2 Kings 11:1

2 Kings 11:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
• New International Version (NIV)When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.
• New King James Version (NKJV)When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.

Context of 2 Kings 11:1

Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, heard the news that her son was dead. So she started to kill all the royal family. 2Jehosheba was the daughter of King Jehoram of Judah and the sister of Ahaziah. When Athaliah's servants had come to murder the royal sons, Jehosheba took Ahaziah's son Joash away and she hid him. She put him in a bedroom in the temple to hide him from Athaliah. So Joash stayed alive. 3Joash and his nurse stayed safely in a room in the Lord's temple while Queen Athaliah ruled Judah for six years.

2 Kings 11:1 word by word

וַֽעֲתַלְיָה֙ אֵ֣ם אֲחַזְיָ֔הוּ רָאֲתָ֖ה כִּ֣י מֵ֣ת בְּנָ֑הּ וַתָּ֙קָם֙ וַתְּאַבֵּ֔ד אֵ֖ת כָּל־זֶ֥רַע הַמַּמְלָכָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And when Athaliahעֲתַלְיָ֫הוּ‛ăthalyâh ‛ăthalyâhû · AthaliahH6271
• the motherאֵם'êm · motherH517
• of Ahaziahאֲחַזְיָ֫הוּ'ăchazyâh 'ăchazyâhû · AhaziahH274
• sawרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• that her sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• was deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• she aroseקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
• and destroyedאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• all the seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
• royalמַמְלָכָהmamlâkâh · kingdomH4467

Cross-references for 2 Kings 11:1

• 2 Chronicles 22:10Ahaziah's mother Athaliah heard the news that her son was dead. So she started to kill everyone in Judah's royal family.
• 2 Chronicles 24:7The sons of wicked Queen Athaliah had broken the door of God's temple. They had gone in there and they had taken the holy things. They had used them to worship the idols of Baal. That is why Joash wanted to repair the Lord's temple.
• 2 Kings 8:26Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel.
• 2 Kings 9:27King Ahaziah of Judah saw what had happened to Joram. So he rode away quickly on the road towards Beth Haggan. Jehu chased after him and he shouted, ‘Kill him too!’ Jehu's men shot arrows at Ahaziah as he rode in his chariot up the hill to Gur, near Ibleam. He escaped to Megiddo and he died there.
• Matthew 2:13After the men had gone away, Joseph had a dream. In the dream, he saw one of the Lord God's angels. The angel said to him, ‘Herod will look for the child, so that his soldiers can kill him. You must get up and take the child and his mother with you. Go immediately to Egypt. I will tell you when you can return again. You must remain there until then.’
• Matthew 21:38The farmers saw the master's son coming. They said to each other, “This is the master's own son. The garden will belong to him when his father dies. So we should kill the son and then the garden will be ours.”
• 2 Kings 25:25But in the seventh month of that year, Ishmael went to Mizpah with ten of his men. Ishmael was the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Elishama, who belonged to the king's family. They murdered Gedaliah, and the other men who were with him in Mizpah. Some of those men were from Judah and some of them were from Babylon.
• Jeremiah 41:1But in the seventh month of the year, Nethaniah's son Ishmael went to Mizpah to visit Ahikam's son Gedaliah. Ishmael was the grandson of Elishama who belonged to the royal family. He had been an officer who served King Zedekiah. Ishmael brought ten of his men with him. They were all eating a meal with Gedaliah in Mizpah.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 11:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Athaliah - This woman was the daughter of Ahab, and grand-daughter of Omri, and wife of Joram king of Judah, and mother of Ahaziah. Destroyed all the seed royal - All that she could lay her hands on whom Jehu had left; in order that she might get undisturbed possession of the kingdom. How dreadful is the lust of reigning! it destroys all the charities of life; and turns fathers, mothers, brothers, and children, into the most ferocious savages! Who, that…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Athaliah, as wife of Joram and mother of Ahaziah, had guided both the internal and the external policy of the Jewish kingdom; she had procured the establishmeut of the worship of Baal in Judaea 2 Kings 8:18, 2 Kings 8:27, and had maintained a close alliance with the sister kingdom 2 Kings 8:29; 2 Kings 10:13. The revolution effected by Jehu touched her nearly. It struck away from her the support of her relatives; it isolated her religious system, severing…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Athaliah usurps the government of Judah, Jehoash made king. (1-12) Athaliah put to death. (13-16) The worship of the Lord restored. (17-21) Verses 1-12 Athaliah destroyed all she knew to be akin to the crown. Jehoash, one of the king's sons, was hid. Now was the promise made to David bound up in one life only, and yet it did not fail. Thus to the Son of David, the Lord, according to his promise, will secure a spiritual seed, hidden sometimes, and unseen…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-16Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and the wife of King Jehoram of Judah (2 Kings 8:18, 26). As queen mother, she had significant influence, but she used it for evil (2 Kings 8:18, 27; 2 Chronicles 22:3–4). Her plans included destroying the rest of the royal family (see 2 Chronicles 22:10). While Ahab’s family in Samaria was completely destroyed, Athaliah took control in Judah through a massacre similar to…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-32Ki 11:1-3. Jehoash Saved from Athaliah's Massacre. 1. Athaliah--(See on 2Ch 22:2). She had possessed great influence over her son, who, by her counsels, had ruled in the spirit of the house of Ahab. destroyed all the seed royal--all connected with the royal family who might have urged a claim to the throne, and who had escaped the murderous hands of Jehu (2Ch 21:2-4; 22:1; 2Ki 10:13, 14). This massacre she was incited to perpetrate--partly from a…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 11:1

• Athaliah
• Homicide
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Joash
• Massacre
• Orphan
• Usurpation
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Ahaziah
• Athaliah
• Testimony
• Gotholias
• Heredity
• Jehoash; Joash
• Jehoshaphat (2)
• Jezebel
• Joel (2)
• Judah, Kingdom of

Commentaries on 2 Kings 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings