Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

2 Kings 12:9

in 2 Kings 12

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of Jehovah: and the priests that kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah.

KJV

But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the Lord: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord.

⋯

This verse in 2 Kings 12

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
The priests that kept the door - The north door into the priests’ court Eze 40:35-43 seems to be intended, not the door of the temple building. The chest must have been placed a little to the right of this north door, between it and the altar of burnt-offering, so that the people could see it from the doorway. The people were not ordinarily allowed to go within the doorway into this court, which belonged to the priests and Levites only.

This site's exposition

bored a hole in the lid

on 2 Kings 12:9-10

Jehoiada bores a hole in a chest's lid and sets it beside the altar where everyone entering can see it, money dropped in past retrieving rather than handled by any one man's account. It stands as Scripture's first dedicated building fund, a public box in place of a private collection, and its design answers the failure of the verses just before it. When the chest is full, the king's scribe and the high priest come up together, a civil officer beside the priesthood, to count and bag what has gathered.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

But Jehoiada the priest took a chest,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

When public distributions are made faithfully public contributions will be made cheerfully. The money that was given, (1.) Was dropped into the chest through a hole in the lid, past recall, to intimate that what has been once resigned to God must never be resumed.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Why repair ye not the breaches of the house?--This mode of collection not proving so productive as was expected (the dilatoriness of the priests was the chief cause of the failure), a new arrangement was proposed.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Jehoiada - took a chest - This chest was at first set beside the altar, as is here mentioned; but afterwards, for the convenience of the people, it was set without the gate; see 2Ch 24:8.

The words behind it

28 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּקַּ֞חand he took

    vaiyikachH3947 →966 times

  • יְהוֹיָדָ֤עJehoiada

    yehoyada'H3077 →51 times

  • הַכֹּהֵן֙the priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • אֲר֣וֹןa chest

    ʾaronH727 →

  • אֶחָ֔דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • וַיִּקֹּ֥בand he bored

    vaiyikoH5344 →

  • חֹ֖רa hole

    chorH2356 →

  • בְּדַלְתּ֑וֹin lid its

    bedaltoH1817 →88 times

  • וַיִּתֵּ֣ןand he put

    vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times

  • אֹתוֹ֩<obj.> it

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • אֵ֨צֶלbeside

    ʾetzelH681 →

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֜חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • מִיָּמִ֗יןfrom [the] right [side]

    baiyaminH3225 →140 times

  • בְּבֽוֹא־when comes

    bevo'-H935 →2568 times

  • אִישׁ֙anyone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • בֵּ֣ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְנָֽתְנוּ־and they put

    venatenu-H5414 →2011 times

  • שָׁ֤מָּהthere <towards>

    shamahH8033 →834 times

  • הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙the priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • שֹׁמְרֵ֣י[who] kept of

    shomereiH8104 →468 times

  • הַסַּ֔ףthe threshold

    hasafH5592 →32 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הַכֶּ֖סֶףthe money

    hakesefH3701 →403 times

  • הַמּוּבָ֥אwhich was brought

    hamuva'H935 →2568 times

  • בֵית־[the] house of

    veit-H1004 →2046 times

  • יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Mark 12:41As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.7 worksJeremiah 35:4and I brought them into the house of the LORD, to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. This room was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.4 worksLuke 21:1Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,3 works1 Chronicles 15:24Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer—the priests—were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be guardians of the ark.3 worksPsalms 84:10For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.3 works1 Chronicles 15:18and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.2 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Kings 23:4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.2 works2 Kings 25:18The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.2 works2 Chronicles 24:8–14At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the house of the LORD.2 works2 Kings 22:4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.2 worksJeremiah 52:24The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 84:10

    For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 27:4

      One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the…

    • Psalms 26:8–10

      O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.

    • Psalms 63:2

      So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory.

    • Philippians 3:20

      But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

    • Romans 8:5–6

      Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

  • Through

    Luke 21:1

    Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,

    it leads to

    • Mark 12:41–44

      As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.

    • John 8:20

      He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Mark 12:41

    As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.

    it leads to

    • Luke 21:1–4

      Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 12 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 12 →