And it came to pass after this ,.... After his marriage, when he was about twenty or twenty one years of age, perhaps: that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord ; which in some places might be fallen to decay, having been built one hundred and fifty years or more, and in others defaced by Athaliah, and needed ornamenting, see 2 Kings 12:4 . read more
And he gathered together the priests and Levites ,.... To communicate his mind unto, and give them a charge and instructions: and said unto them, go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year ; what money he means is more fully explained in 2 Kings 12:4 , and see that ye haste the matter ; for he was very desirous of having this work accomplished, it being the place of the worship of God, and where he had been... read more
And the king called for Jehoiada the chief ,.... Who was either the high priest, or the head of his course, or, however, the chief of the priests and Levites concerned in this affair, and, indeed, was the chief or prime minister of state: and said unto him, why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah, and out of Jerusalem, the collection ; the money to repair the house they were ordered to collect, 2 Chronicles 25:6 according to the commandment of Moses the... read more
To repair the house of the Lord - During the reigns of Joram and Athaliah, the temple of God had been pillaged to enrich that of Baal, and the whole structure permitted to fall into decay; see 2 Chronicles 24:7 . read more
Gather of all Israel money - As the temple was the property of the whole nation, and the services performed in it were for the salvation of the people at large, it was right that each should come forward on an occasion of this kind, and lend a helping hand. This is the first instance of such a general collection for building or repairing a house of God. From year to year - It must have been in a state of great dilapidation, when it required such annual exertions to bring it... read more
The collection - of Moses - This was the poll-tax, fixed by Moses, of half a shekel, which was levied on every man from twenty years old and upward; and which was considered as a ransom for their souls, that there might be no plague among them. See Exodus 30:12-14 . read more
The sad and strange unreliableness of human disposition and life here. One of the strangest of all the sadnesses of human life is the uncertainty and unreliableness of human disposition, which it is so constantly exposing to view. Not only has the fairest promise vanished (like the sun of many a morning) long before the character could be supposed to be firm or even fairly formed, but after the period justly esteemed critical has passed, after fruit has set, and even after some fruit has... read more
To repair . The idea of this verb ( חָדַשׁ ) is that of making new. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 24:1-14
This account of Joash's good beginnings we had as it stands here 2 Kgs. 12:1-21, though the latter part of this chapter, concerning his apostasy, we had little of there. What is good in men we should take all occasions to speak of and often repeat it; what is evil we should make mention of but sparingly, and no more than is needful. We shall here only observe, 1. That it is a happy thing for young people, when they are setting out in the world, to be under the direction of those that are wise... read more