2 Chronicles 23:12

Here we have, I. The people pleased, Ch2 23:12, Ch2 23:13. When the king stood at his pillar, whose right it was to stand there, all the people of the land rejoiced to see a rod sprung out of the stem of Jesse, Isa 11:1. When it seemed a withered root in a dry ground, to see what they despaired of ever seeing - a king of the house of David, what a pleasing surprise was it to them! They ran in transports of joy to see this sight, praised the king, and praised God, for they had with them such as taught to sing praise.

II. Athaliah slain. She ran upon the point of the sword of justice; for, imagining her interest much better than it was, she ventured into the house of the Lord at that time, and cried, Treason, treason! But nobody seconded her, or sided with her. The pride of her heart deceived her. She thought all her own, whereas none were cordially so. Jehoiada, as protector in the king's minority, ordered her to be slain (Ch2 23:14), which was done immediately (Ch2 23:15), only care was taken that she should not be slain in the house of the Lord, that sacred place must not be so far disgraced, nor that wicked woman so far honoured.

III. The original contract agreed to, Ch2 23:16. In the Kings it is said that Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the people, and the king, Kg2 11:17. Here it is said to be between himself, the people, and the king; for he, as God's priest, was his representative in this transaction, or a sort of mediator, as Moses was. The indenture was tripartite, but the true intent and meaning of the whole was that they should be the Lord's people. God covenanted by Jehoiada to take them for his people; the king and people covenanted with him to be his; and then the king covenanted with the people to govern them as the people of God, and the people with the king to be subject to him as the Lord's people, in his fear and for his sake. Let us look upon ourselves and one another as the Lord's people, and this will have a powerful influence upon us in the discharge of all our duty both to God and man.

IV. Baal destroyed, Ch2 23:17. They would not have done half their work if they had only destroyed the usurper of the king's right, and not the usurper of God's right - if they had asserted the honour of the throne, and not that of the altar. The greatest grievance of Athaliah's reign was the bringing in of the worship of Baal, and supporting of that; therefore that must be abolished in the first place. Down with Baal's house, his altars, his images; down with them all, and let the blood of his priests be mingled with his sacrifices; for God had commanded that seducers to idolatry should be put to death, Deu 13:5, Deu 13:6.

V. The temple service revived, Ch2 23:18, Ch2 23:19. This had been neglected in the last reigns, the priest and people wanting either power or zeal to keep it up when they had princes that were disaffected to it. But Jehoiada restored the offices of the house of the Lord, which in the late times had been disturbed and invaded, to the proper course and proper hands. 1. He appointed the priests to their courses, for the due offering of sacrifices, according to the law of Moses. 2. The singers to theirs, according to the appointment of David. The sacrifices (it should seem) were offered with rejoicing and singing, and with good reason. We joy in God when we receive the atonement, Rom 5:11. 3. The porters were put in their respective posts as David ordered (Ch2 23:19), and their office was to take care that none who were upon any account ceremonially unclean should be admitted into the courts of the temple.

VI. The civil government re-established, Ch2 23:20. They brought the king in state to his own palace, and set him upon the throne of the kingdom, to give law, and give judgment, either in his own person or by Jehoiada his tutor. Thus was this happy revolution perfected. The generality of the people rejoiced in it, and the rest were quiet and made no opposition, Ch2 23:21. When the Son of David is enthroned in the soul all is quiet and springs of joy are opened.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

ATHALIAH SLAIN. (Ch2 23:12-15)

Athaliah heard the noise of the people--The unusual commotion, indicated by the blast of the trumpets and the vehement acclamations of the people, drew her attention, or excited her fears. She might have flattered herself that, having slain all the royal family, she was in perfect security; but it is just as likely that, finding on reflection, one had escaped her murderous hands, she might not deem it expedient to institute any enquiries; but the very idea would keep her constantly in a state of jealous suspicion and irritation. In that state of mind, the wicked usurper, hearing across the Tyropœon the outburst of popular joy, rushed across the bridge to the temple grounds, and, penetrating from a single glance the meaning of the whole scene, raised a shriek of "Treason!"

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

THE EXECUTION OF ATHALIAH (2Ch_23:12-21).

(See 2Ki_11:13-20.)

(12) Now when Athaliah . . . she came.—And Athaliah heard . . . and she came.

The noise of the people running and praising the king.—Or, the noise of the people, the Couriers, and those who were acclaiming the king. (1Ki_11:13, “the noise of the runners, the people;” where the people may be an inadvertent repetition, as the same expression follows directly. The rest of the verse is the same as here.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 23:12 Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

Ver. 12. Now when Athaliah.] See 2Ki 11:13.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12–15 (= 2Ki_11:13-16). Death of Athaliah

12. Now when] R.V. And when.

praising the king] Perhaps verses were extemporised in praise of a king at his coronation just as over a maiden at her marriage; cp. Psa_78:63 (A.V. mg. and R.V.).

she came] Athaliah was allowed to pass the palace guard, but now it was too late for her to save her crown.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Athaliah heard the noise. The parallel (2Ki_11:13-16) shows only two differences of any noteworthiness, and these will come under notice next verse. The noise; Hebrew, the voice; i.e. no doubt the voices of the people. Praising. The Hebrew is the piel participle; our corresponding phrase would be, "singing out the praises of the king," i.e. not any personal praises, but such as the cries of "Long live the king!" or, as our Authorized Version has it, "God save the king I

Vers. 12-15.

