Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
3. And he was with her ] i.e. With his nurse, who continued to tend him after he had grown somewhat older.
in the house of the Lord ] We learn from the description of Solomon’s temple (see note on 1Ki 6:5) that it was surrounded on two sides and one end with three stories of chambers. It is not said to what use they were put, but we may safely conclude that they were under the control of the high-priest, and that, for such a purpose as is here described, he would have no scruple about using them, even if on ordinary occasions no one dwelt in them.
six years ] Perhaps Athaliah was not aware that any one of the royal children had been saved. She gave order for their destruction, and her agents did all they could to carry out her design. Perhaps when they could not find Joash some other slain babe was substituted, and Athaliah would know no difference. The house of the Lord was not a place in which she herself was likely to be interested, and if the rooms around it were never as a rule used for dwelling-rooms suspicion would not be directed to them, and so they would go unsearched.
And Athaliah did reign ] R.V. reigned. As in Chronicles.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 2Ki 12:5-12, compared with 2Ch 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the 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 Davids 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 kings wife, but also was probably made queen-regent upon Jorams going to Ramoth-gilead.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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, 2Ki 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 a, they do not set a woman in the kingdom, as it is said, De 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.
a Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 1. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) And he was with heri.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 Lordi.e., in one of the chambers allotted to the priests, perhaps even in the high priests 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 2Ch. 22:11.)
Did reign.Was reigning.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 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, 2Ki 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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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 (2Ch 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, 2Ki 8:22.
six years. The number of man’s defiance and disorder. See App-10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
am 3120-3126, bc 884-878
And Athaliah: 2Ch 22:12, Psa 12:8, Mal 3:15
Reciprocal: 2Ki 12:1 – the seventh Neh 6:10 – the house
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 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 kings wife, but also, probably, made queen-regent upon Jorams going to Ramoth-gilead.