2 Chronicles 24:5

And he gathered together the priests and Levites,.... To communicate his mind unto, and give them a charge and instructions: and said unto them, go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; what money he means is more fully explained in 2 Kings 12:4, and see that ye haste the matter; for he was very desirous of having this work accomplished, it being the place of the worship of God, and where he had been preserved in his infancy: howbeit, the Levites hastened it not; either through negligence in them to collect the money, or backwardness in the people to give, or through an avaricious disposition to keep it, and use it for themselves; so that it was delayed unto the twenty third year of his reign 2 Kings 12:6.

24:1-14 Joash is more zealous about the repair of the temple than Jehoiada himself. It is easier to build temples, than to be temples to God. But the repairing of places for public worship is a good work, which all should promote. And many a good work would be done that now lies undone, if active men would put it forward.

2 Chronicles 24:5 . Gather of all Israel — Not only of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but of all the Israelites, belonging to any of the ten tribes, who are now resident in my kingdom: money to repair, &c., from year to year — That is, either, 1st, To repair part of it every year till the reparations were perfected: or, 2d, The money was to be gathered from year to year, till they got such a sum as might suffice for the work.

5 . and the Levites ] Not in Kings; cp. 2 Chronicles 23:2 (note). Go out unto the cities of Judah ] Nothing is said in Kings about collecting money outside Jerusalem, but the restoration fund was to consist of a poll tax (paid at the Temple at the Great Feasts, Exodus 23:14-17 ) and of free-will offerings paid in money. hastened it not ] In Kings, “in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.”

Gather of all Israel, i.e. of all the Israelites that were in the kingdom of Judah. See 2 Chronicles 15:17 21:2 . To repair the house of your God from year to year; either, 1. Repair part of it every year till the reparations be perfected; or, 2. Gather it from year to year, till you get such a sum as may suffice for the work; for he supposed one or two years’ collection would not suffice for the work, whether it were that collection of half a shekel for every man, of which see Exodus 30:12,13 2 Kings 12:14 ; or a voluntary contribution required for the present exigence of the temple by virtue of the command and example of Moses, who made such a collection for the building of the tabernacle, Exodus 35:5 ; see also Nehemiah 10:32 ; which he thought would not be any great sum, because of the great iniquity and impiety which yet had reigned for many years, and yet continued in the generality of the people of the land, the Levites not excepted, as the last clause of this verse shows.

Verse 5. - To repair . The idea of this verb ( חָזַק ) is that of making strong. From year to year . The compound adverbial expression חָדֵּי , here used for "from," era-braces the idea of" unfailingly from year to year." The command given here to the priests and Levites is expressed very differently, though in no degree contadictorily, in the parallel (see its vers. 4, 5). The addition is there found, "every man of his acquaintance;" this expression may glance at the very supposable circumstance that the priest and Levite collecting deputations would naturally go respectively to the towns and cities where they had been located beforetime. A slight ambiguity is perhaps occasioned by the impression that the fourth verse (in the parallel) produces - that the priests and Levites should wait to receive, e.g. , in Jerusalem. This, however, is sot what is said , and need not, therefore, be made into a difficulty. Howbeit the Levites hastened not. We are not told why this delay was, nor does the subsequent narrative seem to elucidate it, further than this - that the delay somehow seemed to rest with Jehoiada, as the king appealed to him for explanation. 2 Chronicles 24:5

Athaliah's destruction of the seed royal had left Joash without a natural successor, and his marriage at the earliest suitable age, was, therefore, a matter of state policy. One of his wives in question was probably "Jehoaddan of Jerusalem," the mother of Amaziah 2 Chronicles 25:1 , who must have been taken to wife by Joash as early as his 21st year.

And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all {b} Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not. (b) He does not mean the ten tribes but only the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

(5) Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money. —This is the chronicler’s interpretation of “Let the priests take it to themselves, each from his own acquaintance” (Kings). The priests and Levites of the different districts were to collect the moneys due to the sanctuary, each in his own neighbourhood. And see that ye hasten the matter.—Literally, and, for your part, hasten ye in regard to the matter (comp. 2Chronicles 18:8); and the Levites hastened not. This agrees with the statement in 2Kings 12:6; 2Kings 12:9 : “And it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.” The remissness of the priestly order is evidently inferable from these words.