2 Kings 11:2

But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) But Jehosheba . . . sister of Ahaziah.—By a different mother (see Josephus). Athaliah would not have allowed her daughter to marry the high priest of Jehovah. (Comp. 2Kings 11:3 with 2Chronicles 22:11.) This marriage with a sister of the king shows what almost royal dignity belonged to the high priest’s office.

The king’s sons which were slain.—Rather, which were to be put to death. At the time when the order for slaying the princes had been given, Jehosheba (or Jehoshabeath; Chronicles) concealed the infant Joash. The fact of his infancy caused him to be overlooked. [The Hebrew text here reads by mistake a word meaning deaths (Jeremiah 16:4). Chronicles supports the Hebrew margin.]

And they hid him.—This clause is out of its place here. The Hebrew is, him and his nurse in the chamber of the beds; and they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. Clearly the word, “and she put,” supplied in Chronicles, has fallen out before this. The Targum and Syriac read, “and she hid him and his nurse,” &c.

In the bedchamber.—In the chamber of beds, i.e., the room in the palace where the mattresses and the coverlets were kept, according to a custom still prevalent in the East. This chamber being unoccupied was the nearest hiding-place at first. The babe was afterwards secretly conveyed within the Temple precincts.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 11:2. But Jehosheba — Called Jehoshabeath, 2 Chronicles 22:11; the daughter of King Joram — Namely, by another wife, and not by this Athaliah: for Athaliah would not have suffered her daughter to be married to the high-priest of the true God, nor would he, in all likelihood, have married the daughter of such an idolatrous woman. Stole him from among the king’s sons, &c. — Either took him from among the slain, he happening not to be quite despatched; or else secretly conveyed him away, before the execution was done. And they hid him — Jehosheba and her husband Jehoiada. And his nurse, in the bed-chamber — Which, according to the next verse, was in the house of the Lord: so that it was one of those chambers adjoining to the temple, that were for the uses of the priests and Levites only, which made it more proper for this purpose. Now was the promise made to David bound up in one life, and yet it did not fail. Thus to the son of David will God, according to his promise, secure a spiritual seed; which, though sometimes reduced to a small number, brought very low, and seemingly lost, yet will be preserved to the end of time. It was a special providence, that Joram, though a king, a wicked king, married his daughter to Jehoiada, a priest, a holy priest: this some might think a disparagement to the royal family, but it saved the royal family from ruin; for Jehoiada’s interest in the temple gave her an opportunity to preserve the child, and her interest in the royal family gave him an opportunity of setting him on the throne. See what blessings they lay up in store for their families, who marry their children to those that are wise and good.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:1-12 Athaliah destroyed all she knew to be akin to the crown. Jehoash, one of the king's sons, was hid. Now was the promise made to David bound up in one life only, and yet it did not fail. Thus to the Son of David, the Lord, according to his promise, will secure a spiritual seed, hidden sometimes, and unseen, but hidden in God's pavilion, and unhurt. Six years Athaliah tyrannized. Then the king was brought forward. A child indeed, but he had a good guardian, and, what was better, a good God to go to With such joy and satisfaction must the kingdom of Christ be welcomed into our hearts, when his throne is set up there, and Satan the usurper is cast out. Say, Let the King, even Jesus, live, for ever live and reign in my soul, and in all the world.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jehosheba ... sister of Ahaziah - "Half-sister," according to Josephus - daughter of Joram, not by Athaliah, but by another wife. She was married to Jehoiada the high priest, and was thus in a position to save and conceal her nephew, Joash, who was only one year old (compare 2 Kings 11:3, 2 Kings 11:21).

