Introduction: Six Years of Concealment and a Revolution in the House of Hashem
Chapter 11 of Melachim B brings us over to the kingdom of Yehudah, and tells one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of the house of David: Athaliah, the mother of Achazyah, destroys the entire royal line and seizes power, and only a single infant, Yoash, is saved and hidden in the House of Hashem for six years. In the seventh year, Yehoyada the Kohen Gadol organizes a meticulous revolution, crowns Yoash, puts Athaliah to death, and purges Jerusalem of idolatry. We will proceed in the order of the pesukim according to the explanation of the Malbim.
Athaliah Destroys the Royal Line
וַעֲתַלְיָה אֵם אֲחַזְיָהוּ רָאֲתָה כִּי מֵת בְּנָהּ, וַתָּקׇם וַתְּאַבֵּד אֵת כׇּל זֶרַע הַמַּמְלָכָה. - And Athaliah, the mother of Achazyah, saw that her son was dead, and she arose and destroyed all the royal seed.
Athaliah sees that her son has died, and everything that happens here is from Hashem. The Ralbag explains that all these events came about in order to eradicate the seed that came from the house of Achav. And when she sees that her son has died, what does she do? She destroys the entire royal line, because she wants to seize the monarchy for herself. And this is terrible and dreadful: she goes and kills the entire royal line, some of whom are actually her own children, and even so nothing holds her back. Even Yoash, who, as we will see shortly, was also of her seed, had to be smuggled away in order to be saved, for otherwise she would have killed him too. In other words, she had no restraint whatsoever, willing to kill even her own children, so long as she could seize the monarchy.
Yehosheva Steals Away Yoash
וַתִּקַּח יְהוֹשֶׁבַע בַּת הַמֶּלֶךְ יוֹרָם אֲחוֹת אֲחַזְיָהוּ אֶת יוֹאָשׁ בֶּן אֲחַזְיָה, וַתִּגְנֹב אֹתוֹ מִתּוֹךְ בְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמּוּמָתִים, אֹתוֹ וְאֶת מֵינִקְתּוֹ בַּחֲדַר הַמִּטּוֹת, וַיַּסְתִּרוּ אֹתוֹ מִפְּנֵי עֲתַלְיָהוּ וְלֹא הוּמָת. - And Yehosheva, daughter of King Yoram, sister of Achazyah, took Yoash son of Achazyah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, him and his nurse, in the bedchamber, and they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.
Yehosheva is the daughter of King Yoram and the sister of Achazyah, for Achazyah rose to reign after Yoram. She takes Yoash son of Achazyah and steals him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death - in the very place where the king's sons were killed, and it seemed that he too was among them, and she smuggled him out of there, him and his nurse, and hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.
What is the "Bedchamber"?
One interpretation: she hid him and his nurse in the bedchamber temporarily, and afterward, as we will see later on, they concealed him inside the Kodesh HaKodashim.
Another interpretation: the "bedchamber" is a term for the Kodesh HaKodashim. It is said regarding the Beit HaMikdash, "our couch also is verdant, the beams of our houses are cedars, our rafters are cypresses" - and this is said about the Beit HaMikdash. Now why would the Beit HaMikdash be called a "bedchamber"? A bedchamber is the place where there is closeness and union between a man and his wife, and the place of union of Knesset Yisrael with the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Kodesh HaKodashim. Therefore, to symbolize this union, the faces of the Keruvim were turned "one toward the other," as we read in this week's parashah, to show the affection of the Almighty toward us and our affection toward the Almighty. And whoever knows, Shir HaShirim is the holy of holies, and it is entirely about the love of the beloved for his companion, where the companion is Knesset Yisrael and the beloved is the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore it is called, by way of borrowed expression, a "bedchamber" - the place where there is the greatest closeness between the Holy One, blessed be He, and the people of Israel.
There is a further explanation: the bedchamber was in the court of the Levites or the Kohanim, places where they would rest from their service. Quite literally - a place where they would lie down, and so they called it the bedchamber.
The Malbim explains: Ataliah killed all those who stood in her path to the throne by means of deadly poison. But Yoash was still a nursing infant, he was not eating solid food, and it was impossible to give him poison. What did they do? They wanted to give the poison to his wet nurse, so that her milk would be tainted, and when she nursed him he would be poisoned. The room where the king's sons lay on their sickbeds was called "the room of the beds" - that is, they did not die at once, but were as if in a hospital, at the stage before the graveyard, and they were placed there in the meantime to see whether they would recover. From there Yehosheva stole him away along with his wet nurse.
