2 Kings 11:13

And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Of the guard and of the people.—This is correct. The and has fallen out of the Hebrew text.

The guard.—The Aramaic form of the plural, rare in prose, occurs here. (Comp. 1Kings 11:33.) In 2Chronicles 23:11 the words are transposed. This gives a different sense—viz., “of the people running together” to which is added, “and acclaiming the king.” The chronicler may have found this in the work he followed, but the text before us seems preferable, as the word “runners” (Couriers) throughout the account means the royal guard.

The people.—See Note on 2Kings 11:14.

She came . . . into the temple.—Evidently, therefore, the palace was hard by the Temple. (See Note on 2Kings 11:16.)

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 11:13. She came to the people — To inquire into the cause of this great noise; being hitherto kept in deep ignorance, because the affair was managed with so much secrecy, and in the temple; and because the people universally hated her, and wished her downfall. Into the temple of the Lord — That is, into the courts, into which, being a queen, she was permitted to enter, though contrary to the general order, 2 Kings 11:8. She seems, in her fright, to have come alone, or with but few attendants.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:13-16 Athaliah hastened her own destruction. She herself was the greatest traitor, and yet was first and loudest in crying, Treason, treason! The most guilty are commonly the most forward to reproach others.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The testimony - i. e., "The Book of the Law" which was kept in the ark of the covenant (Dent. 31:26). This Jehoiada placed ou the king's head at the moment of coronation, perhaps to indicate that the king was not to be above, but under, the direction of the Law of his country.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ki 11:13-16. Athaliah Slain.

13. Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people—The profound secrecy with which the conspiracy had been conducted rendered the unusual acclamations of the vast assembled crowd the more startling and roused the suspicions of the tyrant.

she came … into the temple of the Lord—that is, the courts, which she was permitted to enter by Jehoiada's directions (2Ki 11:8) in order that she might be secured.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The noise of the people, who came thither upon the hearing of the noise and tidings of what was done.

She came to the people, to inquire into the cause of this great noise; being hitherto kept in deep ignorance; partly because it wits managed with so much secrecy, and in the temple; and partly because the people universally hated her, and wished her downfall.

Into the temple of the Lord, i.e. into the courts; whither by Jehoiada’s direction she was permitted to enter, though contrary to his general order, 2 Kings 11:8, that so he might draw her into his net.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard, and of the people,.... Their acclamations and shouts at the coronation of the king; for by this time the people had some knowledge of the affair, and ran, and came flocking to see the new king, and express their joy on this occasion, and whom they greatly praised, 2 Chronicles 23:12.

she came to the people into the temple of the Lord; the outward court, where the people were assembled; and she seems to come alone, unattended, in great surprise and consternation, and was admitted to pass the guards, being the queen, and alone, and perhaps by the particular order of Jehoiada, though contrary to the general orders he gave, 2 Kings 11:8.

Geneva Study Bible

And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. And when Athaliah heard the noise] The arrangements had all been made so cautiously that the queen-mother had no knowledge of what was being done. But we may suppose that ere long the report would reach her through her attendants, and so she went, where otherwise she was not wont to go, toward the house of the Lord. Unless she had thought it some matter of grave concern we cannot fancy her going out to put an end by her presence, if possible, to the proceeding. Josephus’ account is that ‘having heard the tumult and applause unexpectedly, Athaliah was greatly troubled, and hastened with her private troops from the palace: that the priests admitted her into the temple area, but prevented the armed men who were with her from entering’. The Bible narratives do not speak of a guard accompanying Athaliah, but it is not likely that she would go forth on such an errand without one, though the influence of a queen-mother was very powerful.

of the guard and of the people] There is no conjunction in the Hebrew, and the guard were the ‘runners’ spoken of above. The narrative in Chronicles transposes the two words, and the rendering there is ‘of the people running’, but probably the conjunction is wanting in both cases through the error of the scribe. So in 2 Chronicles 23:2 the R.V. has put on the margin ‘of the people, of the guard and of those who praised the king’.

she came to the people into the temple [R.V. house] of the Lord] The assembly was a notable one and seems to have been at the time of some feast which had brought a more than usually great concourse to Jerusalem.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard (comp. 1 Kings 1:41-45, where the noise accompanying the coronation of Solomon was heard to an equal distance) and of the people. The "and," which is omitted in the present Hebrew text, may be supplied by a very slight alteration. We have only to read הָרָצִי וְהָעָם for הָרָצין הָעָם - an emendation rendered almost certain by the fact that the plural in אּיּן does not belong to the date of the writer of Kings. She came to the people into the temple of the Lord. It was not her habit to enter the temple on the sabbath, or on any ether day; but, hearing the noise, she hurried across from the palace to learn its cause. It would seem that she was still unsuspicious of danger, and brought no guards with her, nor any large body of attendants. 2 Kings 11:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Death of Athaliah. - 2 Kings 11:13, 2 Kings 11:14. As soon as Athaliah heard the loud rejoicing of the people, she came to the people into the temple, and when she saw the youthful king in his standing-place surrounded by the princes, the trumpeters, and the whole of the people, rejoicing and blowing the trumpets, she rent her clothes with horror, and cried out, Conspiracy, conspiracy! העם הרצין does not mean the people running together, but the original reading in the text was probably והעם הרצין, the people and the halberdiers, and the Vav dropped out through an oversight of the copyist. By הרצין we are to understand the captains of the halberdiers with the armed Levites, as in 2 Kings 11:11; and העם is the people who had assembled besides (cf. 2 Kings 11:19). In the Chronicles המּלך והמהללים הרצים is in apposition to העם: the noise of the people, the halberdiers, and those who praised the king. The עמּוּד, upon which the king stood, was not a pillar, but an elevated standing-place (suggestus) for the king at the eastern gate of the inner court (בּמּבוא, 2 Chronicles 23:13 compared with Ezekiel 46:2), when he visited the temple on festive occasions (cf. 2 Kings 23:3), and it was most probably identical with the brazen scaffold (כּיּור) mentioned in 2 Chronicles 6:13, which would serve to explain כּמּשׁפּט, "according to the right" (Angl. V. "as the manner was"). השּׂרים are not merely the captains mentioned in 2 Kings 11:4, 2 Kings 11:9, and 2 Kings 11:10, but these together with the rest of the assembled heads of the nation (האבות ראשׁי, 2 Chronicles 13:2). החצצרות, the trumpets, the trumpeters. The reference is to the Levitical musicians mentioned in 1 Chronicles 13:8; 1 Chronicles 15:24, etc.; for they are distinguished from וגו כּל־העם, "all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing the trumpets," i.e., not all the military men of the land who were present in Jerusalem (Thenius), but the mass of the people present in the temple (Bertheau).