1Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2Joash did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he begot sons and daughters. 4Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart to repair the house of Jehovah. 5And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly. However the Levites did not do it quickly. 6So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the offering of Moses the servant of Jehovah and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent of witness? 7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also offered all the consecrated things of the house of Jehovah to the Baals. 8So at the king's command they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of Jehovah. 9And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to Jehovah the offering that Moses the servant of God had laid upon Israel in the wilderness. 10And all the rulers and all the people rejoiced, brought and threw into the chest until they were all finished. 11So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king's official by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, that the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. 12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah; and they hired masons and craftsmen to repair the house of Jehovah, and also craftsmen in iron and bronze to restore the house of Jehovah. 13So the workmen labored, and the work of restoration excelled in their hands; they built up the house of God to its proper measure and strengthened it. 14When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; they made from it vessels for the house of Jehovah, utensils for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of Jehovah continually all the days of Jehoiada. 15And Jehoiada grew old and satisfied with days, and died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death. 16And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house. 17And after the death of Jehoiada the rulers of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king gave heed to them. 18And they forsook the house of Jehovah the God of their fathers, and served the groves and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. 19And He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to Jehovah; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. 20And the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of Jehovah, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken Jehovah, He also has forsaken you. 21So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of Jehovah. 22Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, May Jehovah take notice, and require it! 23So it happened at the turning of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the rulers of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. 24For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but Jehovah delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Jehovah the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment against Joash. 25And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26These are the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. 27Now concerning his sons, and the great many tributes to him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the midrash of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 JOASH REIGNS WELL ALL THE DAYS OF JEHOIADA. (
2Chr 24:1-14)
Joash . . . began to reign--(See on
2Kgs 12:1-3).
3 Jehoiada took for him two wives--As Jehoiada was now too old to contract such new alliances, the generality of interpreters apply this statement to the young king.
4 Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord--(See on
2Kgs 12:4-16).
15 JEHOIADA BEING DEAD. (
2Chr 24:15-16)
Jehoiada waxed old . . . and died--His life, protracted to unusual longevity and spent in the service of his country, deserved some tribute of public gratitude, and this was rendered in the posthumous honors that were bestowed on him. Among the Hebrews, intramural interment was prohibited in every city but Jerusalem, and there the exception was made only to the royal family and persons of eminent merit, on whom the distinction was conferred of being buried in the city of David, among the kings, as in the case of Jehoiada.
17 JOASH FALLS INTO IDOLATRY. (
2Chr 24:17-22)
Now came the princes of Judah, and make obeisance to the king--Hitherto, while Joash occupied the throne, his uncle had held the reins of sovereign power, and by his excellent counsels had directed the young king to such measures as were calculated to promote both the civil and religious interests of the country. The fervent piety, practical wisdom, and inflexible firmness of that sage counsellor exerted immense influence over all classes. But now that the helm of the state-ship was no longer steered by the sound head and firm hand of the venerable high priest, the real merits of Joash's administration appear; and for want of good and enlightened principle, as well as, perhaps, of natural energy of character, he allowed himself to be borne onward in a course which soon wrecked the vessel upon hidden rocks.
the king hearkened unto them, &c.--They were secretly attached to idolatry, and their elevated rank affords sad proof how extensively and deeply the nation had become corrupted during the reigns of Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah. With strong professions of allegiance they humbly requested that they might not be subjected to the continued necessity of frequent and expensive journeys to Jerusalem, but allowed the privilege their fathers had enjoyed of worshipping God in high places at home. They framed their petition in this plausible and least offensive manner, well knowing that, if excused attendance at the temple, they might--without risk of discovery or disturbance--indulge their tastes in the observance of any private rites they pleased. The weak-minded king granted their petition; and the consequence was, that when they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, they soon "served groves and idols."
18 wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem--The particular mention of Jerusalem as involved in the sin implies that the neglect of the temple and the consequent idolatry received not only the king's toleration, but his sanction; and it naturally occurs to ask how, at his mature age, such a total abandonment of a place with which all his early recollections were associated can be accounted for. It has been suggested that what he had witnessed of the conduct of many of the priests in the careless performance of the worship, and especially their unwillingness to collect the money, as well as apply a portion of their revenues for the repairs of the temple, had alienated and disgusted him [LE CLERC].
19 Yet he sent prophets--Elisha, Micah, Jehu son of Hanani, Jahaziel son of Zechariah (
2Chr 20:14), Eliezer son of Dodavah (
2Chr 20:37), lived and taught at that time. But all their prophetic warnings and denunciations were unheeded.
20 the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada--probably a younger son, for his name does not occur in the list of Aaron's successors (1Ch. 6:4-47).
stood above the people--Being of the priestly order, he spoke from the inner court, which was considerably higher than that of the people.
and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper, &c.--His near relationship to the king might have created a feeling of delicacy and reluctance to interfere; but at length he, too, was prompted by an irresistible impulse to protest against the prevailing impiety. The bold freedom and energy of [Zechariah's] remonstrance, as well as his denunciation of the national calamities that would certainly follow, were most unpalatable to the king; while they so roused the fierce passions of the multitude that a band of miscreants, at the secret instigation of Joash, stoned him to death. This deed of violence involved complicated criminality on the part of the king. It was a horrid outrage on a prophet of the Lord--base ingratitude to a family who had preserved his life--atrocious treatment of a true Hebrew patriot--an illegal and unrighteous exercise of his power and authority as a king.
22 when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it and require it--These dying words, if they implied a vindictive imprecation, exhibit a striking contrast to the spirit of the first Christian martyr (
Acts 7:60). But, instead of being the expression of a personal wish, they might be the utterance of a prophetic doom.
23 HE IS SLAIN BY HIS SERVANTS. (
2Chr 24:23-27)
at the end of the year the host of Syria came up--This invasion took place under the personal conduct of Hazael, whom Joash, to save the miseries of a siege, prevailed on to withdraw his forces by a large present of gold (
2Kgs 12:18). Most probably, also, he promised the payment of an annual tribute, on the neglect or refusal of which the Syrians returned the following year, and with a mere handful of men inflicted a total and humiliating defeat on the collected force of the Hebrews.
25 they left him in great diseases--The close of his life was embittered by a painful malady, which long confined him to bed.
his own servants conspired against him--These two conspirators (whose fathers were Jews, but their mothers aliens) were probably courtiers, who, having constant access to the bedchamber, could the more easily execute their design.
for the blood of the sons--read "the son" of Jehoiada. Public opinion seems to have ascribed the disasters of his life and reign to that foul crime. And as the king had long lost the esteem and respect of his subjects, neither horror nor sorrow was expressed for his miserable end!