וַיְהִי אִתָּהּ בֵּית ה' מִתְחַבֵּא שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים, וַעֲתַלְיָה מֹלֶכֶת עַל הָאָרֶץ. - And he was with her in the House of Hashem, hidden for six years, while Ataliah reigned over the land.
Yehosheva was the wife of the High Priest, and she dwelt in the Beit HaMikdash. Ataliah reigned over the land for six years - partial years - and throughout that entire period Yoash was hidden in the Holy of Holies, without Ataliah knowing.
Yehoyada Organizes the Coup
וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִית שָׁלַח יְהוֹיָדָע וַיִּקַּח אֶת שָׂרֵי הַמֵּאוֹת לַכָּרִי וְלָרָצִים, וַיָּבֵא אֹתָם אֵלָיו בֵּית ה', וַיִּכְרֹת לָהֶם בְּרִית וַיַּשְׁבַּע אֹתָם בְּבֵית ה', וַיַּרְא אֹתָם אֶת בֶּן הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And in the seventh year Yehoyada sent and took the officers of the hundreds of the Kari and of the runners, and brought them to him to the House of Hashem, and made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the House of Hashem, and he showed them the king's son.
In the seventh year Yoash is already seven years old, and Yehoyada the High Priest decides that the time has come for him to be revealed, to return and receive the throne and take it from the hand of Ataliah, who was a great wicked woman. Therefore he sends and calls the officers of the hundreds of the Kari and the runners. The Malbim brings one interpretation that the officers of the hundreds are the officers of the hundreds of the Kari and the runners: "the Kari" like the Kereti and Peleti, these are the mighty warriors, and "the runners" are the messengers; and some explain Kari and runners as the mighty and the rulers. Either way, these were the men who held the keys to the throne: they are the strong, they are the warriors, and whoever wishes to carry out a coup needs them.
He brings them to him to the House of Hashem, makes a covenant with them that they will not reveal what he is about to disclose to them, puts them under oath, and then reveals to them who is hidden with him in the House of Hashem: "and he showed them the king's son" - you thought that everyone had died, know that we succeeded in saving the king's son.
The Guard Plan: Three Groups
וַיְצַוֵּם לֵאמֹר: זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשׂוּן, הַשְּׁלִשִׁית מִכֶּם בָּאֵי הַשַּׁבָּת וְשֹׁמְרֵי מִשְׁמֶרֶת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ. וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית בְּשַׁעַר סוּר וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית בַּשַּׁעַר אַחַר הָרָצִים, וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַבַּיִת מַסָּח. וּשְׁתֵּי הַיָּדוֹת בָּכֶם כֹּל יֹצְאֵי הַשַּׁבָּת, וְשָׁמְרוּ אֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת בֵּית ה' אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you who come on the Sabbath shall be keepers of the watch of the king's house. And a third shall be at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the runners, and you shall keep the watch of the House as a barrier. And the two divisions of you, all those who go off on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the House of Hashem for the king.
The verses are obscure, and the commentators raise the difficulty that the matter becomes even more tangled: here "the gate of Sur" and "the gate behind the runners" are mentioned, whereas in Divrei HaYamim other names are mentioned - the gate of the thresholds, the gate of the foundation, the courts of the House of Hashem. Each commentator explains according to his own approach, and we, as is our way, will study the approach of the Malbim in resolving the contradiction.
Says the Malbim: Yehoyada divided them into three parts - "yadot," and yad means a part - three groups, three companies if you will, and to each of them he assigned a task whose guarding would complete the coup. First one must understand that the priests and Levites were divided into "those coming on the Sabbath" and "those going off on the Sabbath," for in the Beit HaMikdash the watches changed every Sabbath: "those going off on the Sabbath" are the watch that finished its week of service, and "those coming on the Sabbath" are the new watch of priests and Levites coming to the Beit HaMikdash to begin their service for the coming week.
And so he said to them: a third of you shall be "those coming on the Sabbath," those who are now renewing and coming for the next watch, and they shall keep the watch of the king's house from within, inside the Beit HaMikdash. The remaining two thirds divide the guard duty outside: a third at the gate of Sur and a third at the gate behind the runners.
