2 Kings 12:10

2Ki 12:10 And it was [so], when they saw that [there was] much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the LORD.

Ver. 10. When they saw.] They stood at the door, and might easily see what any one put in. Lycurgus, the Lacedemonian lawgiver - who is thonght to have flourished about these times - enjoined his countrymen not to exceed in their offerings, lest they should grow weary of well doing; for, said he, God respecteth more the internal devotion than the external oblation.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 12:10-11. The king’s scribe and the high-priest came up, &c. — The king’s secretary and the high-priest emptied the chest, and took an account of the money, and then put it up in bags, which, it is likely, they sealed; and then they set the chest in its place again. This they did every day, as we read 2Ch 24:11. They gave the money to them that had the oversight, &c. — These bags of money were delivered by the king and Jehoiada, (2Ch 24:12,) not to the priests, whom the king had found tardy, and, perhaps, faulty, (converting the money to their own use,) but to some select persons, who had this peculiar business committed to them, to employ good workmen, pay them their wages, and see the temple properly repaired.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 10. 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) And it was so.—Rather, And it came to pass. Whenever the chest was full the royal secretary and the high priest went up into the Temple, and emptied it.

Put up in bags, and told.—Literally, they bound up and counted. They put the pieces of silver into bags of a certain size, and then counted the bags, weighed, and sealed them up. These would be paid out as money. (Comp. 2Ki_5:23.) Instead of “they bound up,” Ewald prefers the word used in Chronicles, “they emptied,” which is very similar in Hebrew writing. The royal secretary came, as the king’s representative, to make a record of the amount.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. when they saw that there was much money in the chest] They could tell this by lifting, and beside this the priests were eye-witnesses of the liberal contribution.

the king’s scribe] This was the royal secretary, through whom the king would be kept acquainted with the progress of the fund. It appears from 2Ch_24:11 that the chest was carried unopened unto the king’s office by the Levites, and that the examination and disposal of the contents took place there.

the high priest] The Chronicler says ‘the high priest’s officer’. Josephus says the king was present at the opening. What is meant by these varying statements is that these two were always represented and that now and then no doubt both king and high priest were there in person.

came up] To the place whither the chest had been brought for examination and to be emptied.

put up in bags] The literal meaning ‘bound up’ is given on the margins of A.V. and R.V. The verb is used of putting money together in a packet (Deu_14:25). We must understand the proceeding to be in connexion with uncoined gold and silver. First it was tied up in some way into parcels, and then by weighing its value was found.

and told the money] i.e. As we should now say ‘counted’ it. But the total value was found by weighing. The old use of ‘tell’ for ‘count’ occurs several times in the O.T. ‘Cf. Psa_147:4 ‘He telleth the number of the stars’. So Jer_33:13, ‘The flocks pass under the hands of him that telleth them’. Compare Milton, L’Allegro 67,

‘And every shepherd tells his tale

Under the hawthorn in the dale’.

i.e. he counts the number of his sheep to see that none have been lost during the night.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 it; in whatsoever else it needed, as iron and brass to mend it, Ch2 24:12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The king’s scribe - Or “secretary” (1Ki 4:3 note). Such persons are often seen in the Assyrian sculptures, with a roll, apparently of parchment, in one hand and a pen in the other, taking account for the king of the spoil brought in from foreign expeditions.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Priest, or his deputy. (Paralipomenon) (Calmet) --- Out. Protestants, "put it up in bags," (Haydock) or tied and afterwards weighed it.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The king’s scribe, who kept an exact account hereof in writing. See 2Ki 19:2; 22:3.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest. "When they saw" means "when they perceived." They would not see that the chest was becoming full, but would know by the weight, and perhaps by the sound which the money made when it was dropped in. That the king"s scribe. "Royal secretaries" were common in ancient Persia, and often acted as the king"s commissioners (Herod., 3:128; Xen., "Cyrop.," 8:6. "AEcouom.," 4:8). Such persons are seen on the Assyrian sculptured slabs, with a roll of paper or parchment in one hand, and a pen in the other, taking account for the king of the spoil brought in from foreign countries (see "Ancient Monarchies," vol. 2. p. 86). And the high priest. Since the time of Joshua, the high priest had been called simply "the priest." The restoration of the full title (hae-cohen hag-gadol) marks the increasing power of the priests and the diminishing power of the kings under the later monarchy. Came up, and they put up in bags, and told, the money that was found in the house of the Lord. Money was ordinarily put up in bags, containing a certain definite amount, the mouth of the bag being then tied round with a string (see 2Ki_5:23; and Pro_7:20; Isa_46:6; Hag_1:6) Hence putting money up in bags was sometimes called, as in this place, "binding it." No doubt they "told," or counted, the money first, and put it in the bags afterwards; but u) proteron is a very common figure of speech.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's writer and the high priest came, and bound up and reckoned the money that was found in the house of Jehovah." צוּר, to bind up the money in bags (cf. Kg2 5:23). The binding is mentioned before the reckoning, because the pieces of money were not counted singly, but packed at once into bags, which were then weighed for the purpose of estimating the amount received.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Near the altar. In the [Temple] Court.

To the right, as a person enters. On the right [side] where the people come in.

The guards of the threshold. The thresholds of the [Temple] Court, [i.e.,] those in charge of the keys of the [Temple] Court, for [Targum] Yonoson rendered it as, “אֲמַרְכְּלַיָּא [=custodian of the keys],” and there were seven אֲמַרְכָּלִים, for the seven gates of the [Temple] Court. [This is stated in] Tosefta of [Maseches] Shekalim.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.