Reading for September 23rd

Read 2 Kings 11.1-8 In 11.1-21: The reign of Athaliah and revolt of Jehoash. In verses 1-3: Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel who married Joram king of Judah in a treaty between Israel and Judah (8.18). After the death of her son, Ahaziah, she seized power. No regnal formula is reported for her because the writer of 2 Kings did not consider her a legitimate ruler. In verse 4: Jehoiada was a priest. Since the new king, Jehoash (or Joash), was only seven years old, Jehoiada was really in charge of the kingdom. The Carites were apparently the royal bodyguard, and this may be an error or Cherethites, the name for the bodyguard under David and Solomon (2 Sam 8.18). In verses 5-7: The parenthetical statement in v. 6 is probably a late gloss or explantory addition, trying to idenitify the other two divisions. The gate Sur is unknown. Jehoiada chooses the change of the guard on the sabbath as the time for the revolt. This made all the troops available to him in order to protect Jehoash. It was also a time when troop movements would not be suspious. Comments or Questions..