And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house;

And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that you must do:

and commandeth them, saying, 'This is the thing that ye do; The third of you are going in on the sabbath, and keepers of the charge of the house of the king,

And he gave them orders, saying, This is what you are to do: the third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the king's house,

And he commanded them, saying: 'This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, and that keep the watch of the king's house-

And he commanded them, saying: "This is the word that you must do.

Five divisions of the guard under their five captains are distinguished here. Three of the five divisions "enter in" on the Sabbath; the other two "go forth" on the Sabbath 2-Kings 11:7. By the former phrase seems to be meant the mounting guard at the royal palace (the "king's house," where Athaliah then was); by the latter the serving of escort to the sovereign beyond the palace bounds. Jehoiada orders that of those whose business it would be to guard the palace on the ensuing Sabbath, one company or cohort should perform that task in the ordinary way, while another should watch the gate of Sur - or better, "the gate of the foundation" 2-Chronicles 23:5 - that by which the palace was usually quitted for the temple, and a third should watch another of the palace gates, called "the gate of the guard" (see 2-Kings 11:19). The two companies whose proper business it would be to serve as the royal escort beyond the palace walls, he orders to enter the temple, and surround the person of the young king.

That enter in on the Sabbath - It appears that Jehoiada chose the Sabbath day to proclaim the young king, because as that was a day of public concourse, the gathering together of the people who were in this secret would not be noticed; and it is likely that they all came unarmed, and were supplied by Jehoiada with the spears and shields which David had laid up in the temple, 2-Kings 11:10.
The priests and Levites were divided into twenty-four classes by David, and each served a week by turns in the temple, and it was on the Sabbath that they began the weekly service, all this favored Jehoiada's design.

And he commanded them, saying, This [is] the thing that ye shall do; A third part of (e) you that enter in on the sabbath shall (f) even be keepers of the watch of the king's house;
(e) Of the Levites, who had charge of the keeping of the temple, and kept watch by course.
(f) That no one should come on them, while they were crowning the king.

And he commanded them, saying, this is the thing that ye shall do,.... These were the rulers over hundreds among the priests and Levites, and which he, as high priest, could command, and whom he could convene without suspicion, being such as he had a connection with, and were unarmed men: and for the better understanding of what follows, it should be observed, that the priests, in the times of David, were divided into twenty four courses, which were by turns to serve a week in the temple; the course that came in entered when the sabbath began, and that which went out went out when it ended, and each course consisted of a thousand men: now with respect to both these courses, both that which went in and that which went out, Jehoiada gave them the following charge:
a third part of you that enter in on the sabbath; on the beginning of it, to do duty in the temple the week following:
shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house, which, according to some, was that part of the temple where the king was hid and brought up, supposed to be the north part of it: or rather these were set at the north gate of the temple, which led to the royal palace, lest any should rush out of that, and kill the king.

Of you - Levites, who were distributed into twenty four courses, to minister in turns, each course consisting of about a thousand men for a week. Enter in - That come into the temple to attend your ministry. King's house - Of that part which lead to the king's palace, which Athaliah now possessed.