2 Kings 11:21

B. THE REIGN OF JOASH IN JUDAH 11:21-12:21

Like so many of the Hebrew monarchs, Joash got off to a great start. As long as his protector and adviser Jehoiada was living, the young king pursued the right course. But when the old priest died, Joash fell into the snare of pride and apostasy. After a brief introductory note (2 Kings 11:21 to 2 Kings 12:3), the author discusses at length the major accomplishment of the reign of Joash, the repair of the Temple (2 Kings 12:4-16). He then briefly narrates Joash's humiliating capitulation to Hazael the Aramean (2 Kings 12:17-18), and the ignominious death of this king at the hand of conspirators (2 Kings 12:19-21).

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE REIGN OF JOASH

(2 Kings 11:21 to 2 Kings 12:3)

TRANSLATION

(21) Joash was seven yean old when he began to reign. (1) In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash began to reign; and forty years he reigned in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah from Beersheba. (2) And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. (3) Only the high places he did not remove; yet the people were sacrificing and burning incense in the high places.

Seventh King of Judah
JEHOASH (or JOASH)
835-796 B.C.
(Yahweb-gifted)

2 Kings 11:12; 2 Chronicles 22:10 to 2 Chronicles 24:27

Synchronism
Jehoash 1 = Jehu 7
Contemporary Prophet
Zechariah son of Jehoiada

Mother: Zibiah

Appraisal: Good and Bad

It is He that givetb salvation unto kings; who delivers David His servant from the hurtful sword. Psalms 144:10

COMMENTS

The author of Kings treats the reign of Joash with great brevity and tenderness, and one must go to Chronicles (2 Chronicles 24) to gain a true perspective of the character of this king and his reign. For over half of his reign of forty years the priest Jehoiada was his adviser. During those years the king did what was right in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 11:2). Chronicles relates the sad story of Joash's apostasy after the death of Jehoiada, an apostasy which reached its climax when the king ordered Zechariah the son of Jehoiada slain in the Temple precincts. The only negative note in the report here is that Joash tolerated the continued use of the high places outside Jerusalem where people made sacrifices and burned incense to Yahweh (2 Kings 11:3). It was not until the reign of Hezekiah that this practice was banned by royal decree.

3. REPAIR OF THE TEMPLE (2 Kings 12:4-16)

TRANSLATION

(4) And Joash said unto the priests, All the money of the holy gifts that is brought unto the house of the LORD, the money of the one who passes the account, the money that every man is set at, all the money which shall go up upon the heart of a man to bring to the house of the LORD, (5) let the priests take it to them, each man from his acquaintance; and let them repair the breaches of the house wherever a breach shall be found. (6) But it came to pass in the twenty-third year of King Joash that the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. (7) And King Joash called to Jehoiada the priest and to the priests, and he said unto them, Why have you not repaired the breaches of the house? Now take no money from your acquaintances, but give it for the breaches of the house. (8) And the priests consented to take no more money from the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house. (9) And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and placed it beside the altar on the right as one comes to the house of the LORD; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money that was brought to the house of the LORD. (10) And it came to pass when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's scribe went up and the high priest, and they put it in bags; and they counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD. (11) And they gave the money after weighing it into the hands of those who did the work, the overseen of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who were working on the house of the LORD, (12) and to the masons and the stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the damages to the house of the LORD, and for all which went out upon the house to repair it. (13) But there was not made for the house of the LORD bowls of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets or any vessel of gold or vessel of silver of the money that was brought into the house of the LORD; (14) but It was given to those who did the work, and they repaired with it the house of the LORD. (15) Nor did they think about the men to whom they gave the silver to give to those who did the work; for they were men who dealt faithfully. (16) The guilt money and the sin money was not brought to the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests.

COMMENTS

When the minority of Joash came to an end and the king succeeded to the administration of the affairs of state, his first order of business was the repair of the Temple. It seems somewhat strange that Jehoiada had made no repair efforts when he was the regent and practically had sole management of affairs. The high priest must have had good reason for refraining from this much needed project. At any rate, after taking full control of the reins of government, Joash regarded the Temple repairs as the most pressing business of the state. Perhaps the six years he had spent within the Temple precincts had inspired him with a love of those sacred buildings.

