2 Kings 12:17-21·~1 min

The Death of Joash

Hazael captures Gath and threatens Jerusalem, so Joash strips consecrated treasures from the temple and palace and sends them to Aram. The payment succeeds in turning the attack away.

A¹⁷t that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers— Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah— along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

After the formal notice of the rest of Joash's acts, the narrative ends with conspiracy and murder. His servants strike him down, he is buried in the City of David, and Amaziah succeeds him.

¹⁹As for the rest of the acts of Joash, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. ²¹His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.

Section summaryWhen Hazael captures Gath and turns toward Jerusalem, Joash sends temple and palace treasures to buy his withdrawal. The chapter closes with the usual royal notice, then with Joash's assassination by his servants and Amaziah's succession.

Role in the chapterThis closing section turns from temple repair to the fragility of Joash's reign. It places political pressure, costly compromise, and violent death beside his earlier achievement, giving the chapter a restrained but dark ending.