2 Kings 11:17
in 2 Kings 11Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be Jehovah’s people; between the king also and the people.
KJV
And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people; between the king also and the people.
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This verse in 2 Kings 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A covenant - Rather, “the covenant,” which either was already an established part of a coronation (marginal reference “k”), or at least became such afterward.
This site's exposition
made a covenant between the Lord
Jehoiada makes two covenants in one verse, first between the Lord and the king and the people that they be the Lord's people, then a second between king and people themselves, keeping covenant loyalty to God distinct from ordinary political obligation. It is the chapter's second binding oath, after the captains' oath at verse four, and the same shape of national renewal Josiah's reform will repeat at 2 Kings 23:3. Henry reads the king as standing on the same level as his own subjects under this covenant, bound as much as any of them to serve the Lord.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
After the kingdom had been pacified and its problems settled down, Jehoiada devoted himself to restore the religion of God, which had been destroyed by Joram and his successors. Therefore, in the first place, he persuaded the king and the entire people to renew the …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
God had already, on his part, promised to be their God (Jehoiada could show them that in the book of the testimony); now the king and people on their part must covenant and agree that they will be the Lord's people: in this covenant, the king stands upon the same level with his subjects and is as much bound as any of them to serve the Lord.
Now here we have David's promised lamp almost extinguished and yet wonderfully preserved. It was almost extinguished by the barbarous malice of Athaliah, the queen-mother, who, when she heard that her son Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, arose and destroyed all the seed-royal (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A covenant - A sacred covenant whereby he solemnly engaged both the king, and people, that they should be the Lord's people; that they should renounce, and root out all idolatry, and set up and maintain God's true worship.
And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Jehoiada made a covenant - A general covenant was first made between the Lord, the Supreme King, the king his viceroy, and the people, that they should all be the Lord’s people; each being equally bound to live according to the Divine law. Then, secondly, a particular covenant was made between the king and the people, by which the king was bound to rule according to the laws and constitution of the kingdom, and to watch and live for the safety of the public. And the people were bound on their part, to love, honor, succor, and obey the king. Where these mutual and just agreements are made and maintained, there can be nothing else than prosperity in the Church and the state.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּכְרֹ֨ת | vaiyikhrot | and he made | H3772 → | 288 times |
| יְהוֹיָדָ֜ע | yehoyada' | Jehoiada | H3077 → | 51 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבְּרִ֗ית | haberit | the covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
| בֵּ֤ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּבֵ֤ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וּבֵ֣ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לִהְי֥וֹת | lihyot | to become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְעָ֖ם | leam | <into> a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | of Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיִּכְרֹ֨תand he made
vaiyikhrotH3772 →288 times
יְהוֹיָדָ֜עJehoiada
yehoyada'H3077 →51 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבְּרִ֗יתthe covenant
haberitH1285 →284 times
בֵּ֤יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּבֵ֤יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וּבֵ֣יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
לִהְי֥וֹתto become
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לְעָ֖ם<into> a people
leamH5971 →1873 times
לַֽיהוָ֑הof Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 24:25On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he established for them a statute and ordinance.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 23:16
Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 9:38
In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
- Exodus 15:25
And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and…
- 2 Chronicles 23:16
Through
Ezra 10:3So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:2–3
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Ezra 9:4
Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat there in horror until the evening offering.
- Deuteronomy 7:2–3
Through
2 Samuel 5:3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 2:4
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”
- 1 Samuel 16:13
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…
- 1 Samuel 23:18
So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.
- 2 Samuel 2:4
About 2 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 11:13; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
