2 Kings 11:4–12:21

11:4 No indication is given as to why Jehoiada chooses to act when he does, but in the “seventh year” Jehoiada “sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord.” This is clearly a relatively safe place to meet, despite Athaliah’s hostility to biblical religion. It also suggests that Joash was a tiny infant when the events of 11:1–3 unfolded. The “Carites” are mentioned only here and in verse 19 and seem to be a specific section of the temple guard. After introducing them to his plans and swearing them to secrecy (“he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord”), he then shows them the king’s son. The wording very deliberately emphasizes the fact that the Davidic line continues. This boy is the heir to the throne of his father and those in his line who had preceded him.

11:5–12 Jehoiada’s plan is very carefully conceived.² His newly recruited “army” is split in three to ensure that the palace can be sealed off and the newly crowned king kept safe. One third (those actually on duty) secures the palace, with “another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards.”³ These two contingents, which “come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand.” It is intriguing to note that at this point in the life of God’s people, the temple requires such a heavy guard.⁴ However, our writer is less interested in the vagaries of Athaliah’s regime than in the new king. In verse 8 it is made clear what is at stake, as Jehoiada insists that “whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death.” This is not a vain threat (given Athaliah’s previous strategy), and so these troops are to stay “with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

We are not given any insight into how difficult it is for Jehoiada to enlist the support of these temple guards but it is plain that his strategy is readily adopted. In verse 10, Jehoiada himself arms his militia with a collection of antique weaponry (“the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord”; cf. 2 Sam. 8:7) and sends them to their stations. The stage is set, and at this point Jehoiada “brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony.” The “crown” is not the normal word for royal headgear; instead, the king wears a nezer, from the same root as Nazirite. Like the high priest’s headdress (cf. Ex. 29:6; 39:30; Lev. 8:9), this crown is a sign of consecration. It is not so much announcing that Joash is king as it is confirming that he is God’s king. The “testimony” (cf. Ex. 25:16; Ps. 132:12) may refer to the ten “words” of the covenant (i.e., the Ten Commandments) or more likely to the prescriptions for the king of God’s people in Deuteronomy 17:14–20, perhaps contained in a full copy of the book.

The gathered conspirators “proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, ‘Long live the king!’” After seven long years, a Davidite is once more on the throne of Judah. The fact that the new king is not named at any point in these verses underlines the primary focus on the king as the descendant of David, the anointed one of God.

11:13–14 Jehoiada’s subterfuge is successful, and the boy king is crowned before Athaliah realizes what is happening. On hearing the uproar, “she went into the house of the Lord to the people.” It then becomes evident what has been going on, for “there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom.” Presumably, Athaliah quickly works out what has happened. She may even have been aware (or at least suspected) that the infant Joash had escaped her pogrom. The fact that “the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land” are “rejoicing and blowing trumpets” simply confirms her worst suspicions. She has been usurped, and she “tore her clothes and cried, ‘Treason! Treason!’” Ironically, it is often those who flout the rules most blatantly who express the loudest outrage when the tables are turned.

11:15–16 Jehoiada wastes no time in seizing the queen and ordering the army officers, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” Jehoiada is determined not simply to get rid of Athaliah but to purge her influence from Judah. However, he is also insistent that she is not to be executed in the temple. There is always a reluctance to take such matters into the house of Yahweh, and in this case the priest is determined that this arch-idolatress should be removed from the presence of God. So “they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was put to death.” This daughter of Ahab is finally brought down at the back door of the palace of the king of Judah. It is striking that such is Athaliah’s illegitimacy that she receives neither an introduction nor a concluding tribute. For the writer of Kings, it is as if she did not reign at all.

11:17–20 The remarkable influence exercised by Jehoiada continues, as the priest makes a “covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord’s people, and also between the king and the people.” Jehoiada’s coup marks the end for the evil Queen Athaliah and then leads to one of the most remarkable “covenant moments” in the entire Bible. This is unique in the OT in two ways: (a) that such a covenant is instituted and mediated by a priest and (b) that separate clauses (or separate covenants) address both Judah’s relationship with Yahweh and their relationship with the king (as in 2 Sam. 5:3; 2 Kings 23:3). This covenant reflects elements of the Sinai covenant, Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 27:1–10), and the Davidic covenant. It looks pretty innocuous in many ways, but it is not. In fact, in the flow of the Bible, this little covenant-making ceremony is startling and opens up how we should read almost all of the covenantal material in the OT.

This is, to my knowledge, the only place in the OT where the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with David are combined into a single ritual. Post-Athaliah, the people reaffirm their basic commitment to the God who says, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Both the people and the king commit to this covenant. And then another covenant is made, in which the king commits to being a Deuteronomy 17 kind of king, the kind of king God promised to bring from the house of David. In one simple statement, God’s plans for his people get back on track. This is a wholehearted, national recommitment that has immediate consequences, as the repentance of the people leads to instant action.

We can see the immediate impact of this covenant in 2 Kings 11:18, as “all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down.” Their repudiation of the Baal cult is complete. The writer adds more detail: “His altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.” To prevent the prospect of a retaliatory strike by Baal worshipers (which, in itself, is a telling comment on the state of affairs in Athaliah’s Judah), Jehoiada sets “watchmen over the house of the Lord.”

After the attempts to eradicate Athaliah’s legacy, a grand procession accompanies the king from the temple to the palace, “and he took his seat on the throne of the kings.” The promise of 2 Samuel 7 is back on track, and some element of peace is restored to the land, as “all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king’s house.” The influence of the house of Ahab over the land of David is finally broken.

