2 Kings 12:4

4 Joash called the priests and ordered them to save up the money paid in connection with the sacrifices in the Temple, both the dues paid for the regular sacrifices and the money given as freewill gifts. ¹

2 Kings 12:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 12:4

And Jehoash said to the priests
Being minded or having it in his heart, to repair the temple, as in ( 2 Chronicles 24:4 ) not only because it was the sanctuary of the Lord, though that chiefly, but because it had been a sanctuary to him, where he was hid and preserved six years:

all the money of the dedicated things that is brought into the house of
the Lord:
or rather, "that is to be brought", as De Dieu, and others render it, the particulars of which follow:

even the money of everyone that passeth [the account];
or that passeth among them that are numbered, as in ( Exodus 30:13 Exodus 30:14 ) that were upwards of twenty years of age, and bound to pay the half shekel for the ransom of their souls; and it is called the collection or burden Moses laid on them in the wilderness, ( 2 Chronicles 24:6 2 Chronicles 24:9 )

the money that every man is set at;
the price the priest set upon or estimated a man at, or whomsoever that belonged to him, that he devoted to the Lord, which by the law he was bound to pay for his redemption, and, till that was done, he and they were not his, but the Lord's, of which see ( Leviticus 27:1-8 ) and here the Targum calls it, the money of the redemption of souls, which is the gift of a man for the redemption of his soul:

and all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the
house of the Lord:
vows and freewill offerings made of their own accord.

2 Kings 12:4 In-Context

2 Throughout his life he did what pleased the Lord, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

3 However, the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

4 Joash called the priests and ordered them to save up the money paid in connection with the sacrifices in the Temple, both the dues paid for the regular sacrifices and the money given as freewill gifts.

5 Each priest was to be responsible for the money brought by those he served, and the money was to be used to repair the Temple, as needed.

6 But by the twenty-third year of Joash's reign the priests still had not made any repairs in the Temple.

Cross References

• 1. 12.4Exodus 30.11-16.