Catholic Commentary on 2 Kings 12

"Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him." (2 Kings 12:2)

Joash Repairs the Temple

Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Joash orders that money brought to the Temple be used to repair whatever damage is found. But twenty-three years pass and the priests have not used the money for repairs. Joash calls Jehoiada: why are you not repairing the Temple? He instructs them to set up a chest with a hole in the lid at the Temple entrance; the people bring money and it is given directly to the workers who repair the Temple. No accounting is required of the men because they act with integrity. However, the money is not used for gold and silver Temple vessels; it goes entirely to the workmen. When Jehoiada dies, the officials of Judah lead Joash into idol worship and he executes Zechariah the son of Jehoiada for rebuking him. Hazael threatens Jerusalem; Joash pays him off with Temple treasures and is later assassinated by his own officials.

The Catechism draws from Joash's reign the principle that faithful formation in childhood does not guarantee faithful independence in adulthood: all the years Jehoiada instructed him is the key phrase (CCC 2223).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Joash did right all the years Jehoiada instructed him. The moment Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah led him into apostasy. The mentor who shapes us is not eternal; we must own our faith, not borrow it from theirs. Who are you following that, if they left, you would drift?

Prayer

Lord God, make our faith our own, not borrowed from a Jehoiada who will not always be there. And give us Jehoiadas who form us so deeply that the formation outlasts them. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

12
Joash Repairs the Temple
(2 Chronicles 24:1-14)
1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash * 12:1 Hebrew Jehoash, a variant of Joash (son of Ahaziah); also in verses 2, 4, 6, 7, and 18; see 2 Kings 11:2. became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.
 
3 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
 
4 Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the LORD-the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the LORD. 5 Let every priest receive it from his constituency, and let it be used to repair any damage found in the temple.”
 
6 By the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, however, the priests had not yet repaired the damage to the temple. 7 So King Joash called Jehoiada and the other priests and said, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, therefore, take no more money from your constituency, but hand it over for the repair of the temple.”
 
8 So the priests agreed that they would not receive money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.
 
9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the LORD. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the house of the LORD.
 
10 Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal scribe and the high priest would go up, count the money brought into the house of the LORD, and tie it up in bags. 11 Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those who supervised the work on the house of the LORD, who in turn would pay those doing the work-the carpenters, builders, 12 masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs.
 
13 However, the money brought into the house of the LORD was not used for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver for the house of the LORD. 14 Instead, it was paid to those doing the work, and with it they repaired the house of the LORD.
 
15 No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay the workmen, because they acted with integrity. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests.
The Death of Joash
(2 Chronicles 24:23-27)
 
17 At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem. 18 So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers-Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah-along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.
 
19 As for the rest of the acts of Joash, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
 
20 And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. 21 His servants Jozabad † 12:21 Hebrew; LXX and Syriac Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer ‡ 12:21 Shomer is a variant of Shimrith; see 2 Chronicles 24:26. struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.

*12:1 12:1 Hebrew Jehoash, a variant of Joash (son of Ahaziah); also in verses 2, 4, 6, 7, and 18; see 2 Kings 11:2.

†12:21 12:21 Hebrew; LXX and Syriac Jozacar

‡12:21 12:21 Shomer is a variant of Shimrith; see 2 Chronicles 24:26.

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