בֶּן־שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים יְהוֹאָשׁ בְּמָלְכוֹ׃   12:1

2Kin. 12:1   Jehoash was seven years of age on his reign.

For most of this chapter the name of Joash is spelled as Jehoash with a heh inserted in the name.  Only in v. 12:20 below in this chapter does his name appear again as Joash.  The name Joash also continues to be used in the next chapter.  As we have occasionally seen, this kind of name modification -- or even complete change -- seems to appear throughout the bible.  But is it possible we have two different people here, Joash and Jehoash?  Perhaps, but unlikely!  Although another Jehoash is mentioned in 2Kin. 13 and 14 as king of Israel, and this Jehoash, king of Judah, neither is mentioned thereafter.  And no other Jehoash is mentioned after that, not even in 1Chronicles or 2Chronicles.  Only the actions of Joash are recorded in Chronicles.

בִּשְׁנַת־שֶׁבַע לְיֵהוּא מָלַךְ יְהוֹאָשׁ וְאַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִָם וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ צִבְיָה מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע׃   12:2

2Kin. 12:2   In the year of seven for Jehu, Jehoash became king and he was king in Jerusalem forty years.  And the name of his mother was Zibiah from Beer-sheba.

                                                                                 [Return to 2Kin. 13:10]                [Return to 2Chr. 24:1]

וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוֹאָשׁ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה כָּל־יָמָיו אֲשֶׁר הוֹרָהוּ יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן׃   12:3

2Kin. 12:3   And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, in which Jehoiada, the priest, instructed him.                                                                           [Return to 2Chr. 24:2]

רַק הַבָּמוֹת לֹא־סָרוּ עוֹד הָעָם מְזַבְּחִים וּמְקַטְּרִים בַּבָּמוֹת׃   12:4

2Kin. 12:4   Only the high places were not taken away; the people were still sacrificing and offering in the high places.

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוֹאָשׁ אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים כֹּל כֶּסֶף הַקֳּדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־יוּבָא בֵית־יְהוָה כֶּסֶף עוֹבֵר אִישׁ כֶּסֶף נַפְשׁוֹת   12:5 עֶרְכּוֹ כָּל־כֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר יַעֲלֶה עַל לֶב־אִישׁ לְהָבִיא בֵּית יְהוָה׃

2Kin. 12:5   And Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the hallowed things that will be brought into the house of the Lord, money set apart, of each one the money of living of his proportion, all the money that may ascend on the heart of a man to bring into the house of the Lord,

יִקְחוּ לָהֶם הַכֹּהֲנִים אִישׁ מֵאֵת מַכָּרוֹ וְהֵם יְחַזְּקוּ אֶת־בֶּדֶק הַבַּיִת לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יִמָּצֵא שָׁם בָּדֶק׃   12:6

2Kin. 12:6   let the priests take to themselves each one from his share and they shall repair the breaches of the house for every breach that is found there.”

This from a seven-year old?  No doubt Jehoash was older when he said this.  Somewhere between seven and thirty years old (see the next verse), most likely in his later teens or very early twenties.  Remember he was seven when he became king and in the next verse he is in his twenty-third year as king.

וַיְהִי בִּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנָה לַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוֹאָשׁ לֹא־חִזְּקוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים אֶת־בֶּדֶק הַבָּיִת׃   12:7

2Kin. 12:7   But it was in the year of twenty-three years for king Jehoash; the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

וַיִּקְרָא הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוֹאָשׁ לִיהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן וְלַכֹּהֲנִים וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם מַדּוּעַ אֵינְכֶם מְחַזְּקִים אֶת־בֶּדֶק הַבָּיִת   12:8 וְעַתָּה אַל־תִּקְחוּ־כֶסֶף מֵאֵת מַכָּרֵיכֶם כִּי־לְבֶדֶק הַבַּיִת תִּתְּנֻהוּ׃

2Kin. 12:8   So king Jehoash called for Jehoiada, the priest, and for the priests, and he said to them, “Why are you not repairing the breach of the house?  So now you will take no more money from your contributions, but you must devote it to the breach of the house.”

וַיֵּאֹתוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים לְבִלְתִּי קְחַת־כֶּסֶף מֵאֵת הָעָם וּלְבִלְתִּי חַזֵּק אֶת־בֶּדֶק הַבָּיִת׃   12:9

2Kin. 12:9   And the priests agreed to take no money from the people but except to repair the breach of the house.

וַיִּקַּח יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן אֲרוֹן אֶחָד וַיִּקֹּב חֹר בְּדַלְתּוֹ וַיִּתֵּן אֹתוֹ אֵצֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ (בַּיָּמִין) [מִיָּמִין]   12:10 בְּבוֹא־אִישׁ בֵּיתיְהוָה וְנָתְנוּ־שָׁמָּה הַכֹּהֲנִים שֹׁמְרֵי הַסַּף אֶת־כָּל־הַכֶּסֶף הַמּוּבָא בֵית־יְהוָה׃

2Kin. 12:10   And Jehoiada, the priest, took one chest and bore a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar on the right on one's coming into the house of the Lord.  And the priests, the attendants of the threshold, put there all the money being brought into the house of the Lord.

The word in parentheses, translated by me as on the right, appears to me to be correctly spelled.  However, this spelling appears only here in the entire bible.  The “corrected” spelling (in the brackets), translated as to the right, appears in seven other verses.  So I have to conclude the spelling here must be incorrect.

