1 Kings 8 commentary

The bringing in the ark, is the end which must crown the work: this was done with great solemnity. The ark was fixed in the place appointed for its rest in the inner part of the house, whence they expected God to speak to them, even in the most holy place. The staves of the ark were drawn out, so as to direct the high priest to the mercy-seat over the ark, when he went in, once a year, to sprinkle the blood there; so that they continued of use, though there was no longer occasion to carry it by them. The glory of God appearing in a cloud may signify, 1. The darkness of that dispensation, in comparison with the light of the gospel, by which, with open face, we behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. 2. The darkness of our present state, in comparison with the sight of God, which will be the happiness of heaven, where the Divine glory is unveiled.

Solomon encouraged the priests, who were much astonished at the dark cloud. The dark dispensations of Providence should quicken us in fleeing for refuge to the hope of the gospel. Nothing can more reconcile us to them, than to consider what God has said, and to compare his word and works together. Whatever good we do, we must look on it as the performance of God's promise to us, not of our promises to him.

In this excellent prayer, Solomon does as we should do in every prayer; he gives glory to God. Fresh experiences of the truth of God's promises call for larger praises. He sues for grace and favour from God. The experiences we have of God's performing his promises, should encourage us to depend upon them, and to plead them with him; and those who expect further mercies, must be thankful for former mercies. God's promises must be the guide of our desires, and the ground of our hopes and expectations in prayer. The sacrifices, the incense, and the whole service of the temple, were all typical of the Redeemer's offices, oblation, and intercession. The temple, therefore, was continually to be remembered. Under one word, “forgive,” Solomon expressed all that he could ask in behalf of his people. For, as all misery springs from sin, forgiveness of sin prepares the way for the removal of every evil, and the receiving of every good. Without it, no deliverance can prove a blessing. In addition to the teaching of the word of God, Solomon entreated the Lord himself to teach the people to profit by all, even by their chastisements. They shall know every man the plague of his own heart, what it is that pains him; and shall spread their hands in prayer toward this house; whether the trouble be of body or mind, they shall represent it before God. Inward burdens seem especially meant. Sin is the plague of our own hearts; our in-dwelling corruptions are our spiritual diseases: every true Israelite endeavours to know these, that he may mortify them, and watch against the risings of them. These drive him to his knees; lamenting these, he spreads forth his hands in prayer. After many particulars, Solomon concludes with the general request, that God would hearken to his praying people. No place, now, under the gospel, can add to the prayers made in or towards it. The substance is Christ; whatever we ask in his name, it shall be given us. In this manner the Israel of God is established and sanctified, the backslider is recovered and healed. In this manner the stranger is brought nigh, the mourner is comforted, the name of God is glorified. Sin is the cause of all our troubles; repentance and forgiveness lead to all human happiness.

Never was a congregation dismissed with what was more likely to affect them, and to abide with them. What Solomon asks for in this prayer, is still granted in the intercession of Christ, of which his supplication was a type. We shall receive grace sufficient, suitable, and seasonable, in every time of need. No human heart is of itself willing to obey the gospel call to repentance, faith, and newness of life, walking in all the commandments of the Lord, yet Solomon exhorts the people to be perfect. This is the scriptural method, it is our duty to obey the command of the law and the call of the gospel, seeing we have broken the law. When our hearts are inclined thereto, feeling our sinfulness and weakness, we pray for Divine assistance; thus are we made able to serve God through Jesus Christ.

Solomon offered a great sacrifice. He kept the feast of tabernacles, as it seems, after the feast of dedication. Thus should we go home, rejoicing, from holy ordinances, thankful for God's Goodness

CHAPTER 8

1Ki 8:1-12. The Dedication of the Temple.

2-6. at the feast in the month Ethanim--The public and formal inauguration of this national place of worship did not take place till eleven months after the completion of the edifice. The delay, most probably, originated in Solomon's wish to choose the most fitting opportunity when there should be a general rendezvous of the people in Jerusalem (1Ki 8:2); and that was not till the next year. That was a jubilee year, and he resolved on commencing the solemn ceremonial a few days before the feast of tabernacles, which was the most appropriate of all seasons. That annual festival had been instituted in commemoration of the Israelites dwelling in booths during their stay in the wilderness, as well as of the tabernacle, which was then erected, in which God promised to meet and dwell with His people, sanctifying it with His glory. As the tabernacle was to be superseded by the temple, there was admirable propriety in choosing the feast of tabernacles as the period for dedicating the new place of worship, and praying that the same distinguished privileges might be continued to it in the manifestation of the divine presence and glory. At the time appointed for the inauguration, the king issued orders for all the heads and representatives of the nation to repair to Jerusalem and take part in the august procession [1Ki 8:1]. The lead was taken by the king and elders of the people, whose march must have been slow, as priests were stationed to offer an immense number of sacrifices at various points in the line of road through which the procession was to go. Then came the priests bearing the ark and the tabernacle--the old Mosaic tabernacle which was brought from Gibeon. Lastly, the Levites followed, carrying the vessels and ornaments belonging to the old, for lodgment in the new, house of the Lord. There was a slight deviation in this procedure from the order of march established in the wilderness (Nu 3:31; 4:15); but the spirit of the arrangement was duly observed. The ark was deposited in the oracle; that is, the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim--not the Mosaic cherubim, which were firmly attached to the ark (Ex 37:7, 8), but those made by Solomon, which were far larger and more expanded.

8. they drew out the staves--a little way, so as to project (see on Ex 25:15; Nu 4:6); and they were left in that position. The object was, that these projecting staves might serve as a guide to the high priest, in conducting him to that place where, once a year, he went to officiate before the ark; otherwise he might miss his way in the dark, the ark being wholly overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim.

9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone--Nothing else was ever in the ark, the articles mentioned (He 9:4) being not in, but by it, being laid in the most holy place before the testimony (Ex 16:33; Nu 17:10).

10-11. the cloud filled the house of the Lord--The cloud was the visible symbol of the divine presence, and its occupation of the sanctuary was a testimony of God's gracious acceptance of the temple as of the tabernacle (Ex 40:34). The dazzling brightness, or rather, perhaps, the dense portentous darkness of the cloud, struck the minds of the priests, as it formerly had done Moses, which such astonishment and terror (Le 16:2-13; De 4:24; Ex 40:35) that they could not remain. Thus the temple became the place where the divine glory was revealed, and the king of Israel established his royal residence.

1Ki 8:12-21. Solomon's Blessing.

12. Then spake Solomon--For the reassurance of the priests and people, the king reminded them that the cloud, instead of being a sign ominous of evil, was a token of approval.

The Lord said--not in express terms, but by a continuous course of action (Ex 13:21; 24:16; Nu 9:15).

13. I have surely built thee an house--This is an apostrophe to God, as perceiving His approach by the cloud, and welcoming Him to enter as guest or inhabitant of the fixed and permanent dwelling-place, which, at His command, had been prepared for His reception.

14. the king turned his face about--From the temple, where he had been watching the movement of the mystic cloud, and while the people were standing, partly as the attitude of devotion, partly out of respect to royalty, the king gave a fervent expression of praise to God for the fulfilment of His promise (2Sa 7:6-16).

1Ki 8:22-61. His Prayer.

22. Solomon stood before the altar--This position was in the court of the people, on a brazen scaffold erected for the occasion (2Ch 6:13), fronting the altar of burnt offering, and surrounded by a mighty concourse of people. Assuming the attitude of a suppliant, kneeling (1Ki 8:54; compare 2Ch 6:24) and with uplifted hands, he performed the solemn act of consecration--an act remarkable, among other circumstances, for this, that it was done, not by the high priest or any member of the Aaronic family, but by the king in person, who might minister about, though not in, holy things. This sublime prayer [1Ki 8:22-35], which breathes sentiments of the loftiest piety blended with the deepest humility, naturally bore a reference to the national blessing and curse contained in the law--and the burden of it--after an ascription of praise to the Lord for the bestowment of the former, was an earnest supplication for deliverance from the latter. He specifies seven cases in which the merciful interposition of God would be required; and he earnestly bespeaks it on the condition of people praying towards that holy place. The blessing addressed to the people at the close is substantially a brief recapitulation of the preceding prayer [1Ki 8:56-61].

1Ki 8:62-64. His Sacrifice of Peace Offering.

62. the king, and all Israel ... offered sacrifice before the Lord--This was a burnt offering with its accompaniments, and being the first laid on the altar of the temple, was, as in the analogous case of the tabernacle, consumed by miraculous fire from heaven (see 2Ch 7:1). On remarkable occasions, the heathens sacrificed hecatombs (a hundred animals), and even chiliombs (a thousand animals), but the public sacrifices offered by Solomon on this occasion surpassed all the other oblations on record, without taking into account those presented by private individuals, which, doubtless, amounted to a large additional number. The large proportion of the sacrifices were peace offerings, which afforded the people an opportunity of festive enjoyment.

63. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord--The dedication was not a ceremony ordained by the law, but it was done in accordance with the sentiments of reverence naturally associated with edifices appropriated to divine worship. [See on 2Ch 7:5.]

64. The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court--that is, the whole extent of the priests' court--the altar of burnt offerings, though large (2Ch 4:1), being totally inadequate for the vast number of sacrifices that distinguished this occasion. It was only a temporary erection to meet the demands of an extraordinary season, in aid of the established altar, and removed at the conclusion of the sacred festival. [See on 2Ch 7:7.]

1Ki 8:65. The People Joyful.

65. from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt--that is, from one extremity of the kingdom to the other. The people flocked from all quarters.

seven days and seven days, even fourteen days--The first seven were occupied with the dedication, and the other seven devoted to the feast of tabernacles (2Ch 7:9). The particular form of expression indicates that the fourteen days were not continuous. Some interval occurred in consequence of the great day of atonement falling on the tenth of the seventh month (1Ki 8:2), and the last day of the feast of tabernacles was on the twenty-third (2Ch 7:10), when the people returned to their homes with feelings of the greatest joy and gratitude "for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people."

Then Solomon assembled - It has already been observed that Solomon deferred the dedication of the temple to the following year after it was finished, because that year, according to Archbishop Usher, was a jubilee. "This," he observes, "was the ninth jubilee, opening the fourth millenary of the world, or A.M. 3001, wherein Solomon with great magnificence celebrated the dedication of the temple seven days, and the feast of tabernacles other seven days; and the celebration of the eighth day of tabernacles being finished, upon the twenty-third day of the seventh month the people were dismissed every man to his home. The eighth day of the seventh month, viz., the thirtieth of our October, being Friday, was the first of the seven days of dedication; on the tenth day, Saturday, November 1, was the fast of expiation or atonement held; whereon, according to the Levitical law, the jubilee was proclaimed by sound of trumpet. The fifteenth day, Friday, November 6, was the feast of tabernacles; the twenty-second, November 13, being also Friday, was the feast of tabernacles, which was always very solemnly kept, 2Chr 7:9; Lev 23:36; Joh 7:37; and the day following, November 14, being our Saturday, when the Sabbath was ended, the people returned home. "In the thirteenth year after the temple was built, Solomon made an end also of building his own house, having spent full twenty years upon both of them; seven and a half upon the temple, and thirteen or twelve and a half upon his own." - Usher's Annals, sub. A.M. 3001.

At the feast in the month Ethanim - The feast of tabernacles, which was celebrated in the seventh month of what is called the ecclesiastical gear.

They brought up - the tabernacle - It is generally agreed that there were now two tabernacles at Gibeon, and the other in the city of David, which one David had constructed as a temporary residence for the ark, in the event of a temple being built. Which of these tabernacles was brought into the temple at this time, is not well known; some think both were brought in, in order to prevent the danger of idolatry. I should rather suppose that the tabernacle from Gibeon was brought in, and that the temporary one erected by David was demolished.

And there they are unto this day - This proves that the book was written before the destruction of the first temple, but how long before we cannot tell.

Save the two tables of stone - See my notes on Heb 9:4 (note).

When the priests were come out - That is, after having carried the ark into the holy of holies, before any sacred service had yet commenced.

The glory of the Lord had filled the house - The cloud, the symbol of the Divine glory and presence, appears to have filled not only the holy of holies, but the whole temple, court and all, and to have become evident to the people; and by this Solomon knew that God had honored the place with his presence, and taken it for his habitation in reference to the people of Israel.

The Lord said - he would dwell - It was under the appearance of a cloud that God showed himself present with Israel in the wilderness; see Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20. And at the dedication of the tabernacle in the wilderness, God manifested himself in the same way that he did here at the dedication of the temple; see Exo 40:34, Exo 40:35.

I have surely built thee a house - He was now fully convinced that the thing pleased God, and that he had taken this place for his settled habitation.

Blessed all the congregation - Though this blessing is not particularly stated, yet we may suppose that it was such as the high priest pronounced upon the people: "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee! The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee! The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace!" (see Num 6:24-26), for Solomon seems now to be acting the part of the high priest. But he may have in view more particularly the conduct of Moses, who, when he had seen that the people had done all the work of the tabernacle, as the Lord had commanded them, he blessed them, Exo 39:43; and the conduct of his father David, who, when the ark had been brought into the city of David, and the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings completed, blessed the people in the name of the Lord, 2Sam 6:18.

Since the day, etc. - Mention is here made, says Dr. Kennicott, of some one place and some one person preferred before all others; and the preference is that of Jerusalem to other places, and of David to other men. In consequence of this remark, we shall see the necessity of correcting this passage by its parallel in 2Chr 6:5, 2Chr 6:6, where the thirteen Hebrew words now lost in Kings are happily preserved. Let us compare the passages: -

I would just observe here, that I do not think these thirteen words ever made a part of Kings, and consequently, are not lost from it; nor do they exist here in any of the versions; but their being found in Chronicles helps to complete the sense.

Wherein is the covenant of the Lord - As it is said, 1Kgs 8:9, that there was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone, consequently these are called the Covenant, i.e., a sign of the covenant; as our Lord calls the cup the new covenant in his blood, that is, the sign of the new covenant: for This is my body implies, This is the sign or emblem of my body.

Stood - He ascended the brazen scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and then kneeled down upon his knees, with his hands spread up to heaven, and offered up the following prayer: see 1Kgs 8:54, and 2Chr 5:12, 2Chr 5:13.

And spread forth his hands toward heaven - This was a usual custom in all nations: in prayer the hands were stretched out to heaven, as if to invite and receive assistance from thence; while, humbly kneeling on their knees, they seemed acknowledge at once their dependence and unworthiness. On this subject I have spoken elsewhere. In the Scriptures we meet with several examples of the kind: Hear my voice - when I Lift Up My Hands toward thy holy oracle; Psa 28:2. Lift Up Your Hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord; Psa 134:2. Let my prayer be set forth - and the Lifting Up of My Hands as the evening sacrifice; Psa 141:2. And see 1Tim 2:8, etc.

In heathen writers examples are not less frequent:

Sustulit exutas vinclis ad sidera Palmas.

Vos aeterni ignes, et non violabile vestrum Testor numen, ait.

Virg. Aen. lib. ii., ver. 153.

Ye lamps of heaven, he said, and Lifted High His Hands, now free; thou venerable sky, Inviolable powers!

And that they kneeled down when supplicating I have also proved. Of this too the Scriptures afford abundant evidence, as do also the heathen writers.

I need add but one word: -

Et Genbius Pronis supplex, similisque roganti,

Circumfert tacitos, tanquam sun brachia, vultus.

Ovid, Met. lib. iii., f. 3, ver. 240.

Indeed, so universal were these forms in praying, that one of the heathens has said, "All men, in praying, lift up their hands to heaven.

Who has kept with thy servant David - This is in reference to 2Sam 7:13, where God promises to David that Solomon shall build a house for the name of the Lord. The temple being now completed, this promise was literally fulfilled.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? - This expression is full of astonishment, veneration, and delight. He is struck with the immensity, dignity, and grandeur of the Divine Being, but especially at his condescension to dwell with men: and though he sees, by his filling the place, that he has come now to make his abode with them, yet he cannot help asking the question, How can such a God dwell in such a place, and with such creatures?

Behold, the heaven - The words are all in the plural number in the Hebrew: השמים ושמי השמים hashshamayim, ushemey hashshamayim; "the heavens, and the heavens of heavens." What do these words imply? That there are systems, and systems of systems, each possessing its sun, its primary and secondary planets, all extending beyond each other in unlimited space, in the same regular and graduated order which we find to prevail in what we call our solar system; which probably, in its thousands of millions of miles in diameter, is, to some others, no more than the area of the lunar orbit to that of the Georgium Sidus. When God, his manifold wisdom, his creative energy, and that space which is unlimited, are considered, it is no hyperbole to say that, although the earth has been created nearly six thousand years ago, suns, the centres of systems, may have been created at so immense a distance that their light has not yet reached our earth, though travelling at the rate of one hundred and ninety thousand miles every second, or upwards of a million times swifter than the motion of a cannon ball! This may be said to be inconceivable; but what is even all this to the vast immensity of space! Had God created a system like ours in every six days since the foundation of the world, and kept every seventh as a Sabbath; and though there might have been by this time [A.M. 5823 ineunte, a.d. 1819, ineunte] three hundred and three thousand five hundred and seventy-five mundane systems, they would occupy but a speck in the inconceivable immensity of space. Reader, all this and millions more is demonstrably possible; and if so, what must God be - illud inexprimibile - who i-n-h-a-b-i-t-e-t-h E-t-e-r-n-i-t-y!

