Q² U 1-11. The Feast.
V W Y 12-21. Blessing.
Z 22. Station.
X 23-53. Prayer.
V W Z 54,55. Station.
Y 56-61. Blessing.
X 62-64. Worship.
U 65,66. The Feast.
U v 1-4. The Ark brought up.
w 5. "Could not be numbered". (Multitude).
v 5-9. The Ark brought in.
w 10,11. "Could not stand"> (Cloud).910 B.C.
1 Kings 8)
1 Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the father's houses (= families) of the sons of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the Ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David (i.e. up out of Zion [the former Jebus, 2 Sam. 5:6-9] to Moriah, where the Temple had been built [1 Chron. 21:28-22:1]. Cp. 2 Sam.6), which [is] Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim (or Tisri. Our Sept-Oct.), which [is] the seventh month (in which the Feast of Tabernacles is observed. Cp. Lev. 23:24. See also 6:38).
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the Ark (as commanded in Num.4:5,15,19).
4 And they brought up the Ark of the Lord, and the tent of the congregation (brought from Gibeon [2 Chron. 1:3,4]. Probably put among the treasures of 7:51), and all the holy vessels that [were] in the tent, even those did the priests (the ministers of sacrifice) and the Levites bring up (ministers of praise).
5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, [were] with him before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
6 And the priests brought in the Ark of the covenant of the Lord to his place, into the most holy place of the house (cp. 2 Sam. 16:23), to the holy of holies, [even] under the wings of the cherubims.
7 For the cherubims spread forth [their] two wings over the place of the Ark (cp. 2 Chron. 5:8]), and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy [place] before the most holy place, and they were not seen outside (i.e. outside the holy place): and there they are to this day (i.e. 1 Kings written while Temple was still standing; therefore before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, and before the Captivity. Cp. 2 Chron. 5:9, and see 9:21; 12:19. 2 Kings 8:22; 10:27).
9 [There was] nothing in the Ark save the two tables of stone (Heb. 9 speaks of the Ark as it was in the Tabernacle, not as in the Temple. Cp. Heb. 9:2,3,4), which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made [a covenant] with the sons of Israel (the Sept. reads "the Tables which Moses placed there in Horeb, which Tables Yehovah covenanted with the sons of Israel"), when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy [place], that the cloud filled the house of the Lord (cp. Ex.40:34),
11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
Y x¹ 12. Word of and to Yahaveh.
y¹ 13. The house.
x² 14-16. Words of and to Yahaveh.
y² 17. The house.
x³ 18,19. Words of and to Yahaveh.
y³ 20,21. The house.12 Then spoke Solomon, “The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have surely built You a house to dwell in (Heb.beth zebãl = Assyrian bit-zabali = high of lofty house. Cp. Zebulun [Gen. 30:20]), a settled place for You to abide in for ever.”
14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: {and all the assembly of Israel stood;}
15 And he said, “Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel, which spoke with His mouth to David my father, and has with His hand fulfilled [it], saying,
16 ‘Since the day that I brought forth My People Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that My name might be there (see 2 Chron. 6:5. The Sept adds after this word "and I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be thee". This is preserved in 2 Chron.6:6. The scribes eye, in copying, went back to the next word, "I have chosen David", and went on from there, omitting sentence given above.); but I chose David to be over My People Israel.’
17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18 And the Lord said to David my father (cp. 2 Sam. 7:12), ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build an house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19 Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son that shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the house to My name.’
20 And the Lord has performed His word that He spoke, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the Ark, wherein [is] the covenant of the Lord (put for the two tables of stone on which it was written. v. v9), which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22 And Solomon took his position (position not posture. See v.54) before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven (he did this while kneeling. See v.54 and 2 Chron. 6:13):
X A¹ 23-30. General. Yahaveh and himself. A² 31-53. Special. The people.
A¹ a 23,24. Yahaveh's faithfulness.
b 25,26. Solomon's plea.
a 27. Yahaveh's immensity.
b 28-30. Solomon's plea.
23 And he said, “the Lord God of Israel, [there is] no God like You, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and loving-kindness (or grace) with Your servants that walk before You with all their heart:
24 Who hast kept with Your servant David my father that You promised him: You spoke also with Your mouth, and have fulfilled [it] with Your hand, as [it is] this day.
25 Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that You promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel; provided that your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me according as you have walked before Me.’
26 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let your word, I pray You, be verified, which You spoke to Your servant David my father.
27 But will God in truth dwell on the earth? (cp. 2 Chron. 6:18. Isa. 66:1. Acts 7:48,49) behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built?
28 Yet have You respect to the prayer of Your servant (includes every thought of the mind which is God-ward), and to his entreaty (for favor), O Lord my God, to listen to the cry (= the vehement utterances of either) and to the prayer, which Your servant prays before You today:
29 That Your eyes may be open toward (so written, but some codices read "upon") this house night and day, [even] toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there:’ that you may Listen to the prayer which Your servant shall make toward this place (Hence Daniel's act [Dan. 6:10]).
30 And listen You to the supplication of Your servant, and of Your People Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear You in heaven Your dwelling place: and when You hear, forgive.
A² B c¹ 31. Subject. Individual.
d¹ 32. "Hear You". "
C c² 33. Subject. National.
d² 34. "Hear You". "
c³ 35. Subject. "
d³ 36. "Hear You". "
c4 37,38. Subject. "
d4 39,40. "Hear You". "
B c5 41,42. Subject. Individual.
d5 43. "Hear You". "
C c6 44. Subject. National.
d6 45. "Hear You". "
c7 46-48. Subject. "
d7 49-53. "Hear You" "31 When (or Whenever shall) any man trespass against his neighbor (see Lev.4:2. This shows an acquaintance with the Pentateuch. See v.23), and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come (some codices omit) before Your altar in this house:
32 Then hear You in heaven, and do, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
33 When Your People Israel be smitten down before the enemy (note how these petitions are based on the Pentateuch. Cp. Lev. 26:17. Deut. 28:25), because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You, and confess Your name, and pray, and make supplication to You in this house:
34 Then hear You in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your People Israel, and bring them again to the land which You gave unto their fathers (See Deut. 30:1-8. Neh. 1:8,9).