This is the meaning of "and you shall keep the watch of the house" - the house is the king's house, the inner part of the Temple. And what is "masach"? Be careful not to divert your attention even for a moment. This is a coup, and if for even one moment we fail to pay attention, someone from Ataliah's people could slip in and the whole plan would come to nothing. Therefore one must not divert attention even for a moment.
"And the two divisions among you" - these are the two thirds who guard from outside, at the gate of Sur and at the other gate behind the runners, and they will be "those going off duty on Shabbat," those who have finished their watch and are supposed to go home. They will now guard from outside, and therefore their watch is called "the watch of the house of Hashem," and it is like a watch upon a watch - "and they shall keep a watch for My watch": there is a watch inside, which is the watch of the king's house, and those on the outside are the watch upon the watch. And they too are for the king's sake.
Resolving the Contradiction with Divrei Hayamim
In what way are those on the inside divided, that same third of those coming on duty on Shabbat? Here the verse did not specify. The two thirds on the outside it specified - the gate of Sur and the gate of the runners - but concerning the inner ones it said simply "guarding the watch of the king's house." Along came Ezra the Scribe in Divrei Hayamim and completed the missing detail: the watch of those coming on duty on Shabbat was divided into three - the gate of the thresholds, the king's house, and the gate of the foundation. Now it is understood that the verses are not speaking of the same gates at all: the gates in our passage, such as the gate of Sur, are the outer gates, whereas Divrei Hayamim speaks of the inner gates. These are the outer watch and those are the inner watch, and there is no contradiction between the verses. And what is stated there, "and all the people were in the courtyards of the house of Hashem" - the reference is to the two additional parts, the two divisions, the two thirds who were going off duty on Shabbat and guarded the gates from outside.
Surround the King All Around
וְהִקַּפְתֶּם עַל הַמֶּלֶךְ סָבִיב אִישׁ וְכֵלָיו בְּיָדוֹ, וְהַבָּא אֶל הַשְּׂדֵרוֹת יוּמָת, וִהְיוּ אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּצֵאתוֹ וּבְבֹאוֹ. - And you shall surround the king all around, each man with his weapons in his hand, and whoever comes into the ranks shall be put to death, and be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.
Yehoyada, who is the organizer of the entire coup, commands: surround the king all around, each man with his weapons in his hand - the weapons of war. "And whoever comes into the ranks shall be put to death": Rashi says he did not know the meaning of the word "sederot," and the Radak explains it according to the Targum, "whoever enters into the ranks," that is, into the watch, into the place where they are arranged, and from this expression it is called "sederot." That is, you must maintain such a tight watch that no one can slip in between you, and whoever tries to slip in - shall be put to death. "And be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in" - you must escort the king when he goes out and when he comes in, so that they not try, Heaven forbid, to harm the new king.
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ שָׂרֵי הַמֵּאוֹת כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן, וַיִּקְחוּ אִישׁ אֶת אֲנָשָׁיו בָּאֵי הַשַּׁבָּת עִם יֹצְאֵי הַשַּׁבָּת, וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן. - And the captains of hundreds did according to all that Yehoyada the Kohen commanded, and each man took his men, those coming on duty on Shabbat with those going off duty on Shabbat, and they came to Yehoyada the Kohen.
The captains of hundreds organize themselves precisely according to the operational instructions that Yehoyada gave them. Those coming on duty on Shabbat and those going off duty on Shabbat, each man with his men, come to Yehoyada the Kohen.
The Spear and the Shields That Belonged to King David
וַיִּתֵּן הַכֹּהֵן לְשָׂרֵי הַמֵּאוֹת אֶת הַחֲנִית וְאֶת הַשְּׁלָטִים אֲשֶׁר לַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית ה'. - And the Kohen gave the captains of hundreds the spear and the shields that belonged to King David, which were in the house of Hashem.
"The spear" - these are swords. And why does it say "that belonged to King David," when it was Shlomo who built the Temple? Rather, the shields were made from the gold that David set aside, and therefore they are attributed to him. Besides these there were also larger shields, but the larger shields are not mentioned here because Shishak took them, and in their place bronze shields were made; what remained were the shields that David made.
