Глава 11

1–3. Preservation of the royal house of David in the person of its only offspring - young Joash. 4–12. The reign of seven-year-old Joash. 13–16. Death of Athaliah. 17–21. Religious imprint of the first time of the reign of Joash. 2 Kings 11:1. Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, seeing that her son was dead, stood up and destroyed the entire royal tribe. 2 Kings 11:2. But Jehoshabeth, the daughter of King Jehoram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and secretly took him from among the king’s sons who were being killed, he and his nurse, into the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not killed. 2 Kings 11:3. And he and she hid in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the earth. Athaliah (Heb. Atalia - according to the sentence, “great is Jehovah”), “the mother of Ahaziah, the wife of Joram, the worthy daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (cf. 2 Kings 8:26), after the death of Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27), does not stop to achieve his power-hungry aspirations before the complete destruction of the reigning house of Judah (in general custom of the eastern usurpers). However, for the sake of Jehovah’s covenant promise to David - to leave the lamp on the throne (2 Kings 7:16; 1 Kings 11:36; 2 Kings 8:19) - he was miraculously saved in one of the rooms at the church; He was saved by his own aunt, Josabee (Heb. Jehosheva), who was, according to (2 Chronicles 22:11), the wife of the high priest Jehoiada. So, according to the remark of Blessed. Theodoret (question 35), “the wise Lord who rules over all provided that the sacred tribe entered into unity with the royal tribe, and the wise priest gave Josaveth, the daughter of Joram, into marriage to preserve the spark of the royal tribe.” 2 Kings 11:4. In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and took the centurions from the guards and the warriors, and brought them to himself into the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath from them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king's son. 2 Kings 11:5. And he gave them an order, saying: This is what you will do: the third part of you, from those who come on the Sabbath, will keep the guard at the king's house; 2 Kings 11:6. a third part at the gate of Sur, and a third part at the gate behind the bodyguards, and keep a guard at the house so that there is no damage; 2 Kings 11:7. and two parts of you, of all who go away on the sabbath, will keep the guard of the house of the Lord for the king; 2 Kings 11:8. and surround the king on all sides, each with his weapon in his hand; and whoever enters the ranks shall be put to death. And be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in. 2 Kings 11:9. And the centurions did all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they took each man his men that came on the sabbath, and that went out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. 2 Kings 11:10. And the priest distributed among the centurions the spears and shields of King David, which were in the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 11:11. And the marchers stood, each with a weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, at the altar and at the house, around the king. 2 Kings 11:12. And he brought out the king's son, and placed the royal crown and ornaments on him, and they enthroned him, and anointed him, and applauded him and exclaimed: Long live the king! After the 6-year reign of the wicked and bloodthirsty Athaliah, Jehoiada the High Priest (in (2 Kings 11:15,18) he is called “hakkogen” - “priest”) arranges a coup in the kingdom of Judah, which was favored, of course, by the long-standing love of the people for the reigning house of David, as well as the authority of the high priestly power, here for the first time since the time of Solomon (chapter 1 Kings 1–2) acting in political activities. According to (2 Chronicles 23:2), Jehoiada had previously won over five centurions to the side of Prince Joash, who went around Judea and gathered the Levites and heads of generations to Jerusalem. With these representatives of the people, Jehoiada makes an oath of allegiance to the future king (whom he showed them, v. 4), divides the Levites into 3 detachments, each assigned a special post at the royal palace (v. 5) and the church (v. 7), connected, probably by a covered passage (2 Kings 11:19, cf. 1 Kings 7:1–12), by the way, at some gates Sur (Vulgata: ad portam Sur) or Yesod (2 Chronicles 23:6), according to LXX: έν τῆ πύλη τῶν ὁδῶν, glav.: “at the door of the way” - probably at the side gate of the church leading to the royal palace. The main force of this militia was the “bodyguards” and “fast walkers”, Heb. karim, ratim (vv. 4, 11, 19), LXX: Χοῤῥί καὶ Ῥασίμ, according to blessed. Theodoret (question 36), shield-bearers and spear-bearers, probably identical with the famous Chelethites and Pelethei (2 Kings 8:18; 1 Kings 1:38). They were armed with the weapons