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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Kings 11

2 Kings 11: Athaliah's seizure of Judah and the crowning of Joash

General context

When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah sees that her son is dead, she destroys all the seed royal. Jehosheba, daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah, steals Joash the son of Ahaziah from among the king's sons being killed and hides him with his nurse in a bedchamber. He stays hidden in the house of the Lord six years while Athaliah reigns. In the seventh year Jehoiada brings the captains of hundreds and the guard into the house of the Lord, binds them by covenant and oath, and shows them the king's son. He divides them into thirds for the sabbath watch, orders them to surround the king with weapons and to kill anyone who comes within the ranks, and arms the captains with King David's spears and shields from the temple. Jehoiada brings out the king's son, puts the crown on him, gives him the testimony, and he is made king and anointed; they clap and cry, "God save the king." Athaliah hears the noise, enters the temple, sees the king by a pillar with princes and trumpeters, tears her clothes and cries treason. Jehoiada orders her taken outside the ranks and any follower killed, insisting she not die in the house of the Lord; she is slain on the horses' way into the king's house. Jehoiada makes a covenant between the Lord, the king and the people, and between king and people. The people tear down the house of Baal and kill Mattan its priest. The king is escorted to the throne, the city is quiet, and the narrator restates that Athaliah was slain with the sword beside the king's house. Jehoash is seven years old.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 11:1, 2 Kings 11:2, 2 Kings 11:3, 2 Kings 11:4, 2 Kings 11:5, 2 Kings 11:8, 2 Kings 11:10, 2 Kings 11:11, 2 Kings 11:12, 2 Kings 11:13, 2 Kings 11:14, 2 Kings 11:15, 2 Kings 11:16, 2 Kings 11:17, 2 Kings 11:18, 2 Kings 11:19, 2 Kings 11:20, 2 Kings 11:21

2 Kings 11 (KJV)

1And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

2But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

3And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

4And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the Lord, and shewed them the king’s son.

5And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;

6And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down.

7And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king.

8And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.

9And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

10And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David’s spears and shields, that were in the temple of the Lord.

11And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple.

12And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.

13And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord.

14And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.

15But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges: and him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.

16And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house: and there was she slain.

17And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people; between the king also and the people.

18And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.

19And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

20And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king’s house.

21Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign.

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Historical context

This chapter identifies Athaliah only as "the mother of Ahaziah"; 8:26 called her "the daughter of Omri king of Israel", and 8:18 said Jehoram's wife was "the daughter of Ahab". Jehosheba is "the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah", and the text does not say whether Athaliah was her mother; 2 Chronicles 22:11 spells her Jehoshabeath and adds that she was "the wife of Jehoiada the priest", a link 2 Kings does not state. Jehoiada enters at verse 4 without a title and is called "the priest" from verse 9. The boy is "Joash" in verse 2 and "Jehoash" in verse 21, the same child. Athaliah's killing of the seed royal is stated in one clause with no account of how it was done. The narrator says she "did reign over the land" but gives her no accession or closing formula. Her death is reported twice, at verse 16 and again at verse 20, both at the king's house. The "testimony" given to the king is not explained in the text. The covenant has two parts, between the Lord, king and people, and between king and people. Nothing is said about where Athaliah lived during the six years or how the hiding in the temple went undetected.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 11:1, 2 Kings 8:26, 2 Kings 8:18, 2 Kings 11:2, 2 Chronicles 22:11, 2 Kings 11:4, 2 Kings 11:9, 2 Kings 11:21, 2 Kings 11:3, 2 Kings 11:16, 2 Kings 11:20, 2 Kings 11:12, 2 Kings 11:17

Literary context

The chapter is built as a reversal. Athaliah opens it by destroying the royal seed, and one stolen child, hidden in the temple, ends her reign. Six silent years pass in a single verse, and the seventh year is told in detail: covenant, oath, the division of the guard, the weapons of David, the ring of armed men around the boy. The narrator describes the clapping and trumpets, and then lets Athaliah hear the same noise and walk into it. She is given one cry, "Treason, Treason", and Jehoiada's reply is an order about where she may not die. After a covenant, the sequence mirrors Jehu's destruction of Baal's house in the north: the house of Baal broken down and its priest killed at the altars. The chapter records her death twice, once in the action and once as the closing note beside the rejoicing and the quiet city, and ends with the king's age, a formula that normally opens a reign.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 11:1, 2 Kings 11:3, 2 Kings 11:4, 2 Kings 11:10, 2 Kings 11:12, 2 Kings 11:13, 2 Kings 11:14, 2 Kings 11:15, 2 Kings 11:18, 2 Kings 10:27, 2 Kings 11:20, 2 Kings 11:21

Key moments

  1. The seed royal destroyed (2 Kings 11:1). Athaliah kills the royal heirs after learning her son is dead.
  2. Joash stolen away (2 Kings 11:2). Jehosheba hides the infant and his nurse in a bedchamber.
  3. Six hidden years (2 Kings 11:3). The boy remains concealed in the house of the Lord while Athaliah reigns.
  4. Jehoiada's covenant with the guard (2 Kings 11:4). The priest swears the captains and shows them the king's son.
  5. God save the king (2 Kings 11:12). Joash is crowned, given the testimony, anointed and acclaimed.
  6. Treason, Treason (2 Kings 11:14). Athaliah sees the king by the pillar and tears her clothes.
  7. Baal's house torn down (2 Kings 11:18). The people break the altars and images and kill Mattan the priest.

For reflection

Athaliah's only recorded words are "Treason, Treason", spoken by the woman who destroyed the seed royal. What does the chapter invite a reader to notice about who gets to name a seizure of power as treason?

People in this chapter

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