And what are the shelatim? Rashi in several places explains that the shelatim are quivers for arrows, the quiver being the place into which the arrow is put and from which it is drawn to shoot with the bow. The Metzudat Tziyon explains that the shelatim are a type of shield (and as is well known, in the days of the founding of the State the term "mishlat," outpost, was used). The Malbim combines the two explanations: indeed it was a special type of shield, which also included within it a place for holding the arrows. That is why they were called "shelatim" and not "maginim," shields, for the shield is simple while the shelet is more complex.
וַיַּעַמְדוּ הָרָצִים אִישׁ וְכֵלָיו בְּיָדוֹ מִכֶּתֶף הַבַּיִת הַיְמָנִית עַד כֶּתֶף הַבַּיִת הַשְּׂמָאלִית, לַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְלַבָּיִת, עַל הַמֶּלֶךְ סָבִיב. - And the runners stood, each man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the House to the left side of the House, by the altar and by the House, around the king.
Each one stands in his place as Yehoyada instructed. "From the right side of the House to the left side of the House" means from the right end to the left end, by the altar and by the House, all of them guarding around him.
The Crown and the Testimony: the crown of the kingdom of the House of David
וַיּוֹצִא אֶת בֶּן הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיִּתֵּן עָלָיו אֶת הַנֵּזֶר וְאֶת הָעֵדוּת, וַיַּמְלִכוּ אֹתוֹ וַיִּמְשָׁחֻהוּ, וַיַּכּוּ כָף וַיֹּאמְרוּ יְחִי הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And he brought out the king's son and placed upon him the crown and the testimony, and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, "Long live the king."
Nezer in its plain sense is a crown. "Edut," testimony: one explanation in Rashi is that it is a Torah scroll. And in another explanation: the crown itself is the testimony, and so our Sages expounded. How so? They had a special crown, and by means of it they knew who was fit to reign and who was not. There is a midrash that says that in the middle of the crown there was a kind of band that divided it, and only for a king from the kings of the House of David would the crown fit and go on and sit properly; and one who was not from the kings of the House of David and was not fit to reign, the crown would not settle on his head, for that band would get stuck and not go on. And so we find in our Sages regarding Adoniyahu that the crown did not fit him.
I have seen someone who questioned the matter of the band in the middle of the crown, for according to this it would follow that the kings of the House of David would, Heaven forbid, have to be blemished, as if there were a hole in his head into which the crown went. That is hard to accept. Rather, the meaning apparently is that the crown did not fit him properly, that it did not settle on his head as it should, as it is written of Adoniyahu that it did not fit him. And for this reason it is called "the crown and the testimony": the nezer is the crown, and it itself is the testimony, since through it one can know whether this person fits the kingship or not.
And why did they anoint him, when we have the rule that a king who is the son of a king is not anointed? Our Sages say: they anointed him only because of the dispute stirred up by Atalyah. Just as Shlomo was anointed even though he did not require anointing, since he was the son of David, and they anointed him because of the dispute of Adoniyahu. That is, when there is someone who casts doubt, there is no choice but to anoint, and through the anointing we make known to all that this is the one fit to be king. And then they all cried out "Long live the king," which means may the king prosper, as the Targum renders "yitzlach malka."
Atalyah cries out: Treason, treason
וַתִּשְׁמַע עֲתַלְיָה אֶת קוֹל הָרָצִין הָעָם, וַתָּבֹא אֶל הָעָם בֵּית ה'. - And Atalyah heard the sound of the runners and of the people, and she came to the people at the House of Hashem.
Atalyah hears the sound of the runners and the sound of the people. In Divrei HaYamim it is written "the sound of the people, the runners and those praising the king," for there were also some of the people who began to praise the king. She hears sounds and understands that something is happening there, and she comes to see: they did not update me, there is something taking place here and I am not informed.
וַתֵּרֶא וְהִנֵּה הַמֶּלֶךְ עֹמֵד עַל הָעַמּוּד כַּמִּשְׁפָּט, וְהַשָּׂרִים וְהַחֲצֹצְרוֹת אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְכׇל עַם הָאָרֶץ שָׂמֵחַ וְתֹקֵעַ בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת, וַתִּקְרַע עֲתַלְיָה אֶת בְּגָדֶיהָ וַתִּקְרָא קֶשֶׁר קָשֶׁר. - And she looked, and behold, the king was standing by the pillar as was the custom, and the officers and the trumpets were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing the trumpets, and Atalyah tore her garments and cried out, "Treason, treason!"
