TEXT [Commentary]

5. Joash repairs the Temple (12:1-16 [12:2-17])

1 [*]Joash[*] began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu’s reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

4 One day King Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as a sacred offering to the LORD’s Temple, whether it is a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift. 5 Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple.”

6 But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. 7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Don’t use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs.” 8 So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple.

9 Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the LORD. The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people’s contributions into the chest. 10 Whenever the chest became full, the court secretary and the high priest counted the money that had been brought to the LORD’s Temple and put it into bags. 11 Then they gave the money to the construction supervisors, who used it to pay the people working on the LORD’s Temple—the carpenters, the builders, 12 the masons, and the stonecutters. They also used the money to buy the timber and the finished stone needed for repairing the LORD’s Temple, and they paid any other expenses related to the Temple’s restoration.

13 The money brought to the Temple was not used for making silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver for the Temple of the LORD. 14 It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs. 15 No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. 16 However, the money that was contributed for guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the LORD’s Temple. It was given to the priests for their own use.

NOTES

12:1 [2] Joash. He is not to be confused with “Jehoash” son of Jehoahaz (see 13:10-13); both kings have identical spellings for their names: yo’ash [TH3101, ZH3409] or yeho’ash [TH3060, ZH3371]; cf. the second NLT mg note on this verse. The Davidic king was introduced in 11:2; he was the only survivor of Athaliah’s purge. The name Joash/Jehoash probably means “Yahweh has given” (HALOT 393).

12:2 [3] did what was pleasing. This is a welcome respite from the frequent negative evaluations given to these monarchs (see the Introduction, endnotes 2 and 33). Here, uniquely, credit is given to the high priest Jehoiada for such a positive development (Cogan and Tadmor [1988:137] note that such a reference to the high priest may have been added under the influence of 2 Chr 24:2, 15-22, where Joash’s fidelity to Yahweh deteriorates markedly after Jehoiada’s death).

12:3 [4] did not destroy the pagan shrines. See endnote 33 of the Introduction for this formulaic Deuteronomistic condemnation, which will be repeated in 14:4; 15:4, 35; in each case it occurs just after an otherwise “pleasing” evaluation of a Davidic ruler.

12:4 [5] a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift. The Hebrew here is difficult, probably representing “shorthand” for various priestly levies (so Cogan and Tadmor 1988:137). In any case, it should be observed how intense the focus is throughout this chapter on Temple matters (this account possibly stemming from some sort of separate Temple history; cf. Jones 1984:488).

12:5 [6] repairs. Heb., bedeq [TH919, ZH981], “breach or fissure,” a term found a number of times only in this chapter and in 22:5, giving further evidence of the literary ties between the Joash tradition here and the later Josiah Temple-repair tradition (see the commentary).

12:6 [7] twenty-third year. A remarkably precise chronological datum, unusual in Kings (but cf. Josiah’s 18th year in 22:3; 23:23; also cf. the first note on 1 Kgs 14:25). How this remarkable delay fits in with Joash’s desperate attempt to buy off King Hazael with, among other things, the Temple treasury (see 12:18) remains unclear, although some sort of historical connection surely must have existed.

12:7 [8] From now on. This was an obvious change in plans, initiated by the king. (Concerning the fact that the king was particularly responsible for the national Temple, see the commentary.)

12:9 [10] a large chest. Such “cash boxes” located near temple gates were typical features in Mesopotamia in the first millennium BC. Cogan and Tadmor (1988:138) further note that the Judahite contributor would actually give his offering to the Levitical guard at the gate, who would then deposit the offering in the box on the right side of the altar some distance away in the center of the court.

12:10 [11] court secretary and the high priest. Thus both royal and priestly representatives were present, presumably to ensure an honest tally.

put it into bags. The probable meaning of wayyatsuru [TH6696, ZH7443], “and they bound, tied up (something into bags?)”; cf. 5:23, where the same verb is used. The silver would then have to be weighed to determine its value, coinage not yet being widely employed (see the next note; also see Wiseman 1993:237; Hurowitz 1986:289-294).

12:11 [12] money. Lit., “the silver that was weighed” (hakkesep hamethukkan [TH8505, ZH9419], “be weighed”); see previous note.

12:13 [14] silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver. These Temple vessels and implements were also listed back in 1 Kgs 7:50 (when they were first fashioned in the days of King Solomon); several of these categories of objects will again be listed in 25:14-15 (cf. Jer 52:18-19), when Nebuchadnezzar seizes them as plunder after he has conquered the city of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

12:15 [16] No accounting . . . was required. This is paralleled later in the days of King Josiah (22:7), where another form of the same verb (khashab [TH2803, ZH3108]) is used (see the commentary for other parallels). As Wiseman (1993:238) reminds us, “Our use of money is always a test of faithfulness.”

COMMENTARY [Text]

In terms that bring to mind the great reformer king, Josiah (the “hero” of the Deuteronomistic editor—see “Earlier Editions of Kings?” under “Date and Occasion of Writing” in the Introduction), who also took the throne at a young age after his father’s assassination, we read that King Joash orchestrated necessary Temple renovations effectively. As Sweeney (2007:351) notes, “Temple renovation is frequently a sign of national restoration as well.” And as Wiseman (1993:236) points out, “The maintenance of the main national temple was the responsibility of the king, for the temple served also as a chapel royal. All ancient Near Eastern monarchs record their care for such shrines.” So, especially after times of political turmoil and religious apostasy, such “Temple care” would be most expected of a Judahite monarch, especially one who “did what was pleasing” in Yahweh’s sight (12:2).

But two issues mar this positive record somewhat. The second is addressed in the next section of commentary, and the first appears here: the role of the high priest Jehoiada. Up to now, his role has been aggressively positive, at least from the point of view of the Deuteronomistic Historian (cf. the entirety of the preceding chapter). But that seems less the case here (probably at least partly due to his advanced age; cf. 2 Chr 24:15). For whatever reason, perhaps laxity on his part (as well as that of Joash himself), actual repairs were not begun until the king’s 23rd year of reign (see 12:6)! By this time, the 30-year-old king acted most appropriately in remonstrating, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple?” (12:7). He upbraided the priests, including Jehoiada specifically, and he changed the system of contributions in accord with accepted ancient Near Eastern practice (see Hurowitz 1986:289-294; cf. the notes on 12:9-11). Using fiscally sound practices akin to the modern system of double signatures on church checks (cf. 12:10), the king ensured that the priests would no longer spend the money foolishly. As I wrote some years ago (Barnes 1997a:467), “Whether it be the high priest planning carefully the accession of the youthful King Joash in the previous chapter, or the king urging on the high priest to complete the temple repairs [here], each had his own calling and profession, yet each acted properly to bring about positive change in the other’s sphere of influence.” We, likewise, should remain open to such mutual occasions for blessings for (and from) others, so that God’s true Kingdom can continue to grow and to flourish.