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2 Kings 11 Bible study: Long live the king
When Athaliah destroyed "all the royal offspring" (11:1), the Hebrew is the two words of the LORD's promise to David, "your offspring" and "his kingdom" (2 Samuel 7:12), and one son was hidden six years in the LORD's house (11:3). And the "covenant" given to the young king with the crown (11:12) is in Hebrew edut, testimony, a different word from the covenant of 11:17.
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“Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people; also between the king and the people.”
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“In 2 Kings 11, the priest gives the captains spears and shields that had been King David's.”
Is that in 2 Kings 11, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
One son, hidden six years
When Ahaziah king of Judah was dead (9:27), his mother Athaliah "destroyed all the royal offspring" (11:1) (tap offspring). But one of the king's sons was taken out from among them. "Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedroom" (11:2) (tap stole). And "they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain" (11:2). Then: "He was with her hidden in the LORD’s house six years while Athaliah reigned over the land" (11:3) (tap hidden). Three chapters before, 2 Kings had said, "However, the LORD would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always" (8:19). Chapter 11 doesn't mention that promise. It tells how one son of the king, taken away with his nurse, was kept alive for six years.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 2 Kings 11
That was a taste
The rest of 2 Kings 11 is waiting in Favor
- In the seventh year
- "Long live the king!"
- "That they should be the LORD’s people"
- The lamp, through one child
- Three Hebrew words behind "covenant"
- As it was for Solomon
- 12 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
זֶרַעzera'say ZEH-rah
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "sowing, seed, offspring". Strong's: "seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity". Athaliah "destroyed all the royal offspring" (11:1): in Hebrew royal offspring is zera' with mamlakhah, the word Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "kingdom, sovereignty, dominion, reign". Both words are in the LORD's promise to David through Nathan: "I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom" (2 Samuel 7:12). 2 Chronicles has the same two words: she "destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah" (2 Chronicles 22:10).
For your group
2 Kings 11 Bible study questions
- 1Jehosheba stole Joash away and hid him (11:2). Who has quietly kept something good alive in your life, and who could you do that for?
- 2For six years the king's son was hidden while Athaliah reigned (11:3). When has it seemed to you that God had gone quiet, and what kept you going until the seventh year came?
- 3The covenant was "that they should be the LORD’s people" (11:17), and the first thing the people did was break down the house of Baal (11:18). What would it look like for you to live as one of the LORD's people this week, and what might need to come down?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 2 Kings 11 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home