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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 A son of seven years [is] Joash in his reigning, and forty years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Zibiah of Beer-Sheba. |
Forty years – Link No.34 in the chain of Bible chronology. B50; R1980:4
Usher reckons this as 39 years, while the Bible gives it as forty years. B52
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| 2 And Joash doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest. |
Jehoida the priest – The Lord's High Priest, whose wife, Joash's aunt, had secreted Joash as an infant. R2366:3
Joash's foster-father. R2366:6
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| 3 And Jehoiada taketh for him two wives, and he begetteth sons and daughters. |
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| 4 And it cometh to pass after this, it hath been with the heart of Joash to renew the house of Jehovah, |
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| 5 and he gathereth the priests and the Levites, and saith to them, 'Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year, and ye, ye do haste to the matter;' and the Levites have not hasted. |
Levites hastened it not – Probably because the people of Judah had come to doubt the priesthood. R2367:1, R3447:6
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| 6 And the king calleth for Jehoiada the head, and saith to him, 'Wherefore hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, servant of Jehovah, and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent of the testimony |
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| 7 for sons of Athaliah, the wicked one, have broken up the house of God, and also, all the holy things of the house of Jehovah they have prepared for Baalim.' |
Broken up the house of God – Stones had been taken for building the temple of Baal, representing the damage done to the true Temple during the Dark Ages. R3448:1, 2
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| 8 And the king speaketh, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without, |
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| 9 and give an intimation in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring in to Jehovah the tribute of Moses, servant of God, [laid] on Israel in the wilderness. |
The collection – A tax of half a shekel on each male of 20 years old and upward (See Exod. 30:11-16). R2367:1
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| 10 And all the heads, and all the people rejoice, and they bring in, and cast into the chest, unto completion. |
All the people – The remnant of the ten tribes joined in the work. R2084:5
Rejoiced – "The Lord loveth a cheerful (Greek, hilarious-- merry) giver." (2 Cor. 9:7) R3448:5
Cast Into the chest – When they once see the need of repairs and the safety of the channel the people of God will be encouraged to do everything necessary for the accomplishment of the work. R3448:4
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| 11 And it cometh to pass, at the time one bringeth in the chest for the inspection of the king by the hand of the Levites, and at their seeing that the money [is] abundant, that a scribe of the king hath come in, and an officer of the head-priest, and they empty the chest, and take it up and turn it back unto its place; thus they have done day by day, and gather money in abundance. |
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| 12 And the king and Jehoiada give it unto the doers of the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and they are hiring hewers and artificers to renew the house of Jehovah, and also to artificers in iron and brass to strengthen the house of Jehovah. |
Jehoiada – Representing our High Priest, Christ. R3448:2
Repair the house – To this end we are exhorted by the Apostle to build one another up in the most holy faith. R2367:4
It is our duty to keep our bodies, which are temples of the holy Spirit, pure in thought, word and act, and to take reasonable care of our physical systems. R2367:2
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| 13 And those doing the business work, and there goeth up lengthening to the work by their hand, and they establish the house of God, by its proper measure, and strengthen it. |
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| 14 And at their completing [it], they have brought in before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the money, and they make it vessels for the house of Jehovah, vessels of serving, and of offering up, and spoons, even vessels of gold and silver; and they are causing burnt-offerings to ascend in the house of Jehovah continually, all the days of Jehoiada. |
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| 15 And Jehoiada is aged and satisfied with days, and dieth a son of a hundred and thirty years in his death, |
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| 16 and they bury him in the city of David, with the kings, for he hath done good in Israel, and with God, and his house. |
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| 17 And after the death of Jehoiada come in have heads of Judah, and bow themselves to the king; then hath the king hearkened unto them, |
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| 18 and they forsake the house of Jehovah, God of their fathers, and serve the shrines and the idols, and there is wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. |
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| 19 And He sendeth among them prophets, to bring them back unto Jehovah, and they testify against them, and they have not given ear; |
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| 20 and the Spirit of God hath clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he standeth over-against the people, and saith to them, 'Thus said God, Why are ye transgressing the commands of Jehovah, and prosper not because ye have forsaken Jehovah He doth forsake you.' |
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| 21 And they conspire against him, and stone him with stones by the command of the king, in the court of the house of Jehovah, |
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| 22 and Joash the king hath not remembered the kindness that Jehoiada his father did with him, and slayeth his son, and in his death he said, 'Jehovah doth see, and require.' |
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| 23 And it cometh to pass, at the turn of the year, come up hath the force of Aram against him, and they come in unto Judah and Jerusalem, and destroy all the heads of the people from the people, and all their spoil they have sent to the king of Damascus, |
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| 24 for with few men have the force of Aram come in, and Jehovah hath given into their hand a mighty force for multitude, because they have forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers; and with Joash they have executed judgments. |
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| 25 And in their going from him for they left him with many diseases his servants themselves have conspired against him, for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slay him on his bed, and he dieth; and they bury him in the city of David, and have not buried him in the graves of the kings. |
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| 26 And these [are] those conspiring against him, Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess. |
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| 27 As to his sons, and the greatness of the burden upon him, and the foundation of the house of God, lo, they are written on the 'Inquiry' of the book of the Kings; and reign doth Amaziah his son in his stead. |
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