In the bedchamber - literally, "in the chamber of mattresses" - probabIy a store-room in the palace in which mattresses were kept.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. Jehosheba—or Jehoshabeath (2Ch 22:11).

daughter of King Joram—not by Athaliah, but by a secondary wife.

stole him from among the king's sons which were slain—either from among the corpses, he being considered dead, or out of the palace nursery.

hid him … in the bedchamber—for the use of the priests, which was in some part of the temple (2Ki 11:3), and of which Jehoiada and his wife had the sole charge. What is called, however, the bedchamber in the East is not the kind of apartment that we understand by the name, but a small closet, into which are flung during the day the mattresses and other bedding materials spread on the floors or divans of the sitting-rooms by day. Such a slumber-room was well suited to be a convenient place for the recovery of his wounds, and a hiding-place for the royal infant and his nurse.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Jehosheba, called Jehoshabeath, 2 Chronicles 22:11.

The daughter of king Joram, to wit, by another wife, and not by this Athaliah; for it is not likely Jehoiada, who married her, 2 Chronicles 22:11, would have married one of that wicked and cursed house, except he were married very young, and therein overruled by his parents.

Joash the son of Ahaziah: either,

1. His adopted and legal son, who was to succeed him, though he was of another house, and of Nathan’s family, as many think; such persons being sometimes called the sons of their predecessors, as we shall see hereafter. Or rather,

2. His proper and natural son; for not only he, but the rest who were slain, are here called the king’s (i.e. Joram’s) sons. From among the king’s sons which were slain; either,

1. From amidst of the carcasses, where this infant was laid, and supposed by her to be killed, though it was not quite dead, either through the compassion or connivance of the instruments of this execution, or by some other artifice which his nurse used. Or,

2. Out of that apartment of the palace which was allotted for the king’s children.

They hid him; Jehosheba and her husband Jehoiada.

In the bed-chamber; which was in the house of the Lord, as is affirmed in the next verse. So that it was one of those chambers adjoining or near to the temple, which were for the uses of the priests and Levites, and for them only; which made it more proper for this purpose.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram,.... Not by Athaliah, but another woman; for an high priest, as her husband was, would not have married the daughter of such an idolatrous woman, nor would she have married her to him:

sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain: among whom he lay; either being cast there by the murderer, or her associates, supposed to be dead, or by his nurse, that he might be thought to be so, who acquainting his aunt with it, went and privately took him away:

and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain; that is, Jehosheba and her husband hid him and his nurse in a bedchamber; or "chamber of beds" (y), in which there were more beds than one; one of the chambers of the priests and Levites in the temple, that is, which were adjoining to it; for into the sanctuary itself it was not usual to bring beds (z); wherefore

the house of the Lord, in the next verse, must be understood largely as including all the appendages of it.

(y) "in cubiculo lectorum", Pagninus, Montanus. So Sept. &c. (z) T. Bab. Tamid, c. 1. fol. 26. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, {b} took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in {c} the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

(b) The Lord promised to maintain the family of David, and not to quench the light of it, therefore he moved the heart of Jehosheba to preserve him.

(c) Where the priests slept.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. But Jehosheba] Called in 2 Chronicles 22:11 Jehoshabeath. She was only half sister to Ahaziah, and not the daughter of Athaliah. Josephus says she was Ὁχοζίᾳ ὁμοπάτριος ἀδελφή. In Chronicles we learn that she was the wife of Jehoiada the priest, which explains the ease with which she could arrange for hiding the child she had saved in the house of the Lord.

took Joash] He must have been a mere babe at the time, not a year old. Cf. vv. 3 and 21.

and stale him from among the king’s sons which [R.V. that] were slain] The slight change conforms the sentence to Chronicles, where the words are exactly the same. To make the two passagesalike, as in the Hebrew, R.V. reads the rest of the sentence thus even him and his nurse, and put them in the bed chamber, and they hid him from Athaliah, so &c.’

