2 Chronicles 24:5

_AND HE GATHERED TOGETHER THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES, AND SAID TO 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, AND SEE THAT YE HASTEN THE MATTER. HOWBEIT THE LEVITES HASTENED IT NOT._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-14 Joash is more zealous about the repair of the temple than Jehoiada himself. It is easier to build temples, than to be temples to God. But the repairing of places for public worship is a good work, which all should promote. And many a good work would be done that now lies undone, if active men would put it forward....

Verse 2 Chronicles 24:5. _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 into a thorough state of repair....

EXPOSITION This chapter contains the entire career of Joash, and is answered to by the twelfth chapter of Kings. It tells of Joash's fidelity to God, and his worship and temple, while Jehoiada's life lasted (2 Chronicles 24:1); of his departure from God and permission of idolatry afterwards (2 Chronicles 24:15-14); of the punishment he received at the hands of the Syrians (2 Chronicles 24:23, 2 Chronicles 24:24); and of his miserable end (2 Chronicles 24:25-14). The d

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 preserved in his infancy: HOWBEIT, THE LEVITES HASTENED IT NOT; either through negligence in them to collect the money, or backwardness in the people to give, or through an avaricious disposition to keep it, and use it for themselves; so that it was delayed unto the twenty third year of his reign...

This chapter gives us the story of the reign of Joash. He was the only one of the royal seed who was preserved alive when Athaliah sought to destroy all the family of Ahaziah. He was hidden away for some six years in the temple by his aunt Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, who arranged matters so well that, when the child was seven years old, Jehoiada caused him to be crowned king, and he put to death the cruel she-wolf Athaliah, who had destroyed the royal family. You see, therefore, how much this young king owed to his uncle the high-priest. Now let us read the story of his reign. 2 Chronicles 24:1. _Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem._ He might have reigned much longer had he not erred and turned aside from the right way, and so brought judgment upon himself....

CHAPTER 24 THE TEMPLE REPAIRED, APOSTASY AND ITS RESULTS _ 1. Joash's reign (2 Chronicles 24:1)_ 2. The failure of the priests (2 Chronicles 24:4) 3. The temple repaired (2 Chronicles 24:8) 4. Death of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:15) 5. The apostasy (2 Chronicles 24:17) 6. The Syrian invasion (2 Chronicles 24:23) 7. The death of Joash ...

Joash as king; his restoration of the Temple. There are some significant points of difference between this account and that of 2 K. According to the latter, the house of God having fallen into disrepair, Joash commands that certain dues and free-will offerings of the people are to be utilised by the priests for undertaking the repairs; the priests, however, while taking the money, do nothing for the repair of the Temple. As the result of a protest against this on the part of the king, the priests promise not to receive any more money from the people; but they refuse to repair the Temple. Thereupon Jehoiada, presumably at the command of the king, places a chest beside the altar into which the worshippers cast their gifts. When sufficient money has been received, the repair of the Temple is proceeded with. In the hands of the Chronicler this account becomes considerably modified. He could...

OF ALL ISRAEL. See note on 1 Kings 12:17. MONEY. silver. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ App-4....

_and the Levites_ Not in Kings; cp. 2 Chronicles 23:2 (note). _Go out unto the cities of Judah_ Nothing is said in Kings about collecting money outside Jerusalem, but the restoration fund was to consist of a poll tax (paid at the Temple at the Great Feasts, Exodus 23:14-17) and of free-will offerings paid in money. _hastened_it _not_ In Kings, "in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house....