1tn Heb “she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring.” The verb קוּם (qum) “arise,” is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 125. 2tn Heb “stole.” 3tn Heb “him and his nurse in an inner room of beds.” The verb is missing in the Hebrew text. The parallel passage in 2 Chr 22:11 has “and she put” at the beginning of the clause. M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 126) regard the Chronicles passage as an editorial attempt to clarify the difficulty of the original text. They prefer to take “him and his nurse” as objects of the verb “stole” and understand “in the bedroom” as the place where the royal descendants were executed. The phrase בַּחֲדַר הַמִּטּוֹת (bakhadar hammittot), “an inner room of beds,” is sometimes understood as referring to a bedroom (HALOT 293 s.v. חֶדֶר), though some prefer to see here a “room where the covers and cloths were kept for the beds (HALOT 573 s.v. מִטָּת). In either case, it may have been a temporary hideout, for v. 3 indicates that the child hid in the temple for six years. 4tn Heb “and they hid him from Athaliah and he was not put to death.” The subject of the plural verb (“they hid”) is probably indefinite. 5tn Heb “and he was with her [in] the house of the Lord hiding.” 6tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.” 7sn The Carians were apparently a bodyguard, probably comprised of foreigners. See HALOT 497 s.v. כָּרִי and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 126. 8tn Heb “the runners.” 9tn Heb “he brought them to himself.” 10tn Or “covenant.” 11tn Heb “the gate of Sur” (followed by many English versions) but no such gate is mentioned elsewhere in the OT. The parallel account in 2 Chr 23:5 has “Foundation Gate.” סוּר (sur), “Sur,” may be a corruption of יְסוֹד (y˙sod) “foundation,” involving in part dalet-resh confusion. 12tn Heb “the runners.” 13tn The meaning of מַסָּח (massakh) is not certain. The translation above, rather than understanding it as a genitive modifying “house,” takes it as an adverb describing how the groups will guard the palace. See HALOT 605 s.v. מַסָּח for the proposed meaning “alternating” (i.e., “in turns”). 14tn Verses 5b-7 read literally, “the third of you, the ones entering [on] the Sabbath and the ones guarding the guard of the house of the king, and the third in the gate of Sur, and the third in the gate behind the runners, and you will guard the guard of the house, alternating. And the two units of you, all the ones going out [on] the Sabbath, and they will guard the guard of the house of the Lord for the king.” The precise meaning of this text is impossible to determine. It would appear that the Carians and royal bodyguard were divided into three units. One unit would serve during the Sabbath; the other two would be off duty on the Sabbath. Jehoiada divided the first unit into three groups and assigned them different locations. The two off duty units were assigned the task of guarding the king. 15tn Heb “and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in.” 16tn Heb “according to all that.” 17tn Heb “came.” 18tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19). 19tn Heb “and the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.” 20tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 21tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת. 22tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.” 23tc The MT reads, “and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people.” The term הָעָם (ha’am), “the people,” is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14. 24tn Heb “she came to the people.” 25tn Heb “and she saw, and look.” 26tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.” 27tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated. 28tn Heb “ranks.” 29tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.’” 30tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king.” 31tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and [between] the king and [between] the people, to become a people for the Lord, and between the king and [between] the people.” The final words of the verse (“and between the king and [between] the people”) are probably accidentally repeated from earlier in the verse. They do not appear in the parallel account in 2 Chr 23:16. If retained, they probably point to an agreement governing how the king and people should relate to one another. 32tn Or “tore down.” 33tn Or “images.” 34tn The Hebrew construction translated “smashed…to bits” is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (הֵיטֵב [hetev], “well”) accompanying the Piel form of the verb שָׁבַר (shavar), “break,” suggests thorough demolition. 35tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification. 36tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.” 37tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1tn Heb “she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring.” The verb קוּם (qum) “arise,” is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 125.
2tn Heb “stole.”
3tn Heb “him and his nurse in an inner room of beds.” The verb is missing in the Hebrew text. The parallel passage in 2 Chr 22:11 has “and she put” at the beginning of the clause. M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 126) regard the Chronicles passage as an editorial attempt to clarify the difficulty of the original text. They prefer to take “him and his nurse” as objects of the verb “stole” and understand “in the bedroom” as the place where the royal descendants were executed. The phrase בַּחֲדַר הַמִּטּוֹת (bakhadar hammittot), “an inner room of beds,” is sometimes understood as referring to a bedroom (HALOT 293 s.v. חֶדֶר), though some prefer to see here a “room where the covers and cloths were kept for the beds (HALOT 573 s.v. מִטָּת). In either case, it may have been a temporary hideout, for v. 3 indicates that the child hid in the temple for six years.
4tn Heb “and they hid him from Athaliah and he was not put to death.” The subject of the plural verb (“they hid”) is probably indefinite.
5tn Heb “and he was with her [in] the house of the Lord hiding.”
6tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.”
7sn The Carians were apparently a bodyguard, probably comprised of foreigners. See HALOT 497 s.v. כָּרִי and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 126.
8tn Heb “the runners.”
9tn Heb “he brought them to himself.”
10tn Or “covenant.”
11tn Heb “the gate of Sur” (followed by many English versions) but no such gate is mentioned elsewhere in the OT. The parallel account in 2 Chr 23:5 has “Foundation Gate.” סוּר (sur), “Sur,” may be a corruption of יְסוֹד (y˙sod) “foundation,” involving in part dalet-resh confusion.
12tn Heb “the runners.”
13tn The meaning of מַסָּח (massakh) is not certain. The translation above, rather than understanding it as a genitive modifying “house,” takes it as an adverb describing how the groups will guard the palace. See HALOT 605 s.v. מַסָּח for the proposed meaning “alternating” (i.e., “in turns”).
14tn Verses 5b-7 read literally, “the third of you, the ones entering [on] the Sabbath and the ones guarding the guard of the house of the king, and the third in the gate of Sur, and the third in the gate behind the runners, and you will guard the guard of the house, alternating. And the two units of you, all the ones going out [on] the Sabbath, and they will guard the guard of the house of the Lord for the king.” The precise meaning of this text is impossible to determine. It would appear that the Carians and royal bodyguard were divided into three units. One unit would serve during the Sabbath; the other two would be off duty on the Sabbath. Jehoiada divided the first unit into three groups and assigned them different locations. The two off duty units were assigned the task of guarding the king.
15tn Heb “and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in.”
16tn Heb “according to all that.”
17tn Heb “came.”
18tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19).
19tn Heb “and the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.”
20tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת.
22tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”
23tc The MT reads, “and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people.” The term הָעָם (ha’am), “the people,” is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14.
24tn Heb “she came to the people.”
25tn Heb “and she saw, and look.”
26tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.”
27tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.
28tn Heb “ranks.”
29tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.’”
30tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king.”
31tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and [between] the king and [between] the people, to become a people for the Lord, and between the king and [between] the people.” The final words of the verse (“and between the king and [between] the people”) are probably accidentally repeated from earlier in the verse. They do not appear in the parallel account in 2 Chr 23:16. If retained, they probably point to an agreement governing how the king and people should relate to one another.
32tn Or “tore down.”
33tn Or “images.”
34tn The Hebrew construction translated “smashed…to bits” is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (הֵיטֵב [hetev], “well”) accompanying the Piel form of the verb שָׁבַר (shavar), “break,” suggests thorough demolition.
35tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.
36tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”
37tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.