20). The death of Athaliah marked the end of Jezebel’s Baalism in Judah.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE SIX-YEAR REIGN OF ATHALIAH ENDS IN HER EXECUTION
VII. JOASH (837-800 B.C.) JEHOIADA'S PLAN TO
CROWN JOASH AND EXECUTE ATHALIAH

"And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him. And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the sons of David. This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds; and a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of Jehovah. But let none come into the house of Jehovah, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall come in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the charge of Jehovah. And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever cometh into the house, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out."

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

By “all the congregation” here is meant the persons referred to in 2 Chronicles 23:2.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

G. Athaliah ch. 23

The Chronicler did not have much interest in Athaliah because she was not of the Davidic line; she was the daughter of Ahab. His concern in this chapter was with the events that brought the next Davidic king to the throne: Joash.

Instead of protecting the temple, as had all the good kings of Judah so far, Joash enjoyed protection in the temple. The temple was a visual symbol of the continuity of the Davidic dynasty. Even though there was no visible king during Athaliah’s usurpation, the temple reminded the people that God would fulfill His promise to David of an unbroken royal line.

Many years later, the returned exiles were in a similar situation. A Davidic king was not on the throne in their day, but the rebuilt temple gave hope that a successor to David would again sit on his throne. In their day, they could not set a king on their throne, because they were no longer a sovereign nation but only a province of the Persian Empire. Evidently the people had already rebuilt the temple when the Chronicler wrote this book (cf. 2 Chronicles 5:9). Clearly the restoration community’s hope of the fulfillment of the promise God made to David centered on the temple. As long as they had permission to rebuild the temple, there was hope that someday a successor to David might rule over them again. The temple was in that sense the protector of the promise to David, both in Athaliah’s day and in the Chronicler’s day.

The public presentation of Joash recalls the anointing of Solomon, which ended Adonijah’s vain attempt to succeed David (1 Kings 1:39-40; 1 Kings 1:45-46).

Jehoiada’s reforms indicated the extent to which Judah had departed from God’s ordained worship (2 Chronicles 23:16-17). Jehoiada was the Chronicler’s ideal high priest. [Note: Thompson, p. 313.] It is interesting to read that the popular reaction to Athaliah’s death was joy (2 Chronicles 23:21).

"All the people of the land rejoiced, a characteristic response found in Chronicles whenever the Lord’s will was being followed." [Note: Ibid., p. 311.]

The flame of love for Yahweh burned low, but it was still alive among His people. In the absence of a king, the Lord raised up the high priest as Judah’s spiritual leader.

"The story of Athaliah, like that of Jehoram and Ahaziah, is a testimony to the ephemeral and ultimately illusory character of brute power exercised in a self-serving way." [Note: McConville, p. 206.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.   2 And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.   3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David.   4 This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;   5 And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.   6 But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.   7 And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.   8 So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.   9 Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.   10 And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.   11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

      We may well imagine the bad posture of affairs in Jerusalem during Athaliah's six years' usurpation, and may wonder that God permitted it and his people bore it so long; but after such a dark and tedious night the returning day in this revolution was the brighter and the more welcome. The continuance of David's seed and throne was what God had sworn by his holiness (Psalms 89:35), and an interruption was no defeasance; the stream of government here runs again in the right channel. The instrument and chief manager of the restoration is Jehoiada, who appears to have been, 1. A man of great prudence, who reserved the young prince for so many years till he was fit to appear in public, and till the nation had grown weary of the usurper, who prepared his work beforehand, and then effected it with admirable secresy and expedition. When God has work to do he will qualify and animate men for it. 2. A man of great interest. The captains joined with him, 2 Chronicles 23:1; 2 Chronicles 23:1. The Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel came at his call to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 23:2; 2 Chronicles 23:2) and were there ready to receive his orders. See what a command wisdom and virtue will give men. The Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada commanded (2 Chronicles 23:8; 2 Chronicles 23:8), and, which is strange, all that were entrusted with the secret kept their own counsel till it was executed. Thus the words of the wise are heard in quiet,Ecclesiastes 9:17. 3. A man of great faith. It was not only common equity (much less his wife's relation to the royal family) that put him upon this undertaking, but a regard to the word of God, and the divine entail of the crown (2 Chronicles 23:3; 2 Chronicles 23:3): The king's son shall reign, must reign, as the Lord hath said. His eye to the promise, and dependence upon that, added a great deal of glory to this undertaking. 4. A man of great religion. This matter was to be done in the temple, which might occasion some breach of rule, and the necessity of the case might be thought to excuse it; but he gave special order that none of the people should come into the house of the Lord, but the priests and Levites only, who were holy, upon pain of death, 2 Chronicles 23:6; 2 Chronicles 23:7. Never let sacred things be profaned, no, not for the support of civil rights. 5. A man of great resolution. When he had undertaken this business he went through with it, brought out the king, crowned him, and gave him the testimony,2 Chronicles 23:11; 2 Chronicles 23:11. He ventured his head, but it was in a good cause, and therefore he went on boldly. It is here said that his sons joined with him in anointing the young king. One of them, it is likely, was that Zechariah whom Joash afterwards put to death for reproving him (2 Chronicles 24:20; 2 Chronicles 24:20), which was so much the more ungrateful because he bore a willing part in anointing him.