2 Kings 11:18-21

11:18 All the people of the land went and demolished ¹  the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols ²  to bits. ³  They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest ⁴  then placed guards at the Lord’s temple. 11:19 He took the officers of the units of hundreds, the Carians, the royal bodyguard, and all the people of land, and together they led the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Gate of the Royal Bodyguard, ⁵  and the king ⁶  sat down on the royal throne. 11:20 All the people of the land celebrated, for the city had rest now that they had killed Athaliah with the sword in the royal palace.

Joash’s Reign over Judah

11:21 (12:1) ⁷  Jehoash ⁸  was seven years old when he began to reign.

¹ tn Or “tore down.”

² tn Or “images.”

³ tn The Hebrew construction translated “smashed…to bits” is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (הֵיטֵב [hetev], “well”) accompanying the Piel form of the verb שָׁבַר (shavar), “break,” suggests thorough demolition.

⁴ tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.

⁵ tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ sn Beginning with 11:21, the verse numbers through 12:21 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 11:21 ET = 12:1 HT, 12:1 ET = 12:2 HT, 12:2 ET = 12:3 HT, etc., through 12:21 ET = 12:22 HT. With 13:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

⁸ tn Jehoash is an alternate name for Joash (see 11:2).