How does Joas survive Athalia’s killings and become king?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Josaba takes him from among the king’s sons who are slain and hides him from Athalia, so he is not killed. He stays hidden with her in the Lord’s house for six years. In the seventh year, Joiada shows him to the centurions and soldiers, gives guard instructions and brings him out to be made king.

Chapter breakdown

Athalia, mother of Ochozias, sees that her son is dead, rises and kills all the royal offspring. But Josaba, daughter of king Joram and sister of Ochozias, takes Joas, Ochozias’s son, from among the king’s sons who are slain, out of the bedchamber with his nurse. She hides him from Athalia, so he is not killed. He stays with her for six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athalia reigns over the land.

In the seventh year Joiada sends for the centurions and soldiers and brings them to him in the Lord’s temple. He makes a covenant with them and takes an oath from them in the Lord’s house. He shows them the king’s son and tells them what they must do.

Joiada tells a third part of them to go in on the sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house. A third part is to be at the gate of Sur, and a third part at the gate behind the shieldbearers’ dwelling. They are to keep watch over the house of Messa.

Two parts of all those going out on the sabbath are to keep watch over the Lord’s house about the king. They must surround him with weapons in their hands. If any man enters the temple precinct, he is to be killed. They are to be with the king as he comes in and goes out.

The centurions do all that Joiada the priest commands. Each brings his men who go in on the sabbath together with those who go out, and they come to Joiada. He gives them king David’s spears and arms, which are in the Lord’s house. With every man holding his weapons, they stand from the temple’s right side to the left side of the altar and of the temple, around the king.

Joiada brings out the king’s son and puts the diadem and the testimony upon him. They make him king and anoint him. Clapping their hands, they say that God should save the king.

The Challoner note explains the testimony as the book of the law. This explanation is edition commentary, separate from the Scripture’s account of what is put upon the king’s son.

Athalia hears the noise of the people running and enters the Lord’s temple among the people. She sees the king standing upon a tribunal, as was the manner, with singers and trumpets near him and all the people of the land rejoicing and sounding trumpets. She tears her garments and cries out twice that there is a conspiracy.

The Challoner note explains a tribunal as a tribune, or a place elevated above the rest. This is the edition’s explanation of the word, separate from Scripture.

Joiada commands the centurions over the army to bring Athalia outside the temple precinct. Anyone who follows her is to be killed with the sword. The priest has said she must not be killed in the Lord’s temple. They lay hands on her and thrust her out by the way the horses enter, by the palace, and she is killed there.

Joiada makes a covenant between the Lord, the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people, and between the king and the people. All the people of the land go into Baal’s temple. They break down his altars and thoroughly break his images in pieces. They also kill Mathan, Baal’s priest, before the altar. The priest sets guards in the Lord’s house.

Joiada takes the centurions, the bands of the Cerethi and Phelethi, and all the people of the land. They bring the king from the Lord’s house, going through the shieldbearers’ gate into the palace. He sits on the throne of the kings.

All the people of the land rejoice, and the city is quiet. The account again says Athalia is killed with the sword in the king’s house. Joas is seven years old when he begins to reign.

The story inside

The account first connects Athalia’s killing of the royal offspring with her seeing that Ochozias is dead. Josaba’s rescue and concealment explain why Joas is not slain; the six years of hiding are set beside Athalia’s reign. In the seventh year, Joiada’s covenant, oath and showing of the king’s son precede his guard commands. Those commands distinguish thirds going in at named places from two parts going out who are to watch around the king, and specify weapons, entry and movement. The centurions bring both sets of men and follow his commands; David’s weapons are given and the men take their stated positions. Joas is brought out, receives the diadem and testimony, is made king and anointed, and receives the people’s clapping acclamation. Athalia hears the running, enters, sees the king, singers, trumpets and rejoicing people, and cries conspiracy. Joiada’s removal command and prohibition against killing her in the temple lead to her being thrust out by the horses’ way and killed by the palace. He then makes the two stated covenant relationships, and the people break Baal’s altars and images and kill Mathan. After guards are set in the Lord’s house, the named groups bring the king through the shieldbearers’ gate to the palace throne. The ending records rejoicing, a quiet city, Athalia’s death with the sword in the king’s house and Joas’s age of seven. The explanations of testimony and tribunal belong to Challoner’s notes.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Joas’s survival is explained through named people and relationships. Josaba is Joram’s daughter and Ochozias’s sister; Joas is Ochozias’s son. She takes him with his nurse from the bedchamber among the slain sons and hides him from Athalia. The six-year concealment leads into the seventh-year showing of the king’s son. These details explain the passage from hiding to kingship without adding a new motive or doctrine.
2
Joiada’s guard plan has precise distinctions. Three thirds receive places connected with entering on the sabbath, while two parts of those going out are to watch around the king in the Lord’s house. The centurions bring men going in and going out, receive David’s weapons and take their stated positions. Preserving these commands and actions gives the actual arrangement without claiming every entrance is closed or the protection cannot fail.
3
The account distinguishes commands, events and edition explanations. Joiada orders Athalia removed and says she must not be killed in the temple; her death is then reported by the palace and again in the king’s house. The covenant names both the Lord–king–people relationship and the king–people relationship before the actions against Baal’s altars, images and priest. Challoner separately explains testimony and tribunal. Each statement has its own place rather than becoming an added rule about all legal executions or national restoration.

