2nd Kings Chapter 11 verse 17 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 17-21. - Further doings of Jehoiada. The king being at present a mere puppet in his hands, Jehoiada had to determine the next steps which were necessary to be taken. These, in his judgment, were three. 1. A solemn covenant must be made between the king and the people; and another between the king, the people, and God - the latter pledging the king and people to maintain the worship of Jehovah, and never again to apostatize; the former pledging the king to govern according to law, and the people to remain faithful to him. 2. The temple of Baal, erected in Jerusalem at the instance of Athaliah, must be destroyed. 3. The king must be removed from the temple and installed in the palace of his ancestors. A brief account of these proceedings concludes the present chapter. Verse 17. - And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people. In the original it is "made the covenant;" and the meaning is that the high priest renewed the old covenant understood to exist between king and people on the one hand and God on the other, that they would be faithful to God and God to them - that they would maintain his worship, and that he would continue his protection (see Exodus 19:5-8; Exodus 24:3-8; Exodus 34:10-28). The apostasy of Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah was regarded as having put an end to the old covenant, and therefore it was solemnly remade or renewed. That they should be the Lord's people (comp. Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:29; Deuteronomy 32:9, etc.); between the king also and the people. The terms of this covenant are nowhere distinctly stated, but we can only suppose them to have expressed in words the intention of that novel act, the imposition of "the testimony" upon the head of the king at the time of his coronation (see the comment upon ver. 12).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) A covenant.--Rather, the covenant. The high priest solemnly renewed the original compact between Jehovah and the king and people--a compact which had been violated by the Baal-worship of recent reigns.That they should be the Lord's people.--Comp. Deuteronomy 4:20; Exodus 19:5-6.Between the king also and the people.--For the protection of their mutual rights and prerogatives. (Comp. 1Samuel 10:25.) The king was bound to govern according to the law of Jehovah--"the testimony" which had been put upon him (2Kings 11:12). (Comp. Note on 2Chronicles 23:16.) The people were to be loyal to the house of David. . . .