Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 11:12

"Then he brought out the king`s son, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, [Long] live the king." — 2 Kings 11:12 (ASV)

And he brought forth the king’s son. —When the two lines were formed, cutting off the interior of the Temple from the court, Jehoiada led forth the young prince into the protected space between them, perhaps from a side chamber, or perhaps from the sanctuary itself.

And gave him the testimony. —The Hebrew simply has and the testimony. Kimchi explains this to mean a royal robe; other rabbis think of a phylactery on the coronet . Thenius says it means the Law—that is, a book in which the Mosaic ordinances were written, and which was held in a symbolic manner over the king’s head after he had been crowned (see Note on 2 Chronicles 23:11).

Anointed him. —The chronicler says it was “Jehoiada and his sons” who did it. It is difficult to see what fair objection can be made against this explanatory addition, unless we are to suppose that, although the high priest was present, the soldiers of the guard poured the sacred oil on the king’s head. Yet Thenius adduces it as an instance of the “petty spirit of the chronist,” accusing him of inserting the words “for fear anyone should think of an anointing by unconsecrated hands.” Surely such criticism as this is itself both “petty” and “willful.” The words probably stood in the chronicler’s principal source.

God save the king. —Literally, Vivat rex (1 Kings 1:25).