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4. The seventh year. Evidently of Athaliah’s reign. The mention of the revolution which brought an end to her rule as taking place in the “seventh year,” and the statement that her successor, Jehoash, began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu (ch. 12:1), make this clear.

Jehoiada. The high priest at this time must have been a venerable old man, of about 100 years. At the time of his death he was 130 years old. He died before the end of the reign of Jehoash (2 Chron. 24:15, 17), who ruled 40 years (2 Kings 12:1). From the lengths of the reigns of the preceding kings it would seem that Jehoiada could not have been born later than the early part of Rehoboam’s reign, possibly during the reign of Solomon. He had thus lived through many years of his country’s checkered history.

Rulers over hundreds. The passage reads literally, “rulers of the Carians and of the guards.” Five of these men are mentioned by name in 2 Chron. 23:1. The Carians were probably foreign mercenary troops employed for the royal guard, such as the Cherethites (see 1 Sam. 30:14; 2 Sam. 8:18; 15:18; 20:7, 23; 1 Kings 1:38, 44; 1 Chron. 18:17). The use of foreign mercenaries was common in the ancient Orient. The centurions invited by Jehoiada to a secret conference thus seem to have been the commanders of the royal guard. By such a bold stroke Jehoiada was making sure of the success of his mission, for he would have on his side the commanders whose duty it was to protect the king.

The king’s son. The captains of the guard were now shown the son of Ahaziah, the lad who was the rightful king of Judah, and the one whose duty it was for these captains and their men to guard.