the bedchamber] A chamber where beds were stowed away. Josephus says τὸ ταμιεῖον τῶν κλινῶν, the storeroom for beds and couches. The fury of Athaliah would leave no sleeping room unsearched, but in such a place it was possible for nurse and child to lie hid till there was a chance of getting into more secure shelter.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - But Jehosheba ("Jehoshabeath," Chronicles; "Josabethe," Josephus). The daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah - half-sister, according to Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 9:7. § 1), the daughter of Joram by a secondary wife, not by Athaliah - took Jonah the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain. As aunt of the royal children, Jehosheba would have free entrance into the palace, and liberty to visit all the apartments. She did not dare openly to oppose Athallah's will, but contrived secretly to save one of the intended victims, the smallest of them, an infant of a year old (παμδίον ἐνιαύσιον, Josephus). His tender age, probably, moved her compassion, and induced her to select him from the rest. And they hid him: even him and his nurse. The order in the Hebrew is, "even him and his nurse, and they hid him," which clears the sense. Jehosheba stole away Joash and his nurse, and they, i.e. Jehosheba and the nurse together, hid him between them. In the bedchamber; rather, in the chamber of mattresses - a room in the palace where mattresses, and perhaps coverlets, were stored. Chardin notes ('Works,' vol. 3. p: 357) that there is usually retch a room m an Oriental palace, which is only used as a store-chamber, and not as a dwelling-room. From Athaliah, so that he was not slain. Athaliah's servants may not have been very anxious to carry out her cruel orders to the uttermost, and may have made no very careful search. 2 Kings 11:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Government of Athaliah (cf. 2 Chronicles 22:10-12). After the death of Ahaziah of Judah, his mother Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (see at 2 Kings 8:18 and 2 Kings 8:26), seized upon the government, by putting to death all the king's descendants with the exception of Joash, a son of Ahaziah of only a year old, who had been secretly carried off from the midst of the royal children, who were put to death, by Jehosheba, his father's sister, the wife of the high priest Jehoiada, and was first of all hidden with his nurse in the bed-chamber, and afterwards kept concealed from Athaliah for six years in the high priest's house. The ו before ראתה is no doubt original, the subject, Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah, being placed at the head absolutely, and a circumstantial clause introduced with וראתה: "Athaliah, when she saw that, etc., rose up." המּמלכה כּל־זרע, all the royal seed, i.e., all the sons and relations of Ahaziah, who could put in any claim to succeed to the throne. At the same time there were hardly any other direct descendants of the royal family in existence beside the sons of Ahaziah, since the elder brothers of Ahaziah had been carried away by the Arabs and put to death, and the rest of the closer blood-relations of the male sex had been slain by Jehu (see at 2 Kings 10:13). - Jehosheba (יהושׁבע, in the Chronicles יהושׁבעת), the wife of the high priest Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 22:11), was a daughter of king Joram and a sister of Ahaziah, but she was most likely not a daughter of Athaliah, as this worshipper of Baal would hardly have allowed her own daughter to marry the high priest, but had been born to Joram by a wife of the second rank. ממותים (Chethb), generally a substantive, mortes (Jeremiah 16:4; Ezekiel 28:8), here an adjective: slain or set apart for death. The Keri מוּמתים is the participle Hophal, as in 2 Chronicles 22:11. הם בּחדר is to be taken in connection with תּגנב: she stole him (took him away secretly) from the rest of the king's sons, who were about to be put to death, into the chamber of the beds, i.e., not the children's bed-room, but a room in the palace where the beds (mattresses and counterpanes) were kept, for which in the East there is a special room that is not used as a dwelling-room (see Chardin in Harm. Beobb. iii. p. 357). This was the place in which at first it was easiest to conceal the child and its nurse. ויּסתּרוּ, "they (Jehosheba and the nurse) concealed him," is not to be altered into ותּסתּירהוּ after the Chronicles, as Thenius maintains. The masculine is used in the place of the feminine, as is frequently the case. Afterwards he was concealed with her (with Jehosheba) in the house of Jehovah, i.e., in the home of the high-priest in one of the buildings of the court of the temple.