She arrives and sees a king already standing in the very place where the king customarily stands, "kamishpat" - according to the norm. The officers and the trumpets are with the king: everyone, as it were, waits for the word from his mouth, and they blow the trumpets in his praise, as if to say that as far as we are concerned he is now the one fit to be king. And then she understands: there is a conspiracy here, they have conspired against me, this is a rebellion. And in the way of an alarmed person who cries the same thing twice, as in "help, help," so too here "kesher kesher" (conspiracy, conspiracy). And why is the second time said "קָשֶׁר" with a kamatz? Because two segols follow one another at the end of a verse, and the first receives a kamatz, as in "lachem lechem," "chased chesed" in "lamas mere'ehu chased," and many similar examples. She cried out twice, as it were: there is a conspiracy here.
Removing Atalya and Putting Her to Death
וַיְצַו יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן אֶת שָׂרֵי הַמֵּאוֹת פְּקֻדֵי הַחַיִל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם: הוֹצִיאוּ אֹתָהּ אֶל מִבֵּית לַשְּׂדֵרֹת, וְהַבָּא אַחֲרֶיהָ הָמֵת בֶּחָרֶב, כִּי אָמַר הַכֹּהֵן אַל תּוּמַת בֵּית ה'. - And Yehoyada the priest commanded the officers of the hundreds, those appointed over the army, and said to them: Take her out between the ranks, and whoever follows after her put to death by the sword, for the priest had said: Let her not be put to death in the House of Hashem.
When Yehoyada sees that she has grasped the matter, and understands that now evil draws near to her, he wishes to escort her and take her out between the ranks - the ranks are the place where the soldiers are arrayed and see to it that no one enters who is not supposed to be there - so that she would reach the outside. And why? "For the priest had said: Let her not be put to death in the House of Hashem": it is not fitting to kill a person inside the House of Hashem, and it is not fitting that impurity, the impurity of a corpse, should be in the place sanctified to God. Therefore he wished to escort her out. And he only warned: "and whoever follows after her put to death by the sword" - if you see someone coming after her in order to escort her, to protect her, to rescue her, or to be a help to her, put him to death by the sword, for it is a sign that he is still attached to the departing monarchy, and such a person is now rebelling against the present king, against Yoash whom they are crowning.
וַיָּשִׂמוּ לָהּ יָדַיִם, וַתָּבוֹא דֶּרֶךְ מְבוֹא הַסּוּסִים בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ, וַתּוּמַת שָׁם. - And they laid hands on her, and she went by way of the entrance of the horses to the king's house, and there she was put to death.
"And they laid hands on her" - they took hold of one another's hands, so that she could not break out from among them but would be forced to pass through the row, through the passage between them, as they formed a kind of fence. And so she was forced to go outside by way of the entrance of the horses, the place through which the horses would arrive, and there she was put to death.
Two Covenants
וַיִּכְרֹת יְהוֹיָדָע אֶת הַבְּרִית בֵּין ה' וּבֵין הַמֶּלֶךְ וּבֵין הָעָם לִהְיוֹת לְעָם לַה', וּבֵין הַמֶּלֶךְ וּבֵין הָעָם. - And Yehoyada made the covenant between Hashem and the king and the people, that they should be a people to Hashem, and between the king and the people.
Seemingly there is a superfluous repetition here. The Malbim explains: there were two covenants here. The first covenant - that the king and the people would serve Hashem; we are like the king, all of us are obligated and bound to the service of Hashem. This is the first and basic matter. And after it a second covenant, a private one, between the king and the people - that we, the people, will serve the king and accept his kingship. But everything depends on the first covenant, that is, on the condition that he walk in the way of Hashem.
From here we will understand what we see later on, that when Yoash forsakes Hashem the people kill him. How could that be? Rather, this was a breach of the covenant. On what did the covenant between us and you depend? On the covenant between us and Hashem. If you breached the covenant between us and Hashem, then the covenant between us and you also fell as a consequence.
Tearing Down the House of the Baal and Killing Matan
וַיָּבֹאוּ כׇל עַם הָאָרֶץ בֵּית הַבַּעַל וַיִּתְּצֻהוּ, אֶת מִזְבְּחֹתָו וְאֶת צְלָמָיו שִׁבְּרוּ הֵיטֵב, וְאֵת מַתָּן כֹּהֵן הַבַּעַל הָרְגוּ לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת, וַיָּשֶׂם הַכֹּהֵן פְּקֻדֹּת עַל בֵּית ה'. - And all the people of the land came to the house of the Baal and tore it down; its altars and its images they thoroughly shattered, and Matan the priest of the Baal they killed before the altars, and the priest appointed overseers over the House of Hashem.
