Chapter Twelve

1–17. The righteous direction of the first part of Joash’s 40-year reign. 17–18. The invasion of Jerusalem by Hazael of Syria. 19–22. The death of Joash.

2 Kings 12:1. In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king and reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, from Beer-sheba. 2 Kings 12:2. And Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days, as long as Jehoiada the priest guided him; 2 Kings 12:3. only the high places were not removed; the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places. 2 Kings 12:4. And Joash said to the priests: All the silver that is brought into the house of the Lord—the silver from those who pass by, the silver assessed by persons, and all the silver that any one’s heart prompts to bring into the house of the Lord, 2 Kings 12:5. let the priests take for themselves, each from his acquaintance, and let them repair the broken places in the temple, wherever any breach is found. (Heb 1-6). General remarks on Joash’s 40-year reign: his relative faithfulness to God did not attain the desired height and purity of worship, for Joash, like for example Asa (1 Kgs 15:14), did not dare to abolish the service to God at the high places. But this relative piety of his lasted only as long as the high priest Jehoiada lived and guided Joash (v. 2, Heb. v. 3). After Jehoiada’s death, Joash completely gave in to the influence of the pagan party at court, permitted the introduction in the Kingdom of Judah of the former idolatry, and was responsible for the martyrdom of Zechariah son of Jehoiada in the very court of the temple (2 Chr 24:17-22). But his first acts of rule were directed toward the restoration of church life, which had fallen into decay in the previous reigns. Thus, in order to maintain the dignity of the temple, which had been plundered by Athaliah (2 Chr 24:7), Joash ordained that the priests should apply all monetary offerings brought into the temple to the repair of the temple, namely: 1) the head tax from every Israelite who had reached twenty years and was being enrolled (Exod 30:13); 2) redemption money from persons dedicated to the sanctuary in place of actual service in the temple (Exod 27:2 and following), as well as redemption for the firstborn animals belonging to God; 3) voluntary offerings of the people to the temple (Exod 25:2; Exod 35:5; cf. blessed Theodoret, question 40). At the same time the king demanded from the priests and Levites to immediately organize for this purpose a nationwide collection and for this to go throughout all the cities of Judah (2 Chr 24:5).

2 Kings 12:6. But as of the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests had not repaired the broken places in the temple, 2 Kings 12:7. King Joash called the priest Jehoiada and the priests and said to them: Why are you not repairing the broken places in the temple? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but hand it over to repair the broken places in the temple. 2 Kings 12:8. And the priests agreed that they would neither take money from the people for repairing the broken places in the temple. 2 Kings 12:9. And the priest Jehoiada took a chest, made a hole in its lid, and placed it beside the altar on the right side, at the entrance to the house of the Lord. The priests who kept watch at the threshold put all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord into it. 2 Kings 12:10. And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and counted the money found in the house of the Lord, and tied it up in bags, 2 Kings 12:11. and they gave the counted money into the hands of the workers who were appointed over the house of the Lord, and these spent it on carpenters and builders who worked in the house of the Lord, 2 Kings 12:12. and on workers who repaired the walls and on stonecutters, as well as on the purchase of timber and hewn stones for the repair of the broken places in the house of the Lord, and for all that was spent for the maintenance of the temple. 2 Kings 12:13. But from the money brought into the house of the Lord, no silver vessels, knives, bowls for sprinkling, trumpets, or any vessels of gold or silver were made, 2 Kings 12:14. but they gave it to the workers and they repaired the house of the Lord with it. 2 Kings 12:15. And they did not ask for a reckoning from the men into whose hand they gave the money to distribute to the workers, because they acted faithfully. 2 Kings 12:16. The money from the trespass offering and the money from the sin offering was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests. (Heb 7-17; cf. 2 Chr 24:6-14). But neither the priests (v. 6) nor the Levites (2 Chr 24:5) showed particular zeal and accuracy in carrying out the king’s command, and the king had, together with the high priest Jehoiada, to decide to introduce a different order for collections intended for the repair of the temple, namely: to set up in the court of the temple a special collection box (Heb. aron, LXX: κινωτόν, Vulg.: gazophylacium, v. 9, Heb. v. 10) for the gathering of all donations for the restoration of the temple (in v. 7 Heb. bedes, “repairs,” in the LXX: τὺ βέδεκ, Slavonic vedek) with strict accounting for the collected funds (v. 10, Heb. v. 11) and careful distribution of what was collected for the purchase of wooden and stone materials and for payment to the workers (verses 12, 14). Such a box was later placed also outside the temple (2 Chr 24:8; cf. Luke 21:1-4). Besides general repairs in the temple, new vessels for the temple service were made (v. 13 cf. 2 Chr 24:14), cf. (1 Kgs 12:50). Only the money brought into the temple for sin offerings and trespass offerings (Num 5:8; Lev 5:16) constituted the inalienable property of the priests (v. 16, Heb. v. 17).

2 Kings 12:17. Then Hazael king of Syria marched out and fought against Gath and took it; and Hazael was determined to march against Jerusalem. 2 Kings 12:18. But Joash king of Judah took all the offerings that had been dedicated, and what his predecessors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own offerings, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the house of the king, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria; and he withdrew from Jerusalem. (Heb 18-19). The invasion of the Syrian Hazael (cf. 2 Kgs 8:12) into Judah and Gath (cf. 1 Kgs 2:39), probably simultaneous with his invasion into the Kingdom of Israel under Jehu (2 Kgs 10:32) or under Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 13:3), was a punishment from God upon Joash for his unfaithfulness to God after Jehoiada’s death and for the murder of Zechariah (2 Chr 24:23-24, cf. 2 Chr 24:17-22). Only by a heavy tribute to Hazael, which Joash, following the example of Asa (1 Kgs 15:18), borrowed from the treasuries of the temple and the royal palace, did Joash save Jerusalem, although he suffered several defeats earlier and the plundering of the land by Syrian forces (2 Chr 24:23-24).

2 Kings 12:20. His servants rose up and made a conspiracy and killed Joash in the house of Millo, on the road to Silla. 2 Kings 12:21. His servants killed him: Jozacar son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad son of Shomer; and he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. And Amaziah his son became king in his place. After the Syrian invasion, Joash, probably wounded, fell into a serious illness (2 Chr 24:25), and soon a conspiracy against his life was made by the faction avenging him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada, and he was killed at Millo (cf. 1 Kgs 9:15) on the way to the unknown locality of Silla (in the LXX: Σελᾶ, Vulg.: Sella, Slavonic: Saala, cf. Onomast. 850). He was denied the honor of burial with the kings, whereas the pious high priest Jehoiada who rendered many services to the Kingdom of Judah was buried in the royal tombs (2 Chr 24:25).