1. In the seventh year. This chapter deals with the fall of Athaliah and the succession of Joash. It is parallel to Kings 11:4-20. The two accounts are essentially the same, although there are important points of difference. For further information, see on 2 Kings 11.
Strengthened himself. Took courage and braced himself for the ordeal with Athaliah.
The captains of hundreds. Five men are named. Their names are not given in Kings, where, however, the information is given that Jehoiada “fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard” (2 Kings 11:4). The five men were probably captains of the 500 men comprising the bodyguard of Athaliah. The primary responsibility of the royal bodyguard was, of course, to guard the life of the king. The parallel passage in 2 Kings 11:4 adds the interesting detail that Jehoiada “took an oath of them in the house of the Lord, and shewed them the king’s son.” Having seen the real king, the captains of the bodyguard now entered into a covenant with Jehoiada that their loyalty henceforth would be pledged to him.