2. A good woman. A plausible inference from the fact that she was married to Jehoiada the high priest. "Even princesses did not then scorn the bed of those that served at God's altar ' (Hall). Most likely she and her husband disapproved of the state religion and state policy of the day, inspired and controlled as these were by Athaliah.
3. A brave woman. Scarcely without peril to herself could she have carried out her humane design of rescuing her infant nephew.
4. A clever woman. Without immense tact she could never have evaded the vigilant eyes of Athaliah. Of the substitution of some other child in Joash's room (Hall) Scripture is silent.
III. THE MODE IN WHICH HE WAS DELIVERED.
1. By secret concealment in the palace. Along with his nurse he was hid in a bedchamber, or chamber for the beds; neither the dormitory of the priests and Levites in the temple-courts (Vatablus), nor the sleeping-apartments of the royal princes in the palace (Clericus), but a room in the latter, where, according to Eastern custom, the beds, i.e. mattresses and coverlets, were kept (Keil). In this recess, usually uninhabited, a temporary refuge was obtained from Athaliah's rage.
2. By private upbringing in the temple. Not in the holy of holies (Targum), to which Athaliah had no access, but in one of the buildings on the outer wall, in which the high priest resided with his wife. Fetched at the first convenient opportunity from their dangerous proximity to Athaliah in the palace, the young child and his nurse were for six years lodged in the priest's house. Here his training must have been both carefully and successfully attended to, as his after-career showed (Proverbs 22:6). From the priest's lips he would receive instruction in the Law of God (Malachi 2:7); from his aunt, learn to love and practise the religion of his great and good ancestors, Jehoshaphat and Asa.
Learn:
1. The ease with which God can defeat the projects of the wicked.
2. The tender care God takes of children, especially of such as belong to the covenant.
3. The blessing of possessing pious parents and kinsmen.
4. The value of early instruction in the doctrines and duties of religion.
5. The safety of those whom God keeps.
6. The advantage of spending one's early years in the house of God.—W.
2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 22 - 2-chronicles-22 - worlddic.com