2 Kings 11:20

20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword in the king’s house.

2 Kings 11:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 11:20

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 ( Psalms 132:11 Psalms 132:17 ) , 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 ( 2 Kings 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 ^F8 Jehoiada ordered her to be had into that valley, and there slain.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 7. sect. 3.

2 Kings 11:20 In-Context

18 And all the people of the land went into the temple of Baal, and broke down his altars, and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly: they slew also Mathan the priest of Baal before the altar. And the priest set guards in the house of the Lord.

19 And he took the centurions, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the house of the Lord: and they came by the way of the gate of the shieldbearers into the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings.

20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword in the king’s house.

21 Now Joas was seven years old when he began to reign.