It looks to me like Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, was kind of the shadow king of Judah. When she found out Ahaziah was dead, she went around killing his family. She really wanted to be in charge. Athaliah's daughter by Jehoram took Ahaziah's infant son Joash and hid him in the one place Athaliah was certain to never look, the temple of the LORD.
Jehoiada, the priest, sets up guards at the temple to protect the youngster with extreme prejudice. To use lethal force even. At that point, he brings out Joash, who was seven, and crowns him the king. Athaliah, who was apparently not winning any popularity contests, comes out to see what the scuttlebutt is at the temple, and sees the rejoicing, and hears the trumpeting, and freaks out.
The guards drag Athaliah out of the temple, and put her to the sword. Jehoiada renews the covenant. Again. Between the LORD and the people. He commits the people to the LORD. Again. Which is nice to do. We'll have to see if this one takes. What steps does he take? He reads the covenant again. Then they smash the idols and kill the priest of Baal. Interesting that they only smash their own copy of Baal. Not the other copies from outside. Anyway...Joash is brought from the temple to the palace, and is ensconced on the throne. A boy king. Can you imagine how heads would roll for his tantrums? We'll see how he does. He doesn't exactly come from good parental stock.
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