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2 Kings 11:4-16
New English Translation

4 In the seventh year Jehoiada summoned[a] the officers of the units of hundreds of the Carians[b] and the royal bodyguard.[c] He met with them[d] in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement[e] with them and made them swear an oath of allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son. 5 He ordered them, “This is what you must do. One third of the unit that is on duty during the Sabbath will guard the royal palace. 6 Another third of you will be stationed at the Foundation[f] Gate. Still another third of you will be stationed at the gate behind the royal guard.[g] You will take turns guarding the palace.[h] 7 The two units who are off duty on the Sabbath will guard the Lord’s temple and protect the king.[i] 8 You must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever approaches your ranks must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.”[j]

9 The officers of the units of hundreds did just as[k] Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each of them took his men, those who were on duty during the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty on the Sabbath, and reported[l] to Jehoiada the priest. 10 The priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and the shields that were kept in the Lord’s temple. 11 The royal bodyguard[m] took their stations, each holding his weapon in his hand. They lined up from the south side of the temple to the north side and stood near the altar and the temple, surrounding the king.[n] 12 Jehoiada[o] led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia.[p] They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head.[q] They clapped their hands and cried out, “Long live the king!”

13 When Athaliah heard the royal guard[r] shout, she joined the crowd[s] at the Lord’s temple. 14 Then she saw[t] the king standing by the pillar, according to custom. The officers stood beside the king with their trumpets, and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason, treason!”[u] 15 Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army,[v] “Bring her outside the temple to the guards.[w] Put to death by the sword anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple.[x] 16 They seized her and took her into the precincts of the royal palace through the horses’ entrance.[y] There she was executed.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 11:4 tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.”
  2. 2 Kings 11:4 sn The Carians were apparently a bodyguard, probably comprised of foreigners. See HALOT 497 s.v. כָּרִי and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 126.
  3. 2 Kings 11:4 tn Heb “the runners.”
  4. 2 Kings 11:4 tn Heb “he brought them to himself.”
  5. 2 Kings 11:4 tn Or “covenant.”
  6. 2 Kings 11:6 tn Heb “the gate of Sur” (followed by many English versions) but no such gate is mentioned elsewhere in the OT. The parallel account in 2 Chr 23:5 has “Foundation Gate.” סוּר (sur), “Sur,” may need to be emended to יְסוֹד (yesod) “foundation,” involving in part dalet-resh confusion.
  7. 2 Kings 11:6 tn Heb “the runners.”
  8. 2 Kings 11:6 tn The meaning of מַסָּח (massakh) is not certain. The translation above, rather than understanding it as a genitive modifying “house,” takes it as an adverb describing how the groups will guard the palace. See HALOT 605 s.v. מַסָּח for the proposed meaning “alternating” (i.e., “in turns”).
  9. 2 Kings 11:7 tn Verses 5b-7 read literally, “the third of you, the ones entering [on] the Sabbath and the ones guarding the guard of the house of the king, and the third in the gate of Sur, and the third in the gate behind the runners, and you will guard the guard of the house, alternating. And the two units of you, all the ones going out [on] the Sabbath, and they will guard the guard of the house of the Lord for the king.” The precise meaning of this text is impossible to determine. It would appear that the Carians and royal bodyguard were divided into three units. One unit would serve during the Sabbath; the other two would be off duty on the Sabbath. Jehoiada divided the first unit into three groups and assigned them different locations. The two off duty units were assigned the task of guarding the king.
  10. 2 Kings 11:8 tn Heb “and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in.”
  11. 2 Kings 11:9 tn Heb “according to all that.”
  12. 2 Kings 11:9 tn Heb “came.”
  13. 2 Kings 11:11 tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19).
  14. 2 Kings 11:11 tn Heb “and the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.”
  15. 2 Kings 11:12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. 2 Kings 11:12 tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (ʿedut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת.
  17. 2 Kings 11:12 tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”
  18. 2 Kings 11:13 tc The MT reads, “and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people.” The term הָעָם (haʿam), “the people,” is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14.
  19. 2 Kings 11:13 tn Heb “she came to the people.”
  20. 2 Kings 11:14 tn Heb “and she saw, and look.”
  21. 2 Kings 11:14 tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.”
  22. 2 Kings 11:15 tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.
  23. 2 Kings 11:15 tn Heb “ranks.”
  24. 2 Kings 11:15 tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.’”
  25. 2 Kings 11:16 tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king.”
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2 Kings 10
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