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2 Kings 12:4-16
New English Translation

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

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.”[f] 8 The priests agreed[g] not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.[h]

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[i] 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[j] and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up.[k] 11 They would then hand over[l] the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen[m] 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.[n] 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[o] to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed[p] the funds to the foremen, for they were honest.[q] 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.)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 12:4 tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.”
  5. 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.
  6. 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.”
  7. 2 Kings 12:8 tn Outside of this passage the verb אוּת (ʾut) appears only in Gen 34:15-22.
  8. 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.
  9. 2 Kings 12:9 tn Heb “on the right of the altar as a man enters.”
  10. 2 Kings 12:10 tn Heb “the king’s scribe.”
  11. 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).
  12. 2 Kings 12:11 tn Heb “would give.”
  13. 2 Kings 12:11 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
  14. 2 Kings 12:12 tn Heb “and for all that which was going out concerning the house for repair.”
  15. 2 Kings 12:14 tn Heb “was given.”
  16. 2 Kings 12:15 tn Heb “gave.”
  17. 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.”
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2 Kings 12:4-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

4 Jehoash said to the priests, “All the silver offered as sacred donations that is brought into the house of the Lord—the census tax, personal redemption payments, and silver from voluntary offerings brought into the house of the Lord(A)— 5 let the priests receive from each of the donors, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash the priests had made no repairs on the house.(B) 7 Therefore King Jehoash summoned the priest Jehoiada with the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore do not accept any more silver from your donors but hand it over for the repair of the house.”(C) 8 So the priests agreed that they would neither accept more silver from the people nor repair the house.

9 Then the priest Jehoiada took a chest, made a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord; the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the silver that was brought into the house of the Lord.(D) 10 Whenever they saw that there was a great deal of silver in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest went up, cast the silver that was found in the house of the Lord into ingots, and counted it.(E) 11 They gave the silver that was weighed out into the hands of the workers who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; then they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, 12 to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, as well as for any outlay for repairs of the house.(F) 13 But for the house of the Lord no basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold or of silver were made from the silver that was brought into the house of the Lord,(G) 14 for that was given to the workers who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. 15 They did not ask an accounting from those into whose hand they delivered the silver to pay out to the workers, for they dealt honestly.(H) 16 The silver from the guilt offerings and the silver from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.(I)

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