Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 11:18
And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.
18. went into [R.V. to ] the house of Baal ] Athaliah had set up Baal worship in Judah after the fashion of the northern kingdom. We are told also in 2Ch 24:7 that the sons of Athaliah had broken up (i.e. broken into) the house of God, and bestowed the dedicated things of the house of the Lord upon the Baalim. It is clear from this that the house of Baal was not any portion of the temple which had been appropriated to the idolatrous worship, but a separate building, into which spoils from the temple had been conveyed. It may have been on the same hill with the temple, though of that we cannot be certain. There can however be no doubt that the Baal worship had not extended largely in Judah. Hence the readiness of the people of the land, called to Jerusalem by some festival, to go to the Baalite edifice and destroy it.
brake they in pieces throughly ] That there should be no chance of a restoration. The multitude were no doubt helped in their destruction by the military force with which, in these doings, they had been in such close combination.
Mattan the priest of Baal ] We read of no other priest of Baal in Judah, and so we may conclude that though the court favoured idolatry, it found no great favour with the rest of the kingdom. Otherwise we should have heard of an array of priests like that of Jezebel in Samaria.
And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord ] From this necessity we may gather that the regular ministrations in the temple had been interfered with by the introduction of the Baalim. The Chronicler gives fuller details on this matter, and the two accounts have so much verbal similarity in other parts that we cannot avoid the conclusion that both writers used a common source of information. He says (2Ch 23:18-19) ‘Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David. And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the Lord that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in’.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A temple had been built to Baal at Jerusalem itself by Athaliah, Ahaziah, or Jehoram. According to Josephus, it was constructed in the reign of Jehoram. Its exact position is uncertain.
Images – The word used here is not the same as in 2Ki 10:26, but a word which implies likeness. The Phoenicians had fashioned images, besides their unfashioned pillar-idols.
The priest appointed … – The temple worship having been discontinued during Athaliahs rule, it devolved on Jehoiada now to re-establish it (see marginal reference). He had already summoned the Levites out of all the cities of Judah 2Ch 23:2, and had made use of them in the events of the day. He therefore proceeded at once to assign the custody of the temple to a particular course, before conducting the young king to the palace.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. His altars and images brake they in pieces] It is probable that Athaliah had set up the worship of Baal in Judah, as Jezebel had done in Israel; or probably it had never been removed since the days of Solomon. It was no wonder that Jehoiada began his reform with this act, when we learn from 2Ch 24:7, that the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Before the altar; to which possibly he fled for refuge; or rather, he was brought thither as a fit sacrifice to his God.
Officers over the house of the Lord; of which see more particularly, 2Ch 23:18,19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And all the people of the land,…. That were at Jerusalem, and the parts adjacent, that came from the country, hearing what was done: went into the house of Baal; a temple of his Athaliah had built, either in Jerusalem, or near it; perhaps on the mount of Olives, called the mount of corruption, 2Ki 23:13 from the idolatry there committed:
and brake it down, his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly; made an entire destruction of them all, temple, altars, the images of Baal and other deities:
and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altar; either as he was sacrificing, or that he might be a sacrifice, or where he had fled for refuge:
and the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord; priests to offer sacrifices, Levites to sing the praises of God, porters at the door of the temple, and watches in it, and restored the courses of the priests, and everything to its proper order, which had been neglected, or had ceased, during the usurpation of Athaliah; see 2Ch 23:18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(18) All the people of the land went into the house of Baal.Immediately after the covenant had been renewed, of which the extirpation of the foreign Baal-worship was a consequence. In the fervour of their newly-awakened enthusiasm for Jehovah, the assembly may have hurried off at once to the work of demolition. It seems to be implied that the house of Baal stood on the Temple mount, in ostentatious rivalry with the sanctuary of Jehovah. (Comp, the introduction of idolatrous altars into the Temple itself by Manasseh, 2Ki. 21:4-5; 2Ki. 21:7; 2Ki. 23:12.) This house of Baal had, perhaps, been built by Athaliah. (Comp. 1Ki. 16:31-32.)
His altars . . . his images.Or, its (the Temples) altars . . . its images.
And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.The obviously close connection of this statement with what precedes, almost proves that the sanctuary of Baal had stood within the Temple precincts, probably in the outer court. After the destruction of it, Jehoiada appointed certain overseersprobably Levites of rankto prevent any future desecration of the Temple by the practice of idolatrous rites (comp. Eze. 8:5-16), or by wanton attacks of the Baal-worshippers, who might be cowed, but were certainly not exterminated (comp. 2Ch. 24:7); and to see that the legitimate cultus was properly carried out. (The sentence tells us what was done some time afterwards, in consequence of the reformation; thus finishing the subject in hand at the expense of the strict order of time.)
Mattan.Mattan is short for Mattanbaal, gift of Baal, a Phnician name occurring in Punic and Assyrian inscriptions (the Muthumballes of Plautus). Comp. also Mitinna and Mattn, as names of Tyrian kings (Inscr. of Tig. Pil. ii.; Herod. Vii. 98).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Went into the house of Baal So firmly had the worship of Baal fastened itself upon the whole Israelitish nation that Jerusalem, as well as Samaria, had its temple to this god. Jehu destroyed the Baal worship in Samaria, (compare 2Ki 10:18-28😉 Jehoiada and his adherents that in Jerusalem.
Appointed officers over the house of the Lord Reorganized the temple service, which had been partially interrupted and disturbed by the revolution effected in the kingdom.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 11:18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.
Ver. 18. And brake it down. ] As Israel had done before them.
And the priest.
Over the house of the Lord.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
went: 2Ki 9:25-28, 2Ki 10:26, 2Ki 18:4, 2Ki 23:4-6, 2Ki 23:10, 2Ki 23:14, 2Ch 23:17, 2Ch 34:4, 2Ch 34:7
brake they: 2Ki 18:4, Exo 32:20, Deu 12:3, 2Ch 21:17, Isa 2:18, Zec 13:2
slew Mattan: Deu 13:5, Deu 13:9, 1Ki 18:40, Zec 13:2, Zec 13:3
appointed: 2Ch 23:18-20
officers: Heb. offices
Reciprocal: 2Ki 17:16 – Baal 2Ki 23:20 – he slew Jer 29:26 – officers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 11:18. All the people went into the house of Baal They began immediately to make good their covenant in part, by destroying the worship of Baal, which had been introduced in Judah by Jehoram, (2Ki 8:18,) and was continued by Ahaziah, 2Ki 8:27. And slew the priest of Baal before the altars To which possibly he fled for refuge, or rather he was brought thither as a fit sacrifice to his god. The priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord To see that the service was regularly performed by the proper persons, in due time, and according to the instituted manner. See the margin.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
11:18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the {r} altars. And the {s} priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.
(r) Even in the place where he had blasphemed God, and thought to have been helped by his idol, there God poured his vengeance on him.
(s) That is, Jehoiada.