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Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion.
All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
Verse 2. Ethanim was afterwards called Tisri. Bible.—Usher places the dedication on Friday, 30th October, the 8th of the seventh month. The people continued at Jerusalem till the 23rd. The feast of expiation fell on the 10th, ( Bible.) during the octave of the dedication. After this, the feast of tabernacles commenced on the 15th, for other seven days. This was the year of jubilee; and Solomon had waited on purpose, that the people might have more leisure to attend on such a solemn occasion. Calmet.—But on this we cannot rely. There might be other reasons for the delay; (See Calmet. 6:38) and one of the chief might be, a desire to perform this ceremony in the seventh or sabbatical month, which was honoured with more festivals than any other. It had just elapsed, before the temple was finished, in the preceding year. Bible.
All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark.
Verse 3. Priests, who were also Levites, as it is expressed in 2 Chronicles 5:4. Perhaps the ark was uncovered, ( Calmet.) as the Caathites carried it when folded up. Bible.
They brought up the LORD’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the Levites brought these up.
Verse 4. Ark, from the city of David, along with the tabernacle, (Salien) which had been made for it in the palace, verse 1. They also ( Bible.) brought the Mosaic tabernacle from Gaboan, ( Calmet. Josephus, and so forth) and reposited both Bible. in the treasury of the temple, as they were now of no other service. Jeremias was authorized to take the ark, the tabernacle, and the altar of incense, in order to prevent their falling into the hands of the Chaldees. He placed them in a cave, where they have never, perhaps, been discovered. 2 Maccabees 2:4.
King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
Verse 5. Sacrificed, by the hands of the priests, ( Menochius.) or at least ( Bible.) gave them the blood to offer upon the altars, which were placed at six paces from one another, in imitation of David. 2 Kennicott. 6:13. Calmet.—Could not. See Calmet. 7:47.
The priests brought in the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the cherubim’s wings.
Verse 6. Wings. These covered the smaller cherubim, upon the ark. Bible. Calmet. 6:23. 27.—The formed a sort of throne, with their wings extended, from one side of the building to the other, ( Calmet.) twenty cubits long. Bible.
For the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.
The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day.
Verse 8. Out. In the days of Moses, these staves had touched the veil of the tabernacle: but now, as the place for the ark was twice as large, they were no longer perceived; though they remained in the holes prepared for them by Moses, till the author wrote; which must have been before the captivity. Unless we thus distinguish the times, the Hebrew contains a palpable contradiction. Calmet.—“They drew out (or lengthened) the staves, and the heads … were seen out in the holy place … and they were not seen out.” Bible.—To a person standing at a small distance, they were not visible, though they rather touched the veil. 2 Chronicles 5:9. Menochius.
There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
Verse 9. Nothing else, and so forth There was nothing else but the tables of the law within the ark. But on the outside of the ark, or near the ark, were also the rod of Aaron, and a golden urn with manna. Hebrews 9:4. Challoner. Worthington.—These might have been in the ark while it was not fixed: but after the temple was built, all but the tables were placed in the treasury; where, we find, the book of the law was discovered, under Joas. Deuteronomy 31:26. 2 Chronicles 34:14. Others think that, in the days of Saint Paul, the rod, and so forth might have been reposited in the ark, though they had not been admitted at the time when this book was written. Bellar. and so forth—But we have no assurance that the ark was ever placed in the second temple; and Josephus informs us, that when the Romans destroyed the temple, “there was noting at all” in the sanctuary. Calmet.—In area might easily signify ad, or juxta arcam, “near the ark.” Salien.
It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the LORD’s house,
so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the LORD’s glory filled the LORD’s house.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
Verse 12. Cloud. He alludes to Leviticus 16:2. Menochius.—God had so frequently appeared in this manner, that Solomon was authorized to consider it as the symbol of his presence. Exodus 14:19. 24:16 and 40:32. Psalms 17:12. This luminous cloud filled the whole temple, to convince all that the Lord was pleased with the devotion of the king, and of his people. Calmet.