Test your recall

How do Josaba’s rescue and six years of concealment lead into Joiada’s seventh-year showing, guard commands and Joas’s coronation, and how do Athalia’s entry and Joiada’s removal order lead to her death outside the temple?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 39303–39317
4 Kings Chapter 11 Athalia’s usurpation and tyranny. Joas is made king. Athalia is slain. 11:1. Now Athalia, the mother of Ochozias, seeing that her son was dead, arose and slew all the royal seed. 11:2. But Josaba the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ochozias, took Joas, the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, out of the bedchamber with his nurse: and hid him from the face of Athalia; so that he was not slain. 11:3. And he was with her six years, hid in the house of the Lord. And Athalia reigned over the land.
Lines 39318–39325
11:4. And in the seventh year Joiada sent, and taking the centurions and soldiers, brought them in to him into the temple of the Lord, and made a covenant with them: and taking an oath of them in the house of the Lord, shewed them the king’s son: 11:5. And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that you must do.
Lines 39326–39330
11:6. Let a third part of you go in on the sabbath, and keep the watch of the king’s house. And let a third part be at the gate of Sur; and let a third part be at the gate behind the dwelling of the shieldbearers; and you shall keep the watch of the house of Messa.
Lines 39331–39337
11:7. But let two parts of you all that go forth on the sabbath, keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king. 11:8. And you shall compass him round about, having weapons in your hands: and if any man shall enter the precinct of the temple, let him be slain: and you shall be with the king, coming in and going out.
Lines 39338–39349
11:9. And the centurions did according to all things that Joiada the priest, had commanded them: and taking every one their men, that went in on the sabbath, with them that went out in the sabbath, came to Joiada, the priest. 11:10. And he gave them the spears, and the arms of king David, which were in the house of the Lord. 11:11. And they stood, having every one their weapons in their hands, from the right side of the temple, unto the left side of the altar, and of the temple, about the king.
Lines 39350–39353
11:12. And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the diadem upon him, and the testimony: and they made him king, and anointed him: and clapping their hands, they said: God save the king.
Lines 39354–39355
The testimony.... The book of the law.
Lines 39356–39363
11:13. And Athalia heard the noise of the people running: and going in to the people into the temple of the Lord, 11:14. She saw the king standing upon a tribunal, as the manner was, and the singers, and the trumpets near him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding the trumpets: and she rent her garments, and cried: A conspiracy, a conspiracy.
Lines 39364–39365
A tribunal.... A tribune, or a place elevated above the rest.
Lines 39366–39373
11:15. But Joiada commanded the centurions that were over the army, and said to them: Have her forth without the precinct of the temple, and whosoever shall follow her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest had said: Let her not be slain in the temple of the Lord. 11:16. And they laid hands on her: and thrust her out by the way by which the horses go in, by the palace, and she was slain there.
Lines 39374–39382
11:17. And Joiada made a covenant between the Lord, and the king, and the people, that they should be the people of the Lord; and between the king and the people. 11:18. And all the people of the land went into the temple of Baal, and broke down his altars, and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly: they slew also Mathan the priest of Baal before the altar. And the priest set guards in the house of the Lord.
Lines 39383–39387
11:19. And he took the centurions, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the house of the Lord: and they came by the way of the gate of the shieldbearers into the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings.
Lines 39388–39393
11:20. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword in the king’s house. 11:21. Now Joas was seven years old when he began to reign.