Lives of Scripture

Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, married Jehoram of Judah, bringing Israel's Baal worship into the southern kingdom's royal family (2 Kings 8:18, 26-27; 2 Chronicles 21:6). When her son Ahaziah was killed by Jehu during his purge of Ahab's dynasty, Athaliah seized the opportunity with shocking ruthlessness: she "destroyed all the royal offspring" of Judah, her own grandchildren, to eliminate any rival claim and rule Judah outright herself (2 Kings 11:1). One infant grandson, Joash, was secretly rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, wife of the priest Jehoiada, and hidden in the temple for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land (11:2-3). In the seventh year, Jehoiada organized a coordinated, carefully guarded coronation, presenting seven-year-old Joash publicly as the rightful Davidic king; when Athaliah heard the crowd's rejoicing and rushed in, tearing her clothes and crying "treason, treason," Jehoiada ordered her removed from the temple and executed outside its gates so no blood would be shed in the LORD's house (11:4-16). Her death ended the only interruption of the Davidic line's continuous rule over Judah in the entire Old Testament, and the temple of Baal she had promoted in Jerusalem was torn down immediately afterward, its altars smashed and its priest killed (11:17-18) -- a violent close to a reign built on the murder of her own family.