2 Kings 11:8

2Ki 11:8 And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.

Ver. 8. Let him be slain.] Military discipline was in this case most necessary to be observed; neither would bloodshed have been any profanation of the temple.

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.

8. And ye shall compass the king round about] Though the pronoun is changed, the same persons are intended, who were to be a bodyguard for the young king in every movement at this critical time.

he that cometh within the ranges] R.V. ranks. This is the point where the distinction is most marked between the duties to be discharged by the soldiers and by the Levites. In 2Ch_23:7 it is said: ‘And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever cometh into the house, he shall be put to death’. From this we find that the Levites were to form a guard for the king’s person within the temple, while the soldiers discharged the same office in the court, and when he was conducted from the temple to the palace. So the one body is bidden to take summary vengeance on any intruder within the sacred building, the other on any who should break through their ranks to get within the enclosure and so draw near to the king after he had come forth.

as [R.V. when] he goeth out and as [R.V. when] he cometh in] This change assimilates the rendering to 2 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 ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand,.... Afterwards given them, Kg2 11:10,

and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain; any strange man that was not of them, that came into the ranks in which they were formed, was to be put to death as a spy, who might go and inform the queen what was doing; according to Jarchi, the word for "ranges" signifies the place through which the king went from his own house to the house of God (d); and here it seems the guards were placed:

and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in when brought forth to be crowned and anointed, and returned again.

(d) Vid. David. de Pomis Lexic. fol. 205. 3.

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

Temple, to cause confusion, Syriac, &c. The court of the priests, (Ezechiel xli 9.) and that of Israel, (Josephus, [Antiquities?] viii. 4.) were separated by walls, beyond which strangers were not allowed to pass. (Calmet) --- Slain, being first cast out, ver. 15. (Menochius) --- Great respect is due to holy places, and hence comes the privilege of sanctuaries. (Worthington)

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).

When you have set your watches and guards, all the rest of you shall draw near to the king to preserve his royal person from all assaults and dangers.

The ranges, or fences, i.e. the walls wherewith the courts of the temple were environed: see 2Ki 11:15. Or, your ranks, or order. If any of Athaliah’s guards shall attempt to break in upon you, or within your bounds.

Be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in; whether the king shall go out of the temple, to offend or subdue his enemies, or retire hither to defend himself, do you always accompany him.

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

8. The ranges — Ranks of armed men.

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

And ye shall compass the king round about; every man with his weapons in his hand. The guard was to take up a position, partly in front of the king, and partly behind him; interposing themselves between his person and any danger, and at the same time extending themselves across the entire court of the temple (ver. 11) from one wall to the other. They were, of course, to have their weapons in their hands, ready for use. And he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain; rather, within the ranks. The order was that if any one entered the temple, and attempted to break through the ranks of the guard, either in front of the king or behind him, he should instantly be put to death. No attempt of the kind was made; and so the order re-rosined a dead letter. And be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in; accompany him, i.e. in all his movements let him never for a moment stray outside your ranks continue to surround him whithersoever he goes. Boys are restless, and curiosity would lead the young prince to move from place to place in order to see what was going on.

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

Ranges - Or, fences, the wall wherewith the courts of the temple were environed.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And whoever breaks the ranks. A stranger who comes within the boundary called “שדרות,” which is the place of the king’s entry from his palace to the Beis [Hamikdosh] of Adonoy. I do not know the origin of the word “שְׂדֵרוֹת,” but [Targum] Yonoson rendered it “סוּדְרִיָא.”

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.