When he was in a position to do so, the king ordered the priests to utilize all that they received from the people in the way of money for making the repairs on the Temple. This money accrued from three sources which are mentioned in 2 Kings 11:4: (1) the money of every one who passes the account, i.e., the census moneythe half-shekel received from the males over twenty whenever a census was taken (Exodus 30:12-16); (2) the money at which every man is set, i.e., the redemption money derived from the redemption of the firstborn (Numbers 18:15-16) or of persons who had vowed themselves to God (Leviticus 27:2-8); and (3) the free-will offerings. This money was to be gathered out of all the cities of Judah (cf. 2 Chronicles 24:5). The priests in each locality would make the collections from their acquaintances, their neighbors. These monies would be used to repair the damages which had befallen the Temple building both as a result of the neglect of that place and by the willful violence of Athaliah (2 Chronicles 24:7).

By the twenty-third year of the king, the job still had not been completed. The text in no way suggests that the priests throughout the land had embezzled funds; they simply had been negligent in collecting the money. Probably very little money had been received and once the funds necessary for maintaining the Temple services had been subtracted, there just was not enough left to vigorously pursue the refurbishing of the Temple. It is not said that no repairs were made, but rather that the priests did not hasten (2 Chronicles 24:5) to complete the task.

Greatly concerned about the lack of progress in the Temple project, the king summoned Jehoiada the high priest and consulted with him about the best steps to be taken to expedite the repairs. The lower priests were rebuked for having ceased to make any effort to get the job done. The king then revoked his earlier order authorizing the local collections to be used for the building fund, and outlined a new procedure for raising the necessary funds (2 Kings 11:7). The priests agreed to relinquish the local collections and, along with them, the responsibility for dispensing the funds in the repair operation (2 Kings 11:8).

The new plan worked out by Jehoiada and the king is revealed in 2 Kings 11:9 (cf. 2 Chronicles 24:8). A public chest was set up conspicuously in the Temple court near the great altar, and the people were invited to bring their contributions to the Temple. The priests received the money from those who offered it at the gate of the Temple court and placed those contributions immediately in the chest (2 Kings 11:9). The chest was tangible evidence to the people of the purpose to which their money would be applied and naturally stimulated their giving.

Periodically the high priest and a royal secretary would empty the chest and count the money by putting it in bags each of which would hold a definite amount (2 Kings 11:10). Since the lumps of silver which passed for shekels in this period were of very uncertain weight, it was necessary not only to count the individual pieces, but to weigh each bag to ascertain its precise weight and value. These monies were then handed over to the superintendents who had been placed over the Temple, and these officers in turn purchased the materials and paid the laborers (2 Kings 11:11-12). Carpenters, builders, masons and stone-cutters are mentioned by the author of Kings; workers in iron and brass are mentioned by the Chronicler (2 Chronicles 24:12). The Temple had been standing for a century and a half, and so far as the records go, no other repair work had ever been undertaken. Doubtlessly as the work went on it was found that repairs of all sorts and kinds were needed.

While the repair work was in progress, no monies from the chest were used to purchase sacred vessels for the Temple services (2 Kings 11:13). After the repairs were completed, then the surplus money was expended in this way (2 Chronicles 24:14). The Temple had been spoiled by successive kings to buy off enemiesby Rehoboam to pay Shishak (1 Kings 14:26), by Asa to bribe Benhadad (1 Kings 15:18), and by Joash himself to procure the retreat of Hazael (2 Kings 12:18). These vessels needed to be replaced, and it is no wonder that the surplus monies were used for this purpose. But the repair of the Temple structures took precedence (2 Kings 11:14).

Everyone had complete confidence in those who had been appointed by Jehoiada to oversee the work and dispense these funds, for they dealt faithfully, i.e., honestly (2 Kings 11:15). But in all the enthusiasm for the repair work, the priests themselves were not forgotten. The trespass money which the Law required to be paid in compensation to an injured party (Leviticus 6:2-6; Numbers 5:6-8) apparently was given to the priests if the injured party was dead and left no kinsman. The sin money seems to have been a customary but not obligatory offering brought by a worshiper to the priest who officiated in a sacrificial service. Such freewill offerings the priests was entitled to receive (Numbers 5:10). These monies were not required to be put in the chest, nor applied to the repair operation; they belonged exclusively to the priests.

