priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. 12And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.
23And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and
12. with them] i.e. with Jehoiada and Jehoshabeath. In Kings "with her."
in the house of God] "The chamber for beds" (which was perhaps in the palace) was only a temporary hiding-place.
Ch. XXIII. 1—11 (cp. 2 Kin. xi. 4—12). The Conspiracy against Athaliah.
The account in Kings of the famous conspiracy which resulted in the downfall and death of Athaliah the queen mother and the coronation of the child Joash has the marks of a graphic and accurate narrative. The Chronicler evidently desired to reproduce it word for word, but in one point he was obliged to alter it in accordance with his ideas. In Kings the plot is engineered by the high-priest Jehoiada with the help of the officers ("captains of hundreds") and men of the Carites and the guard, (i.e. the royal body-guard), who were foreign mercenaries. But the statement in 2 Kin. xi. 4, 11, that these men who were both laymen and foreigners were permitted by the high-priest to be within the court of the Temple, though no doubt correct in point of fact (see Ezek. xliv. 6 f.), was inconceivable to the Chronicler. In his account therefore the soldiers of the guard vanish, and the "captains of hundreds" are prominent Levites, who organise the conspiracy by gathering the Levites and chief men throughout Judah (ver. 2); and, further, careful directions are given (ver. 6) that none shall enter the Temple save priests and Levites "for they are holy." The passage is an interesting example of the Chronicler's procedure in the interests of the ecclesiastical order to which he belonged and in which he believed so firmly.
1. strengthened himself] Cp. i. 1 (note); the phrase does not occur in the parallel passage of Kings.
Azariah, etc.] The names of course are not in Kings (see previous note). The individual names add to the naturalness of the Chronicler's account. It is unlikely that the Levitical contemporaries of the Chronicler had any reliable traditions enabling them to say who probably were the leading Priests or Levites of Jerusalem in the time of Athaliah and Joash. Perhaps the Chronicler has simply chosen names which were suitable for Levites to bear.
captains of hundreds] In 2 Kin. "captains over hundreds of the Carites (i.e. Cherethites) and of the guard." The Chronicler takes the captains to be captains of Levites.
