2 Kings 11:13 - Meaning and Application

We may suppose that, after the king’s coronation was finished, the plan was to go to Athaliah and call her to account for her murders, her seizure of power, and her cruel rule. But, like her mother Jezebel, she saved them the trouble. She came out to meet them and rushed toward her own destruction.

First, when she heard the noise, she came in fear to see what was happening (2 Kings 11:13). Jehoiada and his supporters had begun quietly, but now that they were strong, they made it clear what they were doing. Athaliah seems to have been little respected, because she had not even been warned about this bold move before she heard it with her own ears. If the plot had been discovered earlier, it might have been stopped, but now it was too late. It is strange that, when she heard the noise, she was so foolish as to come herself, and, so far as we can tell, to come alone. She was surely not so abandoned that no one could have gone for her or with her. Rather, fear and anger had so clouded her mind that she acted in a helpless rage. Whom God plans to destroy, he first makes foolish.

Second, when she saw what was happening, she cried out for help. She saw the king’s place by the pillar occupied by one to whom the princes and people were showing honor (2 Kings 11:14), and she had to realize that her power was finished. She knew her rule had been seized by force, and this sight drove her to tear her clothes like someone out of her mind and shout, “Treason! Treason! Come and help against the traitors.” Josephus says that she also cried for the man in the king’s place to be killed. What was really the highest act of justice was called the greatest crime. She herself was the worst traitor, yet she was the first and loudest to shout, “Treason!” Those who are themselves most guilty are often the quickest to accuse others.

Third, Jehoiada gave orders for her to be put to death as an idolater, a usurper, and an enemy of public peace. Care was taken that she should not be killed in the temple or in any of its courts, out of respect for that holy place, which must not be stained with human blood, even when that blood is rightly shed. Care was also taken that anyone who defended her should die with her. “Whoever follows her to protect or rescue her, any of her servants who stay loyal to her and refuse to come over to their rightful king, kill with the sword, but only if they follow her now” (2 Kings 11:15). According to these orders, she tried to escape by the back way to the palace, through the stalls, but they pursued her and killed her there (2 Kings 11:16). So let your enemies perish, Lord. Let the bloody woman drink the violence she deserved, for she was worthy.