17 And Jehoiada maketh the covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, to be for a people to Jehovah, and between the king and the people. 18 And all the people of the land go in to the house of Baal, and break it down, its altars and its images they have thoroughly broken, and Mattan priest of Baal they have slain before the altars; and the priest setteth inspectors over the house of Jehovah, 19 and taketh the heads of the hundreds, and the executioners, and the runners, and all the people of the land, and they bring down the king from the house of Jehovah, and come by the way of the gate of the runners, to the house of the king, and he sitteth on the throne of the kings. 20 And all the people of the land rejoice, and the city 'is' quiet, and Athaliah they have put to death by the sword in the house of the king;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 11:17-20
Commentary on 2 Kings 11:17-21
(Read 2 Kings 11:17-21)
King and people would cleave most firmly to each other, when both had joined themselves to the Lord. It is well with a people, when all the changes that pass over them help to revive, strengthen, and advance the interests of religion among them. Covenants are of use, both to remind us of, and bind us to, the duties already binding on us. They immediately abolished idolatry; and, pursuant to the covenant with one another, they expressed mutual readiness to help each other. The people rejoiced, and Jerusalem was quiet. The way for people to be joyful and at peace, is to engage fully in the service of God; for the voice of joy and thanksgiving is in the dwellings of the righteous, but there is no peace for the wicked.