2 Kings 11

In chapter 9 of 2 Kings, Jehu killed Ahaziah king of Judah, and in 2 Kings 10 he wiped out the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal in the northern kingdom of Israel. Chapter 11 shifts the scene to the southern kingdom of Judah and recounts what took place in Jerusalem after Ahaziah's death.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, destroys all the royal seed. Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister, steals away the infant Joash along with his nurse and hides them. Joash remains hidden in the house of the LORD for six years while Athaliah reigns over the land.
• Verses 4–11 In the seventh year the priest Jehoiada makes a covenant with the captains of hundreds of the Carites and the guard and shows them the king's son. He divides the companies that come in and go out on the Sabbath to guard the palace and the temple, and he distributes King David's spears and shields that were kept in the temple.
• Verses 12–16 Jehoiada puts the crown on Joash, gives him the testimony, and anoints him king. Athaliah cries out, "Treason, Treason," but she is taken out of the temple and put to death on the way by which the horses came into the king's house.
• Verses 17–21 Jehoiada leads the king and the people in making a covenant with the LORD and also establishes a covenant between the king and the people. The people tear down the house of Baal and kill Mattan the priest of Baal. Joash goes to the palace and sits on the throne. He is seven years old at the time.

Key Verses

• 2 Kings 11:2 "took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him": the line of the house of David, which had nearly been cut off, is preserved through the action of one person.
• 2 Kings 11:12 "put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him": this passage records the coronation of a king of Judah in comparatively full detail.
• 2 Kings 11:17 "made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD's people": the restoration of the monarchy is accompanied by a renewal of the covenant.

Characters and Places

• Athaliah: the mother of Ahaziah, from the house of Ahab (see 2 Kings 8:18, 26). She is the only ruler of Judah from outside the Davidic dynasty.
• Jehosheba: the daughter of King Joram and the sister of Ahaziah.
• Joash: the son of Ahaziah. He becomes king of Judah at the age of seven.
• Jehoiada: the priest who led the coronation.
• Carites: some interpreters regard them as foreign mercenaries who served as the royal guard.
• Mattan: the priest of Baal.
• The house of the LORD: the Temple in Jerusalem, where Joash was hidden and where he was made king.

Points for Reflection

• The same events are recorded in 2 Chronicles 22:10–23:21. The detail that Jehosheba (called Jehoshabeath in Chronicles) was Jehoiada's wife does not appear in 2 Kings and is found only in 2 Chronicles 22:11. Chronicles portrays the Levites and priests as guarding the temple, an emphasis that differs from 2 Kings, which mentions the Carites.
• In verse 12, the item the KJV calls "the testimony" (rendered "book of the law" in some versions) translates a Hebrew word meaning "testimony." It is therefore interpreted as a covenant document or as the king's ordinances, and some interpreters connect it with the copy of the law that the king was to keep according to Deuteronomy 17:18.
• Many interpreters read this chapter as an account of the preservation of the promise to give a "light" to David's descendants (2 Kings 8:19) and of the Davidic covenant. The genealogy in Matthew 1:8 lists Uzziah directly after Joram, omitting Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.