Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Kings 11

As the wife of Joram and mother of Ahaziah, Athaliah had guided both the internal and external policy of the Jewish kingdom. She secured the establishment of Baal worship in Judea (2 Kings 8:18, 27) and maintained a close alliance with the sister kingdom (2 Kings 8:29; 2 Kings 10:13).

The revolution carried out by Jehu deeply affected her. It removed the support of her relatives and isolated her religious system by cutting off communication with Phoenicia. Furthermore, the death of Ahaziah deprived her of her legal status in Judea as queen-mother (see note on 1 Kings 15:13), transferring that position to the chief wife of her deceased son.

Instead of yielding to the storm or merely standing on the defensive, Athaliah resolved to take the offensive, striking before any plans could be formed against her. In her son's absence, she likely held the chief authority in Jerusalem. She used this power to command the immediate destruction of David's entire family—already thinned by previous massacres (2 Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 21:4, 17)—and then seized the throne.

Jehosheba... sister of Ahaziah — According to Josephus, she was his half-sister: the daughter of Joram, not by Athaliah, but by another wife. She was married to Jehoiada the high priest and was thus in a position to save and conceal her nephew, Joash, who was only one year old (Compare to 2 Kings 11:3, 21).

In the bedchamber — This literally means “in the chamber of mattresses,” probably a storeroom in the palace where mattresses were kept.

And Athaliah did reign over the land - In these words, the writer dismisses the entire reign of Athaliah, of which he scorns to speak.

We gather incidentally from 2 Kings 12:5–12, compared with 2 Chronicles 24:7, that Athaliah used her power to establish the exclusive worship of Baal throughout the kingdom of Judah and to crush the worship of Yahweh. She stopped the temple service, gave over the sacred vessels of the sanctuary for the use of the Baal priests, and used the temple itself as a quarry from which materials could be taken to construct a great temple to Baal, which rose in the immediate neighborhood.

See the marginal reference.

The captains - The word used here and in 2 Kings 11:19, הא־כרי ha-kârı̂y, designates a certain part of the royal guard, probably the part known in earlier times as the Cherethites (1 Kings 1:38). Others see in the term an ethnic name—“Carians,” who seem to have been very inclined to serve as mercenaries from an early date. The entire passage can be rendered this way: And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the centurions of the Carians and the guardsmen (literally, “runners,” 2 Kings 10:25), and so on.

Five divisions of the guard, each under its own captain, are distinguished here. Three of these divisions “enter in” on the Sabbath, while the other two “go forth” on the Sabbath (2 Kings 11:7). The former phrase seems to mean mounting guard at the royal palace (the “king’s house,” where Athaliah was at that time). The latter phrase appears to refer to serving as an escort for the sovereign beyond the palace grounds.

Jehoiada ordered that of those whose duty it was to guard the palace on the coming Sabbath, one company should perform that task in the usual way. Another company was to watch the gate of Sur—or better, “the gate of the foundation” (2 Chronicles 23:5)—which was the gate typically used to leave the palace for the temple. A third company was to watch another palace gate, called “the gate of the guard” (see 2 Kings 11:19). He ordered the two companies, whose regular duty was to serve as the royal escort outside the palace walls, to enter the temple and surround the young king.

That it be not broken down (2 Kings 11:6) — The one word in the original text of which this is a translation occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is very doubtful.

Within the ranges (2 Kings 11:8) — This should be translated as “within the ranks.” If anyone tried to break through the soldiers’ ranks to get to the king, or even to disturb their order, he was to be immediately killed.