3. THE INVASION OF HAZAEL (2 Kings 12:17-18)

TRANSLATION

(17) Now Hazael king of Aram went up, and fought against Gath, and captured it; then Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem. (18) And Joash the king of Judah took all the dedicated things which Jehoshaphat, Joram, and Ahaziah his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own dedicated things, and all the gold that was found In the treasures of the house of the LORD and the house of the king, and sent it to Hazael king of Aram; and he went away from Jerusalem.

COMMENTS

A considerable time gap occurs between 2 Kings 11:16-17 for which the Chronicler supplies some of the particulars. Jehoiada died and, because of the contribution he had made to the national life, was highly honored by being buried in the sepulchers of the king (2 Chronicles 24:16). Influenced now by the Jewish aristocracy, Joash allowed the reintroduction of idolatry (2 Chronicles 24:18). Zechariah the son of Jehoiada vigorously protested these developments, but was slain by order of the king right in the Temple court. The invasion of Judah by Hazael seems to be regarded by the Chronicler as divine judgment for this murderous deed.

After conquering and taking from Israel the Transjordan region, Hazael cast his eye upon the coastal plain. It would appear that the city of Gath fell easily to him. When last mentioned, Gath was a Judaean possession (2 Chronicles 11:8); but by this time the city may have been once again under Philistine control. The route back to the Transjordan territories would take Hazael near Jerusalem. Encouraged by his easy victory at Gath, the brash Aramean decided to make a bid at Jerusalem (2 Kings 11:17). With a very small army, Hazael was able to inflict a defeat on a much more numerous Judaean army (2 Chronicles 24:24). Much spoil was taken by the invaders from the north (2 Chronicles 24:23). Then Hazael commenced a siege of Jerusalem itself. Like Rehoboam and Asa before him, Joash bought off the Aramean with the treasures from the Temple of the Lord. These were valuables placed there by the pious Jehoshaphat and even by the apostates Joram and Ahaziah who, for superstitious reasons more than anything else, had continued to make contributions to the Temple. Even the items which he himself had given to the Temple he was forced to retrieve as well as the few objects of gold made with the residue of the money given for the Temple repair earlier in his reign (cf. 2 Chronicles 24:14). Valuables from the royal palace also were collected and sent to Hazael. The palace had been plundered in the days of Jehoram by the Arabs and Philistines (2 Chronicles 21:16-17), but plenty of time had elapsed for fresh accumulation of valuables. Hazael was sufficiently satisfied with the tribute rendered to him and withdrew from Jerusalem (2 Kings 11:18).

4. THE ASSASSINATION OF JOASH (2 Kings 12:19-21)

TRANSLATION

(19) And the rest of the acts of Joash and all which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (20) And his servants rose up, and planned a conspiracy; and they smote Joash in the house of Millo which goes down to Silla. (21) And Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer his servants smote him; and he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

COMMENTS

As in the case with most of the kings of Judah, the author refers his readers to the records which he utilized in compiling this book (2 Kings 11:19). The author apparently deliberately has chosen to ignore the darker side of the reign of Joash. He hints, however, that all was not right by relating how Joash met his death. It would seem that Joash was sorely wounded in the battle against Hazael. For some time he was confined to a room in the house of Millo, a fortress built by David and Solomon (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 9:15; 1 Kings 9:24). Apparently Millo was a massive wall which extended down to an otherwise unlocated spot called Silla. While the king was confined there, two of his servants conspired against him and slew him (2 Kings 11:20). The conspirators are named in 2 Kings 11:21, and the Chronicler points out that both men had foreign mothers. What might have motivated these servants to this act of violence is not indicated in the text. Joash was buried with his fathers, i.e., in the city of David (2 Kings 11:21), but not in the royal tombs (2 Chronicles 24:25). He was succeeded by his son Amaziah.