2 Kings 12:4

JOASH TOOK THE TEMPLE REPAIR BUSINESS INTO HIS OWN HANDS

"And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of Jehovah, let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found. But it was so that in the three and twentieth 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 unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore take no more money from your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house. And the priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house."

"In current money" (2 Kings 12:4). "Three kinds of money are mentioned here: (1) the half-shekel required by the Law (Exodus 30:13); (2) the money paid by those who had devoted themselves or made vows, a variable sum depending on age, sex, and property (Leviticus 27:2-8); and (3) the money offered in the way of free-will offerings."[3]

The narrative in this paragraph indicates that the king ordered the priests to repair the breaches in the temple, but that for some indefinite time (not indicated in the text) they did not do so, continuing to use all the money they received for themselves. With ten of the twelve tribes now under a separate system of government and no longer giving anything whatever for the support of the temple and its priests and Levites, coupled with the unfavorable economic conditions, the priests might not have been receiving enough money to do what the king ordered. There also might have been some instances of dishonesty in their handling of the money, although the text does not say that.

"Every man from his acquaintance" (2 Kings 12:4). It is not clear here just what this means; but in 2 Chronicles 24:5 we learn that "The collection was to be made throughout Judah, each of the priests and Levites collecting the temple tax in his own neighborhood."[4]

"The priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches in the temple" (2 Kings 12:8). This indicates that the priests consented to take no more money "from the people," that is, the revenue from certain classes of the three sources of money mentioned above, and that they were also to be freed of any further obligation to repair the temple. See under 2 Kings 12:16 for the portion of the money that was strictly allotted to the priests.

The net result of this new arrangement was to take the affairs of the temple out of the hands of the priests and concentrate them in the hands of the king, which, of course, proved to be an unhappy development.

The fact that the twenty-third year of Joash's reign had been reached with nothing being done to repair the temple leaves an unfavorable impression regarding the priesthood of that period. The following paragraph shows that the king himself took charge of the temple finances. Thus, very early in Israel's history, we have evidence of the corruption of the Jewish priesthood, a corruption that reached its climax in the days of Malachi. when God Himself actually cursed that priesthood (Malachi 2:1-2).