The fall of Athaliah.

I A STARTLED QUEEN. (Vers. 12, 13.)

1. An unusual sound. Secretly as the coronation of Joash had been conducted, Athaliah"s quick ear caught the noise of trampling feet, clapping hands, and shouting voices that issued from the temple on the other side of the Tyropoean valley. Guilty consciences, of sovereigns, as of common sinners, are prone to be startled by strange sounds; (Job_18:11, Job_18:12) cf. "Macbeth" (act 2. sc. 2), "I have done the deed: didst thou not hear a noise?

2. An unexpected sight. Mustering her guards, Athahah proceeded from her palace across the bridge that spanned the valley, and entered the temple court, when a most unwelcome spectacle met her gaze-a boy standing on a raised platform in front of the inner court, probably the brazen scaffold of Solomon, (2Ch_6:13) his head encircled with a diadem, his hand grasping a roll of parchment as if it were a sceptre; beside him Jehoiada the priest, the princes of the people, and the Levitical trumpeters; around him all the people of the land, rejoicing and singing.

3. An unrestrained cry. Whether or not Athaliah recognized in Joash one of Ahaziah"s sons, whom she fancied she had murdered six years before, she had no difficulty in comprehending the situation. A usurper herself, she perfectly understood the scene she beheld to mean revolution. Rending her garments in horror at the spectacle (2Ki_6:30; Ezr_9:3) and perhaps in involuntary acknowledgment that the hour of her overthrow had struck (1Sa_15:27, 1Sa_15:28; 1Ki_11:30) she likewise rent the air with a shriek of "Treason! treason!". (cf. 2Ki_9:23)

II AN AVENGING PRIEST. (Vers. 14, 15.)

1. A charge to the captains.

(1) Concerning the queen. To arrest her, to lead her beyond the precincts of the temple, to put her to death. Sudden and peremptory, this order was absolutely necessary. Divine justice and public safety alike demanded Athaliah"s blood. A murderess herself, (2Ch_22:10) her life was forfeit to the law. (Gen_9:6) An idolatress of the rankest type, she had incurred the sentence, "I will cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you". (Lev_26:30) A conspiratress, so long as she was spared the life of Joash was not secure.

(2) Concerning her adherents. That they also should be put to the sword. To follow Athaliah, defend her person or champion her cause, was to be guilty of leze majesty against Joash, and indeed against Jehovah, whose vicegerent Joash was.

2. Its execution by the captains.

(1) They hurried the unhappy queen beyond the precincts of the temple, that the holy place might not be polluted with human blood.

(2) They conducted her forth to the vicinity of the king"s stables, the people opening their ranks and making way for her to pass.

(3) They slew her there, within sight of the palace she had usurped and of the temple she had desecrated. As by violence she had climbed into the throne, by violence she was hurled from it. As she had lived so doubtless she died, in unbelief and sin a victim at once of popular fury and Divine retribution. (Pro_11:31)

Learn:

1. That the way of transgressors is hard.

2. That the wages of sin is death.

3. That they who take the sword shall perish with the sword.

4. That verily there is a God who judgeth in the earth.

5. That with what measure one metes it shall be measured to himagain. W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Athaliah Slain

v. 12. Now, when Athaliah, from her palace on the other side of the valley, heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, for the joyful shouts of the people and the loud blasts of the Temple trumpets indicated an unusual occurrence on the Temple grounds, she came to the people, having rushed across the magnificent bridge of Solomon to the Temple grounds, into the house of the Lord;

v. 13. and she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar, at the entering in, apparently some sort of a platform near the entrance to the Temple proper, and the princes and the trumpets by the king. And all the people of the land rejoiced and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, rendering some of the Temple music in honor of Jehovah, and such as taught to sing praise, with the psalms used on festival occasions. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, in grief and anger, signifying her deep disgust, and said, Treason, treason! This call was a last desperate attempt to stop the proceedings, as if they were unlawful.

v. 14. Then Jehoiada, the priest, brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the hosts, those in charge of the guard and the Levites upon this occasion, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges, out of the Temple grounds, in such a way that she was led out between ranks of soldiers and had no chance to communicate with any followers; and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord, where her blood would desecrate the Sanctuary.

v. 15. So they laid hands on her, they arrested her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, the entrance where the horses were led into the complex of buildings which formed the royal palace, near the royal stables, they slew her there. Thus the Lord’s punishment was visited upon her for her idolatry and for her murders. The vengeance of the Lord is sometimes slow in coming, but it always finds the transgressors some time.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

behold

This alerts the reader that the following information is very important.

standing by his pillar at the entrance

The relationship between the king and this particular pillar at the temple entrance is unclear.

All the people of the land

This is a generalization to show that many people participated in the event. AT: "A very large number of the people of the land" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

Athaliah tore her clothes

This was a symbolic action to show her great distress. (See: Symbolic Action)

Treason! Treason!

Treason is acting to overthrow the government. Athaliah had killed the legitimate heirs of the king and made herself ruler in 2 Chronicles 22:10-11. She was angry that Joash became king in her place. The exclamation is repeated for emphasis. AT: "You are committing treason!"

translationWords

Athaliah

praise

Yahweh

column

joy

trumpet

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.