Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 12:7
Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the [other] priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no [more] money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.
7. Why repair ye not the breaches? ] No answer is given to this question either here or in 2 Chronicles. There can be no doubt that with the decay of the house of the Lord, the decrease of the offerings had also taken place. The priests and Levites had perhaps found much difficulty in increasing the sums collected, and in apportioning what they received between their own maintenance and the restoration-fund. There seems to have been no blame attached to them by the king, and the explanation they offered, whatever it may have been, was so far satisfactory that the priests which kept the door of the house were placed in charge of the box that was provided for the offerings.
now therefore receive [R.V. take ] no more money ] The collection which had at first been ordered (2Ch 24:5) was now to cease. There was to be no going round to gather, but public offerings were to be made beside the altar when the worshippers came to Jerusalem. This seems to be the true principle, and calculated in all cases to stimulate bounty towards good works.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
i.e. The money which you have already received.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-10. Why repair ye not the breachesof the house?This mode of collection not proving so productiveas was expected (the dilatoriness of the priests was the chief causeof the failure), a new arrangement was proposed. A chest was placedby the high priest at the entrance into the temple, into which themoney given by the people for the repairs of the temple was to be putby the Levites who kept the door. The object of this chest was tomake a separation between the money to be raised for the buildingfrom the other moneys destined for the general use of the priests, inthe hope that the people would be more liberal in their contributionswhen it was known that their offerings would be devoted to thespecial purpose of making the necessary repairs. The duty ofattending to this work was no longer to devolve on the priests, butto be undertaken by the king.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests,…. The common priests, Jehoiada being high priest:
and said unto them, why repair ye not the breaches of the house? in which they appeared to him very dilatory; the reason might be, the people were not forward to pay in their money, and they might not choose to begin the repairs until they had got it all in, or at least what was sufficient to carry them through them:
now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance; suspecting that what they had received they kept for their own use:
but deliver it for the breaches of the house; into other hands for that use, and so dismissed them at once from collecting the money, and being concerned in the repairs of the temple.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) Now therefore receive no more money.The account of the whole transaction is not very clear, and commentators disagree upon the question of the degree of blame attaching to the priests for their neglect. It is evident, however, that the king now took the control of the funds and the work out of their hands. Probably the revenues of the sanctuary had been in a very languishing condition during the late reigns; and the priesthood had used whatever offerings they received for their own support. They would now very naturally be unwilling to appropriate any part of the revenues which they had come to regard as their own. to the work of repair. From the account in Chronicles it would not appear that any money was collected for the purpose of restoration before the king took the matter into his own hands. The idea of Thenins, that Joash wished to humble the pride of the priests by diminishing their revenues, is not contained in either narrative. But it is in itself likely that the moral tone of the whole order had degenerated in the late period of apostasy.
But deliver it for the breaches of the house.Rather, For to the dilapidation of the house ye should give it; scil., and not apply it to any other purposes. The kings words certainly seem to throw suspicion on the priests.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 12:7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the [other] priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no [more] money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.
Ver. 7. Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada. ] It was wonder that he should need quickening; but he was grown very old, and his work was done in a manner. Howbeit Josephus saith that he excited Joash, and would be called for among the rest, whom haply he could not so well prevail with.
Why repair ye not the breaches of the house?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
king Jehoash: 2Ch 24:5, 2Ch 24:6-14
Jehoiada: 2Ki 12:2, 2Ki 11:4, 2Ch 23:1, 2Ch 24:16
Why repair ye: 1Ch 21:3
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the [other] priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore {e} receive no [more] money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.
(e) He takes from them the ordering of the money, because of their negligence.