My name shall be there - I will there show forth my power and my glory by enlightening, quickening, pardoning, sanctifying, and saving all my sincere worshippers.

Toward this place - Both tabernacle and temple were types of our Lord Jesus, or of God manifested in the flesh; and he was and is the Mediator between God and man. All prayer, to be acceptable, and to be entitled to a hearing, must go to God through Him. The human nature of Christ is the temple in which dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; therefore with propriety all prayer must be offered to God through Him. "If they pray toward this place, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive." This appears to me to be the true sense and doctrine of this verse.

If any man trespass against his neighbor - Solomon puts here seven cases, in all of which the mercy and intervention of God would be indispensably requisite; and he earnestly bespeaks that mercy and intervention on condition that the people pray towards that holy place, and with a feeling heart make earnest supplication.

The First case is one of doubtfulness; where a man has sustained an injury, and charges it on a suspected person, though not able to bring direct evidence of the fact, the accused is permitted to come before the altar of God, and purge himself by his personal oath. Solomon prays that God may not permit a false oath to be taken, but that he will discover the truth, so that the wicked shall be condemned, and the righteous justified.

When thy people Israel be smitten down, etc. - The Second case. When their enemies make inroads upon them, and defeat them in battle, and lead them into captivity, because God, being displeased with their transgressions, has delivered them up; then if they shall turn again, confess the name of God, which they had in effect denied, by either neglecting his worship, or becoming idolatrous; and pray and make supplication; then, says Solomon, hear thou in heaven - and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain - The Third case. When, because of their sin, and their ceasing to walk in the good way in which they should have walked, God refuses to send the early and latter rain, so that the appointed weeks of harvest come in vain, as there is no crop: then, if they pray and confess their sin, hear thou in heaven, etc.

If there be in the land famine - pestilence - The Fourth case includes several kinds of evils:

1. Famine; a scarcity or total want of bread, necessarily springing from the preceding cause, drought.

2. Pestilence; any general and contagious disease.

3. Blasting; any thing by which the crops are injured, so that the ear is never matured; but instead of wholesome grain, there is a black offensive dust.

4. Mildew; any thing that vitiates or corrodes the texture of the stalk, destroys the flowers and blossoms, or causes the young shaped fruits to fall off their stems.

5. Locust, a well known curse in the East, a species of grasshopper that multiplies by millions, and covers the face of the earth for many miles square, destroying every green thing; leaving neither herb nor grass upon the earth, nor leaf nor bark upon the trees.

6. Caterpillar; the locust in its young or nympha state. The former refers to locusts brought by winds from other countries and settling on the land; the latter, to the young locusts bred in the land.

7. An enemy, having attacked their defenced cities, the keys and barriers of the land.

8. Any other kind of plague; that which affects the surface of the body; blotch, blain, leprosy, ophthalmia, etc.

9. Sickness; whatever impaired the strength, or affected the intestines, disturbing or destroying their natural functions.

All such cases were to be brought before the Lord, the persons having a deep sense of the wickedness which induced God thus to afflict, or permit them to be afflicted: for only those who knew the plague of their own hearts, (1Kgs 8:38), the deep-rooted moral corruption of their nature, and the destructive nature and sinfulness of sin, were likely to pray in such a manner as to induce God to hear and forgive.

Moreover, concerning a stranger - The Fifth case relates to heathens coming from other countries with the design to become proselytes to the true religion; that they might be received, blessed, and protected as the true Israelites, that the name of Jehovah might be known over the face of the earth.

If thy people go out to battle - The Sixth case refers to wars undertaken by Divine appointment: whithersoever thou shalt send them; for in no other wars could they expect the blessing and concurrence of the Lord; in none other could the God of truth and justice maintain their cause. There were such wars under the Mosaic dispensation, there are none such under the Christian dispensation: nor can there be any; for the Son of man is come, not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Except mere defensive war, all others are diabolic; and, query, if there were no provocations, would there be any attacks, and consequently any need of defensive wars?

If they sin against thee - This Seventh case must refer to some general defection from truth, to some species of false worship, idolatry, or corruption of the truth and ordinances of the Most High; as for it they are here stated to be delivered into the hands of their enemies and carried away captive, which was the general punishment for idolatry, and what is called, 1Kgs 8:47, acting perversely and committing wickedness.

In 1Kgs 8:46 we read, If they sin against thee, for there is no man that sinneth not. On this verse we may observe that the second clause, as it is here translated, renders the supposition in the first clause entirely nugatory; for if there be no man that sinneth not, it is useless to say, If they sin; but this contradiction is taken away by reference to the original, כי יחטאו לך ki yechetu lach, which should be translated If they shall sin against thee, or should they sin against thee; כי אין אדם אשר לא יחטא ki ein Adam asher lo yecheta, for there is no man that May not sin; i.e., there is no man impeccable, none infallible, none that is not liable to transgress. This is the true meaning of the phrase in various parts of the Bible, and so our translators have understood the original: for even in the thirty-first verse of this chapter they have translated יחטא yecheta, If a man Trespass; which certainly implies he might or might not do it; and in this way they have translated the same word, If a soul Sin, in Lev 5:1; Lev 6:2; 1Sam 2:25; 2Chr 6:22, and in several other places. The truth is, the Hebrew has no mood to express words in the permissive or optative way, but to express this sense it uses the future tense of the conjugation kal.

This text has been a wonderful strong hold for all who believe that there is no redemption from sin in this life, that no man can live without committing sin, and that we cannot be entirely freed from it till we die.

1. The text speaks no such doctrine: it only speaks of the possibility of every man sinning, and this must be true of a state of probation.

2. There is not another text in the Divine records that is more to the purpose than this.

3. The doctrine is flatly in opposition to the design of the Gospel; for Jesus came to save his people from their sins, and to destroy the works of the devil.

4. It is a dangerous and destructive doctrine; and should be blotted out of every Christian's creed. There are too many who are seeking to excuse their crimes by all means in their power; and we need not embody their excuses in a creed, to complete their deception, by stating that their sins are unavoidable.

And give them compassion before them who carried them captive - He does not pray that they may be delivered out of that captivity, but that their enemies may use them well; and that they may, as formerly, be kept a separate and distinct people.

He stood, and blessed all the congregation - This blessing is contained in 1Kgs 8:57, 1Kgs 8:58.

And let these my words - This and the following verse is a sort of supplement to the prayer which ended 1Kgs 8:53; but there is an important addition to this prayer in the parallel place, 2Chr 6:41, 2Chr 6:42 : "Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant."

Let your heart therefore be perfect - Be sincere in your faith, be irreproachable in your conduct.

Two and twenty thousand oxen - This was the whole amount of the victims that had been offered during the fourteen days; i.e., the seven days of the dedication, and the seven days of the feast of tabernacles. In what way could they dispose of the blood of so many victims?

Did the king hallow the middle of the court - The great altar of burnt-offerings was not sufficient for the number of sacrifices which were then made; therefore the middle of the court was set apart, and an altar erected there for the same purpose.

From - Hamath - Supposed to be Antioch of Syria; unto the river of Egypt - to the Rhinocorura; the former being on the north, the latter on the south: i.e., from one extremity of the land to the other.

They blessed the king - Wished him all spiritual and temporal happiness. They were contented with their king, at peace among themselves, and happy in their God; so that they returned to their houses magnifying their God for all his bounty to them, their country, and their king. How happy must these people have been, and how prosperous, had their king continued to walk uprightly before God! But alas! the king fell, and the nation followed his example.

THen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel , and all the heads of the tribes , the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem , that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD, out of the city of David , which is Zion .

The Senators, and Judges, and Rulers.

For each Tribe had a peculiar Head or Governor.

The chief Persons of every great Family in each Tribe.

Unto himself; the antecedent Noun being put for the relative and reciprocal Pronoun, as is frequent with the Hebrews.

Where the Temple was built, and now finished.

To the top of this high Hill of Moriah, upon which it was built; whither they were now to carry the Ark in a Solemn pomp, that by this their attendance they might make a publick profession of that service, and respect, and obedience which they owed unto that God who was Graciously and Gloriously present in the Ark.

Where David had placed the Ark, 2 Sam. 6. 12, 17. See on 1 King. 2. 10. and 3. 1

Which is also called Zion, because it was built upon that Hill.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters] Chr▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]. 2.; Heb. princes.

2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast , in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month .

Not onely the chief Men who were particularly invited, but a vast number of the common people, as being forward to see and to joyn in this great and Glorious Solemnity.

Understand either first, The Feast of Tabernacles. Or rather, Secondly, The Feast of the Dedication, to which Solomon had invited them, which was before that Feast: for that began on the 15 day of the 7th month, Lev. 23. 34. but this began at the least 7 days before that Feast; for Solomon and the People kept the Feast for 14 days, here v. 65. i. e. 7 days for the Dedication of the Temple, and 7 other days for that of Tabernacles; and after both these were finished, he sent all the People to their homes on the 23 day of the month. See 2 Chron. 7. 9, 10.

