2 Kings 22:3-7--Josiah Repairs the Temple

2 Kings 22:3-7
English Standard Version
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Josiah Repairs the Temple
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

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When Josiah was 26 (remember he began to reign when he was only 8 years old), he sent his secretary to the Temple so that together the secretary and the priests could count what had been collected (remember that there were collection boxes that had been installed in the past for the people to contribute directly to the upkeep and repairs of the Temple, but they had be counted by the high priest and the king's secretary so that there was accountability and neither the priests nor the king could steal the money).

The money was to be used to pay the wages of the foremen in charge of the workers repairing the Temple so that they could distribute it for wages for those working under them, and to use it for buying the raw materials needed for their repairs  However, no one was to ask them to produce receipts for how much they spent on particular items--it was up to the foremen to hire honest workers and for the foremen themselves to be honest and to be accountable to the LORD for what they did with the money.  So it is that Josiah would repair the Temple.  It would probably not come anywhere close to what it was in the days of Solomon, but no longer would the LORD's house be in disrepair.