Following the killing of the wicked Ataliah, they wanted to purge Jerusalem of all the idolatrous worship that had been present in it. The first place is the temple of Baal, the site of the idol worship: they tear it down, smash the altars and the images, and Matan the priest of Baal they killed before the altars. In the place of judgment there was the wickedness, in the very place where he acted wickedly there they judge him and put him to death.
And by the way, from here we see that "Matan" is the name of a wicked man, and nowhere in Scripture do we find the name Matan for a righteous or upright person. Therefore, whenever there is the name "Matan" it is fitting to change it to "Natan." I know several students whose name was Matan, and they went to Rav Chaim Kanievsky, and he told them to change it to Natan and not to be called Matan, since Matan is the name of the Baal worshipper, an idol worshipper, and we do not find such a name in holiness; whereas Natan was the name of a prophet of Hashem.
"וישם הכהן פקודות על בית ה'" - the priest appointed officers over the House of Hashem. These "pekudot" are appointments. During the time that Ataliah reigned and ruled, all those orders and administrations of the Temple were changed: there were no watches, there were no appointments, and the Temple was not run properly. Now, when there is an upright king, the first thing they do is to appoint an administration, orders, and watches for the House of Hashem, so that everything will be run with the daily offerings in their order and the additional offerings according to their law, in the proper order.
Bringing the King Down to the Throne of Kings
וַיִּקַּח אֶת שָׂרֵי הַמֵּאוֹת וְאֶת הַכָּרִי וְאֶת הָרָצִים וְאֵת כׇּל עַם הָאָרֶץ, וַיֹּרִידוּ אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ מִבֵּית ה', וַיָּבוֹאוּ דֶּרֶךְ שַׁעַר הָרָצִים בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ, וַיֵּשֶׁב עַל כִּסֵּא הַמְּלָכִים. - And he took the captains of hundreds, and the Kari and the runners, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the House of Hashem, and they came by way of the gate of the runners to the king's house, and he sat upon the throne of the kings.
After they fulfilled the first covenant, the one between us and Hashem may He be blessed, for they had torn down the altars of Baal, killed the priest of Baal, and the priest set officers over the House of Hashem, they now come to the second covenant, the one between us the people and you the king. Therefore they bring him to the king's house and he sits upon the throne of the kings.
וַיִּשְׂמַח כׇּל עַם הָאָרֶץ וְהָעִיר שָׁקָטָה, וְאֶת עֲתַלְיָהוּ הֵמִיתוּ בַחֶרֶב בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, and Ataliah they put to death by the sword at the king's house.
The people rejoiced that they had a king who walks in the way of Hashem, and the city was quiet: what had previously been constant unrest now returned to its calm. And why does the verse go back and tell of the killing of Ataliah, when it already said that she was put to death? The Metzudat David explains that this is an explanation for "and the city was quiet": why was the city quiet? Because Ataliah was put to death, and consequently there remained no one to stir up strife and quarrels. And the Malbim explains that what was said at first, that she was put to death, does not mean complete death but rather the throes of death, and afterward they completed her death according to law. And what is "according to law"? "By the sword at the king's house" - by the king's executioner, as is the law for a person who is liable to death by the monarchy, whose sentence is to be put to death by the king's men appointed over executions. Since she was still in the throes of death, she had to be put to complete death, and specifically by the sword of the king's house.
In summary:
The chapter opens in darkness: Ataliah destroys all the royal seed, even her own sons, so long as she may reign, and one point of light remains, an infant who was stolen from among those being killed and hidden for six years in the House of Hashem. In the seventh year Yehoyada the priest organizes a meticulous coup: a division into three groups of those coming in on the Shabbat and those going out on the Shabbat, guarding from within and from without without any lapse of attention, the weaponry of King David, and the coronation of Yoash with the crown that is the testimony and with the anointing that was needed because of the dispute. Ataliah is brought outside the Temple and put to death, and two covenants are made: the covenant of the people and the king with Hashem, and only upon it the covenant of the people with the king. From here comes the purging of Jerusalem of Baal, the appointment of the watches and orders in the House of Hashem, the sitting of Yoash upon the throne of the kings, and the joy of the people and the quiet of the city.