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Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms

17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. 18 And all the people of the land went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

Jehoiada the priest stationed guards at the Temple of the Lord. 19 Then the commanders, the Carite mercenaries, the palace guards, and all the people of the land escorted the king from the Temple of the Lord. They went through the gate of the guards and into the palace, and the king took his seat on the royal throne. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful because Athaliah had been killed at the king’s palace.

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17 Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord.[a] 18 All the people of the land went and demolished[b] the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols[c] to bits.[d] They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest[e] then placed guards at the Lord’s temple. 19 He took the officers of the units of hundreds, the Carians, the royal bodyguard, and all the people of the land, and together they led the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Gate of the Royal Bodyguard,[f] and the king[g] sat down on the royal throne. 20 All the people of the land celebrated, for the city had rest now that they had killed Athaliah with the sword in the royal palace.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 11:17 tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and [between] the king and [between] the people, to become a people for the Lord, and between the king and [between] the people.” The final words of the verse (“and between the king and [between] the people”) are probably accidentally repeated from earlier in the verse. They do not appear in the parallel account in 2 Chr 23:16. If retained, they probably point to an agreement governing how the king and people should relate to one another.
  2. 2 Kings 11:18 tn Or “tore down.”
  3. 2 Kings 11:18 tn Or “images.”
  4. 2 Kings 11:18 tn The Hebrew construction translated “smashed…to bits” is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (הֵיטֵב [hetev], “well”) accompanying the Piel form of the verb שָׁבַר (shavar), “break,” suggests thorough demolition.
  5. 2 Kings 11:18 tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.
  6. 2 Kings 11:19 tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”
  7. 2 Kings 11:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.