2 Kings 11:2
in 2 Kings 11But Jehosheba daughter of King Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, and he was not killed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But 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 that were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain;
KJV
But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
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This verse in 2 Kings 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verseDaughter of - Joram, sister of Ahaziah - It is not likely that Jehosheba was the daughter of Athaliah; she was sister, we find, to Ahaziah the son of Athaliah, but probably by a different mother. The mother of Jehoash was Zibiah of Beer-sheba; see 2Ki 12:1.
This site's exposition
stole him from among the king’s sons
on 2 Kings 11:2-3
Jehosheba, a daughter of the royal house and by 2 Chronicles 22:11 the wife of Jehoiada the priest, hides the one surviving infant and his nurse inside the temple's own chambers for six years while Athaliah reigns undisturbed over the land. The whole covenant promised to David narrows to a nurse, a closet, and a silence the text keeps for six years running, told in a single verse. Wesley notes the chamber's place among the rooms used only by priests and Levites is what makes the hiding place work.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Bed-chamber - Which was in the house of the Lord. So that it was one of those chambers adjoining to the temple, that were for the uses of the priests and Levites only: which made it more proper for this purpose. Now was the promise made to David bound up in one life.
While Jehu was extirpating the worship of Baal in Israel, she was establishing it in Judah, as appears, 2 Chron. xxiv. The court and kingdom of Judah had been debauched by their alliance with the house of Ahab, and now one of that house is a curse and a plague to both: sinful friendships speed no better.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
What is called, however, the bedchamber in the East is not the kind of apartment that we understand by the name, but a small closet, into which are flung during the day the mattresses and other bedding materials spread on the floors or divans of the sitting-rooms by day.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Jehosheba ... sister of Ahaziah - “Half-sister,” according to Josephus - daughter of Joram, not by Athaliah, but by another wife. She was married to Jehoiada the high priest, and was thus in a position to save and conceal her nephew, Joash, who was only one year old (compare 2Ki 11:3, 2Ki 11:21). In the bedchamber - literally, “in the chamber of mattresses” - probabIy a store-room in the palace in which mattresses were kept.
The words behind it
28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּקַּ֣ח | vatikach | and she took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| יְהוֹשֶׁ֣בַע | yehosheva' | Jehosheba | H3089 → | |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| הַמֶּֽלֶךְ־ | hamelekh- | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| י֠וֹרָם | yorom | Joram | H3141 → | 20 times |
| אֲח֨וֹת | ʾachot | [the] sister of | H269 → | |
| אֲחַזְיָ֜הוּ | ʾachazyahu | Ahaziah | H274 → | 37 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יוֹאָ֣שׁ | yoash | Joash | H3101 → | 47 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲחַזְיָ֗ה | ʾachazyah | Ahaziah | H274 → | 37 times |
| וַתִּגְנֹ֤ב | vatigno | and she stole | H1589 → | |
| אֹתוֹ֙ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִתּ֤וֹךְ | mitokh | from among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הַמּ֣וּמָתִ֔ים | hamamotim | who were about to be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אֹת֥וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵינִקְתּ֖וֹ | meinikto | suckling-nurse his | H3243 → | |
| בַּחֲדַ֣ר | bachadar | in [the] chamber of | H2315 → | 38 times |
| הַמִּטּ֑וֹת | hamitot | the beds | H4296 → | 29 times |
| וַיַּסְתִּ֧רוּ | vaiyastiru | and they hid | H5641 → | |
| אֹת֛וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֥י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| עֲתַלְיָ֖הוּ | ʾatalyahu | Athaliah | H6271 → | 17 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הוּמָֽת׃ | humat | he was put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
וַתִּקַּ֣חand she took
vatikachH3947 →966 times
יְהוֹשֶׁ֣בַעJehosheba
yehosheva'H3089 →
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ־the king
hamelekh-H4428 →2525 times
י֠וֹרָםJoram
yoromH3141 →20 times
אֲח֨וֹת[the] sister of
ʾachotH269 →
אֲחַזְיָ֜הוּAhaziah
ʾachazyahuH274 →37 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יוֹאָ֣שׁJoash
yoashH3101 →47 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אֲחַזְיָ֗הAhaziah
ʾachazyahH274 →37 times
וַתִּגְנֹ֤בand she stole
vatignoH1589 →
אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
מִתּ֤וֹךְfrom among
mitokhH8432 →418 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
הַמּ֣וּמָתִ֔יםwho were about to be put to death
hamamotimH4191 →839 times
אֹת֥וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מֵינִקְתּ֖וֹsuckling-nurse his
meiniktoH3243 →
בַּחֲדַ֣רin [the] chamber of
bachadarH2315 →38 times
הַמִּטּ֑וֹתthe beds
hamitotH4296 →29 times
וַיַּסְתִּ֧רוּand they hid
vaiyastiruH5641 →
אֹת֛וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
מִפְּנֵ֥יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
עֲתַלְיָ֖הוּAthaliah
ʾatalyahuH6271 →17 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
הוּמָֽת׃he was put to death
humatH4191 →839 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
Jeremiah 33:17For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:4
and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a…
- Psalms 89:29–37
I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
- Luke 1:32–33
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
- 1 Chronicles 17:11–14
And when your days are fulfilled and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.
- 1 Kings 2:4
Through
Jeremiah 35:2“Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them to one of the chambers of the house of the LORD to offer them a drink of wine.”
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 2:55
Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites, and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of…
- 1 Chronicles 9:26
But the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the rooms and the treasuries of the house of God.
- 1 Kings 6:5–6
Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.
- 1 Chronicles 2:55
Through
Ezekiel 40:45Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple,
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 9:23
So they and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the house of the LORD—the house called the Tent.
- 1 Chronicles 9:23
About 2 Kings

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.
