2 Chronicles 23:4

4. This is the thing that ye shall do] The main features of the arrangement as given here and in 2 Kin. are clear, although some details are obscure. From Kings it appears that it was the custom on the Sabbath for two-thirds of the royal guards to be free and for one-third to be on duty at the palace. In order to avoid arousing suspicion this last third was, according to Jehoiada’s directions, to be at the palace as usual, but it was to be subdivided into thirds and so distributed as to close the various means of communication between the palace and the rest of the city. Thus Athaliah was to be held as in a trap by her own guards (2Ki_11:5-6). The two-thirds who were free from duty on the Sabbath were to be stationed in the Temple about the young king to guard him at his coronation.

The arrangements are differently (and no doubt less accurately) stated in Chron. In the first place Levitical Temple guards take the place of the royal guards, secondly, the only division of the guards recognised is a simple division into thirds, finally, the stations of the different divisions are differently given, viz., one-third in the Temple, one-third in the palace, and one-third at “the gate of the foundation.”

Using the modern terms “battalion” and “company” for the divisions and subdivisions given in Kings, the arrangements may be stated in a form which allows easy comparison between Kings and Chron., as fallows:—

(A) 2Ki_11:5-7.

(Royal guards in three battalions.)

1st battalion on duty at the king’s house (palace).

A company within the palace (2Ch_23:5),

B company at the gate of Sur (SVR Heb.),

C company at another gate (“behind the guard,” 2Ch_23:6).

2nd and 3rd battalions off duty, but brought into the house of the Lord (the Temple) by Jehoiada (2Ch_23:7).

(B) 2Ch_23:4-5.

(Levites in three bands.)

Band I. (= 1st battalion C company of 2 Kin.) in the house of God, the Chronicler supposing that “the house” (2Ki_11:6) means the house of the Lord. More probably it means “the house of the king” (2Ki_11:5).

Band II. (= 1st battalion A company of 2 Kin.) at the king’s house (so 2 Kin.).

Band III. (= 1st battalion B company of 2 Kin.) at the gate of “the foundation” (JSVD Heb.).

(The Chronicler passes over the 2nd and 3rd battalions, because he has already assigned their duty to 1st battalion C company.)

of the priests and of the Levites] Not in Kings. The words are a mistaken gloss of the Chronicler, for it is clear that in Kings lay guards are meant.

porters of the doors] R.V. mg., of the thresholds, i.e. of the Temple acc. to the Chronicler, for the word for “doors” (or “thresholds,” sippim in Heb.) is always used for the thresholds of some sanctuary, e.g. of the Tabernacle (1Ch_9:19; 1Ch_9:22), of the Temple of Solomon (2Ch_3:7), of (apparently) some Israelite shrine (Amo_9:1). In the parallel passage (2Ki_11:6) however “the watch of the house” clearly means “the watch of the king’s house” (ibid. 2Ki_11:5).

5. a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation] These two-thirds according to the scheme given above were both stationed about the palace, but they are not to be reckoned as two-thirds of the whole guard.

the gate of the foundation] “Gate of JSVD” (Heb.). This is certainly the “Gate of Sur” (SVR in Heb.) of 2Ki_11:6. Probably however we should read “Gate of SVS (or SVSIM),” i.e. “Horse Gate” (2Ch_23:15; cp. 2Ki_11:16) both here and in Kings.

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.

2Ch 23:4 This [is] the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, [shall be] porters of the doors;

Ver. 4. This is the thing that ye shall do.] See 2Ki 11:9.

Entering on the sabbath day.] The better day the better deed.

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.

2Ch 23:4-5. A third part of you shall be porters of the doors — Or rather, guards at the gates, to prevent any of Athaliah’s party from entering into the temple. At the gate of the foundation — So called, because it stood lower than the rest of the doors, at the foot of the steps by which they went up from the king’s house to the temple. And all the people shall be in the courts — In the two courts; for by the people here he seems to intend both the generality of the Levites, who had no particular station assigned them, such as their brethren had, and who were to be in the court of the priests, and the people who were in the court of the people.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23:4-6 The most logical time for the coup was at the changing of the Temple guard, when there would be large movements of people. A third of the guards were coming on duty; they were stationed in three locations to perform their regular duties and to watch for any activity from the palace. The remainder of the armed force was stationed in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple, providing a human wall to protect the king.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This is the thing that ye shall do--The arrangements made for defense are here described. The people were divided into three bodies; one attended as guards to the king, while the other two were posted at all the doors and gates, and the captains and military officers who entered the temple unarmed to lull suspicion, were furnished with weapons out of the sacred armory, where David had deposited his trophies of victory and which was reopened on this occasion.

