1 In the seventh year of Jehu's rule, Jehoash became king; and he was ruling for forty years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
2 Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because he was guided by the teaching of Jehoiada the priest.
3 But the high places were not taken away; the people went on making offerings and burning them in the high places.
4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the holy things, which comes into the house of the Lord, (the amount fixed for every man's payment,) and all the money given by any man freely from the impulse of his heart,
5 Let the priests take, every man from his friends and neighbours, to make good what is damaged in the house, wherever it is to be seen.
6 But in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had not made good the damaged parts of the house.
7 Then King Jehoash sent for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, Why have you not made good what is damaged in the house? now take no more money from your neighbours, but give it for the building up of the house.
8 So the priests made an agreement to take no more money from the people, and not to make good what was damaged in the house.
9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and making a hole in the cover of it, put it by the altar, on the right side when one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put in it regularly all the money which was taken into the house of the Lord.
10 And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's scribe and the high priest came and put it in bags, noting the amount of all the money there was in the house of the Lord.
11 And the money which was measured out they gave regularly to those who were responsible for overseeing the work, and these gave it in payment to the woodworkers and the builders who were working on the house of the Lord,
12 And to the wall-builders and the stone-cutters, and to get wood and cut stone for building up the broken parts of the house of the Lord, and for everything needed to put the house in good order.
13 But the money was not used for making silver cups or scissors or basins or wind-instruments or any vessels of gold or silver for the house of the Lord;
14 But it was all given to the workmen who were building up the house.
15 And they did not get any statement of accounts from the men to whom the money was given for the workmen, for they made use of it with good faith.
16 The money of the offerings for error and the sin-offerings was not taken into the house of the Lord; it was the priests'.
17 Then Hazael, king of Aram, went up against Gath and took it; and his purpose was to go up to Jerusalem.
18 Then Jehoash, king of Judah, took all the holy things which Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had given to the Lord, together with the things he himself had given, and all the gold in the Temple store and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael, king of Aram; and he went away from Jerusalem.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
20 And his servants made a secret design and put Joash to death at the house of Millo on the way down to Silla.
21 And Jozacar, the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer, his servants, came to him and put him to death; and they put him into the earth with his fathers in the town of David; and Amaziah his son became king in his place.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Kings 12
Commentary on 2 Kings 12 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 12
2Ki 12:1-18. Jehoash Reigns Well while Jehoiada Lived.
2. Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord—so far as related to his outward actions and the policy of his government. But it is evident from the sequel of his history that the rectitude of his administration was owing more to the salutary influence of his preserver and tutor, Jehoiada, than to the honest and sincere dictates of his own mind.
3. But the high places were not taken away—The popular fondness for the private and disorderly rites performed in the groves and recesses of hills was so inveterate that even the most powerful monarchs had been unable to accomplish their suppression; no wonder that in the early reign of a young king, and after the gross irregularities that had been allowed during the maladministration of Athaliah, the difficulty of putting an end to the superstitions associated with "the high places" was greatly increased.
4. Jehoash said to the priests, &c.—There is here given an account of the measures which the young king took for repairing the temple by the levying of taxes: 1. "The money of every one that passeth the account," namely, half a shekel, as "an offering to the Lord" (Ex 30:13). 2. "The money that every man is set at," that is, the redemption price of every one who had devoted himself or any thing belonging to him to the Lord, and the amount of which was estimated according to certain rules (Le 27:1-8). 3. Free will or voluntary offerings made to the sanctuary. The first two were paid annually (see 2Ch 24:5).
7-10. Why repair ye not the breaches of the house?—This mode of collection not proving so productive as was expected (the dilatoriness of the priests was the chief cause of the failure), a new arrangement was proposed. A chest was placed by the high priest at the entrance into the temple, into which the money given by the people for the repairs of the temple was to be put by the Levites who kept the door. The object of this chest was to make a separation between the money to be raised for the building from the other moneys destined for the general use of the priests, in the hope that the people would be more liberal in their contributions when it was known that their offerings would be devoted to the special purpose of making the necessary repairs. The duty of attending to this work was no longer to devolve on the priests, but to be undertaken by the king.
11, 12. they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them that did the work—The king sent his secretary along with an agent of the high priest to count the money in the chest from time to time (2Ch 24:11), and deliver the amount to the overseers of the building, who paid the workmen and purchased all necessary materials. The custom of putting sums of certain amount in bags, which are labelled and sealed by a proper officer, is a common way of using the currency in Turkey and other Eastern countries.
13-16. Howbeit there were not made … bowls, &c.—When the repairs of the temple had been completed, the surplus was appropriated to the purchase of the temple furniture. The integrity of the overseers of the work being undoubted, no account was exacted of the way in which they applied the money given to them, while other moneys levied at the temple were left to the disposal of the priests as the law directed (Le 5:16; Nu 5:8).
17, 18. Then Hazael … fought against Gath—(See on 2Ch 24:23).
2Ki 12:19-21. He Is Slain.
20. his servants arose … and slew Joash in the house of Millo—(See on 2Ch 24:25).