The Baby Hidden in the Temple
1 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedroom; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. 3 He was with her hidden in Yahweh’s house six years while Athaliah reigned over the land. 4 In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into Yahweh’s house; and he made a covenant with them, and made a covenant with them in Yahweh’s house, and showed them the king’s son. 5 He commanded them, saying, “This is what you must do: a third of you, who come in on the Sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house; 6 a third of you shall be at the gate Sur; and a third of you at the gate behind the guard. So you shall keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. 7 The two companies of you, even all who go out on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of Yahweh’s house around the king. 8 You shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he who comes within the ranks, let him be slain. Be with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in.” 9 The captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they each took his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in Yahweh’s house. 11 The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king. 12 Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant; and they made him king and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!” 13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into Yahweh’s house; 14 and she looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the tradition was, with the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” 15 Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks. Kill anyone who follows her with the sword.” For the priest said, “Don’t let her be slain in Yahweh’s house.” 16 So they seized her; and she went by the way of the horses’ entry to the king’s house, and she was slain there. 17 Jehoiada made a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh’s people; also between the king and the people. 18 All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down. They broke his altars and his images in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over Yahweh’s house. 19 He took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from Yahweh’s house, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king’s house. He sat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. They had slain Athaliah with the sword at the king’s house. 21 Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
A queen mother kills every heir she can find, an aunt hides one in a bedroom, and six years later a priest crowns a seven-year-old.
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring.
This is the closest the house of David ever comes to extinction, and it is done from inside by a grandmother killing her own grandchildren. Athaliah is Ahab and Jezebel's daughter 2 Kings 8:18, married into Judah as a treaty and now, with Jehu's purge finished in the north, the last of that house with any power. Everything Elijah fought is making its final stand on David's throne.
And the promise of a lamp for David 2 Kings 8:19 hangs, at this moment, on whether a massacre was thorough.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedroom; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
The rescue is one woman's improvisation in the middle of a slaughter — a princess pulling a baby and his nurse out of the killing and into a bedroom. She is a daughter of the royal house and, by the parallel record, married to the high priest, which is how the child ends up living in the temple precincts 2 Chronicles 22:11.
He was with her hidden in Yahweh’s house six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.
Six years. A toddler kept quiet in the temple while the woman who ordered his family's death rules the country from a mile away. The future of the messianic line is a secret held by a household of priests, and the entire argument of this book — that God keeps his word — rests for six years on nobody talking.
In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into Yahweh’s house; and he made a covenant with them, and made a covenant with them in Yahweh’s house, and showed them the king’s son.
Jehoiada's coup is planned like a military operation, and the account gives the rotations in detail: three companies, the Sabbath changeover used as cover so twice the normal guard is present without suspicion, every approach covered, the boy surrounded at all times 2 Kings 11:5–8. Faith and staff work are not alternatives here.
The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in Yahweh’s house.
The detail is a deliberate touch. The guard protecting David's last descendant is armed from David's own dedicated weapons, kept in the temple for two centuries.
Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant; and they made him king and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!”
Crown and covenant together — the boy receives the law along with the diadem, which is exactly what Israel's kingship was constituted to be Deuteronomy 17:18–19. Judah's monarchy is restored as a covenant office rather than simply a throne.
and she looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the tradition was, with the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”
The woman who murdered the royal family calls the restoration of its survivor treason, and the irony is left to stand. Jehoiada's order is careful — take her outside, do not kill her in the temple 2 Kings 11:15 — and she dies at the horses' entry to the palace.
All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down. They broke his altars and his images in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over Yahweh’s house.
Judah had acquired a Baal temple of its own through the marriage, and it comes down the same day, along with its priest. Then a seven-year-old sits on the throne, and the city was quiet 2 Kings 11:20 — the lamp still burning, kept alight by an aunt, a nurse, a priest and a bedroom.
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