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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 23

2 Chronicles 23: Jehoiada crowns Joash and Athaliah is killed

General context

In the seventh year Jehoiada takes five named captains of hundreds into covenant. They gather Levites and heads of families from all Judah to Jerusalem, where the congregation makes a covenant with the king in the house of God. Jehoiada announces that the king's son shall reign as the Lord said of David's sons, and lays out the plan: thirds of the sabbath priests and Levites at the doors, the king's house and the gate of the foundation, the people in the courts, none but priests and ministering Levites inside, and armed Levites around the king with death for any intruder. All Judah does as commanded, and Jehoiada keeps both courses on duty. He hands out David's spears and shields from the house of God and stations the armed people around the king. They bring out the king's son, crown him, give him the testimony and anoint him, crying God save the king. Athaliah hears the noise, enters the house, sees the king at his pillar with princes, trumpets and singers, tears her clothes and cries treason. Jehoiada orders her taken out between the ranks, not killed in the house of the Lord; she is killed at the horse gate by the king's house. Jehoiada makes a covenant that priest, people and king will be the Lord's people. The people tear down the house of Baal and kill Mattan its priest. Jehoiada restores the temple offices as David arranged them, sets porters at the gates, and brings the king through the high gate to the throne. The people rejoice and the city is quiet after Athaliah's death.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 23:1, 2 Chronicles 23:2, 2 Chronicles 23:3, 2 Chronicles 23:4, 2 Chronicles 23:5, 2 Chronicles 23:6, 2 Chronicles 23:7, 2 Chronicles 23:8, 2 Chronicles 23:9, 2 Chronicles 23:10, 2 Chronicles 23:11, 2 Chronicles 23:12, 2 Chronicles 23:13, 2 Chronicles 23:14, 2 Chronicles 23:15, 2 Chronicles 23:16, 2 Chronicles 23:17, 2 Chronicles 23:18, 2 Chronicles 23:19, 2 Chronicles 23:20, 2 Chronicles 23:21

2 Chronicles 23 (KJV)

1And 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.

2And 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.

3And 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.

4This 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;

5And 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.

6But 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.

7And 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.

8So 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.

9Moreover 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.

10And 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.

11Then 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.

12Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord:

13And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.

14Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord.

15So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, they slew her there.

16And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the Lord’s people.

17Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

18Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.

19And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the Lord, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

20And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the Lord: and they came through the high gate into the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

21And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

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Historical context

The seventh year follows the six years of hiding stated at the end of the previous chapter. Jehoiada is repeatedly called the priest, and the plan gives Levites and priests the central roles, with the rule that only they enter the house. The five captains are named with their fathers. The weapons are said to have belonged to king David and to have been kept in the house of God. The testimony given to the king is not explained in the chapter. The king's age is not given here; the next chapter states he was seven years old. Athaliah is killed deliberately outside the house of the Lord, at the horse gate by the king's house, on the priest's instruction. A house of Baal with its own priest, Mattan, exists at this point; the chapter does not say who built it, though the next chapter says the sons of Athaliah broke up the house of God and gave its dedicated things to Baalim. Jehoiada's claim that the king's son shall reign rests on what the Lord said of the sons of David, which the narrator earlier framed as the covenant that spared the house. The chapter gives no dates and never uses the boy's name, calling him the king's son and the king; he was named Joash in the previous chapter and is named again in the next.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 22:12, 2 Chronicles 23:1, 2 Chronicles 23:8, 2 Chronicles 23:6, 2 Chronicles 23:9, 2 Chronicles 23:11, 2 Chronicles 24:1, 2 Chronicles 23:14, 2 Chronicles 23:17, 2 Chronicles 24:7, 2 Chronicles 23:3, 2 Chronicles 21:7

Literary context

The chapter is arranged as plan and execution. Jehoiada's instructions are given in full, and the narrator then reports that the Levites and all Judah did everything he commanded. Three covenants mark the stages: with the captains, between the congregation and the king, and finally among priest, people and king to be the Lord's people. The noise of praise is what draws Athaliah in, and her cry of treason is set beside the crown, the testimony and the anointing, so the reader sees the same event named two ways. Two boundaries are kept: no killing inside the house of the Lord, and no unclean person through its gates. The destruction of Baal's house mirrors the removal of the queen, with the priest of Baal killed before his altars as she is killed at a gate. David is invoked throughout, in the promise to his sons, his weapons, his distribution of the priests and his ordinance of singing. The closing sentence sets rejoicing and a quiet city next to the killing that produced them, and the next chapter opens by naming the child king and his age.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 23:4, 2 Chronicles 23:8, 2 Chronicles 23:1, 2 Chronicles 23:3, 2 Chronicles 23:16, 2 Chronicles 23:12, 2 Chronicles 23:13, 2 Chronicles 23:14, 2 Chronicles 23:19, 2 Chronicles 23:17, 2 Chronicles 23:15, 2 Chronicles 23:18, 2 Chronicles 23:21, 2 Chronicles 24:1

Key moments

  1. Jehoiada's covenant (2 Chronicles 23:1). In the seventh year the priest binds five captains of hundreds to himself.
  2. The king's son shall reign (2 Chronicles 23:3). Jehoiada tells the congregation the heir will reign as the Lord said of David's sons.
  3. Crowned and anointed (2 Chronicles 23:11). The boy receives the crown and the testimony, and Jehoiada and his sons anoint him.
  4. Treason, Treason (2 Chronicles 23:13). Athaliah sees the king at his pillar and tears her clothes.
  5. Athaliah killed at the horse gate (2 Chronicles 23:15). The captains take her out of the temple and kill her by the king's house.
  6. The house of Baal torn down (2 Chronicles 23:17). The people break Baal's altars and images and kill Mattan his priest.
  7. Set on the throne (2 Chronicles 23:20). The king is brought through the high gate and seated on the throne.

For reflection

Athaliah cries treason at a crowning that the narrator presents as the Lord's promise to David's sons being kept. The chapter lets her word stand next to the covenant. What decides, in this account, which side is the treason?

People in this chapter

Also indexed here:

  • Jehoiada
  • Adaiah
  • Azariah
  • Azariah
  • Elishaphat
  • Ishmael
  • Jehohanan
  • Jeroham
  • Maaseiah
  • Mattan
  • Obed
  • Zichri