Which time he chose with common respect to his Peoples convenience, because now they gathered in all their Fruits, and now they were come up to Ierusalem, to Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Quest. The Temple was not finished till the eighth month, 1 King. 6. 38. how then could he invite them in the seventh month? Ans. This was the 7th month of the next Year. For although the house in all its parts was finished the Year before, yet the utensils of it described chap. 7. were not then fully finished, but took up a considerable time afterward: and many preparations were to be made for this great and extraordinary occasion.

3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark .

For although the Levites might do this, Numb. 4. 15. yet the Priests did it at this time, partly, for the greater honour of the Solemnity; and partly, because the Levites might not enter into the Holy place, much less into the Holy of Holies, where it was to be placed, into which the Priests themselves might not have entred, if the High-Priest alone could have done it. Obj The Levites are said to have done this, 2 Chron. 5. 4. Ans. That is most true, because all the Priests were Levites, though all the Levites were not Priests.

4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation , and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and Levites bring up.

That made by Moses, which doubtless before this time had been translated from Gibeon to Zion, and now together with other things was put into the Treasuries of the Lords-House, to prevent all the superstitious use and prophane abuse of it, and to oblige the people to come up to Ierusalem, as the onely place where God would now be Worshipped.

The Priests carrying some, and the Levites others.

5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbred for multitude.

Either First, In the way, as David did upon the like occasion, 2 Sam: 6. 13. Or, Secondly, When the Ark was come into the Priests Court where the Altar stood, whence it was speedily to be conveyed to that place where the People could never behold it more. Or rather, Thirdly, When the Ark was seated in its place: for although they might in the way or passage offer some Sacrifices, as David did; yet that was not a proper season to offer so many Sacrifices as could not be told nor numbred, as these are here said to be; which far better agrees with what is more particularly related below, ver. 62, 63, 64. which is here signified in the general by way of anticipation, as is frequently done in the Scripture in like cases.

6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the Oracle of the house , to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims .

i. e. To that part of the House which is called the Oracle. 1 King. 6. 5, 16, 19, 23. or, as it here follows, the most holy place.

To wit, of Solomon's new-made Cherubims, 1 King. 6. 23, 24, 27. not of the Mosaical Cherubims, which were far less, and unmovably fixed to the Ark, Exod. 37. 7, 8. and therefore together with the Ark were put under the wings of these Cherubims.

8 And they drew out the staves , that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

Not wholly, which was expresly forbidden, Exod. 25. 15. Numb. 4. 6. but in part.

Either, First, Properly so called: which place was indeed before the oracle. But how then could it be said that they were not seen without, to wit, in the Holy place? For that they should be seen without, to wit, in the Court, was so ridiculous a conceit, that it had been absurd to suppose it, or to say any thing to prevent it. Nor is it much better what others say, that these ends of the staves did discover themselves thorough the vail, which they thrust forward, though they did not pierce thorough it. For neither in that case had they been seen; and besides, there was a Wall as well as a Vail in that place. Or rather, Secondly, In the most Holy place, which is oft called by way of eminency, the Holy place, as Exod. 29. 30. and 39. 1. Levit. 6. 30. and 10. 18. and 16. 2, 16, 17, 20. And the Hebrew words rendred before the oracle, may be as well rendred, within the oracle, the Phrase, al pene, being so used, Gen. 1. 2. the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, i. e. in the Waters, or in that confused heap of Earth and Water, in which God was now Working, that he might bring it into order and use; and Gen. 1. 20. where it is well rendred, in the open firmament of heaven, i. e. of the Air. And thus the whole is most true, They were seen out, to wit, without the Ark, and the Cherubims which covered all the other parts, but they were not seen without the Oracle, to wit, in the Holy place, strictly so called. For how could they be seen there, when there was both a Wall and a thick Vail between that place and the Oracle? And these Staves were left in this posture, that the High-Priest might hereby be certainly guided to that very particular place where he was one day in a year to sprinkle Blood, and to offer Incense before the Ark, which otherwise he might mistake in that dark place, where the Ark was wholly covered with the Wings of the great Cherubims, which stood between him and the Ark when he entred thither. Some conceive that the Door of the Oracle stood always open (which yet seems very improbable); and that they who were near the Door, might see the ends of the Staves, though by reason of the darkness of the place they could see nothing else there.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word]; Or, ar[illegible: 1+ letters], [illegible: 1+ letters] 2 Chro[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1 word]

9 There was nothing in the ark , save the two tables of stone, 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.

Strictly and properly: for in a more large sense, as in is oft taken for by or near, as is confessed, and hath been proved before; so the pot of Manna, and Aaron's rod were also in it, Heb. 9. 4. i. e. by it, to wit, in the most Holy place, before the Ark of the testimony, where God commanded Moses to put them, as it is expressed, Exod. 16. 33, 34. Numb. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 10. and not strictly in it. But of this more, God assisting, on Heb. 9. 4.

Marginal references: Exod. 2[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1 word] ▪ Deut. 10. [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪; Deut. [illegible: 1 word]; Or, [illegible: 1 word]

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 ,

Either, First, The most Holy place, into which the Priests had now entred to carry in the Ark. Or rather, Secondly, The Holy place, where they might have stood to minister, if the Cloud had not hindred them, as may be gathered from the next Verse.

The usual token of Gods Glorious presence. See Exod. 16. 10. and 24. 15, 16. Numb. 9. 15.

Partly, in testimony of his Gracious acceptance of this Work, and their Service; and partly, to beget an awe and reverence in them, and in all others, when they approach to God.

Marginal references: Exod. [illegible: 1 word] 34, 35.

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.

Because the Cloud was either so bright that it dazled their eyes: or rather so dark, that it struck them with horror and amazement, as is implied in the next Verse.

12 ¶ Then spake Solomon , The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Perceiving both Priests and People struck with horror and wonder at this darkness, he minds them, that this was no sign of Gods dislike or disfavour, as some of them might possibly imagine; but a token of his Approbation, and Grace, and special Presence among them.

Not in express words, but by plain consequence, because he hath declared both by his Words and Actions, that he would manifest his presence [illegible: 1+ letters]ith, and dwelling among his People, by a dark Cloud, in which he would appear. See Exod. 13. 21, 22. and 24. 16. and 40. 35. Numb. 9. 15. Deut. 4. 11. and 5. 22. Psal. 18. 12. and 97. 2.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters] Chr. 6. 1.; [illegible: 1 word]. 16. 2.

13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in , a settled place for thee to abide in for ever .

I perceive by this thick darkness, that thou art coming among us, and therefore make haste and come, O thou Blessed Guest, into the Dwelling-place which I have built by thy Command, and for thy Service.

Not a Tabernacle, which was made to be carried from place to place; but a durable, and, I hope, perpetual Habitation.

14 And the king turned his face about , and blessed all the congregation of Israel ; (and all the congregation of Israel stood )

From the Temple, towards which he was looking to observe that thick and extraordinary darkness, to the Body of the Congregation.

Or, Blessed, (to wit, the Lord, which is easily understood from the following words; in which he onely blesseth or praiseth God, but doth not bless the People at all) with (so the Hebreweth is oft used, as hath been shewed before) all the congregation. Although he might do both, first bless the Congregation, which possibly he might do in that Solemn and Appointed Form, Numb. 6. which therefore it was needless to repeat here; and then blessed God. And indeed he doth both here below, where these same words are used, ver. 55, 56, &c.

Partly, in way of Devotion to God, whom they adored: and partly, out of respect to the King.

15 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it , saying,

Praised be God both for his Grace in making such a promise, and for his Goodness and Truth in fulfilling it.

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 therein ; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

Until David's time; for then he did chuse Ierusalem.

i. e. I did not declare my choice of it: for so chusing is used for declaring or executing ones choice, as Deut. 12. 1. 2 Chron. 6. 5. Zech. 2. 12. and things are oft said to be done when they are onely manifested or declared to be such; in which sense God is said to be justified, Psal. 51. 4. and Men to be guilty, Hos. 5. 15. Otherwise to speak properly, whatsoever God chuseth, he chuseth from Eternity.

That my Presence, and Grace, and Worship, and Glory, might be there.

And in and with him the Tribe of Iudah, of which he was, and Ierusalem where he dwelt; which is here implied by the opposition of this to the former part of the Verse.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 7. 8.

17 And it was in the heart of David my father , to build an house for the Name of the LORD God of Israel.

In his desire and purpose, as this or the like Phrase is used, 1 Sam. 10. 7. and 14. 7. 2 Sam. 7. 3.

Marginal references: 1 Chr. 17. 1.

18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my Name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart :

Thy intention and affection was well-pleasing to me.

