And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. Ver. 1. _And when Athaliah._] Ahab's daughter by Jezebel: Gotholiah, the Septuagint and Sulpitius call her; a most wicked woman, another Medea, by whom the devil sought utterly to root out... [ Continue Reading ]
_But 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._ Ver. 2. And stole him from among the kin... [ Continue Reading ]
And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. Ver. 3. _And he was with her hid, &c., _] _i.e., _ With his aunt Jehosheba, 2Ki 11:2 a king's daughter, and yet a priest's wife. Athaliah either believed that Joash was slain with the rest of his breth... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 4. _And the seventh ye... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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; Ver. 5. _And he commanded them._] For he was protector of the young king, and προβολον της αληθειας - as Theodoret styleth At... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 6. _At the gate of Sur._] So called, saith Martyr, from declining or departing; because the door keepers made the unclean decline... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 7. _Shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord._] To keep the place from pollution, and the young king from danger.... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 8. _Let him be slain._] Military discipline was in this case most necessary to be observed; ne... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 9. _That Jehoiada the priest._] The high pries... [ Continue Reading ]
And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that [were] in the temple of the LORD. Ver. 10. King David's spears and shields.] Kept in the temple for trophies and tokens of thanksgiving: such as were Goliath's sword, 1Sa 21:9 and the Syrians' shields. 2Sa 8... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 11. _From the right corner of the temple,_] _i.e., _ From north to south.... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 12. _And gate him the testimony._] That is, The Book of Deuteronomy, according to Deuteronomy 17:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard [and] of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD._ Ver. 13. _And when Athaliah heard._] See on 2 Kings 11:1 . _ She came to the people._] Without any mistrust or fear; but not without a special providence, that the warders migh... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 14. _And cried, Treason, treason!_] Though... [ Continue Reading ]
But 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. Ver. 15. _And him that followeth h... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 16. _The way by the which the horses came._] So that she was trampled, haply, by the horses, as her mother had been; howsoever, she was slain among the stables and d... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 17. _And Jehoiada made a covenant._] Both sacred and civil: and they set forthwith upon the work of reformation, which prospered in their hand... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 18. _And brake it down._] As Israel had... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 19. _And came by the way of... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 20. _And they slew Athaliah with the sword_] This being done by the consent of the whole people, or of the greater part, _Deo fiebat auspice,_ saith Zuinglius, h... [ Continue Reading ]
Seven years old [was] Jehoash when he began to reign. Ver. 21. _Seven years old._] So that he was _anniculus,_ about one year old when he was sought for to the slaughter. Athaliah might well have written as Mary Queen of Scots did in a window at Fotheringay castle, “From the top of all my trust,... [ Continue Reading ]