2 Kings 11:11-21

11:11 The royal bodyguard ¹  took their stations, each holding his weapon in his hand. They lined up from the south side of the temple to the north side and stood near the altar and the temple, surrounding the king. ²  11:12 Jehoiada ³  led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia. ⁴  They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head. ⁵  They clapped their hands and cried out, “Long live the king!”

11:13 When Athaliah heard the royal guard ⁶  shout, she joined the crowd ⁷  at the Lord’s temple. 11:14 Then she saw ⁸  the king standing by the pillar, according to custom. The officers stood beside the king with their trumpets and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason, treason!” ⁹  11:15 Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, ¹⁰  “Bring her outside the temple to the guards. ¹¹  Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple. ¹²  11:16 They seized her and took her into the precincts of the royal palace through the horses’ entrance. ¹³  There she was executed.

11:17 Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord. ¹⁴  11:18 All the people of the land went and demolished ¹⁵  the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols ¹⁶  to bits. ¹⁷  They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest ¹⁸  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, ¹⁹  and the king ²⁰  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) ²¹  Jehoash ²²  was seven years old when he began to reign.

[11:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19).

[11:11]  ² tn Heb “and the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.”

[11:12]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת.

[11:12]  ⁵ tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”

[11:13]  ⁶ tc The MT reads, “and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people.” The term הָעָם (ha’am), “the people,” is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14.

[11:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “she came to the people.”

[11:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and she saw, and look.”

[11:14]  ⁹ tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.”

[11:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[11:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “ranks.”

[11:15]  ¹² tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.’”

[11:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king.”

[11:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and [between] the king and [between] the people, to become a people for the Lord, and between the king and [between] the people.” The final words of the verse (“and between the king and [between] the people”) are probably accidentally repeated from earlier in the verse. They do not appear in the parallel account in 2 Chr 23:16. If retained, they probably point to an agreement governing how the king and people should relate to one another.

[11:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “tore down.”

[11:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “images.”

[11:18]  ¹⁷ 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.

[11:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.

[11:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”

[11:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:21]  ²¹ 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.

[11:21]  ²² tn Jehoash is an alternate name for Joash (see 11:2).