21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD , which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

i. e. The Tables of the Covenant, by a Metonymy, wherein the Conditions of Gods Covenant with Israel are written.

22 ¶ And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD , in the presence of all the congregation of Israel , and spread forth his hand toward heaven:

Upon a Scaffold set up for him in the Court of the People, 2 Chron. 6. 13.

With his Face towards the Altar of Burnt-offerings.

Who stood round about the Scaffold, in the same Court with him.

Marginal references: 2 Chr. 6. 12.

24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him : thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

That branch of thy Promise concerning the Building of this House by David's Son.

25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that thou promisedst him , saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel, so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.

Make good the other branch of thy Promise, and do not lose the Glory of thy Faithfulness, which now thou hast got.

Marginal references: Chap. 2. 4. 2 Sam. 7. 12.; Heb. there shall not be cut off unto thee a man from my sight.; Heb. onely if.

27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth ? Behold, the heaven , and heaven of heavens , cannot contain thee , how much less this house that I have builded ?

Reflecting upon Gods performance of his promise concerning the building of the Temple, he breaks forth into admiration, Is it possible that the Great, and High, and Lofty God should stoop so low, as to take up his dwelling here amongst men? O, astonishing condescension!

All thi[illegible: 1+ letters] vast space of the visible Heaven.

The third and highest, and therefore the largest Heaven, called the heaven of heavens here, as also Deut. 10. 14. Psal. 148. 4. for its eminency and comprehensiveness.

For thy Essence reacheth far beyond them, being Omnipresent.

This House therefore was not built as if it were proportionable to thy greatness, or could contain thee, but onely that therein we might serve and glorify thee.

Marginal references: 2 Chr. 2. 6. Isa. 66. 1. Jer. 23. 24 Act. 7. 49.; Amos 7. 10.

28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant , and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry, and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

Though thou art not comprehended within this place, yet shew thy self to be graciously present here, by accepting and granting my present Requests here tendred unto thee.

29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make towards this place .

To behold, to wit, with an Eye of favour and compassion. So it is a Synecdochical Expression; comp. Psal. 33. 18. and 34. 15. Zech. 12. 4.

My Presence, and Glory, and Grace. See above ver. 16.

This Temple, to which Solomon did now look, and it may be, point; and towards which, the godly Israelites directed their looks in their Prayers. See Dan. 6. 10.

Marginal references: Deut. 12. 11.; Or, in the place.

30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray towards this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place , and when thou hearest, forgive .

Which he adds, that the People might not Idolize the Temple, nor presume upon it, as if God were now fast tied to them, as having no other Dwelling-place; and to direct them in all their Addresses to God in this Temple, to lift up their eyes above it, even to Heaven, where God's most True, and most Glorious Dwelling-place is.

To wit, the Sins of thy People, praying, and even of their prayers; which, if not pardoned, will certainly hinder the Success of all their Prayers, and the course of all thy Blessings upon them.

Marginal references: Or, in this place▪; Or, be favorable. So Gr.

31 ¶ If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him , to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house :

i. e. If he be Accused of a Trespass.

Either by the Judge, or by the Party Accusing him, or by the Accused Person himself: which was usual, when there were no Witnesses. See Exod. 22. 8, 11. Numb. 5. 12, 15, &c.

For here God, who was appealed to as Witness, was especially present. Hence the Heathens used to Swear at their Altars.

Marginal references: Heb. Whatsoever a man trespass. So Gr.; Heb. and he require an oath of him, o[illegible: 1+ letters], tender an oath to him.

32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness .

i. e. The just Recompence of his Wicked Action and Course.

To Vindicate him, and to manifest his Integrity.

33 ¶ When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy Name , and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house▪

Give Glory to thy Name, by acknowledging their Sins, and thy Justice; and by accepting the Punishment of their Iniquity; and by trusting to thy Power and Goodness alone, for their Deliverance.

Marginal references: Lev. 26. 17. Deut. 28. 25▪; Lev. 26. 39, 40.; Or, toward▪

34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land, which thou gavest unto their fathers.

From the Land into which they are supposed to be carried by their Enemies, into Canaan. Quest. If they were Banished into a strange Land, how could they Pray in this house, as they are said to do, ver. 33. Answ. 1. That may be rendred to, or towards this house, as it is expressed, v. 29. 30. The Hebrew Praeposition Beth, in, being oft put for el, to, or towards. 2. This may be understood of divers persons; and so the sence is this: When the People of Israel be Defeated in Battel, and many of their Brethren be taken Prisoners, and carried into Captivity; if then their Brethren remaining in the Land, shall heartily pray for their Captive Brethren, they shall be Delivered.

35 ¶ When heaven is shut up , and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray towards this place, and confess thy Name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them :

The lower Heaven in which the Clouds are; as Deut. 11. 17. Psal. 147. 8.

The Heaven is compared to a great Store-House in God's keeping, out of which nothing can be had, so long as it is close shut up.

Do not reject their Prayers, because they are forced from them by their Afflictions, as thou mayest justly do.

Marginal references: Lev. 26. 19. Deut. 28. 23.

36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

That their Sin being Pardoned, and thou being Reconciled unto them, mayest vouchsafe to Teach them. Or rather, as our Translators render the very same Words, 2 Chron. 6. 27. When thou shalt teach, or hast taught them, not onely by thy Word, for that was done before; but by their Afflictions, which is one of God's Schools; and especially, by thy Spirit, enlightning their Minds, and enclining their Hearts, that they may learn, and profit both by the Word, and by their Afflictions. And this is here fitly added, to shew, that he could not expect, and did not desire from God the Pardon of their Sins, but upon God's Terms, to wit, upon their True Repentance.

i. e. The way, or Will of God; or the way of their Duty, as the following words explain it, which is most rightly called the good way here, and 1 Sam. 12. 23. because it is both Just and Holy and therefore good in it self; and good, both Delightful and Profitable to those that walk in it. The meaning is, When thou hast effectually taught them, and they have throughly learned how to please and serve thee acceptably, and to walk before thee in the way which thou hast prescribed them.

The order of Solomon's Prayer is very observable; first and chiefly, he prays for their Repentance and Forgiveness, which is the chief Blessing, and the onely solid Foundation of all other Mercies: and then he prays for the Temporal Mercy; thereby teaching us what to mind and desire principally in our Prayers; which also Christ hath taught us in his Perfect Pattern and Form of Prayer; wherein there is but one Prayer for outward, and all the rest are for Spiritual Blessings.

37 ¶ If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar ; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities, whatsoever plague , whatsoever sickness there be;

i. e. The Plague of Locusts, or Caterpillars, infesting a Land by their great numbers, and venomous or noxious qualities: of which see, Exod. 10. 4, 5. Deut. 28. 42. Psal. 105. 34, 35.

That chiefly signifies, an extraordinary Judgment sent from God.

Marginal references: Lev. 26. 1[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ 26.; Deut. 28. 21, 22, 27, 3[illegible: 1+ letters].; Or, jurisdiction, Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man: or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart , and spread forth his hands towards this house:

i. e. Either, 1. His Sin, which may be called the plague of his heart, in opposition to the other Plagues here mentioned, which Afflict onely the Body, or outward Man: So the sence is, Who by their Afflictions are brought to a true and serious sence of their worse and inward Plague of their Sins, which are most fitly called the plague of the heart, because that is both the Principal Seat of Sin, and the Fountain from whence all Actual Sins flow, Matt. 15. 19. Or rather, 2. His Affliction; for so this is Explained in the parallel-place, 2 Chron. 6. 29. (which is the more considerable, because that Book was written after this, to Explain what was dark or deubtful, and to supply what was lacking in this) when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief; which is not unfitly called, the plague of his heart, because it was that Plague which his Heart was most Afflicted with, which pained him at the very heart; as the Phrase is, Ier. 4. 19. comp. Psal. 55. 4. which caused him most vexation or grief, which is a Passion of the Heart: and so the sence is, Who shall know, i. e. be duly and deeply sensible of his Affliction, and the hand of God in it; and his Sin as the Cause of it: for Words of Knowledge in Scripture, do very frequently note such a kind of Knowledge as affects and changeth the Heart, and reforms the whole course of a Man's Life; for which cause, men of ungodly Lives are frequently said in Scripture not to know God, or Christ, or his Word, &c. And therefore [illegible: 1+ letters]o man knows his sore in a Scripture-sence, but he who hears the rod, who turneth unto him that smiteth him, and sincerely seeketh to the Lord for Relief.

39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwellingplace, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways , whose heart thou knowest , (for thou, even thou onely knowest the hearts of all the children of men.)

According to his Repentance, or Impenitency. I pray with more hope and confidence, because I do not desire that thou wouldst deliver such as are insensible of thy Judgments, and their Sin; but onely those who truly know the Plague of their own Heart in manner before explained.

Thou knowest who are truly Penitent, and who are not; and therefore the granting of my Request will be no dishonour to thy Government, nor injury to thy Holy Nature.