In previous chapters, accounts of events are punctuated by phrases such as “according to the word of the Lord” or “as the Lord had said.” But here there is no word about the word; there is only silence. It seems that God has established his point: he speaks and acts through his word. He is the one who is quietly but decisively ordering the affairs of our world. He is the God of providence, in total control—which, strangely, is a lesson his people (and his kings) struggle to learn, as becomes clear in chapter 12. This is a time of faithfulness, frustration, and foolishness, all mixed together.

11:21–12:3 When the king’s name is finally mentioned, the variant form “Jehoash” is used.⁵ His long reign does not occupy much space in the narrative but is one of the more successful in Judah’s history in the eyes of Yahweh, as “Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days.” The reader must not miss the double dose of faithfulness wrapped up in the formulaic words of 12:1–2. From the age of seven until he is assassinated in his late forties, Jehoash rules in Jerusalem. In other words, for forty years God makes sure there is a Davidic king on the throne. No one who could remember Athaliah would think this to be a small thing! Every time they see the king, every time they hear his name, they could utter a silent “Thank you, Lord!” This is clear evidence of the faithfulness of Yahweh. Once again, the remarkable (and uniformly positive) influence of Jehoiada is highlighted, as Jehoash’s lifelong godliness is attributed to the fact that “Jehoiada the priest instructed him.”

However, faithfulness is not the full story of Jehoash’s life. Despite the uncompromising start to his reign, “nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places” (as in the reigns of Asa, 1 Kings 15:9ff., and Jehoshaphat, 1 Kings 22:41ff.). It is hard to discern how the people could be so quick to eradicate Baal worship and yet so slow to abandon the high places. It may be that whereas Baal worship is very definitely a foreign import, the high places are regarded as “native” worship sites, and so tolerated.

12:4–5 At some point in the first half of his reign, Jehoash decides to reform the finances of the temple, which appears to have fallen into disrepair. He directs the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, . . . let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” From earliest times, the people were responsible for funding the upkeep of the temple (Ex. 30:13), but for some reason, the temple has not been properly maintained. There is no suggestion of dishonesty or abuse of funds; in fact, it seems that the priests have continued to collect the temple tax but simply not done anything with it. Eventually (no explanation is given for any delay), Jehoash instigates a temple reform. However, his initiative does not proceed smoothly.

12:6–8 What is clear is that the idealism of the young king has been dismissed as naive, for “by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house.” The thirty-year-old Jehoash discovers that no action has been taken to enact his earlier dictum. This does not reflect well on his regime. At this point, Jehoash summons his mentor, Jehoiada, demanding that someone take over responsibility for the temple upkeep, and things improve slightly. In other words, the basic tasks are completed, but no money is left for drastically improving the temple’s appearance. Eventually, Jehoash summons “Jehoiada the priest and the other priests” and insists that they take responsibility for the temple repair program, which must begin at once. The matter is resolved in verse 8, as the “priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people,” and also that they should hand to others the task they have so signally failed to carry out.

12:9–12 The mechanism by which this financial rearrangement takes place is slightly unexpected: “Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord.” This simple box receives all of the money given at the temple, and when it is full, according to verse 10, “the king’s secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.” Now that the priests have been relieved of any responsibility for maintenance, the money is paid directly “into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord.” They in turn pay the subcontractors (“to the carpenters and the builders . . . and to the masons and the stonecutters”) or use it to “buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house.” These straightforward practical steps are an important indicator of the careful godliness of the reign of Jehoash of Judah.

12:13–16 However, these verses add a caveat echoing the tone of 11:21–12:3. The general state of repair of the temple complex improves, but “there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver.” Despite the prescriptions of the Torah, no provision is made for replacing these, for the “money that was brought into the house of the Lord . . . was given to the workmen.” There is no question of dishonesty (12:15), but priorities do seem to be misaligned. Similarly, the priests do not miss out: “The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.” The reign of Jehoash does result in positive changes and a rise in the spiritual temperature of Judah, but wholehearted devotion to Yahweh remains elusive.

12:17–18 The attitude that led to the failure to prioritize the temple utensils is also on display when the Syrians come to visit once again. “At that time Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it,” and Jerusalem was the next stop on his itinerary. In order to ward off his attentions,

Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. (v. 18)

The momentous nature of this bribe is signaled by the king’s being given his full title. Not only does Jehoash undermine the faithfulness of his forefathers, he also slips into the terrible pattern that has dogged the kings of Judah to drastic effect in the life of the nation.

One must not miss the dark impact of verses 17–18. Jehoash is basically godly, and yet even he takes tragic missteps in leading his people in the ways of the Lord. He repeats what is becoming a catastrophic pattern in the reigns of the kings of Judah. Rehoboam lost the temple utensils to Egypt (1 Kings 14:25–28). Asa used them to bribe Ben-hadad (1 Kings 15:18). Later Ahaz will send the temple treasure to the Assyrians (2 Kings 16:8), and eventually Hezekiah will show off his treasure to the Babylonians (2 Kings 20:12–13). On each occasion, this act of foolishness is the precursor of national disaster, as it reveals the insufficiency of the faith of God’s king. In the case of Jehoash it paves the way for the anticlimax with which 2 Kings 12 ends, as Jehoash is assassinated by his own servants.

12:19–21 The concluding summary of the reign of Joash (the shortened form is used for the first time since the beginning of ch. 11) is notable mainly for the sad account of his death. Verse 20 records that his own “servants arose and made a conspiracy and struck down Joash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. It was Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died.” The king who has done more for his people than most, who has restored the nation to the worship of Yahweh, is assassinated by his own people in his own capital, near the city of David.⁶ Joash, the son of David, is buried with “his fathers in the city of David, and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.”