Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 12:5
Let the priests take [it] to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.
5. let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance ] This passage is not easy to understand until we have along with it the parallel account of the Chronicler. From 2 Kings it might be thought that the words of Jehoash applied to such offerings as were made at the temple, and then it would be hard to see what a man’s acquaintance had to do with such a matter. But in 2 Chron. we are told that the priests and Levites were bidden ‘to go out unto the cities of Judah and gather money of all Israel’. Hence nothing was more natural than that each should go among the people to whom he was best known, and from whom he would have the best chance of bringing in contributions, Josephus ( Ant. IX. 8. 2) says that ‘the priests and Levites were sent through the whole land to ask half a shekel from each person for the furniture and restoration of the temple, which had been broken up by Joram and Athaliah and her sons’.
and let them repair ] R.V. they shall repair. This is literal, and besides allows more emphasis to be given to the pronoun ‘they’ which is placed in a marked position in the original. The wish of the king at first was to put the whole matter in the charge of the priest.
the breaches ] The Hebrew word, which the LXX. merely transliterates ( ), is found only in this chapter and 2Ki 22:5, and in Eze 27:9; Eze 27:27. But in the last-mentioned passages it is used of the filling up, by calking, of the chinks in ships. Hence we can understand the sort of decay which had taken place in the temple-building. Years of neglect had allowed the walls to crumble and crack and similar damages to arise in every part.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The collection was not to be made in Jerusalem only, but in all the cities of Judah 2Ch 24:5; the various priests and Levites being collectors in their own neighborhoods.
Breaches – The word in the original includes every kind and degree of ruin or dilapidation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Let the priests take it to them; let them go abroad through all the parts of the land, as they have acquaintance and interest, and gather up the money, and bring it to Jerusalem.
Wheresoever any breach shall be found; either through decay, or by ill accidents, or by the malice of Athaliah or her relations; of which see 2Ch 24:7.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance,…. Of those that were most known by them; for the priests had cities assigned them in several parts of the land, and they that dwelt with them in them, or in the parts adjacent to them, were best known by them; and they were sent into all the cities, some to one and some to another, where they were most acquainted, to collect money, both what was due by law, and what the people should freely give, see 2Ch 24:5
and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found: that is, of the temple, which, according to the Jewish chronology i, had been built but one hundred and fifty five years; and being built very strong, would have needed no considerable repairs as yet, but that it had been broken up and misused by Athaliah and her sons, 2Ch 24:7.
i Seder Olam Rabba, c. 18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) Every man of his acquaintance.See 2Ch. 24:5. From that passage it is evident that the chronicler understood that the priests were required to collect such moneys, each in his own city and district, year by year. Our text, taken alone, would seem to imply that persons going to the Temple to have the value of vows estimated, or to make free-will offerings, resorted to the priests whom they knew. (The word rendered acquaintance only occurs in this account.)
The breaches of the house.The dilapidations of the Temple were serious, not because of its ageit had only stood about 130 yearsbut owing to the wanton attacks of Athaliah and her sons (comp. 2Ch. 24:7), who had, moreover, diverted the revenues of the sanctuary to the support of the Baalworship.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Every man of his acquaintance From this, and more particularly from Chronicles, (2Ki 12:5,) it appears that the priests and Levites were not to wait at the temple to receive contributions, but were to “go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of God from year to year.” But this method failed, probably because the priests took little interest in the measure, and received little or no more than was sufficient for their own subsistence. The people, too, seemed little inclined to fall in with this measure, for when a new method was adopted, and a chest set by the temple to receive their offerings, they “rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.” 2Ch 24:8-10. So in other ages of the Church, travelling agents sent forth to collect funds have often cost more than the amounts they collected, and have injured the cause besides.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 12:5 Let the priests take [it] to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.
Ver. 5. And let them repair the breaches of the house. ] Labes domus, rupturas, fissuras, scissuras, such as the temple had contracted, either by antiquity, for it had stood one hundred and fifty-five years, or by the iniquity of the times. See 2Ch 24:7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Let the priests: 2Ch 24:5
let them repair: 2Ki 12:12, 2Ki 22:5, 2Ki 22:6, 1Ki 11:27, 2Ch 24:7, Isa 58:12
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 12:5. Let the priests take it to them, &c. Let them go abroad through all the parts of the land, as they have acquaintance and interest, and gather up the money, and bring it to Jerusalem. Let them repair, &c., wheresoever any breach shall be found Either through decay, or by ill accidents; or by the malice of Athaliath, or her relations; of which see 2Ch 24:7.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12:5 Let the priests take [it] to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the {d} breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.
(d) For the temple which was built a hundred and fifty-five years before, had many things decayed in it, both by the negligence of the king’s predecessors, and also by the wickedness of the idolaters.