2 Kings12

King Jehoash began his 40-year reign in Jerusalem, doing right by the Lord under Jehoiada the priest's guidance, though high places persisted. He initiated a temple repair project, initially managed by priests, but later reformed the collection system to ensure funds directly reached the workmen. Towards the end of his reign, he appeased Hazael of Syria with temple treasures and was ultimately assassinated by his servants.

Jehoash Begins His Reign

In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

However the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

Funding the Temple Restoration

Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the LORD’s house, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that it comes into any man’s heart to bring into the LORD’s house,

let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach shall be found.”

But it was so, that in the twenty-third year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them, “Why don’t you repair the breaches of the house? Now therefore take no more money from your treasurers, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.”

The priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house.

But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the LORD’s house: and the priests who kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the LORD’s house.

It was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the LORD’s house.

They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the LORD’s house: and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, who worked on the LORD’s house,

and to the masons and the stone cutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the breaches of the LORD’s house, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

But there were not made for the LORD’s house cups of silver, snuffers, basins, shofars, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the LORD’s house;

for they gave that to those who did the work, and repaired therewith the LORD’s house.

Moreover they didn’t demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully.

The money for the trespass offerings, and the money for the sin offerings, was not brought into the LORD’s house: it was the priests’.

Syrian Threat and Tribute

Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own holy things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the LORD’s house, and of the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

Death of Jehoash

Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

His servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.

For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Study Notes for 2 Kings 12

Verse 1

Jehoash (also called Joash) was the sole surviving son of Ahaziah, saved from Athaliah's purge (2 Ki 11). His reign of forty years is one of the longest in Judah's history.

Verse 2

Jehoash’s righteousness was conditional, tied directly to the mentorship of Jehoiada the priest, who had protected him as a child. This suggests his devotion was derived rather than inherent.

Verse 3

The 'high places' (Bamot) were local shrines where unauthorized worship occurred. The failure of even the best kings to remove them illustrates the deep syncretism and popular resistance to centralized worship in Jerusalem.

Verse 4

The three categories of money mentioned cover dedicated vows, mandatory census/tax money, and freewill offerings. This shows the king’s comprehensive plan to fund the necessary repairs.

Verse 6

This delay, lasting 23 years into Jehoash's reign, suggests the priests were either mismanaging the funds or prioritizing their own needs over the Temple structure.

Verse 8

The priests agreed to stop handling the money directly, recognizing the failure of the trust-based system, but also forfeited their role in supervising the repair work.

Verse 9

This new system—a centralized collection chest accessible to all—was designed to bypass clerical corruption and establish clear accountability for the building funds.

Verse 13

All funds were strictly allocated for structural repair (necessity) rather than for new decorative or liturgical items (luxury), emphasizing the urgency of the restoration.

Verse 15

The administration was so trustworthy and transparent that no accounting audit was required from the foremen. This is a rare biblical commendation of integrity in public works.

Verse 16

The money derived from sin and trespass offerings was legally designated for the priests' subsistence (Lev 5:14–16). This verse clarifies that the building funds were kept distinct from the established sacrificial income.

Verse 17

Hazael’s expansion into Philistia (Gath) brought the powerful Aramean kingdom directly to the borders of Judah, posing a grave threat to Jerusalem.

Verse 18

The irony is tragic: after successfully repairing the Temple, Jehoash was forced to strip both the Temple and the palace of dedicated treasures to pay tribute, showing the limits of his political strength.

Verse 20

Jehoash was assassinated by his own servants, possibly as retaliation for his later apostasy and the murder of Jehoiada's son, Zechariah (2 Chron 24). The 'house of Millo' likely refers to a royal citadel or fortress in Jerusalem.

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2 Kings12

Jehoash Begins His Reign

Funding the Temple Restoration

Syrian Threat and Tribute

Death of Jehoash

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