2 Chronicles 24 · WEB
Joash Repairs the Temple; Turns from God; Zechariah Killed
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Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2Joash did that which was right in Yahweh's eyes all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
4After this, Joash decided to restore Yahweh's house.
5He gathered together the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to repair the house of your God from year to year. See that you expedite this matter." However the Levites didn't do it right away.
6The king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, "Why haven't you required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel, for the Tent of the Testimony?"
7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up God's house; and also all the dedicated things of Yahweh's house they gave to the Baals.
8So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of Yahweh's house.
9They made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem to bring to Yahweh the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness.
10All the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had finished.
11Whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the chief priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day and gathered money in abundance.
12The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of Yahweh's house; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore Yahweh's house, and also such as worked iron and bronze to strengthen Yahweh's house.
13So the workmen worked, and the work of repairing went forward in their hands, and they set up God's house in its former state and strengthened it.
14When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, of which were made vessels for Yahweh's house, vessels for service, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in Yahweh's house continually all the days of Jehoiada.
15But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and died; he was one hundred thirty years old when he died.
16They buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel and toward God and his house.
17Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king; then the king listened to them.
18They abandoned Yahweh's house, the God of their fathers, and served the Asheroth and the idols; and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.
19Yet he sent prophets to them to bring them back to Yahweh, and they testified against them; but they would not give ear.
20The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, "God says, 'Why do you disobey Yahweh's commandments so that you can't prosper? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, he has also forsaken you.'"
21They conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the king's commandment in the court of Yahweh's house.
22Thus Joash the king didn't remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, "Yahweh, look at it and avenge it!"
23At the end of the year, the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their plunder to the king of Damascus.
24For the army of Syria came with a small company of men; and Yahweh delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.
25When they had departed from him (for they left him with severe wounds), his servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they didn't bury him in the tombs of the kings.
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Summary
Joash reigns faithfully as long as Jehoiada is alive — organizing a national offering to repair the temple. But when Jehoiada dies at 130 years old, Joash is immediately influenced by corrupt princes into idolatry. When Jehoiada's own son Zechariah prophesies against them, Joash orders him stoned — in the temple court. Zechariah dies saying "Yahweh, look at it and avenge it." God does: a small Syrian force defeats Judah's large army, and Joash is wounded and then assassinated by his own servants. He dies denied burial with the kings.
Themes
- Faithfulness dependent on mentorship versus personal conviction
- Ingratitude as moral failure
- God's justice — what we sow we reap
Key verses
- 2 Chr 24:2 — “Joash did that which was right in Yahweh's eyes all the days of Jehoiada the priest.”
- 2 Chr 24:20 — “God says, 'Why do you disobey Yahweh's commandments so that you can't prosper? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, he has also forsaken you.'”
- 2 Chr 24:22 — “Joash the king didn't remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son.”
Context & background
Joash's reign (c. 835–796 BC) illustrates the danger of faith that is entirely borrowed — dependent on a mentor rather than personally owned. Jehoiada lived to 130 years — the only person in the Bible given this honor outside of the Torah patriarchs. His burial "among the kings" was a remarkable honor for a priest, given by the people themselves. The stoning of Zechariah in the temple court was a profound desecration — Jesus would later reference it (Matthew 23:35) as the last in a long line of murdered prophets. The small Syrian force defeating Judah's large army (v. 24) directly reverses the pattern of 2 Chronicles 13-14, where faith produced supernatural victory.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 12 — Parallel account of Joash's reign and temple repairs
- Galatians 6:7 — "Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" — Joash's assassination mirrors his treatment of Zechariah
- Luke 11:50-51 — Jesus includes Zechariah's death in the list of prophets killed by Israel
- Matthew 23:35 — Jesus references the killing of Zechariah "between the temple and the altar"
- Proverbs 17:13 — "Whoever rewards evil for good, evil will not depart from his house"