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

(4) This is the thing that ye shall do.—2Ki_11:5 : “And he charged them saying, This is the thing,” (&c. There he charges the captains of the guard as being the leaders of the conspiracy.

A third.—The third. So 2Ch_23:5. “The third of you who come in on the Sabbath” is read also in 2Ki_11:5. The chronicler has added the explanatory words: “belonging to the priests and to the Levites.” This can hardly be harmonised with 2Ki_12:4-12 - The chronicler may have misunderstood the words, which in the older account designate the royal guard; and it might have appeared to him impossible that any but members of the sacred orders would be called together in the Temple by the high priest. (Comp. 2Ch_23:5-6 with 2Ki_11:4 : “brought them into the house of the Lord.”) But he may also have had before him an account in which the part taken by the sacerdotal caste in the revolution was made much more of than m the account of Kings. Moreover the priests and Levites would be likely to play a considerable part in a movement tending to the overthrow of a cultus antagonistic to their own, especially when that movement originated with their own spiritual head, and was transacted in the sanctuary to which they were attached. The chronicler, therefore, cannot with fairness be accused of “arbitrary alterations,” unless it be presupposed that his sole authority in writing this account was the Second Book of Kings. The priests and Levites used to do duty in the Temple from Sabbath to Sabbath, so that one course relieved another at the end of each week. (See 1 Chronicles 24; Luk_1:5.) That the companies of the royal guards succeeded each other on duty in the same fashion is clear from the parallel narrative.

Shall be porters of the doors.—Warders of the thresholds, that is, of the Temple (1Ch_9:19; 1Ch_9:22). 1Ki_11:5 says: “The third of you that come in on the Sabbath, they shall keep the guard of the king’s house; “the latter part of which answers to the first sentence of the next verse: “And the third part (shall be) at the king’s house.” The king’s “house” in Kings means the royal palace; the chronicler appears to mean by it his temporary dwelling within the Temple precincts.

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

The writer of Chronicles relates the orders that were given to the Levites, the author of Kings those received by the royal body-guard (2Ki 11:5 note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Do. Though God’s promise was absolute, human means were to be used. W.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Both that of Sur, 2Ki 11:6, and other doors adjoining or leading to it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The first thing that is to be observed is the distinct and repeated mention of the Levites, as those on whom the critical and onerous service that came of Jehoiada"s resolution was devolved, while the parallel does not so much as mention them. It may next be noted that our first and second verses state the part that "the captains of hundreds" were called to perform in collecting the requisite number of Levites from the provincial cities of Judah. And once more it may be noted that whereas, while we abide close by our own text alone, nothing in the description of our vers. 410 occasions material difficulty, even when the perplexity, which is considerable, does enter, on consulting and endeavouring to reconcile the parallel, it is with extreme probability due to our not making sufficient allowance for the fact that the matter of the two accounts does not so much offer itself for reconciliation as for concurrent acceptance. We have now to follow the description of our own text. Of you entering on the sabbath; i.e. of you who enter on your period of duty on such a sabbath. See ver. 8, the "men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath." This alludes, as the next clause definitely says, to the weekly courses of the Levites, as described in 1Ch_9:25 1Ch_24:25. the incoming and outgoing companies. Porters of the doors; i.e. "keepers of the doors of the temple". (1Ch_9:19) This may correspond with the middle clause of ver. 6 in the parallel.

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

A third ... Another third ... the other third

"One-third ... Another one-third ... the other one-third" (See: Ordinal Numbers)

will be guards at the doors

"will be guards at the temple doors"

the Foundation Gate

This gate may have also been called the "Middle Gate" or the "Sur Gate." It was apparently an inner gate that was near the king's palace.

All the people

This is a generalization that refers to all the people who are present. AT: "All the other people who are present" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

translationWords

servant

Sabbath

found

gate

court

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

of those coming in on the Sabbath And also those leaving on the Sabbath, as is written below (verse 8): “and each one took his men, those coming in on the Sabbath with those leaving on the Sabbath.” The watches were renewed on the Sabbath (See Taanith 2:6,7), viz. the priests and the Levites; one [watch] would leave and one would come in. Jehoiada detained the watch that was leaving with the watch that was coming in, and divided them into three divisions.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.