Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 11:16
And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house: and there was she slain.
16. And they laid hands on her ] R.V. So they made way for her. The rendering of the A.V. agrees with the LXX. and the Vulgate. But the verb here used is not that employed for such an act as the arrest here described would be. It is better therefore to adopt the translation of the Targum followed by Jewish and many modern commentators, ‘They gave room to her on both hands’. Literally the words mean, ‘they arranged for her two sides’, thus making a space between which she could walk.
by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house ] R.V. by the way of the horses’ entry to the king’s house. This is not to be confounded with the ‘horse gate’ of Jerusalem, spoken of Neh 3:28. That was a gate of the city, not of the king’s palace. The way here spoken of was a private road to the king’s house.
there was she slain ] No doubt according to the orders of Jehoiada.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they laid hands on her – Most modern critics render – and they gave her space, i. e., they cleared a way for her, and allowed her to walk out of the temple not only unharmed but untonched.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. By the way – which the horses came] They probably brought her out near the king’s stables. It has been supposed, from Eze 46:1-2, that the east gate of the inner court was that by which the king entered on the Sabbath day, whereas on all other days he entered by the south gate. And there was another gate, called the horse gate, in the wall of the city, (Jer 31:40,) for the king’s horses to go out at from the stables at Millo, which is therefore called, 2Ch 23:15, the horse gate toward the king’s house.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They laid hands on her, or, they gave her space or room, to wit, to go out of the court of the temple, and did not keep her within it, as they could have done. Or, they appointed bands for her; they ordered two bands of the Levites to follow her, and kill her.
By the way by the which the horses came into the kings house; by the great and public road in which horses and chariots went to the palace.
There was she slain; in an ignominious place and manner, as her mother Jezebel had been.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they laid hands on her,…. Or rather,
“set a place for her”,
as the Targum; so Jarchi and Kimchi; made a space, opened a way for her to come out of the temple into their ranks, that she might be there taken and slain, and not in the temple:
and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house; either the high road in which the horses and carriages went to the palace, or the way to the king’s stables near the palace: and there was she slain; they let her go so far, which was far enough from the temple, and then they slew her.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) They laid hands on her.So the LXX. and Vulg. The Hebrew phrase means: and they made room for her on both sidesi.e., the crowd fell back, and a lane was formed for her exit (so the Targum and Rashi).
She went . . . kings house.She entered the palace by way of the entry of the horses. Athaliah was conducted to the royal stables which adjoined the palace, and there put to death.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. The way by the which the horses came into the king’s house The Chronicles calls the place “the entering of the horse gate, by the king’s house.” Some have inclined to identify this with “the horse gate” of Neh 3:28, and Jer 31:40. Its location is unknown, but seems to have been somewhere near the palace. Perhaps the design of slaying her at the entrance to the royal stables was, that, like her mother Jezebel, she might be also trampled under foot by horses. Compare 2Ki 9:33.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 11:16. And they laid hands on her Then they gave her room, or, They left her a free passage to depart out of the temple; so Houbigant, after the Chaldee.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 11:16 And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house: and there was she slain.
Ver. 16. The way by the which the horses came. ] So that she was trampled, haply, by the horses, as her mother had been; howsoever, she was slain among the stables and dunghills of the king’s house. Josephus saith that she was carried down to the town ditch, and there despatched.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
laid hands on her = made way for her.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
by the which: 2Ch 23:15
there was she slain: Gen 9:6, Jdg 1:7, Mat 7:2, Jam 2:13, Rev 16:5-7
Reciprocal: Neh 3:28 – the horse Jer 31:40 – unto
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 11:16. They laid hands on her The Hebrew, , Jashimu lah jadaim, may be properly rendered, Then they gave her room, or left her a free passage to depart out of the temple. Thus Houbigant, after the Chaldee. And she went by the way, &c. By the great public road, by which horses and chariots went to the palace. And there was she slain
In an ignominious place and manner, as her mother Jezebel had been.