Jehoiada

“ Any one who should attempt to break through the ranks of the guard to get near to the king was to be killed. According to the Chronicler Jehoiada’s precaution would protect the sanctity of the Temple as well as the person of the young king.
8So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath ”

“ Why have you trespassed against the commandments of Yahweh, so that you cannot flourish? Because you abandoned Yahweh, he has abandoned you. 21 And they plotted against him and killed him with stones at the command of the king, in the courtyard of Yahweh's house. 22 And Joash the king did not remember Jehoiada's loyalty to him, and he killed his son. ”

“ It seems that the people had brought money in abundance, and the pious Jehoiada was over the priests, and yet nothing was done! Though Jehoiada was a good man, he does not appear to have had much of the spirit of an active zeal; and simple piety, without zeal and activity, is of little use when a reformation in religion and manners is necessary to be brought about. ”

“ As the prince was now secure from all attacks, Jehoiada also permitted the populace to enter the Temple courts. At a thrilling moment, when the Carians and guards stood with drawn swords, and whilst the chiefs held the weapons used by David, the high priest led the child Joash from the room in which he had been concealed, put the crown on his head, anointed him as king, and made him mount the pillar-like throne which had been brought into the courts of the Temple for the king's use. Amid trumpet blasts and clashing of arms, the people clapped their hands, and cried "Long live King Joash." ”

“ The tutelage of Jehoiada may have been too strict, monotonous, and prolonged; in choosing wives for the young king, the aged priest may not have made an altogether happy selection; Jehoiada may have kept Joash under control until he was incapable of independence and could only pass from one dominant influence to another. When the high-priest's death gave the king an opportunity of changing his masters, a reaction from the too urgent insistence upon his duty to the Temple may have inclined Joash to listen favourably to the solicitations of the princes. ”

“ They then ran to the house of Baal, which Athaliah and her husband Jehoram had built, to the dishonor of the God of their fathers, and to the honor of Ahab, and demolished it, and slew Mattan, that had his priesthood. But Jehoiada intrusted the care and custody of the temple to the priests and Levites, according to the appointment of king David, and enjoined them to bring their regular burnt-offerings twice a day, and to offer incense according to the law. He also ordained some of the Levites, with the porters, to be a guard to the temple, that no one that was defiled might come there. ”

“ The aggravation of this sin, that this Zechariah, who suffered martyrdom for his faithfulness to God and his country, was the son of Jehoiada, who had done so much good in Israel, and particularly had been as a father to Joash, v. 22. The affront done by it to God, and the contempt put on religion, are not so particularly taken notice of as the ingratitude there was in it to the memory of Jehoiada. He remembered not the kindness of the father, but slew the son for doing his duty, and what the father would have done if he had been there. Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse. ”

“ Esther had put the lantern again on the box and drawn forward a chair for Abner, but the farmer declined it with a wave of the hand and continued to stand in the background, looking his ancient enemy over from head to foot with a meditative gaze. Jehoiada grew visibly nervous under this inspection; he fidgeted on his chair and then fell to coughing—a dry, rasping cough which had an evil sound, and which he seemed to make the worse by fumbling aimlessly at the button that held the overcoat collar round his throat. ”

“ The kingdom of Judah, on the other hand, was purified from the destructive consequences of the alliance with the dynasty of Ahab through the overthrow by the high priest Jehoiada of the godless Athaliah, who had murdered the royal children after the death of Ahaziah and seized upon the government, and, with the renewal of the covenant and the extermination of the worship of Baal under the young king whom Jehoiada had trained, was brought back to the theocratic path ”

“ Jehoash, it is said, turned away from Yahweh after the death of Jehoiada and gave heed to the Judaean nobles, “wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for their guilt,” prophets were sent to bring them back but they turned a deaf ear. The climax of iniquity was the murder of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah. Soon after, a small band of Syrians entered Judah, destroyed its princes, and sent the spoil to the king of Damascus; the disaster is regarded as a prompt retribution (2 Chron. xxiv.) ”

“ Now Jehoash, king of Jerusalem, had an inclination to repair the temple of God; so he called Jehoiada, and bid him send the Levites and priests through all the country, to require half a shekel of silver for every head, towards the rebuilding and repairing of the temple, which was brought to decay by Jehoram, and Athaliah and her sons. ”

“ Now as soon as what concerned Athaliah was by this stratagem, after this manner, despatched, Jehoiada called together the people and the armed men into the temple, and made them take an oath that they would be obedient to the king, and take care of his safety, and of the safety of his government; after which he obliged the king to give security [upon oath] that he would worship God, and not transgress the laws of Moses. ”

“ The Hebrew word *7, rendered for him, means alike either/or him, or for himself. The Rabbins render the passage, " And Jehoiada took unto himself (i. e. married) two wives, and begat sons and daughters;" and they insist that he married them in succession. This, if the passage refers to Jehoiada, is probable; for the language implies nothing more, than that he had two wives, without specifying when; and there is no instance on record of polygamy in a priest. If we suppose that Jehoiada took two wives for Joash, and both at the same time ”