40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

That when thou hast first smitten them, and then so eminently delivered them, and that in answer to their Prayer, they may hereby be taught to fear Thee, and thy Justice, and thy Goodness.

Marginal references: Psal. 130. 4.

41 Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far countrey for thy Names sake ,

This may note, either 1. The end of his coming, that he may Worship, and Glorifie thy Name: or rather, 2. The motive, or occasion of his Coming, which was the fame of God's Greatness, and Power, and Kindness to his People: as the following words Explain it.

43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for : that all people of the earth may know thy Name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel , and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy Name .

To wit, Agreeable to thy Will and Word: for he would not have them heard, if they had Prayed for any thing dishonourable to God, or destructive to his People. It is observable, That his prayer for the Strangers is more large, and comprehensive, than for the Israelites; that thereby he might both shew his Publick-spiritedness, and encourage Strangers to the Worship of the True God.

Whereby we see, how sincerely and heartily the ancient and godly Iews desired the Conversion of the Gentiles; whereas, the latter and degenerate Iews, in the days of Christ, and of the Apostles, did Envy, Oppose it, and fret at it.

i. e. Is owned, not onely by us, but by thy self, as thy House; the onely place in the World to which thou wilt vouchsafe thy Presence and Protection, and wherein thou wiltst [illegible: 1+ letters]e Publickly and Solemnly Served.

Marginal references: Heb. thy [illegible: 1+ letters]ame is called [illegible: 1 word] this house.

44 ¶ If thy people go out to battel against their enemy▪ whithersoever thou shalt send them , and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen , and toward the house that I have built for thy Name :

i. e. In a Just Cause, and by thy Warrant or Commission. Whereby he implies, That it was unlawful for them to undertake any War meerly for their own Glory, or Lust; or to enlarge their Empire beyond its due bounds; and that they could not with safe Conscience pray to God for his Blessing upon such a War.

Whereby he instructs them, That they should not trust, either to the Strength or Justice of their Arms, but onely to God's Help and Blessing, which they were to pray for.

To wit, for thy Dwelling-place, and the Seat of thy Temple▪

For to it they were to turn their Faces in Prayer; partly, thereby to profess themselves to be the Worshippers of the True God, in opposition to Idols; and that they sought help from him, and from no other: and partly, to strengthen Faith in God's Promises and Covenant, the Tables whereof were contained in that House.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] the way of the city.

45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer, and their supplication, and maintain their cause .

Declare the Justice of their Cause, by giving them the Victory.

Marginal references: Or, right. Heb. judgment.

46 If they sin against thee, ( for there is no man that sinneth not ) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near:

The Universal Corruption of Man's whole Race and Nature, makes me presage, that they will fall into Sins; and withal, makes me to hope, that thou wiltst not be severe to deal with them as their Sins deserve.

Marginal references: 2 Chron. 6. [illegible: 1+ letters]6▪ Prov. 20. 9. Eccles. 7. 20. [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 3. 2▪; Jo[illegible: 1+ letters]. 1. 8, 10. Lev. 26. 34, [illegible: 1+ letters]4▪ Deut. 28. [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 64▪

47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee, in the land of them that carried them captives, saying , We have sinned, and have done preversly, we have committed wickedness;

Heb. bring back their hearts; to wit, their Sin; Expressed ver. 46. and implied in the following word, Repent.

Sensibly, and with an honest heart.

Marginal references: Heb. bring back to their hearts.

48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul , in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name:

i. e. Sincerely, Universally, and Stedfastly.

Marginal references: Dan. 6. 10.

49 Then hear thou their prayer, and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause .

Heb. their right, against their Invaders and Oppressors. For they had forfeited all their Rights to God onely, but not to their Enemies; whom though God used as scourges to chastise his Peoples Sins, yet they had no pretence of Right to their Land, nor any regard to it; but onely minded the satisfaction of their own Lusts and Interests. See Isa. 10. 5, 6. and 47. 6. Zech. 1. 15.

Marginal references: Or, right Heb. judgment▪

50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them, who carryed them away captive, that they may have compassion on them :

i. e. May gently use them whilst they are there, and proclaim Liberty to their Captives, to go to their own Land.

Marginal references: Psa. 106. 46.

51 For they be thy people , and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron :

For howsoever they may sin against thee, or suffer from men; yet still remember, that they, are thy peculiar People, and therefore do thou pity, and pardon, and save them.

So called, either from the Metal melted in it: or rather, from the Matter of which it consisted, an Iron Furnace being more hot and terrible, than one of Brick, or Stone. He understands hereby, their cruel Bondage, and painful Labours. See on Deut. 4. 20.

Marginal references: Jer. 11. 4▪

53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance , as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD GOD.

Thou hast begun to build a Work of great and glorious Mercy to them; do not give occasion to thine Enemies to think, thou wast unable to finish it; or that thou art unstable in thy ways and Counsels, or unkind to thine own Children.

Marginal references: Exod. 19. [illegible: 1+ letters].

56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promises ; which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

See the like, Iosh. 21. 45. and 23. 14. 2 King 10. 10.

Marginal references: Deut. 12. 10.; Heb fallen.; Heb. word. Jer. 29. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; Heb. spake.

57 The LORD our God be with us , as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:

By the presence of his Grace and Mercy.

58 That he may incline our heart unto him , to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

That he may not onely bless us with outward Prosperity, and Glory; but especially, with Spiritual Blessings: and that as he hath given us his Word and Statutes to teach and direct us, so he would by his Holy Spirit, effectually incline and engage our Hearts to keep and obey them.

59 And let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto 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, as the matter shall require:

i. e. Of me, as ver. 28, 29, 30. their King, and consequently of all my Successors.

According to mine, or their various necessities and exigencies.

Marginal references: Heb. do the judgment.; Heb. the thing of a day in his day.

60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

Both by our vertuous and holy Lives, to which thou inclinest us by thy Grace; and by the eminent manifestations of thy Power and Goodness, in defending, and delivering us from all the assaults and devices of our Enemies.

Marginal references: 35,

61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

i. e. Sincere and serious in your purposes of Obedience: for sinless Perfection, he himself taught them was not to be expected here, Eccles. 7. 20.

63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peaceofferings which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep : so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD .

By the hands of the Priests.

Not all in one day, but in the 7, or, it may be in the 14 days, mentioned ver. 65.

i. e. By these Sacrifices, and Holy Exercises.

i. e. Began to set it apart for the Work and Service of God.

64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered 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 burntofferings, and meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

To wit, of the Priests Court, in which the great Altar was. This he Consecrated as he did the great Altar, to wit, by Sacrifices; but with this difference, That he Consecrated That for lasting and perpetual use: but This onely for the present time and occasion, being warranted to do so both by the necessity of it for God's Service, and for the present Solemn Work, for which the Brazen Altar was not sufficient, as it here follows; and by the direction of God's Spirit, where with Solomon was endowed, as being a Prophet, as well as a King. Here therefore he suddenly reared up divers Altars, which after this Solemnity were demolished.

Marginal references: 2 Chron. 7. 7.; 2 Chron. 4. 1.

65 And at that time Solomon held a feast , and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entring in of Hamath, unto the river of Egypt , before the LORD our God, seven days, and seven days , even fourteen days.

i. e. Kept the Solemnity.

The usual and known bounds of the Land, in the utmost length of it, of which, see Num. 34. 8. Iosh. 13. 5. Iudg. 3. 3.

i. e. Before the Temple, and as in God's Presence.

Seven for the Dedication of the Temple, or Altar; and the other seven for the Feast of Tabernacles; as may be gathered from 2 Chron. 7. 9. And it seems to be expressed in this manner, to intimate, that these 14 days of Rejoycing, were not all together, but that there was some interval between them, which indeed was necessary, because the Day of Atonement was on the Tenth day of this Month, Levit. 23. 27. And because these 14 days ended on the Twenty-second day, 2 Chron. 7. 10. it may seem most probable, that the Feast of the Dedication was kept before the Tenth day: and the Feast of Tabernacles some days after it.

66 On the eighth day he sent the people away : and they blessed the king , and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

Solomon having joyned with the People in the Solemn Assembly, which was kept on the Eighth day; in the close of that Day and Service, he took his solemn farewel, and dismissed them with his Blessing; and the next Morning when the Heads and Elders who came to Solomon upon this special Summons, above ver. 3. and with them divers of the People came to take their leave of the King, he sent them away. And so this place agrees very well with 2 Chron. 7. 9, 10.

i. e. They prayed to God to Bless him, according to their duty and custome. Or, they praised him, for his great care and pains in Building of the Temple, and setting up God's Worship among them.

In giving him a sure House, and a wife and religious Son, by whom he had now fulfilled the Promise made to David about the Building of the Temple.

Marginal references: Or, thanked.

