Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 12:10
And it was [so], when they saw that [there was] much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the LORD.
10. when they saw that there was much money in the chest ] They could tell this by lifting, and beside this the priests were eye-witnesses of the liberal contribution.
the king’s scribe ] This was the royal secretary, through whom the king would be kept acquainted with the progress of the fund. It appears from 2Ch 24:11 that the chest was carried unopened unto the king’s office by the Levites, and that the examination and disposal of the contents took place there.
the high priest ] The Chronicler says ‘the high priest’s officer’. Josephus says the king was present at the opening. What is meant by these varying statements is that these two were always represented and that now and then no doubt both king and high priest were there in person.
came up ] To the place whither the chest had been brought for examination and to be emptied.
put up in bags] The literal meaning ‘bound up’ is given on the margins of A.V. and R.V. The verb is used of putting money together in a packet (Deu 14:25). We must understand the proceeding to be in connexion with uncoined gold and silver. First it was tied up in some way into parcels, and then by weighing its value was found.
and told the money ] i.e. As we should now say ‘counted’ it. But the total value was found by weighing. The old use of ‘tell’ for ‘count’ occurs several times in the O.T. ‘Cf. Psa 147:4 ‘He telleth the number of the stars’. So Jer 33:13, ‘The flocks pass under the hands of him that telleth them ’. Compare Milton, L’Allegro 67,
‘And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the hawthorn in the dale’.
i.e. he counts the number of his sheep to see that none have been lost during the night.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The kings scribe – Or secretary (1Ki 4:3 note). Such persons are often seen in the Assyrian sculptures, with a roll, apparently of parchment, in one hand and a pen in the other, taking account for the king of the spoil brought in from foreign expeditions.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. The king’s scribe and the high priest] It was necessary to associate with the high priest some civil authority and activity, in order to get the neglected work performed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The kings scribe, who kept an exact account hereof in writing. See 2Ki 19:2; 22:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest,…. Which might easily be guessed at by the number of the people which contributed:
that the king’s and the high priest came up; to the temple; the high priest did not choose to come alone, lest he should be suspected, but to have the king’s secretary with him, that the money might be taken out of the chest, and told in the presence of them both: in 2Ch 24:11 instead of the “high priest”, it is the “high priest’s officer”, which the Targum there calls the Sagan of the high priest, or his deputy, who, perhaps, attended when the high priest could not:
and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the Lord; that is, they poured the money out of the chest, or emptied it, as in 2Ch 24:11 and counted it, and very likely set down the sum in writing, and put it up in bags, very probably sealed.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s writer and the high priest came, and bound up and reckoned the money that was found in the house of Jehovah.” , to bind up the money in bags (cf. 2Ki 5:23). The binding is mentioned before the reckoning, because the pieces of money were not counted singly, but packed at once into bags, which were then weighed for the purpose of estimating the amount received.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(10) And it was so.Rather, And it came to pass. Whenever the chest was full the royal secretary and the high priest went up into the Temple, and emptied it.
Put up in bags, and told.Literally, they bound up and counted. They put the pieces of silver into bags of a certain size, and then counted the bags, weighed, and sealed them up. These would be paid out as money. (Comp. 2Ki. 5:23.) Instead of they bound up, Ewald prefers the word used in Chronicles, they emptied, which is very similar in Hebrew writing. The royal secretary came, as the kings representative, to make a record of the amount.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 12:10 And it was [so], when they saw that [there was] much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the LORD.
Ver. 10. When they saw. ] They stood at the door, and might easily see what any one put in. Lycurgus, the Lacedemonian lawgiver – who is thonght to have flourished about these times – enjoined his countrymen not to exceed in their offerings, lest they should grow weary of well doing; for, said he, God respecteth more the internal devotion than the external oblation.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
told = counted.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the king’s: 2Ki 19:2, 2Ki 22:3, 2Ki 22:12, 2Sa 8:17, 2Sa 20:25
scribe: or, secretary
put up: Heb. bound up, 2Ki 5:23
in bags: Sir J. Chardin informs us, “it is a custom of Persia always to seal up bags of money; and the money of the king’s treasure is not told, but is received by bags sealed up.” These are what are called in the East purses; each of which, as Maillet informs us, contains money to the amount of 1,500 livres, or about 63. of our money. The money thus collected for the reparation of the temple, seems, in like manner, to have been reckoned in bags of equal value to each other; as we can scarcely imagine the placing it in bags would otherwise have been mentioned. The value of a Jewish purse is unknown; but the bags mentioned in 2Ki 5:23, amounted to a talent.
Reciprocal: 2Ch 24:11 – at what time
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 12:10-11. The kings scribe and the high-priest came up, &c. The kings secretary and the high-priest emptied the chest, and took an account of the money, and then put it up in bags, which, it is likely, they sealed; and then they set the chest in its place again. This they did every day, as we read 2Ch 24:11. They gave the money to them that had the oversight, &c. These bags of money were delivered by the king and Jehoiada, (2Ch 24:12,) not to the priests, whom the king had found tardy, and, perhaps, faulty, (converting the money to their own use,) but to some select persons, who had this peculiar business committed to them, to employ good workmen, pay them their wages, and see the temple properly repaired.