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In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders:[a] “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down[b] the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. Have them hand it over to the construction foremen[c] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it,[d] including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work.[e] Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.”[f]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 22:3 tn Heb “temple, saying.”
  2. 2 Kings 22:4 tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (veyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hittikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (veyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.
  3. 2 Kings 22:5 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
  4. 2 Kings 22:5 tn Heb “and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages to the house.”
  5. 2 Kings 22:6 tn Heb “and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house.”
  6. 2 Kings 22:7 tn Heb “only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting.”

In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, the court secretary, to the Temple of the Lord. He told him, “Go to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money the gatekeepers have collected from the people at the Lord’s Temple. Entrust this money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the Lord’s Temple. Then they can use it to pay workers to repair the Temple. They will need to hire carpenters, builders, and masons. Also have them buy the timber and the finished stone needed to repair the Temple. But don’t require the construction supervisors to keep account of the money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men.”

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