The context shows that up to this point, Athaliah had been unaware of what was happening. When she heard the shouts of acclamation and the applause, she went quickly to the Temple.

When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king: The Hebrew word translated noise is the same as the one rendered “voice” in 2 Chr 15.14 and 20.19; but in this context it clearly refers to the “din” (New American Bible) caused by the combination of people running toward the Temple and at the same time shouting their approval of the new king. Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version omit the idea of the people running. But there seems to be no valid reason for doing so. New Jerusalem Bible translates this clause as “On hearing the people shouting as they ran to acclaim the king.”

She went into the house of the LORD to the people: The previous verse says that the king was brought outside, and the next verse says that the king was standing outside the Temple. Since only the priests and Levites could enter the Temple building, it is not likely that the people and Athaliah were inside the Temple. For this reason New International Version says “she went to them at the temple of the LORD,” and Good News Translation has “so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered.” New Living Translation supplies the implied information that she went there “to see what was happening.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .