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2 Kings 12
Contemporary English Version

King Joash of Judah

(2 Chronicles 24.1-16)

12 Joash[a] became king of Judah in Jehu's seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled 40 years from Jerusalem. His mother Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba.

2 Jehoiada the priest taught Joash what was right, and so for the rest of his life Joash obeyed the Lord. 3 But even Joash did not destroy the local shrines,[b] and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

4 (A) One day, Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money that has been given to the Lord's temple, whether from taxes or gifts, 5 and use it to repair the temple whenever you see the need.”

6 But the priests never started repairing the temple. So in the twenty-third year of his rule, 7 Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and said, “Why aren't you using the money to repair the temple? Don't take any more money for yourselves. It is only to be used to pay for the repairs.” 8 The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money or be in charge of the temple repairs.

9 Jehoiada found a wooden box; he cut a hole in the top of it and set it on the right side of the altar where people went into the temple. Whenever someone gave money to the temple, the priests guarding the entrance would put it into this box. 10 When the box was full of money, the king's secretary and the chief priest would count the money and put it in bags. 11 Then they would give it to the men supervising the repairs to the temple. Some of the money was used to pay the builders, the woodworkers, 12 the stonecutters, and the men who built the walls. And some was used to buy wood and stone and to pay any other costs for repairing the temple.

13 While the repairs were being made, the money that was given to the temple was not used to make silver bowls, lamp snuffers, small sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or anything gold or silver for the temple. 14 It went only to pay for repairs. 15 (B) The men in charge were honest, so no one had to keep track of the money.

16 (C) The fines that had to be paid along with the sacrifices to make things right and the sacrifices for sin did not go to the temple. This money belonged only to the priests.

17 About the same time, King Hazael of Syria attacked the town of Gath and captured it. Next, he decided to attack Jerusalem. 18 So Joash collected everything he and his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to the Lord, as well as the gold in the storage rooms in the temple and palace. He sent it all to Hazael as a gift, and when Hazael received it, he ordered his troops to leave Jerusalem.

19 Everything else Joash did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 20-21 At the end of his rule, some of his officers rebelled against him. Jozabad[c] son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer murdered him in a building where the land was filled in on the east side of Jerusalem,[d] near the road to Silla. Joash was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem,[e] and his son Amaziah became king.

Footnotes

  1. 12.1 Joash: The Hebrew text has “Jehoash,” another spelling of the name.
  2. 12.3 local shrines: The Hebrew text has “high places,” which were local places to worship God or foreign gods.
  3. 12.20,21 Jozabad: Some manuscripts of the Hebrew text; other manuscripts “Jozacar.”
  4. 12.20,21 where … Jerusalem: The Hebrew text has “on the Millo,” which probably refers to a landfill to strengthen and extend the hill where the city was built.
  5. 12.20,21 Jerusalem: See the note at 8.24.
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2 Kings 12
New English Translation

12 1 (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. 2 Jehoash did what the Lord approved[a] all his days when[b] Jehoiada the priest taught him. 3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal[c] all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax,[d] the silver received from those who have made vows,[e] and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.[f] 5 The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.”[g]

6 By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple. 7 So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.”[h] 8 The priests agreed[i] not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.[j]

9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of[k] the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple. 10 When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary[l] and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up.[m] 11 They would then hand over[n] the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen[o] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple, 12 as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and also paid for all the other expenses.[p] 13 The silver brought to the Lord’s temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements. 14 It was handed over[q] to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed[r] the funds to the foremen, for they were honest.[s] 16 (The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the Lord’s temple; it belonged to the priests.)

17 At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked[t] Gath and captured it. Hazael then decided to attack Jerusalem.[u] 18 King Jehoash of Judah collected all the sacred items that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had consecrated, as well as his own sacred items and all the gold that could be found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent it all[v] to King Hazael of Syria, who then withdrew[w] from Jerusalem.

19 The rest of the events of Joash’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[x] 20 His servants conspired against him[y] and murdered Joash at Beth Millo, on the road that goes down to Silla.[z] 21 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer murdered him.[aa] He was buried[ab] with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Amaziah replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 12:2 tn Heb “what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  2. 2 Kings 12:2 tn The MT reads יָמָיו אֲשֶׁר (yamayv ʾasher, “all his days which…”). The LXX says “all the days which Jehoiada the priest enlightened him,” implying either יָמִים (yamim, “days”) or יְמֵי (yeme, “days of”), without the pronominal suffix. Lev 13:46 demonstrates that יְמֵי can be in construct with an אֲשֶׁר clause, but an אֲשֶׁר clause can also follow יוֹם (yom “day”) when it has a pronominal suffix. In either case the אֲשֶׁר clause restricts the time period that יוֹם describes. Therefore this verse does not contradict 2 Chr 24:2 which limits its praise of the king to “all the days of Jehoiada the priest.”
  3. 2 Kings 12:4 tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.
  4. 2 Kings 12:4 tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (ʿavar), “pass over,” probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
  5. 2 Kings 12:4 tn Heb “the silver of persons, his valuation.” The precise meaning of the phrase is uncertain, but parallels in Lev 27 suggest that personal vows are referred to here. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
  6. 2 Kings 12:4 tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the Lord.”
  7. 2 Kings 12:5 tn Heb “Let the priests take for themselves, each from his treasurer, and let them repair the damage of the temple, with respect to all the damage that is found there.” The word מַכָּר (makar), translated here “treasurer,” occurs only in this passage. Some suggest it means “merchant” or “benefactor.” Its usage in Ugaritic texts, where it appears in a list of temple officials, suggests that it refers in this context to individuals who were in charge of disbursing temple funds.
  8. 2 Kings 12:7 tn Heb “Now, do not take silver from your treasurers, because for the damages to the temple you must give it.”
  9. 2 Kings 12:8 tn Outside of this passage the verb אוּת (ʾut) appears only in Gen 34:15-22.
  10. 2 Kings 12:8 tn Heb “and not to repair the damages to the temple.” This does not mean that the priests were no longer interested in repairing the temple. As the following context makes clear, the priests decided to hire skilled workers to repair the damage to the temple, rather than trying to make the repairs themselves.
  11. 2 Kings 12:9 tn Heb “on the right of the altar as a man enters.”
  12. 2 Kings 12:10 tn Heb “the king’s scribe.”
  13. 2 Kings 12:10 tn Heb “went up and tied [it] and counted the silver that was found in the house of the Lord.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation to make better sense in English, since it seems more logical to count the money before bagging it (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
  14. 2 Kings 12:11 tn Heb “would give.”
  15. 2 Kings 12:11 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
  16. 2 Kings 12:12 tn Heb “and for all that which was going out concerning the house for repair.”
  17. 2 Kings 12:14 tn Heb “was given.”
  18. 2 Kings 12:15 tn Heb “gave.”
  19. 2 Kings 12:15 tn Heb “and they did not conduct a reckoning of the men who gave the silver into their hand to give to the doers of the work, for in honesty they were working.”
  20. 2 Kings 12:17 tn Heb “went up and fought against.”
  21. 2 Kings 12:17 tn Heb “Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.”
  22. 2 Kings 12:18 tn The object (“it all”) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  23. 2 Kings 12:18 tn Heb “went up.”
  24. 2 Kings 12:19 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
  25. 2 Kings 12:20 tn Heb “rose up and conspired [with] a conspiracy.”
  26. 2 Kings 12:20 tn Heb “Beth Millo which goes down [toward] Silla.”
  27. 2 Kings 12:21 tn Heb “struck him down and he died.”
  28. 2 Kings 12:21 tn Heb “they buried him.”
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