available in the church, donated here by David and other kings (v. 10); “The Levites, standing in the shape of a moon, adjoined the ends of their formation to the church, and guarded the king, who was in the middle; a regiment of armed men stood outside, holding back those who tried to enter” (Blessed Theodoret, question 37). Now Jehoiada could proceed to the main act - the accession of the young Joash to the throne (v. 12), and a royal crown (Heb. neter) was placed on Joash, and some edut (in the LXX: μαρτύριον, Vulg.: testirnonium, slav.: “testimony”), probably a decalogue (called “testimony”, edited in Exodus 25:21; Exodus 16:34), as the basis of the rule of the theocratic king according to (Deut. 17:19) (Russian translation of “decorations” will be accurate only if we accept the correction of the text of Art. 12: instead of edut, read zeadot, as in (2 Samuel 1:10), but the history of the text does not justify such a correction); then the high priest anointed Joash as king (cf. 1 Kings 1:39). The proclamation of the new king caused delight and applause from the people (cf. Is. 55:12), who probably gathered in large numbers at the Church on the occasion of some holiday. 2 Kings 11:13. And Athaliah heard the voice of the people fleeing, and went to the people into the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 11:14. And he sees, and behold, the king stands on a height, according to custom, and the princes and trumpets are next to the king; and all the people of the earth rejoice, and blow trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and shouted: conspiracy! CONSPIRACY! 2 Kings 11:15. And Jehoiada the priest gave orders to the centurions commanding the army, and said to them: “Bring her out of the ranks, and whoever follows her, kill him with the sword,” because the priest thought that they would not kill her in the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 11:16. And they gave her a place, and she passed through the entrance of the horse to the king's house, and was killed there. 2 Kings 11:17. And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and between the king and the people, that he should be the people of the Lord, and between the king and the people. 2 Kings 11:18. And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and they tore down his altars, and completely broke his images, and they killed Matthan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest set up a watch over the house of the Lord. Attracted by the unusual noise of the people's exclamations, Athaliah, as a reader of Baal (v. 18) who had not been in the church, now runs to the church and here sees an amazing picture that foreshadowed the end of her reign and life; she was killed (v. 16), according to I. Flavius, in the Kidron Valley (Ancient Jude 9:7, 3; cf. Blessed Theodoret, question 38); “The entrance of the horses to the king’s house” (v. 16) is probably identical with the “gate of the horses” (Jer. 31:40; Neh. 3:28) - on the eastern side of the church and the city. Having delivered the royal throne of Judah to his rightful heir from the line of David, Jehoiada hastens to restore in Judea the religion of Jehovah, trampled upon by the wickedness and paganism of Athaliah, Joram and Ahaziah, renews the covenant of the people and the king with Jehovah, so that the first would be the people of Jehovah (v. 17, cf. Ex. 19:1; Deut. 4:20), and then normalizes relations between the people and the king. The consequence of the first covenant was the special zeal of the people for Jehovah, which prompted them to destroy the church of Baal (it is unknown who built it in Jerusalem; probably by Athaliah under Jehoram, cf. (2 Kings 8:18)), destroy all accessories of the cult of Baal and kill its chief priest Matthan (verse 18). After this, Jehoiada could freely establish surveillance (Heb. pekuddot, “supervision”) over the church, i.e. to restore the order of service at the church of the priestly and Levitical families established by David (1 Chron. 24:1), an order that fell into oblivion during the time of Joram, Ahaziah and Athaliah; Meanwhile, it was also important to establish a certain staff of church observers to prevent in the future those encroachments on the property of the church that took place under Athaliah (2 Chronicles 24:7). 2 Kings 11:19. And he took the centurions and the guards and the warriors and all the people of the land, and they brought the king out of the house of the Lord, and they came along the road through the gate of the guards to the king's house; and he sat on the throne of kings. 2 Kings 11:20. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm. And Athaliah was killed with the sword in the king's house. The new king, after the murder of Athaliah, was now transferred in a crowded and solemn procession from Mount Moriah, from the temple, to Zion - to the royal palace, “through the gate of the fast walkers” (cf. 2 Kings 11:6), leading, presumably, from the church to the palace. You might be interested in: