2 Kings 11:1

Athaliah Usurps the Throne in Judah

1 Now Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, so she prepared to destroy all of the offspring of the royal family.

2 Kings 11:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 11:1

And when Athaiah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son
was dead
Who was the daughter of Ahab, and granddaughter of Omri ( 2 Kings 8:18 2 Kings 8:26 ) , she arose,

and destroyed all the seed royal;
that were left, for many had been slain already; the sons of Jehoshaphat, the brothers of Joram, were slain by him, ( 2 Chronicles 21:4 ) and all Joram's sons, excepting Ahaziah, were slain by the Arabians, ( 2 Chronicles 22:1 ) , and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah were slain by Jehu, ( 2 Kings 11:8 ) , these therefore seem to be the children of Ahaziah, the grandchildren of this brutish woman, whom she massacred out of her ambition of rule and government, which perhaps she was intrusted with while her son went to visit Joram king of Israel; other reasons are by some assigned, but this seems to be the chief. For the same reason Laodice, who had six sons by Ariarathes king of the Cappadocians, poisoned five of them; the youngest escaping her hands, was murdered by the people ^F24, as this woman also was.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Justin. e Trogo, l. 37. c. 1.

2 Kings 11:1 In-Context

1 Now Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, so she prepared to destroy all of the offspring of the royal family.

2 But Jehosheba the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah took Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, and she stole him from among the sons of the king who were being put to death, [putting] him and his nurse in the inner bedroom. So they hid him from the presence of Athaliah, and he was not killed.

3 He remained with her in the temple of Yahweh, hidden for six years [while] Athaliah was reigning over the land.

4 But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and took the commanders of the hundreds of the Carites and the runners, and he brought them to himself to the temple of Yahweh. Then he {made} a covenant with them and made them swear in the house of Yahweh and showed them the son of the king.

5 He commanded them, saying, "This [is] the thing which you must do: one third of you {who go off duty on the Sabbath}, the keepers of the guard in the house of the king,