Discovery Box2 Kings 11:4--12:16 
Context11:4 In the seventh year Jehoiada summoned 1 the officers of the units of hundreds of the Carians 2 and the royal bodyguard. 3 He met with them 4 in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement 5 with them and made them swear an oath of allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son. 11:5 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. 11:6 Another third of you will be stationed at the Foundation 6 Gate. Still another third of you will be stationed at the gate behind the royal guard. 7 You will take turns guarding the palace. 8 11:7 The two units who are off duty on the Sabbath will guard the Lord’s temple and protect the king. 9 11:8 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.” 10
11:9 The officers of the units of hundreds did just as 11 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 12 to Jehoiada the priest. 11:10 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. 11:11 The royal bodyguard 13 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. 14 11:12 Jehoiada 15 led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia. 16 They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head. 17 They clapped their hands and cried out, “Long live the king!”
11:13 When Athaliah heard the royal guard 18 shout, she joined the crowd 19 at the Lord’s temple. 11:14 Then she saw 20 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!” 21 11:15 Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, 22 “Bring her outside the temple to the guards. 23 Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple. 24 11:16 They seized her and took her into the precincts of the royal palace through the horses’ entrance. 25 There she was executed.
11:17 Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord. 26 11:18 All the people of the land went and demolished 27 the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols 28 to bits. 29 They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest 30 then placed guards at the Lord’s temple. 11:19 He took the officers of the units of hundreds, the Carians, the royal bodyguard, and all the people of 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, 31 and the king 32 sat down on the royal throne. 11:20 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.
11:21 (12:1) 33 Jehoash 34 was seven years old when he began to reign. 12:1 (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. 35 His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. 12:2 Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the Lord approved, 36 just as 37 Jehoiada the priest taught him. 12:3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal 38 all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, 39 the silver received from those who have made vows, 40 and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple. 41 12:5 The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.” 42
12:6 By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple. 12:7 So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.” 43 12:8 The priests agreed 44 not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs. 45
12:9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of 46 the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple. 12:10 When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary 47 and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up. 48 12:11 They would then hand over 49 the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen 50 assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple, 12:12 as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and also paid for all the other expenses. 51 12:13 The silver brought to the Lord’s temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements. 12:14 It was handed over 52 to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 12:15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed 53 the funds to the foremen, for they were honest. 54 12:16 (The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the Lord’s temple; it belonged to the priests.)
1 tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.”
2 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 tn Heb “the runners.”
4 tn Heb “he brought them to himself.”
5 tn Or “covenant.”
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 be a corruption of יְסוֹד (yÿsod) “foundation,” involving in part dalet-resh confusion.
7 tn Heb “the runners.”
8 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 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
10 tn Heb “and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in.”
11 tn Heb “according to all that.”
12 tn Heb “came.”
13 tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19).
14 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 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) 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 tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”
18 tc The MT reads, “and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people.” The term הָעָם (ha’am), “the people,” is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14.
19 tn Heb “she came to the people.”
20 tn Heb “and she saw, and look.”
21 tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.”
22 tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.
23 tn Heb “ranks.”
24 tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the
25 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.”
26 tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the
27 tn Or “tore down.”
28 tn Or “images.”
29 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.
30 tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.
31 tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”
32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 sn Beginning with 11:21, the verse numbers through 12:21 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 11:21 ET = 12:1 HT, 12:1 ET = 12:2 HT, 12:2 ET = 12:3 HT, etc., through 12:21 ET = 12:22 HT. With 13:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
34 tn Jehoash is an alternate name for Joash (see 11:2).
35 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
36 tn Heb “and Jehoash did what was proper in the eyes of the
37 tn Heb “that which.” Jehoiada taught the king the Lord’s will.
38 tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.
39 tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (’avar), “pass over,” probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
40 tn Heb “the silver of persons, his valuation.” The precise meaning of the phrase is uncertain, but parallels in Lev 27 suggest that personal vows are referred to here. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
41 tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the
42 tn Heb “Let the priests take for themselves, each from his treasurer, and let them repair the damage of the temple, with respect to all the damage that is found there.” The word מַכָּר (makar), translated here “treasurer,” occurs only in this passage. Some suggest it means “merchant” or “benefactor.” Its usage in Ugaritic texts, where it appears in a list of temple officials, suggests that it refers in this context to individuals who were in charge of disbursing temple funds.
43 tn Heb “Now, do not take silver from your treasurers, because for the damages to the temple you must give it.”
44 tn Outside of this passage the verb אוּת (’ut) appears only in Gen 34:15-22.
45 tn Heb “and not to repair the damages to the temple.” This does not mean that the priests were no longer interested in repairing the temple. As the following context makes clear, the priests decided to hire skilled workers to repair the damage to the temple, rather than trying to make the repairs themselves.
46 tn Heb “on the right side of the altar as a man enters.”
47 tn Heb “the king’s scribe.”
48 tn Heb “went up and tied [it] and counted the silver that was found in the house of the
49 tn Heb “would give.”
50 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
51 tn Heb “and for all that which was going out concerning the house for repair.”
52 tn Heb “was given.”
53 tn Heb “gave.”
54 tn Heb “and they did not conduct a reckoning of the men who gave the silver into their hand to give to the doers of the work, for in honesty they were working.”
