2 Kings 12:12 - Exposition

And to masons ; rather, to the masons. The "masons" ( goderim ) are the actual artisans who worked under instructions from the "builders." And hewers of stone —or, stone-cutters —rather, those who sawed up the stones on the spot, than those who hewed them in the quarries— and to buy timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord. The writer of Chronicles mentions "workers in iron and brass" (bronze) also ( 2 Chronicles 24:12 ). Probably, when once the work was taken thoroughly in hand, it was found that repairs of all sorts and kinds were needed. The temple had stood for a hundred and thirty-six years, and up to this time it had, so far as we know, undergone no repairs at all. Certainly none are mentioned. And for all that was laid out for the house to repair it. This general clause shows how wide were the powers of the overseers. The suspicions and jealousies which modern writers have imagined contrast remarkably with the general confidence and trust which seem to have prevailed among all those concerned in the repairs.