1 (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem.map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba.

2 Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the Lord approved,tn Heb “and Jehoash did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord all his days.” just astn Heb “that which.” Jehoiada taught the king the Lord’s will. Jehoiada the priest taught him.

3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposaltn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification. all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax,tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (’avar), “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. the silver received from those who have made vows,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. and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the Lord.”

5 The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.”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 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.”tn Heb “Now, do not take silver from your treasurers, because for the damages to the temple you must give it.”

8 The priests agreedtn Outside of this passage the verb אוּת (’ut) appears only in Gen 34:15-22. not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.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 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 oftn Heb “on the right side of the altar as a man enters.” 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 secretarytn Heb “the king’s scribe.” and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up.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).

11 They would then hand overtn Heb “would give.” the silver that had been weighed to the construction forementn Heb “doers of the work.” 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.tn Heb “and for all that which was going out concerning the house for repair.”

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 overtn Heb “was given.” to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple.

15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursedtn Heb “gave.” the funds to the foremen, for they were honest.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.”

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.)

17 At that time King Hazael of Syria attackedtn Heb “went up and fought against.” Gath and captured it. Hazael then decided to attack Jerusalem.tn Heb “Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.”

18 King Jehoash of Judah collected all the sacred items that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had consecrated, as well as his own sacred items and all the gold that could be found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent it alltn The object (“it all”) is supplied in the translation for clarification. to King Hazael of Syria, who then withdrewtn Heb “went up.” from Jerusalem.

19 The rest of the events of Joash’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”

20 His servants conspired against himtn Heb “rose up and conspired [with] a conspiracy.” and murdered Joash at Beth-Millo, on the road that goes down to Silla.tn Heb “Beth Millo which goes down [toward] Silla.”

21 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer murdered him.tn Heb “struck him down and he died.” He was buriedtn Heb “they buried him.” with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Amaziah replaced him as king.