Chapter Twenty-Three

1–11. The reign of Joash, the 8th king of Judah. 12–15. The destruction of Athaliah. 13–21. The first steps of the young king and his piety and devotion to the theocracy.

2 Chronicles 23:1. But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri. While the narrative in the chapter (2 Chr 23) about the political revolution in the Kingdom of Judah carried out by the high priest Jehoiada shows general and often word-for-word similarity with the narrative in the chapter (2 Kgs 11) concerning this same event (see “Expository Bible,” vol. II, p. 513–515), the narrative of 2 Chronicles has certain distinctive features in content and especially in presentation compared with 4 Kings. These features relate partly to the documentary character that particularly distinguishes the book of Chronicles, and partly to the theocratic and priestly perspective equally characteristic of these books. In the first respect, it is significant that in verse 1 all the participants in Jehoiada’s conspiracy are named. As for the chronological date of the event, in the accepted text of the LXX it is designated as the eighth year of Athaliah’s reign (ἐν τ῀ ἔτει τῶ ὀγδόω), but in codices XI, 19, 52, 55, 60, 64, 71, 74, 93, 106, 108, 119, 120, 121, 134, 158, 236, 243 in Holmes, in the Alexandrian, Aldine, and Complutensian codices, in the Vulgate, Slavonic, and Russian texts, in agreement with the Hebrew text, the seventh year is named.

2 Chronicles 23:2. And they went through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. Here two new circumstances, not noted in 4 Kings, concerning the revolution undertaken at the initiative of the high priest Jehoiada. First: the preparatory agitation in favor of this revolution by the commanders named in verse 1; the Levites and priests, together with the heads of the people’s families, who came to Jerusalem for this purpose, became involved in the movement. Such participation of priests and Levites in the political movement organized at the initiative of the high priest was quite natural and merely happened to be omitted in 4 Kings. The invitation of all the mentioned persons to Jerusalem could have been connected with some festival, so the secrecy of the state enterprise could remain unbroken. In codex 240 in Kennicott, to the words (v. 2) “came to Jerusalem” is added: “the whole assembly” (kol qahal).

2 Chronicles 23:3. And the whole assembly made a covenant in the house of God with the king. And he said to them: “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has spoken concerning the sons of David. 2 Chronicles 23:4. This is what you shall do: a third of you, those coming on the Sabbath, priests and Levites, shall be gatekeepers at the thresholds, 2 Chronicles 23:5. and a third at the king’s house and a third at the Gate Foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 23:6. And let no one enter the house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who minister; they may enter, for they are consecrated. But all the people shall keep watch over the Lord. 2 Chronicles 23:7. And the Levites shall surround the king on every side, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the temple shall be put to death. And you shall be with the king in his coming and going. 2 Chronicles 23:8. And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that the priest Jehoiada commanded; and they each took his men, those coming on the Sabbath with those going off on the Sabbath, for the priest Jehoiada did not dismiss the courses. 2 Chronicles 23:9. And the priest Jehoiada distributed to the commanders of hundreds the spears and the small and large shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God; 2 Chronicles 23:10. and he stationed all the people, each with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, near the altar and near the temple, all around the king. 2 Chronicles 23:11. And they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the covenant; and they proclaimed him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said: “Long live the king! 2 Chronicles 23:12. And when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to the people, 2 Chronicles 23:13. and behold, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, with the commanders and the trumpets beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in praise. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out: “Treason! Treason! 2 Chronicles 23:14. And the priest Jehoiada brought out the commanders of hundreds who were set over the army and said to them: “Bring her out between the ranks; and whoever follows her shall be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said: “Do not put her to death in the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 23:15. And they made way for her, and she went into the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king’s house, and they put her to death there. 2 Chronicles 23:16. And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be the people of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 23:17. And all the people went to the temple of Baal and broke it down; they broke in pieces his altars and his images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 2 Chronicles 23:18. And Jehoiada assigned the care of the house of the Lord to the priests and the Levites, [and restored the courses of the priests and the Levites,] as David had organized them in the house of the Lord, for the offering of burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. 2 Chronicles 23:19. And he stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter. 2 Chronicles 23:20. And he took the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, and came through the upper gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the royal throne. 2 Chronicles 23:21. So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet. And Athaliah had been put to death by the sword. Cf. (2 Kgs 11:4-20) and “Expository Bible,” vol. II, p. 514. In verse 5 are mentioned the “Gate Foundation,” that is, the foundation gate (Vulgate: ad portam, quae appellatur Fundamenti); in (2 Kgs 11:6) they are called the “Gate of Sur” (Schaar-Sur), and in verse 19 of the same chapter – “the Gate of the Guards” (schaar harazim). They are called the “gate of the foundation” because of their low level compared with other gates (Prof. Olesnitsky, “The Old Testament Temple,” p. 354). Of course, both names “may be correct, one enclosed within the other” (Prof. Gulyaev, p. 549–550). The LXX render Foundation: ἐν τῆ πύλη τῆ μέση; Slavonic: “in the middle gates.” They were located on the western side of the temple. In verses 6–7 is emphasized the distinction between clergy and laypeople with respect to approach to the sanctuary (cf. (Num 8:6; Ezra 8:28-29)). Moreover, in contrast to 4 Kings, it stresses the more active participation of the entire clergy – priests, Levites (verses 7–8), singers (verse 13) – in the matter of elevating Joash to the throne. “It seems there is no reason to doubt that to involve all the Levitical tribe in the conspiracy, the high priest, who burned with passion to restore pure worship of the God of the covenant, recruited them; moreover, both accounts easily agree, since it is evident from both that the chief conspirators were the commanders of the guard” (Vlastov, “Sacred Chronicle,” vol. IV, pt. II, p. 188). In verse 16 it says: “Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king.” In place of the words we have marked in italics, in the parallel verse (2 Kgs 11:17) there are the words “with the Lord” (bein Iehova). But the substance of the matter remains the same in both cases: the high priest according to 2 Chronicles acts as the representative of Iehova in virtue of his preeminent position in theocratic society. By its nature, the covenant of the king and people with Iehova, like other covenants of this kind, for example, that made under Asa (2 Chr 15:10-14), consisted in the solemn oath-bound promise of the people and king to faithfully observe the obligations determined by the nature of the theocracy (cf. (1 Sam 10:25; 2 Sam 5:3). See A. Mirolyubov, “The Life of Hebrew Kings,” Kazan, 1898, p. 10–11).

2 Chronicles 23:20. And he took the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, and came through the upper gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the royal throne. Jehoiada accompanied the young (seven-year-old) king with the guard and people from the temple to the palace and arranged his household. Without doubt, Jehoiada was regent of the kingdom during the king’s minority (Vlastov, “Sacred Chronicle,” vol. IV, pt. II, p. 189). * * * “The heads of the families of Israel” (v. 2): “Israel” here has that general meaning which this term had before the division of the Hebrew kingdom into two, and which it acquired again after the fall of the Northern Israelite kingdom.