1Ki 8:1 Removal of the ark of the covenant into the temple. - This solemn transaction was founded entirely upon the solemnities with which the ark was conveyed in the time of David from the house of Obed-edom into the holy tent upon Zion (2Sa 6:12.; 1Ch 15:2.). Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ houses (האבות נשׂיאי, contracted from האבות בּית נשׂיאי) of the Israelites, as representatives of the whole congregation, to himself at Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant out of the city of David, i.e., from Mount Zion (see the Comm. on 2Sa 6:16-17), into the temple which he had built upon Moriah. (On the use of the contracted form of the imperfect יקהל after אז, see Ewald, §233, b.)

1Ki 8:2

Accordingly “all the men of Israel (i.e., the heads of the tribes and families mentioned in 1Ki 8:1) assembled together to the king in the month Ethanim, i.e., the seventh month, at the feast.” Gesenius explains the name האתנים (in 55 codd. האיתנים) as meaning “month of the flowing brooks,” after איתן in Pro 13:15; Böttcher, on the other hand, supposes it to denote the equinox. But apart from other grounds, the plural by no means favours this. Nor does the seventh month answer to the period between the middle of our September and the middle of October, as is supposed by Thenius, who founds upon this supposition the explanation already rejected by Böttcher, viz., “month of gifts;” but it corresponds to the period between the new moon of October and the new moon of November, during which the rainy season commences in Palestine (Rob. Pal. ii. p. 96ff.), so that this month may very well have received its name from the constant flowing of the brooks. The explanation, “that is the seventh month,” is added, however (here as in 1Ki 6:1, 1Ki 6:38), not because the arrangement of the months was a different one before the captivity (Thenius), but because different names came into use for the months during the captivity. בּחג is construed with the article: “because the feast intended was one that was well known, and had already been kept for a long time (viz., the feast of tabernacles).” The article overthrows the explanation given by Thenius, who supposes that the reference is to the festivities connected with the dedication of the temple itself.

1Ki 8:3-4

After the arrival of all the elders (i.e., of the representatives of the nation, more particularly described in 1Ki 8:1), the priests carried the ark and brought it up (sc., into the temple), with the tabernacle and all the holy vessels in it. The expression אתם ויּעלוּ, which follows, introduces as a supplementary notice, according to the general diffuseness of the early Hebrew style of narrative, the more precise statement that the priests and Levites brought up these sacred vessels. מועד אהל is not the tent erected for the ark of the covenant upon Zion, which can be proved to have been never so designated, and which is expressly distinguished from the former in 2Ch 1:4 as compared with 1Ki 8:3, but is the Mosaic tabernacle at Gibeon in front of which Solomon had offered sacrifice (1Ki 3:4). The tabernacle with the vessels in it, to which, however, the ark of the covenant, that had long been separated from it, did not belong, was probably preserved as a sacred relic in the rooms above the Most Holy Place. The ark of the covenant was carried by priests on all solemn occasions, according to the spirit of the law, which enjoined, in Num 3:31 and Num 4:5., that the ark of the covenant and the rest of the sacred vessels should be carried by the Levites, after the priests had carefully wrapped them up; and the Levites were prohibited from directly touching them, on pain of death. When, therefore, the ark of the covenant was carried in solemn procession, as in the case before us, probably uncovered, this could only be done by the priests, more especially as the Levites were not allowed to enter the Most Holy Place. Consequently, by the statement in 1Ki 8:3, that the priests and Levites carried them (אתם), viz., the objects mentioned before, we are to understand that the ark of the covenant was carried into the temple by the priests, and the tabernacle with its vessels by the Levites.Instead of כּהנים in 1Ki 8:3, we have הלּויּם in 2Ch 5:4; and instead of והלּויּם הכּהנים in 1Ki 8:4, we have הלּויּם הכּהנים, “the Levitical priests.” These variations are to be attributed to inexactness in expression. For it is obvious that Thenius is wrong in his notion that the chronicler mentioned the Levites instead of the priests, from the simple fact that he states in 1Ki 8:7 that “the priests carried the ark,” etc., in exact agreement with our account.

1Ki 8:5 “And king Solomon and the whole congregation, that had gathered round him, were with him before the ark sacrificing sheep and oxen in innumerable multitude.” This took place while the ark of the covenant was carried up, no doubt when it was brought into the court of the temple, and was set down there for a time either within or in front of the hall. Then was this magnificent sacrifice “offered” there “in front of the ark” (הארון לפני).

1Ki 8:6-7

After this sacrificing was ended, the priests carried the ark to its place, into the back-room of the house, into the Most Holy under the wings of the cherubim (already described in 1Ki 6:23.). The latter statement is explained in 1Ki 8:7. “For the cherubim were spreading out wings towards the place of the ark, and so covered (lit., threw a shade) over the ark and over its poles from above.” If the outspread wings of the great cherubic figures threw a shade not only over the ark of the covenant, but also over its poles, the ark was probably so placed that the poles ran from north to south, and not from east to west, as they are sketched in my Archäologie.

1Ki 8:8 “And the poles were long, and there were seen their heads (i.e., they were so long that their heads were seen) from the Holy Place before the hinder room; but on the outside (outside the Holy Place, say in the porch) they were not seen.” יאכוּ cannot be rendered: they had lengthened the poles, from which Kimchi and others have inferred that they had made new and longer carrying-poles, since the form of the tense in this connection cannot be the pluperfect, and in that case, moreover the object would be indicated by את as in 1Ki 3:14; but האריך is used intransitively, “to be long,” lit., to show length, as in Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16, etc. The remark to the effect that the poles were visible, indicates that the precept of the law in Exo 25:15, according to which the poles were to be left in the ark, was observed in Solomon’s temple also. Any one could convince himself of this, for the poles were there “to this day.” The author of our books has retained this chronological allusion as he found it in his original sources; for when he composed his work, the temple was no longer standing. It is impossible, however, to ascertain from this statement how the heads of the poles could be seen in the Holy Place, - whether from the fact that they reached the curtain and formed elevations therein, if the poles ran from front to back; or whether, if, as is more probable, they ran from south to north, the front heads were to be seen, simply when the curtain was drawn back.The proof which Thenius has endeavoured to give by means of a drawing of the correctness of the latter view, is founded upon untenable assumptions (see Böttcher, Aehrenl. ii. p. 69). It by no means follows from the expression דביר על־פּני that the heads of the poles were visible as far off as the door of the Holy Place, but simply that they could be seen in the Holy Place, though not outside.

1Ki 8:9 “There was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone, which Moses had put there at Horeb, when Jehovah concluded the covenant with Israel.” The intention of this remark is also simply to show that the law, which enjoined that the ark should merely preserve the stone tables of the covenant (Exo 25:16; Exo 40:20), had not been departed from in the lapse of time. אשׁר before כּרת is not a pronoun, but a conjunction: when, from the time that, as in Deu 11:6, etc. כּרת without בּרית, signifying the conclusion of a covenant, as in 1Sa 20:16; 1Sa 22:8, etc. Horeb, the general name for the place where the law was given, instead of the more definite name Sinai, as in Deuteronomy (see the Comm. on Exo 19:1-2).The statement in Heb 9:4, to the effect that the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded were also to be found in the ark, which is at variance with this verse, and which the earlier commentators endeavoured to bring into harmony with it by forced methods of different kinds, simply rests upon an erroneous interpretation of העדוּת לפני in Exo 16:33-34, and Num 17:10, which had become traditional among the Jews; since this merely affirms that the objects mentioned had been deposited in front of the testimony, i.e., in front of the ark which contained the testimony, and not within it, as the Jews supposed. - Still less are De Wette and others warranted in deducing from this verse an argument against the existence of the Mosaic book of the law in the time of Solomon, inasmuch as, according to the precept in Deu 31:26, the book of the law was not to be kept in the ark, but by the side of it, or near it.

1Ki 8:10-11

At the dedication of the tabernacle the glory of Jehovah in the cloud filled the sanctuary, so that Moses could not enter (Exo 40:34-35); and so was it now. When the priests came out of the sanctuary, after putting the ark of the covenant in its place, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand to minister. The signification of this fact was the same on both occasions. The cloud, as the visible symbol of the gracious presence of God, filled the temple, as a sign that Jehovah the covenant-God had entered into it, and had chosen it as the scene of His gracious manifestation in Israel. By the inability of the priests to stand, we are not to understand that the cloud drove them away; for it was not till the priests had come out that it filled the temple. It simply means that they could not remain in the Holy Place to perform service, say to offer an incense-offering upon the altar to consecrate it, just as sacrifices were offered upon the altar of burnt-offering after the dedicatory prayer (1Ki 8:62, 1Ki 8:63).Bertheau’s opinion (on 2Ch 5:14), that the priests could not remain in the hall and in front of it on account of the cloud, namely, “the cloud of smoke, which, ascending from the sacrifices burned upon the altar of burnt-offering, concealed the glory of the Lord,” is decidedly erroneous. For the cloud which hindered the priest from performing the service was, according to the distinct words of the text, the cloud which filled the house; and the explanatory clause, “for the glory of the Lord filled the house of Jehovah,” indicates in the most unmistakeable terms that it was the vehicle of the glory of God, and therefore was no a cloud of smoke formed by the burning sacrifices, but the cloud in which God manifested His invisible being to His people, - the very same cloud in which Jehovah was to appear above the Capporeth, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place on the day of atonement, so that he was commanded not to enter it at all times, and, when he entered, to cover the Capporeth with the cloud of the burning incense (Lev 16:2, Lev 16:13.

