2 Kings 11:3

2Ki 11:3 And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

Ver. 3. And he was with her hid, &c., ] i.e., With his aunt Jehosheba, {2Ki 11:2} a king’s daughter, and yet a priest’s wife. Athaliah either believed that Joash was slain with the rest of his brethren, or else she held it no policy to hold that he was alive, lest the people should hanker and hearken after him.

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 11:3. He was hid with her six years — Probably Athaliah thought they were dead; or, if she suspected this child was preserved, she supposed an infant could do her no great harm; and that she could so well establish herself in the possession of the kingdom within a few years, that she need not fear any such weak competitor. And Athaliah did reign over the land — Which she had the better opportunity of doing, because she was not only the late king’s wife, but also, probably, made queen-regent upon Joram’s going to Ramoth-gilead.

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

11:3 Jehosheba’s concealment of Joash for six years was punishable by death if discovered. Athaliah ruled over the land from 841 to 835 BC.

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

Verse 3. He was - hid in the house of the Lord] This might be readily done, because none had access to the temple but the priests; and the high priest himself was the chief manager of this business.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) And he was with her—i.e., with Jehosheba his aunt. The words “in the house of the Lord” should immediately follow. The Word “hid” is connected with “six years” in the Hebrew, and relates to the infant prince only. Joash was with his aunt “in the house of the Lord”—i.e., in one of the chambers allotted to the priests, perhaps even in the high priest’s residence, which may have been within the sacred precincts. Thenius assumes that the statement of Chronicles, that Jehosheba was wife of the high priest, has no other ground than a “traditional interpretation” of these words; and asserts that Jehosheba was herself obliged to share the asylum of the infant prince in order to escape the vengeance of Athaliah. But it is certain that the chronicler had better authority than mere tradition for his important additions to the history of the kings. (See Note on 2Ch_22:11.)

Did reign.—Was reigning.

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

3. And he was with her] i.e. With his nurse, who continued to tend him after he had grown somewhat older.

in the house of the Lord] We learn from the description of Solomon’s temple (see note on 1Ki_6:5) that it was surrounded on two sides and one end with three stories of chambers. It is not said to what use they were put, but we may safely conclude that they were under the control of the high-priest, and that, for such a purpose as is here described, he would have no scruple about using them, even if on ordinary occasions no one dwelt in them.

six years] Perhaps Athaliah was not aware that any one of the royal children had been saved. She gave order for their destruction, and her agents did all they could to carry out her design. Perhaps when they could not find Joash some other slain babe was substituted, and Athaliah would know no difference. The house of the Lord was not a place in which she herself was likely to be interested, and if the rooms around it were never as a rule used for dwelling-rooms suspicion would not be directed to them, and so they would go unsearched.

And Athaliah did reign] R.V. reigned. As in Chronicles.

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 he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years,.... In the temple; not in the holy of holies, as Jarchi, but in a chamber of the priests and Levites, of which there were several in a temple, as Kimchi, and others; and the husband of Jehosheba, being high priest, had one of them for his own use; and here the child was hid six years, so that he was but a year old when he was first taken and preserved, for he was made king when seven years of age, Kg2 11:21,

and Athaliah did reign over the land; the only instance we hear of a woman reigning in Israel, and this was not by right, but by usurpation; and so, according to the Jewish canons, a woman might not rule; which thus runs (a), they do not set a woman in the kingdom, as it is said, Deu 17:15, "a king over them", not a queen; and so, in all places of power and authority in Israel, they put in them none but a man.

(a) Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 1. sect. 5.

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

And Athaliah did reign over the land - In these words the writer dismisses the entire reign of Athaliah, whereof he scorns to speak. We gather incidentally from 2Ki 12:5-12, compared with 2Ch 24:7, that Athaliah used her power to establish the exclusive worship of BaaI through the kingdom of Judah, and to crush that of Yahweh. She stopped the temple service, gave over the sacred vessels of the sanctuary to the use of the Baal priests, and employed the temple itself as a quarry from which materials might be taken for the construction of a great temple to Baal, which rose in the immediate neighborhood.

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

Lord. The case was so extraordinary, that he high priest dispensed with a woman lodging in those apartments. --- Land, for six years, by usurpation. Women were commonly excluded, and she was not of the race of David, 4 Kings viii. 26. (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).

Either Athaliah thought they were all dead; or if she suspected that Joash was preserved, she thought an infant could do her no great harm; and that she could so well assure the kingdom to herself within a few years, that she need not fear any such weak competitor: or she was willing to smother up the business, lest if she had made a strict and diligent search for it, the people should thereby learn that there was yet a son of David’s family left, and so be unquiet under her government, and desirous of a change.

Athaliah did reign over the land; which she had an opportunity, to do, because she was not only the late king’s wife, but also was probably made queen-regent upon Joram’s going to Ramoth-gilead.

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

3. Hid in the house of the Lord six years — Jehosheba’s husband being high priest, this concealment of her nephew Joash was the more safe.

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 was with her he, i.e. Joash, was with her, i.e. Jehosheba, his aunt hid in the house of the Lord; i.e. the temple. We learn from Chronicles (2Ch_22:11) that Jehosheba was married to Jehoiada, the high priest, and would thus have ready access to the temple. We must suppose that, after a few days" concealment in the "chamber of mattresses," Jehosheba found an opportunity of transferring him, with his nurse, to a chamber in the temple, where he was thenceforward nourished and brought up. There were various chambers in the temple used for secular purposes, as we learn from 1Ki_6:5-8 Neh_13:5-9. Six years. (comp. ver. 21 and 2Ch_24:1) And Athaliah did reign over the land. It is difficult to realize all that this implies. It cannot mean less than that for six years Baalism was triumphant in Judah the temple was allowed to fall into decay (2Ki_12:5) a temple to Baal was erected in Jerusalem itself, to supersede the temple of Jehovah, (2Ki_11:18) and a high priest appointed to be a rival to the successor of Aaron. Whether persecution was indulged in, as under Jehoram, (2Ch_21:11) is uncertain; but the servants of Jehovah were at any rate under a cloud, slighted, contemned, held as of small account. Perhaps we may conclude, from the position occupied by Jehoiada, and from the powers which he was able to exercise when he determined on revolt, (ver. 4 2Ch_23:1, 2Ch_23:2) that Athaliah, during her six years" reign, was to some extent held in check by a Jehovistic party, which she knew to exist, and which she did not dare openly to defy. Thus she left Jehoiada (apparently) in possession of the temple, of its treasures and its armory (ver. 10); she allowed the temple service to continue; (2Ch_23:4-7) she permitted the priests and the Levites to serve in their regular "courses"; (2Ch_23:8) she let the fortress of the eastern city for the temple was always a fortress remain in her enemies" hands. Still, the time was evidently one "of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy" the oppressed worshippers of Jehovah were greatly discontented; and the nation generally was ripe for a counterrevolution, so soon as the signal was given by an authority whom they could trust.

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