“The Diadem and the Testimony”

“THEN [Jehoiada the priest] brought the son of the king out and put upon him the diadem and the Testimony; and so they made him king and anointed him.” (2 Kings 11:12) This is how the book of Kings describes the coronation of King Jehoash. Did you notice that besides “the diadem,” or royal headgear, Jehoiada also put “the Testimony” upon the young king. What was the Testimony? And why was it part of this coronation ceremony?

The Hebrew word here translated “Testimony” usually refers to the Ten Commandments or to God’s Law in general. (Exodus 31:18; Psalm 78:5, Revised Standard Version) In harmony with this, the parallel account at 2 Chronicles 23:11 reads in The Jerusalem Bible (1966): “Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son, crowned him, and imposed the Law on him.” However, at 2 Kings 11:12, this translation substitutes the word “armlets” for “the Testimony,” although the same Hebrew word appears in both verses. Why?

A noted German Bible commentary, Herders Bibelkommentar, explains that some translators cannot imagine that the king would wear the Law on his head or on his arm. Since, when discussing King Saul, 2 Samuel 1:10 mentions an armlet (or, bracelet) along with the diadem that he wore, they believe that the text at 2 Kings 11:12 originally must have read “the diadem and the armlets.” But this is mere speculation. Replacing “the Testimony” with “armlets” represents a radical textual change.

The New Jerusalem Bible (1985) therefore restores the thought of the Law, or the law covenant, rendering the phrase “and gave him a copy of the covenant.” But did Jehoiada give Jehoash “the Testimony”? True, the Hebrew word translated “put” can also be rendered “gave.” But in both Kings and Chronicles, it only appears once, referring both to the diadem and to the Testimony. Moreover, it is followed immediately by the Hebrew word “upon.” Hence, “put upon” must be the correct translation. Both the diadem and the Testimony were “put upon” young King Jehoash, as the New World Translation shows.

So why​—and how—​did the high priest “put” the Testimony upon the young king? Consider the observation of German scholar Otto Thenius: “The Law, a book in which Mosaic decrees were recorded. This was symbolically held on the king’s head, after he had been adorned with the diadem.” (Die Bücher der Könige) Similarly, Professor Ernst Bertheau remarks: “The laying of the Law [upon the king] indeed carried a symbolic sense, that the king was obliged to rule in accordance with it.”​—Die Bücher der Chronik.

God commanded that when the king took his seat upon the throne, he should write for himself a copy of the Law, studying and applying it all his life. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20) Putting “the Testimony” upon the new king may have been a brief symbolic gesture illustrating that even though he was now king, he was not above Jehovah’s Law. Unhappily, after the death of high priest Jehoiada, Jehoash forgot this vital lesson and gradually left Jehovah’s worship, eventually dying at the hands of assassins.​—2 Chronicles 24:17-25.