35 When heaven is shut up (cp. Lev. 26:19. Deut. 11:17. Cp. 1 Kings 17:1), and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You; if they pray toward this place, and confess Your name, and turn from their sin, when You afflict them:
36 Then hear You in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your People Israel, because You will teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon Your land, which You have given to Your People for an inheritance.
37 If there be in the land famine, if there be death (Cp. Lev. 26:26), blight, mildew, locust, [or] if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness [there be];
38 What prayer and supplication soever be [made] by any human, [or] by all Your People Israel, which shall perceive in his own heart (or mind. Lat. conscio, or have conscience) every man the punishment of his own mind (fig., put for the sin which produces it), and spread forth his hands toward this house:
39 Then hear You in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to all his ways (as in 2 Chron. 6:30), whose mind You know; {for You, [even] You only, know the minds of all the sons of mankind;}
40 That they may revere (or love) You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
41 Moreover concerning a foreigner (or alien. Already contemplated in Num. 15:14. Deut. 10:19), that [is] not of Your People Israel, but comes out of a far country for Your name's sake;
42 {For they shall hear of Your great name (cp. 10:1,6,7), and of Your strong hand, and of Your stretched out arm;} when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43 Hear You in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to You for: that all people of the earth may know Your name, to revere You, as [do] Your People Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by Your name.
44 If Your People go out to battle against their enemies, to whichever place You shall send them, and shall pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen, and [toward] the house that I have built for Your name:
45 Then hear You in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause (Heb. judgment: i.e. execute judgment for them).
46 If they sin against You, {for [there is] no man that sins not (cp. Prov. 20:9. Ecc. 7:20. Jas. 3:2. 1 John 1:8,10),} and You be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives to the land of the enemy, far or near;
47 [Yet] if (Deuteronomy supplied Yahaveh with answers in His temptation; and supplied Solomon with petitions for his prayer. Cp. 30:1-3,4,20; 9:26,29 [cp. vv.51,52 below]; 7:9 [cp. v.23 above]; and 10:14 [cp. v.27 above], &c.) they shall call themselves to their right mind in the land to which place they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication to you in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, ‘We have sinned (cp. Neh. 1:6,7. Dan. 9:8), and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48 And [so] return to You with all their mind, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land (cp. Dan.6:10; 9:5-19. Ezra 9:5-15; 10:1. Neh. 9:16-35. Ps. 106.6), which You gave to their fathers, and the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name (Hebrew text written "You have built"):
49 Then hear You their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
50 And forgive Your People (cp. Lev.26:40,42) that have sinned against You, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against You, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive (cp. Ezra 1:1,3), that they may have compassion on them:
51 For they [be] Your People, and Your inheritance, which You brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace for the smelting of iron (cp. Gen. 15:17):
52 That Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant, and to the supplication of Your People Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to You.
53 For You did separate them from among all the peoples of the earth (cp. Lev.20:24,26), [to be] Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant (1st of 3 occ. See Neh. 1:8; 9:14), when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD (Yehovah Adonai).”
54 And it was [so], that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer (= making this solemn prayer) and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven (see v.22, and cp. 19:18. Isa.45:23. Ezra 9:5. 2 Chron. 6:13. Dan. 6:10. Ps. 95:6. Standing was the earlier practice [1 Sam. 1:26]).
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
Y e 56-. The faithfulness of Yehovah. Celebrated.
f -56. Retrospective. Praise.
f 57-60. Prospective. Prayer.
e 61. The faithfulness of His People. Exhortation.
56 Blessed [be] the Lord, That has given rest to His People Israel (cp. Ex.30:14), according to all that He promised:
there has not failed (not fallen to the ground. Heb. nâphal, to fall. Solomon knows Josh. 23:14. Cp. Josh. 21:45) one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant (see Ex. 14:31).
57 The Lord our God be with us (notice Solomon includes himself), as He was with our fathers: let Him not leave us, nor forsake us (see Gen. 28:15. Cp. Deut. 31:6. Josh. 1:5):
58 That He may incline our minds to Him (Cp. Lev. 26:3-13. Deut. 28:1-14.), to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers.
59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His People Israel at all times (Heb. the matter of day in its day: i.e. day by day), as the matter shall require:
60 That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord He is God, [and that there is] none else (cp. Deut. 4:39).
61 Let your mind therefore be loyal (i.e. not divided between Yehovah and other gods; hence wholly devoted to. Not heeded by Solomon himself. Cp. 9:3; 11:4. 1 Chron. 29:19) with the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord(Heb. sacrifice a sacrifice = offered a great and abundant sacrifice. Yehovah accepted them by fire from heaven, as recorded in 2 Chron. 7:1. See Gen. 4:4).
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord , two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that [was] before the house of the Lord: for there he prepared burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that [was] before the Lord [was] too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 And at that time Solomon held the feast (viz. the Feast of Tabernacles. See v.2), and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days (the first 7 the Feast of Dedication; the second the Feast of Tabernacles), [even] fourteen days.
66 On the eighth day he sent the People away: and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David His servant (i.e. in the person of Solomon his son.Cp. 10:9 and 2 Chron. 7:10), and for Israel His People.