2 Reis 12
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
2 Reis 12
NJB (MT versing) Joash (Jehoash) Reigns Over Judah Jehoash Repairs the Temple Reign of Jehoash of Judah King Joash of Judah The Reign of Jehoash in Judah (835-796) 12:1-3 12:1-3 12:1-3 12:1-3 12:1-4 The Temple to Be Repaired Difficulties with Repairs to Temple 12:4-5 12:4-8 12:4-8 12:4-5 12:5-9 12:6-8 12:6-8 12:9-16 12:9-16 12:9-16 12:9-16 Hazael Threatens Jerusalem Attack by the Arameans 12:10-17 12:17-18 12:17-18 12:17-18 12:17-18 Joash Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah Death of Joash Assassination of Jehoash 12:18-19 12:19-21 12:19-21 12:19-21 12:19 12:20-21 12:20-21 Etc.
2 Reis 12:1-3
12:1 "he reigned forty years" There are two ways to view this number. It is a round number ‒ see SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #7. It counts the reign of Athaliah, thereby counting from Ahaziah ‒ see SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY. ▣ "his mother's name was Zibiah" Jehoash was not a son of Athaliah. ▣ "Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord" This was true as long as Jehoiada was his counselor. This is a recurrent idiom related to a godly king (cf. Deut. 6:18; 12:28; 13:18; 1 Kgs. 11:38; 14:8; 15:11; 22:43; 2 Chr. 14:2; 20:32; 24:2). SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD ▣ "the priest" This was a way to designate the head priest. In v. 16 the ADJECTIVE "great" (BDB 152) designates the same person. It is usually translated "High Priest." See a good brief note on the changing titles for the High Priest in Roland deVauz, Ancient Israel, pp. 377-379. 12:3 "the high places" These were local places of worship (BDB 119). Originally they were not condemned but with the rise of a mandated central shrine in Jerusalem, they became identified with Ba'al worship. Not until Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 18:4) were the high places destroyed (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:14; 22:43; 2 Kgs. 12:3; 14:4; 15:4,35).
2 Reis 12:4-5
12:4-5 The temple of Solomon had been neglected, especially under Athaliah. It needed to be repaired. King Jehoash started the campaign to do this by collecting some of the revenue of the temple. each man's assessment ‒ Exod. 30:11-16; Num. 18:19; 2 Chr. 24:9, for priests (AB, p. 137 and NET Bible call it "a census tax") free will offerings ‒ for any purpose (like peace offerings) vow offerings ‒ Lev. 27:1-13
2 Reis 12:6-8
12:6-15 For some reason not given, the priests did not use the money for repairs (cf. 2 Chr. 24:5). Because of this, King Jehoash demanded the collected money be used exclusively for temple repair (v. 7) be kept by both a royal representative and a priestly representative (v. 11) be given directly to the laborers and craftsmen (v. 12) there would be no required accounting from the workmen of the disbursement of the funds (v. 15, this may be a slap at the priests' handling of the money) The NET Bible, p. 611, #21, suggests this reluctance on the part of the priests to repair the temple was due to the fact they wanted skilled workers to repair it, not themselves.
2 Reis 12:9-16
12:9; NASB, NKJV, NRSV, Peshitta "beside the altar" "beside the pillar" "on the right side of the altar" "beside iamibing" (Hebrew word in Greek) Goodspeed "beside the doorpost" The UBS Text Project, p. 355, gives the MT/NASB (BDB 258) option an "A" rating (high probability). The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 222, has a good note. "At first sight a discrepancy seems to exist between the details in Kings and those in Chronicles. Whereas this verse locates Joash's chest "beside the altar, on the right side" (cf. Jos. Antiq. IX, 163 [viii.2]), 2 Chron 24:8 places it without "at the gate of the temple." Actually the chest could not have been placed beside the altar per se, for this would contravene Levitical stipulation. The intent of the text of Kings is simply that the chest was set against the altar wall at the entrance that lay to the right side of the altar, or the southern entrance to the middle court. So understood, the texts of Kings and Chronicles are in natural agreement." 12:10 "the king's scribe" See SPECIAL TOPIC: SCRIBES. ▣ NASB, NRSV, Peshitta (צור) "tied" NKJV, NJB, JPSOA "put it" TEV, REB (צרר) "melt down" "bundled" The MT has the VERB (BDB 848 II, KB 1015, Qal IMPERFECT with waw), which means "to confine," "to bind," and "to besiege." The UBS Text Project, p. 356, gives the MT a "B" rating (some doubt). The NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 792, asserts that both roots refer to a melting process related to valuable metals. There were no coins in the ANE in this period. Gifts would be in the form of pieces of metal pieces of jewelry 12:11-12 Notice the type of laborers that were hired. the carpenters ‒ BDB 781 (lit. "craftsmen in wood," NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 298-299) the builders ‒ BDB 124, KB 139, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE the masons ‒ BDB 154, KB 180, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE the stonecutters stone ‒ BDB 6 cutters ‒ BDB 345, KB 342, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE those who brought (BDB 888, KB 1111, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) the materials timber ‒ BDB 781 (see #1) hewn stone ‒ BDB 6 CONSTRUCT BDB 345 12:13 The text in 2 Kings wants all the money collected to go to the repairs of the building. 2 Chronicles 24:14 tells us there was some money left over and this was used for temple utensils. 12:15 "faithfully" This is one of the great Hebrew roots/words. In the OT its main thrust is "faithfulness." In this context it may be a contrast to the priests who initially wasted the money collected for repairing the temple of Solomon. SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH, AND FAITHFULNESS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 12:16 The priests did retain their personal income from guilt offerings ‒ see Lev. 5:14-6:7; 7:1-2; NIDOTTE, vol. 1, pp. 557-565 sin offerings ‒ see Lev. 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30 SPECIAL TOPIC: GUILT OFFERINGS SPECIAL TOPIC: SIN OFFERINGS
2 Reis 12:17-18
12:17-18 Hazael continues his invasions. He controlled the trans-Jordan area but wanted more (see more details in 2 Chr. 24:23-27). It is ironic that the priests were reluctant to use their income for temple repair; all the treasures of the temple and palace are used to pay off the Syrians.
2 Reis 12:19-21
12:19-21 The text does not state why Jehoash was assassinated by his own servants, but since these men did not flee, one is caused to assume that Jehoash had done something, possibly idolatry (cf. 2 Chr. 24:15-22) the king's actions were well known and not approved by the people his death was not a coup but a judgment (later these men were killed, cf. 2 Kgs. 14:5) these men were sons of foreign women; why it affected their actions is uncertain 12:20 "conspiracy" The VERB basically means "to bind." Here, to bind together for a conspiracy. Both the NOUN and the VERB appear together (BDB 905, KB 1153). ▣ "the house of Millo" See notes on "millo" (BDB 571) at 2 Sam. 5:9 and 1 Kgs. 11:27. ▣ "to Silla" This city/village/place (BDB 698) occurs only here and is unknown. It is omitted in the LXX. 12:21 NASB, NRSV, TEV, NJB, JPSOA "Jozacar" NKJV, REB, Peshitta "Jozachar" "Iezichar" "Jozabad" This person is called "Zabad" in 2 Chr. 24:26. The UBS Text Project, p. 356, could not decide between "Jozacar" or "Jozachar," but gave them both "D" ratings (highly doubtful).