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2 Kings 12:4-16
Christian Standard Bible

Repairing the Temple

4 Then(A) Joash said to the priests, “All the dedicated silver brought to the Lord’s temple,(B) census silver,(C) silver from vows,(D) and all silver voluntarily given(E) for the Lord’s temple— 5 each priest is to take it from his assessor[a] and repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”[b](F)

6 But by the twenty-third year(G) of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not repaired the damage[c] to the temple.(H) 7 So King Joash called the priest Jehoiada(I) and the other priests and asked, “Why haven’t you repaired the temple’s damage? Since you haven’t, don’t take any silver from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.” 8 So the priests agreed that they would receive no silver from the people and would not be the ones to repair the temple’s damage.

9 Then the priest Jehoiada took a chest,(J) bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the Lord’s temple; the priests who guarded the threshold put into the chest all the silver that was brought to the Lord’s temple.(K) 10 Whenever they saw there was a large amount of silver in the chest, the king’s secretary(L) and the high priest would go bag up and tally the silver found in the Lord’s temple.(M) 11 Then they would give the weighed silver to those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They in turn would pay it out to those working on the Lord’s temple—the carpenters, the builders, 12 the masons, and the stonecutters—and would use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple(N) and for all expenses for temple repairs.

13 However, no silver bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver(O) were made for the Lord’s temple from the contributions[d] brought to the Lord’s temple. 14 Instead, it was given to those doing the work, and they repaired the Lord’s temple with it. 15 No accounting was required from the men who received the silver to pay those doing the work, since they worked with integrity.(P) 16 The silver from the guilt offering and the sin offering was not brought to the Lord’s temple since it belonged to the priests.(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. 12:5 Hb obscure
  2. 12:5 Lit repair the breach of the temple wherever there is found a breach
  3. 12:6 Lit breach in 2Kg 12:5–12
  4. 12:13 Lit silver
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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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