“ Jehoiada had saved the life and throne of Joash, preserved to the kingdom the royal house of David, to which the promises belonged, and had put an end to the idolatry which had been transplanted into Judah by Joram's marriage into the royal house of Ahab, restoring the Jahve-worship. For this he was honoured at his death, his body being laid in the city of David among the kings: “For he had done good in Israel, and towards God and His house” (the temple) . ”

“ They began to forsake the temple of the Lord, and to worship idols, and groves consecrated to idols. Then the Spirit of the 536Lord coming upon the High Priest Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, he reproved the people; but they who heard him stoned him, according to orders from their king. It was not long before God inflicted on Joash the just punishment of his ingratitude to Jehoiada, whose son he had so lately murdered. Hazael, king of Syria, besieged Gath, which belonged to Judah; and having taken it he marched against Jerusalem. ”

“ We see in Joash's life for how long a time a man may go on in this self-delusion of external and barren service and never know it. Joash came to the throne at the age of seven. Up till that age he had lived in the Temple in concealment. Until he was one and thirty he went on in a steady, upright course, never knowing that there was anything hollow in his life. Apparently, Jehoiada's long life of one hundred and thirty years extended over the greater part of Joash's reign, during most of which he had Jehoiada to direct him and keep him right, and all this tragedy comes at the tag end of it. ”

“ Jehoiada was not high-priest, but leader of the warriors of the house of Aaron. He may be the same person as the father of Benaiah (xi. 22) . Leader (Hebrew nagīd) is the title given to the “Ruler” of the Temple (ix. 11) .
28and Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father’s house twenty and two captains. ”

“ And these things were taken suitable care of as long as Jehoiada lived.
3. But as soon as he was dead (which was when he had lived one hundred and thirty years, having been a righteous, and in every respect a very good man, and was buried in the king's sepulchers at Jerusalem, because he had recovered the kingdom to the family of David) king Jehoash betrayed his [want of] care about God. The principal men of the people were corrupted also together with him, and offended against their duty, and what their constitution determined to be most for their good. ”

“ His name was either Azariah or Seraiah his son, but called Jehoiada from the remarkable zeal and courage of that pontiff. See the passages in the margin. - Dodd. After the taking of Jerusalem, Zephaniah was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, see [422] . The history of Jehoiada may be seen [423] , etc.
Verse 26
For every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet - Mad, משגע meshugga, in ecstatic rapture; such as appeared in the prophets, whether true or false, when under the influence, the one of God, the other of a demon. See [424] ; [425] . ”

“ The position of Judah at this period must be estimated (a) from the preceding years of intimate relationship with Israel to the accession of Jehu, and (b) from the calamity about half a century later when Jerusalem was sacked by Israel. The Judaean narratives do not allow us to fill the gap or to determine whether Judaean policy under the regent Jehoiada would be friendly or hostile to Israel, or whether Judaean nobles may have severed the earlier bond of union. If the latter actually occurred, the hostility of the Israelite prophets is only to be expected. ”

“ The last clause of 2Ch 24:14 leads on to the following: “They (king and people) offered burnt-offering continually so long as Jehoiada lived.”
Verses 15-16Verses 15-16 2Ch 24:15-16Jehoiada's death: the fall of the people into idolatry: the protest of the prophet Zechariah against it, and the stoning of him. - This section is not found in 2 Kings 12, but is important for the understanding of the later history of Joash (2Ch 24:23.) . With the death of the grey-haired high priest came a turning-point in the reign of Joash. ”

“ They all contribute liberally; and the different artificers soon perfect the work, [321] . The rest of the money is employed to form utensils for the temple, [322] . Jehoiada dies, [323] , [324] . And the people after his death become idolaters, [325] , [326] . Prophets are sent unto them, [327] . And among the rest Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, who testifies against them; and they stone him to death, [328] . The Syrians come against Jerusalem, and spoil it, [329] , [330] . Joash is murdered by his own servants, [331] , [332] . ”

“ In Judaean history, Jehu’s reform and the overthrow of Jezebel in the north (ix., x. 15–28) find their counterpart in the murder of Athaliah and the destruction of the temple of Baal in Judah (xi. 18) . But the framework is incomplete. The editorial conclusion of the reign of Ahaziah, the introduction to that of Athaliah, and the sources for both are wanting. A lengthy Judaean document is incorporated detailing the accession of Joash and the prominence of the abruptly introduced priest Jehoiada. The interest in the Temple and temple-procedure is obvious ”

“ The priests and Levites were divided into twenty-four classes by David, and each served a week by turns in the temple, and it was on the Sabbath that they began the weekly service, all this favored Jehoiada's design.
Verse 10
King David's spears and shields - Josephus expressly says that David had provided an arsenal for the temple, out of which Jehoiada took those arms. His words are ”