Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 23:7

"And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever cometh into the house, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out." — 2 Chronicles 23:7 (ASV)

And the Levites shall compass. —The Book of Kings has, “And ye shall compass (i.e., the centurions of the royal guard).” (See Note on 2 Chronicles 23:4).

The chronicler characteristically dwells on the share of the Levites in the matter, but he does not expressly exclude the royal guard. Indeed, it is utterly unfair to allege that he has transformed the guardsmen of Kings into Levites, “in order to divert to the priesthood the honour which properly belonged to the Praetorians” (Thenius).

The truth may perhaps be that the high priest Jehoiada brought about a combination of the royal guard with the Levitical guards of the Temple, and that the united body acted under the command of the five centurions of the guard.

Cometh into the house. — 2 Kings 11:8 has, “into the ranks”; a rare word (sederoth), occurring only four times, namely, in this narrative three times, and once in 1 Kings 6:8 (in a different sense).

But be ye. —So the Book of Kings states. But some manuscripts and the Septuagint, Vulgate, Targum, and Arabic version read here: “and let them be (i.e., the Levites).” (See Note on 2 Kings 11:8).