2 Kings 11:1-3

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

1 ¹Now when ²Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.

2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took ³Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put^[a] him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they^[b] hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death.

3 And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

2 Kings 11:1-3 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 11

This chapter relates how that Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, being hid and preserved, when his grandmother murdered all the seed royal, after six years was produced, 2Ki 11:1-3, when Jehoiada the priest set a sufficient guard about him, and the king's house, and anointed him king, 2Ki 11:4-12, and Athaliah his grandmother, who had reigned six years, was put to death by the order of the priest, 2Ki 10:13-16, and then a covenant was made between the Lord, and the king, and the people, and between the king and the people; and he was placed on the throne, to the satisfaction of the people, and the quiet thereof, 2Ki 10:17-21.

Cross References

• 1. 11:1 For ver. 1-3, see 2 Chr. 22:10-12
• 2. 11:1 ch. 8:26
• 3. 11:2 [ver. 21; ch. 12:1]

Footnotes

• [a] 11:2 Compare 2 Chronicles 22:11; Hebrew lacks 'and she put'
• [b] 11:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 2 Chronicles 22:11) 'she'