I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
Verse 13. Ever. He seems to contrast this solid and glittering fabric with the cloud, ( Menochius.) as, in some sort, more worthy of God’s presence. Bible.
The king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.
Verse 14. Stood. It is pretended that the king alone was allowed to sit. Calmet.—But here Solomon stood, upon an eminence made of brass. 2 Chronicles 6:13. Bible.—He pronounced the blessing, (part of which is given, verse 15–22) with his face turned towards the people, as e was also in the court of Israel. Then turning himself to the altar ( Calmet.) of holocausts, ( Menochius.) with his hands uplifted, he began to pray, verse 23, to 54. See Exodus 39:43. 2 Kennicott. 6:18, where Moses and David blessed the people, on similar occasions. Calmet.—Thus the priests of the Catholic Church turn to the people, when they bless or speak to them; and look towards the altar, when they pour forth their supplications for them to God. Sectaries would always behold the face of the preacher. Bible.—Blessed. Princes bless their subjects, as parents do their children. Worthington.
He said, “Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
Verse 15. Own hands, or almighty power, ( Menochius.) hath fulfilled his promise. Bible.
‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
“Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.
Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’
The LORD has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the LORD’s covenant, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon stood before the LORD’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;
Verse 22. Heaven, falling on his knees, verse 54. 2 Chronicles 6:13. This is the first instance we find of people praying on their knees, which was common afterwards. 1 Ezra 9:5. Isaiah 45:24. Daniel 6:10. Acts 9:40 and 20:36. The Christian church generally adopts this custom. So did the pagans, (Et genibus pronus, supplex, similisque roganti. Metam. iii.) as they also stretched for their hands. Sustulit exutas vinclis ad sidera palmas, says Virgil. Æn. ii. 153. This practice was very general. Psalms 27:2. 1 Timothy 2:8.
and he said, “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;
who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.
Now therefore, may LORD, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’
Verse 25. Sight. Solomon was aware of the conditions on which he held his crown and the divine favour, so that his fall is the more inexcusable. Bible.—His posterity lost a great part of the kingdom, though they had the right to rule over Juda, till the coming of Christ. Worthington.
“Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father.
But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
Verse 27. Earth. Full of admiration, he breaks out into this pathetic exclamation, wondering that God should deign to accept of what he had done; and that, by the symbol of his presence, he should engage to honour this temple in a more particular manner, and to shower down his graces with a more liberal hand on those who should there present themselves before him. This wise prince was not ignorant that God’s immensity fills all places.—Heavens. We know not how many haveans the Jews admitted. We find, 1. the air, 2. the region of the stars, 3. the residence of God, thus specified; and this last is here denoted as the most excellent of all. Saint Paul styles it the third heaven. 2 Corinthians 12:2. The Basilidians counted as many heavens as there are days in the year. S. Iræn. i. 23.
Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant and for his supplication, LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you today;
that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.
Verse 29. My name. It shall be called the house of God. Bible.—There people shall come to do homage to the Lord. Calmet.
Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
“If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house,
Verse 31. Oath. In certain cases, an oath would clear a person. Exodus 22:11. Solomon prays that perjury may be disclosed.—Altar. It was customary to touch the altar, when a person took an oath, as Hannibal did. Kennicott. Latinus says;
Tango aras mediosque ignes et Numina testor—
Nulla dies pacem hanc Italis nec fœdera rumpet.—Æn. xii. 201.
then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
Verse 32. Justice. A reward is clearly promised to good works. Worthington.
“When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn again to you and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house,
then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.
Verse 34. Fathers. In the place of their captivity they might turn, like Daniel, towards the temple. Calmet.—God had threatened that he would punish his people by the hand of their enemies, and so forth if they transgressed. Leviticus 26:17. Menochius.
