2 Kings 11:9

JOASH WAS ANOINTED AND PROCLAIMED TO BE KING OF JUDAH

"And the captains over hundreds did all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And the priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David's, which were in the house of Jehovah. And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king!"

"The spears and shields that had been king David's" (2 Kings 11:10). "The priests would not normally have had weapons; and thus the explanation is here given that these weapons had been stored in the tabernacle by David,"[11] and later deposited in the temple by Solomon.

Anointed by the High Priest as king, formally proclaimed in the sacred area of the temple itself, and hailed with the traditional cry, "Long live the king!" Joash was elevated at the age of seven years to a position that he would hold for more than forty years.

"The presence of a multitude indicates that this revolution occurred on a feast day."[12] Jehoiada had not neglected any of the details of his conspiracy against Athaliah.

"And (they) gave him the testimony" (2 Kings 11:12). Stigers declared that this "testimony" included at least the Decalogue;[13] but the view of this writer is that it included, as a bare minimum, the Five Books of Moses, commonly called the Pentateuch. Without that entire corpus of sacred writings, the continuity of Israel with its elaborate system of religion could not have survived. even as long as it had already existed at that time. We reject out of hand the foolish efforts of critics to render the word for "testimony" in this place as "bracelets."[14] "Handcuffs" simply don't fit this situation at all!

Keil here identified the "testimony" as the "Book of the Law," the Torah, indicating that it would be the rule of his life and action as king, according to the precept in Deuteronomy 17:18-19.[15]