- 12-
each of the "courses" into which the priesthood was divided relieved the other at the
beginning of every Sabbath, so apparently also the royal bodyguard. The plan now agreed
upon was, that the guard which was relieved should, instead of returning to their homes
or barracks, march into the Temple, where the high-priest would furnish them with
weapons from those that had formerly belonged to David, and which, no doubt, according
to sacred custom, had been deposited in the sanctuary.
The sole object of that guard (2 Kings 11:7, 11) was in two divisions to surround the new
king on either side, with orders to cut down any one who should try to penetrate their
ranks, and to close around the person of the king in all his movements. Thus far for the
guard that had been relieved. On the other hand, the relieving guard was to be arranged in
three divisions. One of these was to form, as usually, the guard of the royal palace, so that
the suspicions of Athaliah should not be aroused. The second division was to occupy the
gate Sur,* also called the "gate of the foundation" (2 Chronicles 23:5); while the third
division was to be massed in "the gate behind the guard," the same as "the gate of the
guard" (2 Kings 11:19), and which probably formed the principal access from the palace
into the Temple. The object of all this was to guard the palace - not only to disarm
suspicion, but for defense (2 Kings 11:5), and to ward off or bar** any attempt on the
part of adherents of Athaliah to possess themselves of the royal residence.
- Some have regarded this as a side-entrance. Probably this gate gave easy access to the
palace, although it formed not the private royal entrance to it, which was from "the gate
of the guard."
** The word (massach), 2 Kings 11:6, rendered in the A.V. by "that it be not broken
down," has been variously explained; but the above gives, it is believed correctly, the
meaning intended to be conveyed. The suggestions of the Rabbis are without value.
The importance of this will be understood, not only in case of a counter-revolution, but in
view of the ancient custom of solemnly placing the king on the royal throne as the
symbol of his accession to the government (1 Kings 1:35, 46), which it was intended to
observe also on this occasion (2 Kings 11:19).
It must have been noticed that, minute and complete as these arrangements were, so far as
regarded the defense of the new king and the guard of the royal palace against a sudden
attack by the adherents of Athaliah, they left all the main gates of access to the Temple
undefended against any eventuality. And yet it must have been quite as important to
protect the Sanctuary from a hostile rush upon it, and to avert its profanation by a fight
within its sacred precincts. It is on this ground that we deem it antecedently probable that
provision should have been made for guarding the Temple itself, similar to that in regard
to the king and the royal palace. But this would naturally devolve upon the Levites, as the
regular custodians of the Temple, just as the military guard would as naturally have the
immediate custody of the person of the king. And such participation on the part of the
(^)