2 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 who were slain, even him and his nurse, (and put them) in the bedroom; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain;
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
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 2-Kings 11:3, 2-Kings 11:21).
In the bedchamber - literally, "in the chamber of mattresses" - probabIy a store-room in the palace in which mattresses were kept.
Daughter 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 2-Kings 12:1.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, (b) 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 (c) the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
(b) The Lord promised to maintain the family of David, and not to quench the light of it, therefore he moved the heart of Jehosheba to preserve him.
(c) Where the priests slept.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram,.... Not by Athaliah, but another woman; for an high priest, as her husband was, would not have married the daughter of such an idolatrous woman, nor would she have married her to him:
sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain: among whom he lay; either being cast there by the murderer, or her associates, supposed to be dead, or by his nurse, that he might be thought to be so, who acquainting his aunt with it, went and privately took him away:
and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain; that is, Jehosheba and her husband hid him and his nurse in a bedchamber; or "chamber of beds" (y), in which there were more beds than one; one of the chambers of the priests and Levites in the temple, that is, which were adjoining to it; for into the sanctuary itself it was not usual to bring beds (z); wherefore
the house of the Lord, in the next verse, must be understood largely as including all the appendages of it.
(y) "in cubiculo lectorum", Pagninus, Montanus. So Sept. &c. (z) T. Bab. Tamid, c. 1. fol. 26. 2.
Jehosheba--or Jehoshabeath (2-Chronicles 22:11).
daughter of King Joram--not by Athaliah, but by a secondary wife.
stole him from among the king's sons which were slain--either from among the corpses, he being considered dead, or out of the palace nursery.
hid him . . . in the bedchamber--for the use of the priests, which was in some part of the temple (2-Kings 11:3), and of which Jehoiada and his wife had the sole charge. 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. Such a slumber-room was well suited to be a convenient place for the recovery of his wounds, and a hiding-place for the royal infant and his nurse.
They hid - Jehosheba and her husband Jehoiada. 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. And yet it did not fail. Thus to the Son of David will God, according to his promise, secure a spiritual seed: which tho' sometimes reduced to a small number, brought very low, and seemingly lost, yet will be preserved to the end of time. It was a special providence that Joram tho' a king, a wicked king, married his daughter to Jehoiada, a priest, an holy priest. This some might think a disparagement to the royal family; but it saved the royal family from ruin. For Jehoiada's interest in the temple, gave her an opportunity to preserve the child: and her interest in the royal family, gave him an opportunity of setting him on the throne. See what blessings they lay up in store for their families who marry their children to those that are wise and good.
*More commentary available at chapter level.