“When the sky is shut up 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,
then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
Verse 37. Mildew. Hebrew also, “a bruchus,” or a young locust. Prot. “caterpillar.”
whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house,
Verse 38. Heart: his offence. Septuagint αφην, “touching, or compunction.” Bible.—Let a man go to the source of the evil, and be sorry for his sins. Calmet.
then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men);
Verse 39. Men. God cannot be imposed upon. If our heart be not moved with sorrow for our offences, including a degree of love, in vain shall we stretch forth our hands in prayer. Calmet.
that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
“Moreover, concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name’s sake
Verse 41. Stranger. God watches over all mankind; and oblations were received from all sorts of people, even from idolaters. The kings of Persia and Egypt, the Roman emperors, and so forth made great presents. 1 Ezra 3:7. and 7:21. Joseph. xi. and xii. 2. It seems the court of the Gentiles was only made after the captivity. Some of these adored the true God, like Cornelius, and so forth Acts 8:27 and 10:1. Some were drawn by curiosity; others desired to be converted. To thee, kings shall offer presents, Psalms 71:10. Calmet.—Unbelievers are still invited to attend the chapels of the true God, that they may receive information, and deserve to obtain the blessing of faith. Bible.
(for they shall hear of your great name and of your mighty hand and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house,
hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name,
Verse 44. Name. It was the practice of the religious Jews, to pray with their eyes turned towards the holy place, verse 48. The primitive Christians looked towards the east, in prayer, to remind them of the ascension of our Saviour, ( Calmet.) from Mount Olivet, in that quarter. Bible. Psalms 67:34. S. Just. q. 118. Tert. apol. xvi. S. Epip. hær. xix. Calmet.
then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly,’
Verse 47. Heart. Without this, external repentance will not suffice. Worthington.
if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name,
then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;
and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them
(for they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace);
Verse 51. Iron. This expression is often used to denote the rigour of the Egyptian bondage. Deuteronomy 4:20. Thus Homer says, that Mars was shut up for thirteen months in a barrel (or prison) of brass. Iliad E.
that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you.
For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord GOD.”
It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the LORD’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven.
He stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.
May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us,
that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.
Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires;
Verse 59. Judgment, granting his just request, and defending him against all his enemies. Calmet.
that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD himself is God. There is no one else.
“Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today.”
The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty two thousand head of cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the LORD’s house.
Verse 63. Sheep, and other small beasts, during the seven days, without counting the oblations of individuals. The law had not prescribed any particular rites for the dedication of places. But common sense dictated that sacred things should be distinguished from such as were common. Moses and David had set a pattern, which was followed by the Jews after the captivity, and by the Machabees. Exodus 40:9. 1 Kennicott. 6:17. 1 Ezra 3:10. 1 Maccabees 4:56. Calmet.—The festival of the dedication was observed by our Saviour. John 10:22. Bible.—Even private houses received a sort of dedication. Deuteronomy 20:5. The pagans observed the like practice, with regard to statues and temples, lands and public places. Daniel 3:1. Among the Romans, such ceremonies were performed by a general or consul, with his head covered, reciting some ancient prayers, at the suggestion of the pontiff, before a fire and an assembly of the people, called on purpose, while some person played upon the flute. Cic. pro Domo. Alex. Genial. vi. 14.
The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before the LORD’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
Verse 64. Court of the priests. An altar was there erected, in haste. Fire from heaven came to consume the victims. 2 Chronicles 7:1. Calmet.
So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days.
Verse 65. Egypt. Rhinocolura, ( Menochius.) or rather the branch of the Nile nearest Arabia,. Joshua 13:3. Numbers 13:22. Calmet.—Seven, for each festival, verse 1.
On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
Verse 66. Eighth day, at the conclusion of the second octave. Bible.—Blessed the king, as he had done them before. The most honourable performs this office. Hebrews 7:7. Calmet.—The king and people wished all sorts of happiness to each other.—David. The glory of his son reflected honour on him. Bible.