2 Kings 11:19

2Ki 11:19 And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

Ver. 19. And came by the way of the gate of the guard.] Called the high gate, {2Ch 23:20} by reason of the fairness and height of it; and the new gate. {Jer 36:10}

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.

2Ki 11:19-20. He took the rulers over hundreds, &c. — Brought them out of the temple, that they might conduct the king in state to the royal palace. By the way of the gate of the guard — By the gate of the royal palace, where the king’s guard stood. And he sat on the throne of the kings — Which was the accomplishment of his inauguration. And all the people rejoiced — Josephus says, they kept a feast of joy many days; making good Solomon’s observation: When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth, and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

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

11:19-20 The city was peaceful—a mark of the kingdom where God and his law are honored (Isa 35:10; 65:18-24; Jer 33:6-16).

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

(19) And he took the rulers . . . the land.—Jehoiada now arranges a procession to escort the king in triumph from the Temple to the palace.

The rulers . . . guard.—Rather, the captains of the hundreds (the centurions) and the Carians and the Couriers; or, as Thenius prefers, the lictors and the satellites.

They brought down the king from the house of the Lord.—Down from the Temple to the bridge connecting Moriah with Zion.

And came by the way . . . king’s house.—Rather, and entered the king’s house by way of the gate of the Couriers. This gate, therefore, belonged not to the Temple, but to the palace, and was probably the chief entrance thereto.

And he sat on the throne.—The proceedings ended with the solemn enthronement of the king in the palace of his fathers. (The LXX. reads more suitably: “And they seated him on the throne;” so Chronicles.)

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

19. And he took the rulers [R.V. captains] and the captains] R.V. the Carites. On these words cf. above on verse 4.

and they brought down the king] The movement was a popular one, the people taking part with the soldiers and the priests. In 2 Chron. ‘the nobles and the governors of the people’ are included in the list. The temple was on a lofty height. Hence the phrase ‘brought down’.

by the way of the gate of the guard to [R.V. unto] the king’s house] This gate would be specially ready for the king’s entry, as it was one of those secured by the arrangements described in verse 6.

he sat on the throne of the kings] On this throne, and its position in the palace which Solomon built, cf. note on 1Ki_7:7.

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.

And all the people of the land rejoiced,.... That one of the house of David was set upon the throne, which they might fear was extinct, as it very near was; the lamp of David was almost quenched, only this single life left, from whom a line of kings proceeded, and the King Messiah; the promise of God cannot fail see Psa 132:11, this occasioned great joy:

and the city was quiet: was very easy at, yea, pleased with, the dethroning and death of Athaliah; there was no tumult on account thereof, nor such disturbances as she occasioned in her life:

and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house; as related in Kg2 11:16 where she was buried, or what became of her carcass, is not said; some have thought she was cast into the brook Kidron, because Josephus says (h) Jehoiada ordered her to be had into that valley, and there slain.

(h) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 7. sect. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They conducted the king down from the temple hill, across the valley of the Tyropoeum, and up the opposite hill to the royal palace, entering it not by the “horse-gate” 2Ki 11:16, where Athaliah had just been slain, but by the “gate of the guard” 2Ki 11:6, which was probably the main gate of the palace on the eastern side (see 2Ch 23:20).

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

Phelethi. In the Hebrew of the books of Kings we read nothing of these bands after the reign of David. The same expressions occur here as [in] ver. 4., "the centurions, the rams, (or captains) and the runners," (Calmet) or guards. (Protestants) (Haydock) --- Gate, on the west. Athalia had probably entered by the south. --- Kings. It was made of ivory, &c., 3 Kings x. 18. (Calmet)

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).

By the way of the gate of the guard, i.e. by the gate of the royal palace, where the king’s guard stood.

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

19. Gate of the guard — Called “the high gate” in Chronicles, but, like the horse gate, difficult to identify with any known locality. It was probably a gate leading toward the palace, and here called “gate of the guard” from being the one guarded by that division of Levites mentioned in 2Ki_11:5.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he took the rulers literally, princesover hundredsi.e. the five centurions of 2Ch 23:2and the captains rather, and the Carites (see the comment on ver. 4)and the guard i.e. the "runners," the other division of the guardand all the people of the land those who had flocked to his standard either originally (2Ch_23:2) or sinceand they brought down the king from the house of the Lord. They escorted Joash from the temple to the palace, first bringing him down into the valley of the Tyropoeon, and then conducting him up the opposite, or western hill, on which the palace stood. And came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king"s house. The "gate of the guard" is probably that called in ver. 6 "the gate behind the guard." We may presume that it was the main entrance to the palace on the eastern side. And he sat on the throne of the kings. Not till he had placed Joash on the royal throne of his ancestors, in the great throne-room of the palace, was Jehoiada content with the work of the day.

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

And he took the captains, and they brought the king down out of the house of Jehovah, etc. The word יקּח is not to be pressed, but simply affirms that Jehoiada entrusted the persons named with the duty of conducting the king into his palace. Beside the captains over a hundred (see at Kg2 11:4) there are mentioned והרצים הכּרי, i.e., the royal halberdiers (the body-guard), who had passed over to the new king immediately after the fall of Athaliah and now followed their captains, and הארץ כּל־עם, all the rest of the people assembled. Instead of the halberdiers there are mentioned in the Chronicles בּעם המּושׁלים האדּירים, the nobles and lords in the nation-a completion implied in the facts themselves, since Jehoiada had drawn the heads of the nation into his plan, and on the other hand the express allusion to the body-guard might be omitted as of inferior importance. We cannot infer from ירידוּ that the bridge between Moriah and Zion was not yet in existence, as Thenius supposes, but simply that the bridge was lower than the temple-courts. Instead of הרצים שׁער, the gate of the runners (i.e., of the halberdiers), we find in the Chronicles העליון שׁער, the upper gate, which appears to have been a gate of the temple, according to Kg2 15:35 and Ch2 27:3. The statement that they came by the way of the runners' gate into the house of the king is not at variance with this, for it may be understood as meaning that it was by the halberdiers' gate of the temple that the entry into the palace was carried out. - In Kg2 11:20 this account is concluded with the general remark that all the people rejoiced, sc. at the coronation of Joash, and the city was quiet, when they slew Athaliah with the sword. This is the way, so far as the sense is concerned, in which the last two clauses are to be connected.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

General Information:

They take the new king, Joash, from the temple to the palace.

the commanders of hundreds

The phrase "commander of hundreds" is probably an official title for a military officer. Possible meanings are 1) the word "hundreds" represents the exact amount of soldiers that each of these commanders led. AT: "the commanders of 100 soldiers" or 2) the word translated as "hundreds" does not represent an exact number, but is the name of a military division. AT: "the commanders of military divisions" See how you translated this in 2 Kings 11:4. (See: Numbers)

Carites

This is the name of a particular group of the royal guards.

brought down the king from the house of Yahweh and they went into the king's house

"brought the king from the temple to the palace"

all the people of the land rejoiced

This is a generalization. It is possible that some did not rejoice. AT: "many people in the land rejoiced" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

the city was quiet

"the city was calm" or "the city was peaceful"

translationWords

king

throne

joy

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

They came by way of the Gate of the Runners. To the king’s palace. the king’s palace.” However, Rashi in v. 5 above explained that the Gate of the Runners was one of the gates of the Temple’s court. Therefore Rashi renders the verse as, “by way of the Gate of the Runners to the king’s palace.” Alternatively, the Gate of the Runners was one of the gates of the king’s palace.—Targum

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.