10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead , she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah . 11 But Jehoshabeath the king's daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah , and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death , and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom e . So Jehoshabeath , the daughter of King Jehoram , the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah ), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death . 12 He was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah reigned over the land .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Chronicles 22:10-12
Chapter Contents
The reign of Ahaziah, Athaliah destroys the royal family.
The counsel of the ungodly ruins many young persons when they are setting out in the world. Ahaziah gave himself up to be led by evil men. Those who advise us to do wickedly, counsel us to our destruction; while they pretend to be friends, they are our worst enemies. See and dread the mischief of bad company. If not the infection, yet let the destruction be feared, Revelation 18:4. We have here, a wicked woman endeavouring to destroy the house of David, and a good woman preserving it. No word of God shall fall to the ground. The whole truth of the prophecies that the Messiah was to come from David, and thereby the salvation of the world, appeared to be now hung upon the brittle thread of the life of a single infant, to destroy whom was the interest of the reigning power. But God had purposed, and vain were the efforts of earth and hell.