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12 Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and put the crown and the testimony[a] upon him. They proclaimed him king and anointed him, clapping their hands and shouting, “Long live the king!”

13 When Athaliah heard the noise made by the people, she came before them in the house of the Lord. 14 When she saw the king standing by the column,[b] as was the custom, and the captains and trumpeters near the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, Athaliah tore her garments and cried out, “Treason, treason!”

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Footnotes

  1. 11:12 Testimony: that is, the two tablets of the law preserved in the ark in the Temple. Presumably they were placed upon the king during his installation ceremony as a reminder of the law he was to uphold.
  2. 11:14 By the column: the king’s special place in the Temple court; cf. 23:3; 2 Chr 23:13. People of the land: in this period, the phrase referred to the important citizenry, whose influence sometimes extended to the selection of royal successors (cf. 2 Kgs 11:14–20; 15:5; 16:15; 21:24; 23:6, 30–35; 24:14; 25:3, 19). In postexilic times, by contrast, the phrase was used of the poor.