And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD.
We have here an account of the repairing of the temple in the reign of Joash. I. It seems, the temple had gone out of repair. Though Solomon built it very strong, of the best materials and in the best manner, yet in time it went to decay, and there were breaches found in it (Kg2 12:5), in the roofs, or walls, or floors, the...
Commenting on 2 Kings 12:4-16
And to masons, and hewers of stone,.... Which they cut out of the mountain, and the masons repaired the stone walls with: and to buy timber; felled in Lebanon: and hewed stone; fitted for building with: to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord; where both timber and stone were wanting: and for all that was laid out for the house to repair...
The king's scribe and the high priest - It was necessary to associate with the high priest some civil authority and activity, in order to get the neglected work performed.