Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

He was - hid in the house of the Lord - This might be readily done, because none had access to the temple but the priests; and the high priest himself was the chief manager of this business.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And Athaliah did reign over the land - In these words the writer dismisses the entire reign of Athaliah, whereof he scorns to speak. We gather incidentally from 2 Kings 12:5-12, compared with 2 Chronicles 24:7, that Athaliah used her power to establish the exclusive worship of BaaI through the kingdom of Judah, and to crush that of Yahweh. She stopped the temple service, gave over the sacred vessels of the sanctuary to the use of the Baal priests, and employed the temple itself as a quarry from which materials might be taken for the construction of a great temple to Baal, which rose in the immediate neighborhood.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years,.... In the temple; not in the holy of holies, as Jarchi, but in a chamber of the priests and Levites, of which there were several in a temple, as Kimchi, and others; and the husband of Jehosheba, being high priest, had one of them for his own use; and here the child was hid six years, so that he was but a year old when he was first taken and preserved, for he was made king when seven years of age, 2 Kings 11:21,

and Athaliah did reign over the land; the only instance we hear of a woman reigning in Israel, and this was not by right, but by usurpation; and so, according to the Jewish canons, a woman might not rule; which thus runs^F1Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 1. sect. 5. , they do not set a woman in the kingdom, as it is said, Deuteronomy 17:15, "a king over them", not a queen; and so, in all places of power and authority in Israel, they put in them none but a man.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Kings 11:3 And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

Ver. 3. And he was with her hid, &c., ] i.e., With his aunt Jehosheba, [2 Kings 11:2] a king’s daughter, and yet a priest’s wife. Athaliah either believed that Joash was slain with the rest of his brethren, or else she held it no policy to hold that he was alive, lest the people should hanker and hearken after him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Either Athaliah thought they were all dead; or if she suspected that Joash was preserved, she thought an infant could do her no great harm; and that she could so well assure the kingdom to herself within a few years, that she need not fear any such weak competitor: or she was willing to smother up the business, lest if she had made a strict and diligent search for it, the people should thereby learn that there was yet a son of David’s family left, and so be unquiet under her government, and desirous of a change.

Athaliah did reign over the land; which she had an opportunity, to do, because she was not only the late king’s wife, but also was probably made queen-regent upon Joram’s going to Ramoth-gilead.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

3.Hid in the house of the Lord six years — Jehosheba’s husband being high priest, this concealment of her nephew Joash was the more safe.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

2 Kings 11:3. He was hid with her six years — Probably Athaliah thought they were dead; or, if she suspected this child was preserved, she supposed an infant could do her no great harm; and that she could so well establish herself in the possession of the kingdom within a few years, that she need not fear any such weak competitor. And Athaliah did reign over the land — Which she had the better opportunity of doing, because she was not only the late king’s wife, but also, probably, made queen-regent upon Joram’s going to Ramoth-gilead.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Lord. The case was so extraordinary, that he high priest dispensed with a woman lodging in those apartments. --- Land, for six years, by usurpation. Women were commonly excluded, and she was not of the race of David, 4 Kings viii. 26. (Calmet)

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

hid in the house of the LORD. This was the safest possible place: for it had been broken up, and everything removed to the house of Baal (2 Chronicles 24:7) The Temple courts were deserted. Hence, Jehoiada and the priests were plotting for the restoration of the rightful heir. See note on Libnah, 2 Kings 8:22.

six years. The number of man"s defiance and disorder. See App-10.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) And he was with her—i.e., with Jehosheba his aunt. The words “in the house of the Lord” should immediately follow. The Word “hid” is connected with “six years” in the Hebrew, and relates to the infant prince only. Joash was with his aunt “in the house of the Lord”—i.e., in one of the chambers allotted to the priests, perhaps even in the high priest’s residence, which may have been within the sacred precincts. Thenius assumes that the statement of Chronicles, that Jehosheba was wife of the high priest, has no other ground than a “traditional interpretation” of these words; and asserts that Jehosheba was herself obliged to share the asylum of the infant prince in order to escape the vengeance of Athaliah. But it is certain that the chronicler had better authority than mere tradition for his important additions to the history of the kings. (See Note on 2 Chronicles 22:11.)

Did reign.—Was reigning.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

A. M. 3120-3126. B.C. 884-878. And Athaliah

2 Chronicles 22:12; Psalms 12:8; Malachi 3:15