Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 11:18

"And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of Jehovah." — 2 Kings 11:18 (ASV)

All the people of the land went into the house of Baal. —Immediately after the covenant had been renewed, of which the eradication of foreign Baal-worship was a consequence. In the fervor of their newly awakened enthusiasm for Jehovah, the assembly may have hurried off at once to the work of demolition. It seems to be implied that the “house of Baal” stood on the Temple mount, in ostentatious rivalry with the sanctuary of Jehovah. (Compare the introduction of idolatrous altars into the Temple itself by Manasseh, 2 Kings 21:4–5, 2 Kings 21:7, and 2 Kings 23:12.) This house of Baal had, perhaps, been built by Athaliah. (Compare 1 Kings 16:31–32.)

His altars ... his images. —Or, its (the Temple’s) altars ... its images.

And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord. —The obviously close connection of this statement with what precedes almost proves that the sanctuary of Baal had stood within the Temple precincts, probably in the outer court. After its destruction, Jehoiada appointed certain overseers—probably Levites of rank—to prevent any future desecration of the Temple by the practice of idolatrous rites , or by wanton attacks of the Baal-worshippers, who might be intimidated but were certainly not exterminated (compare 2 Chronicles 24:7), and to ensure that the legitimate cultus was properly carried out.

(The sentence tells us what was done some time afterwards, in consequence of the reformation, thus finishing the subject in hand at the expense of the strict order of time.)

Mattan. —Mattan is short for Mattanbaal, “gift of Baal,” a Phoenician name occurring in Punic and Assyrian inscriptions (the Muthumballes of Plautus). Compare also Mitinna and Mattén, as names of Tyrian kings (Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser II; Herodotus VII.98).