And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down; its altars and its images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.
All Commentaries on 2 Kings 11:18 Go To 2 Kings 11
Ephrem The Syrian
AD 373
While these things were happening in the temple, Athaliah, being alarmed by the shouts of the gathering people and by the noise of the crowds, ran to the temple. But while she was trying to restrain the riot with her presence and voice, she was arrested by the guards of the king and was brought outside the walls of the temple, where she was killed by order of the high priest, lest her blood might pollute the house of God. So the prophetic predictions about the annihilation of the family of Ahab were gradually accomplished through different deaths.
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 covenant made with God by their ancestors according to the words used in the traditional rite and to take an oath of reciprocal trust with one another. After that he turned to erase all the new cults and found that the people consented with him in an admirable manner. And so, after gathering a corps of soldiers, he immediately entered the sanctuary of Baal and destroyed its altars, smashed its statues and killed Mattan, the priest of that impious cult. Therefore, thanks to the authority of Jehoiada and his pious observation of the Law, the order of the sacred ministry, the sacrifices and the ceremonies were nearly brought back to the same honor that they had during the reign of David.
