2 Kings 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. 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.
This verse belongs to the account of King Joash, also called Jehoash, repairing the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Joash was a young king who for many years was under the guidance of Jehoiada the high priest, his aged and pious uncle, so his early inclinations were toward the religious interests of the kingdom. His determination to repair the house of the Lord went beyond any suggestion even from Jehoiada, and he was at this time about thirty years of age, having grown to manhood in the king's office. The gathering described took place in the twenty-third year of King Joash, in a manner similar to Josiah's repair of the house of God two centuries later, Joash coming two centuries before Josiah with money gathered for repairing the house of God. The wider account of the beginning of the reign of Joash in Judah under Jehoiada also includes Joash's submission to Hazael and his death.
The money in the chest was the half shekel commanded through Moses to be collected annually from every man twenty years old and upward for the service of the tabernacle and later the temple. Collection of this tax had been neglected because of the backslidden condition of the people, which made getting them to pay it a difficult and disagreeable task, and the failure to press it is accounted for by Jehoiada now being an old man who depended on his assistants for priestly duties. When they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's scribe or secretary and the high priest came up, gathered it, put it in bags, and counted and recorded the money collected in the Lord's house. The counted funds were then entrusted to supervisors for payment to the workers repairing the temple.
The account is presented as an example instructing God's people how to finance work for the Lord, in that the money was raised before the repairs were undertaken rather than borrowed. Giving for the upkeep of God's house is a direct part of worship, prompted without fundraising entertainments or public display of donors and their gifts, with each person giving according to willingness and ability to provide for neglected repairs.