וַיְהִי כִּרְאוֹתָם כִּי־רַב הַכֶּסֶף בָּאָרוֹן וַיַּעַל סֹפֵר הַמֶּלֶךְ וְהַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל וַיָּצֻרוּ וַיִּמְנוּ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף הַנִּמְצָא   12:11 בֵית־יְהוָה׃

2Kin. 12:11   And it was at their inspection of how much the money in the chest was, that the scribe of the king came up, and the high priest, and put in bags and counted the money found in the house of the Lord.

וְנָתְנוּ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף הַמְתֻכָּן עַל־ (יַד) [יְדֵי] עֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה (הַ ֻפְקָדִים) [הַמֻּפְקָדִים] בֵּית יְהוָה   12:12 וַיּוֹצִיאֻהוּ לְחָרָשֵׁי הָעֵץ וְלַבֹּנִים הָעֹשִׂים בֵּית יְהוָה׃

2Kin. 12:12   And they gave the weighed money over to the hands of the doers of the work, the overseers of the house of the Lord, and they issued it out to the artisans of wood and to the builders who were refinishing the house of the Lord,

Two errors in this verse:  The first, translated as hand, is spelled in the singular whereas it most likely should be plural, hands.  The second has a letter missing but a space is found in ancient Hebrew texts where the letter should be.  The presumption is that the space should contain a mem, making the word’s translation the overseers.

וְלַגֹּדְרִים וּלְחֹצְבֵי הָאֶבֶן וְלִקְנוֹת עֵצִים וְאַבְנֵי מַחְצֵב לְחַזֵּק אֶת־בֶּדֶק בֵּית־יְהוָה וּלְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יֵצֵא   12:13 עַל־הַבַּיִת לְחָזְקָה׃

2Kin. 12:13   and to the masons and to the hewers of stone and for buying timbers and hewn stones to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord and for all that was brought out for the house to repair.

אַךְ לֹא יֵעָשֶׂה בֵּית יְהוָה סִפּוֹת כֶּסֶף מְזַמְּרוֹת מִזְרָקוֹת חֲצֹצְרוֹת כָּל־כְּלִי זָהָב וּכְלִי־כָסֶף מִן־הַכֶּסֶף   12:14 הַמּוּבָא בֵית־יְהוָה׃

2Kin. 12:14   But from the money brought into the house of the Lord, it did not bring forth any cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver of the house of the Lord,

כִּי־לְעֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה יִתְּנֻהוּ וְחִזְּקוּ־בוֹ אֶת־בֵּית יְהוָה׃   12:15

2Kin. 12:15   because they gave it to the doers of the work and they repaired the house of the Lord with it.

וְלֹא יְחַשְּׁבוּ אֶת־הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר יִתְּנוּ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף עַל־יָדָם לָתֵת לְעֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה כִּי בֶאֱמֻנָה הֵם   12:16 עֹשִׂים׃

2Kin. 12:16   And they did not make account of the men who they would give the money over to their hand to give to the doers of the work, for they were dealing with faith.

כֶּסֶף אָשָׁם וְכֶסֶף חַטָּאוֹת לֹא יוּבָא בֵּית יְהוָה לַכֹּהֲנִים יִהְיוּ׃   12:17

2Kin. 12:17   Money of forfeit, with money of sins, did not go into the house of the Lord. They would be for the priests.

אָז יַעֲלֶה חֲזָאֵל מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם וַיִּלָּחֶם עַל־גַּת וַיִּלְכְּדָהּ וַיָּשֶׂם חֲזָאֵל פָּנָיו לַעֲלוֹת עַל־יְרוּשָׁלִָם׃   12:18

2Kin. 12:18   Then Hazael, king of Aram, came up and fought against Gath and took it. Then Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.

וַיִּקַּח יְהוֹאָשׁ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה אֵת כָּל־הַקֳּדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־הִקְדִּישׁוּ יְהוֹשָׁפָט וִיהוֹרָם וַאֲחַזְיָהוּ אֲבֹתָיו מַלְכֵי   12:19 יְהוּדָה וְאֶת־קֳדָשָׁיו וְאֵת כָּל־הַזָּהָב הַנִּמְצָא בְּאֹצְרוֹת בֵּית־יְהוָה וּבֵית הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיִּשְׁלַח לַחֲזָאֵל מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם וַיַּעַל מֵעַל יְרוּשָׁלִָם׃

2Kin. 12:19   And Jehoash, king of Judah, took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold to be found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the house of the king and sent to Hazael, king of Aram, and he went away from Jerusalem.

                                                                                                                            [Return to 2Chr. 24:23]

וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי יוֹאָשׁ וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה הֲלוֹא־הֵם כְּתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה׃   12:20

2Kin. 12:20   And the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he accomplished, are they not written on the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah?

וַיָּקֻמוּ עֲבָדָיו וַיִּקְשְׁרוּ־קָשֶׁר וַיַּכּוּ אֶת־יוֹאָשׁ בֵּית מִלֹּא הַיּוֹרֵד סִלָּא׃   12:21

2Kin. 12:21   And his servants arose and made a conspiracy and smote Joash at Beth-millo as he came down to Silla.

וְיוֹזָבָד בֶּן־שִׁמְעָת וִיהוֹזָבָד בֶּן־שֹׁמֵר עֲבָדָיו הִכֻּהוּ וַיָּמֹת וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ עִם־אֲבֹתָיו בְּעִיר דָּוִד וַיִּמְלֹךְ   12:22 אֲמַצְיָה בְנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃

2Kin. 12:22   So Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, his servants, smote him and he died.  And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son, Amaziah, became king in his place.                                   [Return to 2Chr. 24:25]              [Return to 2Chr. 24:26]

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