“And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; between the king also and the people.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Kings 11:17 Mean?
After crowning the child king Joash, Jehoiada establishes something more important than a new government — he establishes a covenant. And it's a three-way covenant: between God and the king, between God and the people, and between the king and the people. Each relationship is distinct and each is necessary. The king answers to God. The people answer to God. And the king and people have obligations to each other.
The phrase "that they should be the LORD's people" is a covenant renewal — a conscious recommitment to the identity Israel was given at Sinai. After years under Athaliah's Baal worship, the nation has to deliberately choose again to belong to God. Identity isn't permanent if it isn't renewed. You can inherit it, but at some point you have to own it.
Jehoiada structures this covenant in the Temple, giving it sacred weight. He's not just starting a new political administration; he's rebuilding the spiritual architecture of the nation. The political revolution is incomplete without the theological one. Change the ruler without changing the allegiance, and you've just swapped one throne for another.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What's the difference between removing something bad from your life and actively committing to something good? Where are you in that process?
- 2.Why do you think Jehoiada structured a three-way covenant rather than just a covenant between the people and God?
- 3.Have you ever renewed a commitment — to God, to a person, to a community — that had grown stale? What prompted it?
- 4.How does the horizontal dimension of covenant — your obligations to other people — connect to your vertical relationship with God?
Devotional
Jehoiada doesn't just crown a new king — he resets the nation's identity. The covenant he establishes isn't primarily political; it's relational. The people commit to being God's people. The king commits to governing under God. And king and people commit to each other. Every relationship is named and formalized.
This is what real renewal looks like. It's not just removing what's wrong — Athaliah is gone. It's establishing what's right. Tearing down Baal worship wasn't enough. They had to rebuild their relationship with God from the ground up. Destruction without reconstruction leaves you with rubble, not restoration.
The three-way structure of the covenant is worth noticing. It's not just vertical — between the people and God. It's also horizontal — between the king and the people. Spiritual renewal that doesn't affect how you relate to the people around you isn't complete. Your relationship with God and your relationships with people are woven together.
Have you ever gone through a season of spiritual renewal that was mostly about removing bad things but didn't build new commitments? What would it look like to not just stop doing something wrong but to actively covenant yourself to something right — with God and with your community?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And all the people of the land,.... That were at Jerusalem, and the parts adjacent, that came from the country, hearing…
A covenant - Rather, “the covenant,” which either was already an established part of a coronation (marginal reference…
Jehoiada made a covenant - A general covenant was first made between the Lord, the Supreme King, the king his viceroy,…
Jehoiada had now got over the harlot part of his work, when, by the death of Athaliah, the young prince had his way to…
Jehoiada restores the worship of God. The house of Baal is destroyed. Joash is brought to the palace and enthroned (2Ch…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture