7 and king Jehoash calleth to Jehoiada the priest, and to the priests, and saith unto them, `Wherefore are ye not strengthening the breach of the house? and now, receive no money from your acquaintances, but for the breach of the house give it.'
and he gathereth the priests and the Levites, and saith to them, `Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year, and ye, ye do haste to the matter;' and the Levites have not hasted. And the king calleth for Jehoiada the head, and saith to him, `Wherefore hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, servant of Jehovah, and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent of the testimony? for sons of Athaliah, the wicked one, have broken up the house of God, and also, all the holy things of the house of Jehovah they have prepared for Baalim.' And the king speaketh, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without, and give an intimation in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring in to Jehovah the tribute of Moses, servant of God, `laid' on Israel in the wilderness. And all the heads, and all the people rejoice, and they bring in, and cast into the chest, unto completion. And it cometh to pass, at the time one bringeth in the chest for the inspection of the king by the hand of the Levites, and at their seeing that the money `is' abundant, that a scribe of the king hath come in, and an officer of the head-priest, and they empty the chest, and take it up and turn it back unto its place; thus they have done day by day, and gather money in abundance. And the king and Jehoiada give it unto the doers of the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and they are hiring hewers and artificers to renew the house of Jehovah, and also -- to artificers in iron and brass to strengthen the house of Jehovah. And those doing the business work, and there goeth up lengthening to the work by their hand, and they establish the house of God, by its proper measure, and strengthen it. And at their completing `it', they have brought in before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the money, and they make it vessels for the house of Jehovah, vessels of serving, and of offering up, and spoons, even vessels of gold and silver; and they are causing burnt-offerings to ascend in the house of Jehovah continually, all the days of Jehoiada.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 12
Commentary on 2 Kings 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
This chapter gives us the history of the reign of Joash, which does not answer to that glorious beginning of it which we had an account of in the foregoing chapter; he was not so illustrious at forty years old as he was at seven, yet his reign is to be reckoned one of the better sort, and appears much worse in Chronicles (2 Chr. 24) than it does here, for there we find the blood of one of God's prophets laid at his door; here we are only told,
2Ki 12:1-3
The general account here given of Joash is,
2Ki 12:4-16
We have here an account of the repairing of the temple in the reign of Joash.
2Ki 12:17-21
When Joash had revolted from God and become both an idolater and a persecutor the hand of the Lord went out against him, and his last state was worse than his first.