2 Kings 12:4

Temple Repairs Planned

4 Jehoash said to the priests, "All of the money for the sacred things that is brought to the temple of Yahweh, {the money taxed at its proper value for each person} [and] all of the money which comes upon the heart of a man to bring to the temple of Yahweh,

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 Jehoash did right in the eyes of Yahweh all of his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3 Only the high places were not removed; the people [were] still making sacrifices and offering incense on the high places.
4 Jehoash said to the priests, "All of the money for the sacred things that is brought to the temple of Yahweh, {the money taxed at its proper value for each person} [and] all of the money which comes upon the heart of a man to bring to the temple of Yahweh,
5 let the priests take for themselves, each from his treasurers, and let them repair the breach of the temple for every place where damage is found."
6 It happened in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash that the priests had not repaired the damage in the temple.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "money passing over a man, the money of persons his proper value"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.