The glory of the Lord, which is like a consuming fire (Exo 24:17; Deu 4:24; Deu 9:3), before which unholy man cannot stand, manifested itself in the cloud. This marvellous manifestation of the glory of God took place only at the dedication; after that the cloud was only visible in the Most Holy Place on the great day of atonement, when the high priest entered it. - The Chronicles contain a long account at this place of the playing and singing of the Levites at these solemnities (vid., 2Ch 5:12-14).

1Ki 8:12-15 Solomon extols this marvellous proof of the favour of the Lord. - 1Ki 8:12. Then spake Solomon, “Jehovah hath spoken to dwell in the darkness.” “Solomon saw that the temple was filled with a cloud, and remembered that God had been pleased to appear in a cloud in the tent of Moses also. Hence he assuredly believed that God was in this cloud also, and that, as formerly He had filled the tabernacle, so He would now fill the temple and dwell therein” (Seb. Schmidt). וגו יהוה אמר, which Thenius still renders incorrectly, “the Lord intends to dwell in the darkness,” refers, as Rashi, C. a Lap., and others have seen, to the utterances of God in the Pentateuch concerning the manifestation of His gracious presence among His people, not merely to Lev 16:2 (I will appear in the cloud), but also to Exo 19:9, where the Lord said to Moses, “I come to thee הענן בּעב,” and still more to Exo 20:21 and Deu 4:11; Deu 5:19, according to which God came down upon Sinai בּערפל. Solomon took the word ערפל from these passages. That he meant by this the black, dark cloud which filled the temple, is perfectly obvious from the combination והערפל הענן in Deu 5:19 and Deu 4:11.Thenius, however, has built up all kinds of untenable conjectures as to alterations of the text, upon the erroneous assumption that ענן means the light and radiant cloud, and cannot be synonymous with ערפל. Böttcher adopts the same opinion, without taking any notice of the striking remarks of Bertheau on 2Ch 5:14.

Solomon saw this word of Jehovah realized in the filling of the temple with the cloud, and learned therefrom that the Lord would dwell in this temple. Hence, being firmly convinced of the presence of Jehovah in the cloud which filled the sanctuary, he adds in 1Ki 8:13 : “I have built Thee a house to dwell in, a place for Thy seat for ever.” We are not to understand עולמים as signifying that Solomon believed that the temple built by him would stand for ever; but it is to be explained partly from the contrast to the previous abode of God in the tabernacle, which from the very nature of the case could only be a temporary one, inasmuch as a tent, such as the tabernacle was, is not only a moveable and provisional dwelling, but also a very perishable one, and partly from the promise given to David in 2Sa 7:14-16, that the Lord would establish the throne of his kingdom for his seed for ever. This promise involved the eternal duration of the gracious connection between God and Israel, which was embodied in the dwelling of God in the temple. This connection, from its very nature, was an eternal one; even if the earthly form, from which Solomon at that moment abstracted himself, was temporal and perishable. - Solomon had spoken these words with his face turned to the Most Holy Place. He then (1Ki 8:14) turned his face to the congregation, which was standing in the court, and blessed it. The word “blessed” (יברך) denotes the wish for a blessing with which the king greeted the assembled congregation, and introduced the praise of God which follows. - In 1Ki 8:15-21 he praises the Lord for having now fulfilled with His hand what He spake with His mouth to his father David (2 Sam 7).

1Ki 8:16

The promise of God, to choose Jerusalem as the place for the temple and David as prince, is taken freely from 2Sa 7:7-8. In 2Ch 6:6, before “I chose David,” we find “and I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there;” so that the affirmation answers more precisely to the preceding negation, whereas in the account before us this middle term is omitted.

1Ki 8:17-19

David’s intention to build the temple, and the answer of God that his son was to execute this work, are so far copied from 2Sa 7:2, 2Sa 7:12-13, that God approves the intention of David as such. הטיבת, “Thou didst well that it was in thy mind.”

1Ki 8:20-21 “And Jehovah has set up His word.” וגו ויּקם supplies the explanation of בידו מלּא (hath fulfilled with his hand) in 1Ki 8:15. God had caused Solomon to take possession of the throne of David; and Solomon had built the temple and prepared a place there for the ark of the covenant. The ark is thereby declared to be the kernel and star of the temple, because it was the throne of the glory of God. 1Ki  8:22

Second Act of the feast of dedication: Solomon’s dedicatory prayer (cf. 2 Chron 6:12-42). - 1Ki 8:22. “Then Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the assembly of Israel, and stretched out his hands towards heaven.” It is evident from 1Ki 8:54 that Solomon uttered the prayer which follows upon his knees. The Chronicles contain the same account as we have here, with this addition, that it is said to have taken place on a “scaffold,” or kind of pulpit (כּיּור) specially erected for the purpose.Böttcher is right in his assertion, that the opinion expressed by Thenius and Cappellus, that this passage in the Chronicles has been dropped out of our text through a copyist’s oversight, is a very improbable one; although the reasons he assigns are for the most part untenable. The omission may be explained in a very simple manner, from the fact that the introduction of this circumstance had no bearing upon the design or contents of the dedicatory prayer.

The altar, to the front of which Solomon went, was the altar of burnt-offering in the court, where the congregation was gathered together. The expression ישׂ כּל־קהל נגד favours the idea that Solomon offered the prayer upon his knees with his face turned towards the congregation, and not with his back to the people and his face turned towards the temple, as Thenius supposes. - The substance of the prayer is closely connected with the prayer of Moses, especially with the blessings and curses therein (vid., Lev 26 and Deut 28). Commencing with the praise of God, who “keepeth covenant and truth” towards His servants, and has thus far performed to His servant David the promise that He gave him (1Ki 8:23, 1Ki 8:24), Solomon entreats the Lord still further to fulfil this promise of His (1Ki 8:25, 1Ki 8:26), and to keep His eyes constantly open over the temple, to hearken to the prayers of His people, and to avert the curse threatened against sinners from all who shall call upon Him in this temple (vv. 27-53).

1Ki 8:23-24

By granting the blessing promised to His people, the Lord has hitherto proved Himself to be the true and only God in heaven and on earth, who keepeth covenant and mercy with those who walk before Him with all their heart. This acknowledgment provides the requisite confidence for offering the prayer which is sure of an answer (Mat 21:22; Mar 11:24; Jam 1:6). For אל אין־כּמוך, compare Exo 15:11 with Deu 4:39; 2Sa 7:22; 2Sa 22:32; Psa 86:8. “Who keepeth covenant and mercy,” verbatim the same as in Deu 7:9. The promise given to His servant David (2 Sam 7), the fulfilment of which the commencement now lay before their eyes (cf. 1Ki 8:20, 1Ki 8:21), was an emanation from the covenant faithfulness of God. “As it is this day,” as in 1Ki 3:6.

1Ki 8:25

The expression “and now” (ועתּה) introduces the prayer for the further fulfilment of the promise, never to allow a successor upon the throne to be wanting to David, in the same conditional form in which David had uttered the hope in 1Ki 2:4, and in which the Lord had renewed the promise to Solomon during the building of the temple (1Ki 6:12-13). In על־כּסּא ישׁב מלּפני, instead of כּסּא מעל in 1Ki 2:4, the divine rejection is more distinctly indicated.

1Ki 8:26 1Ki 8:26 is not merely a repetition of the prayer in 1Ki 8:25, as Thenius supposes, but forms the introduction to the prayers which follow for the hearing of all the prayer presented before the Lord in the temple. The words, “let Thy words be verified, which Thou spakest unto Thy servant David,” contain something more than a prayer for the continual preservation of the descendants of David upon the throne, for the fulfilment of which Solomon prayed in 1Ki 8:25. They refer to the whole of the promise in 2Sa 7:12-16. The plural דּבריך (Chethîb) points back to כּל־הדּברים in 2Sa 7:17, and is not to be altered into the singular after the Keri. The singular יאמן is used as it frequently is with the subject in the plural, when the verb precedes (cf. Ewald. §316, a., 1). Solomon has here in mind one particular point in the promise, viz., that God would not withdraw His mercy from the seed of David, even when it sinned. This is evident from what follows, where he mentions simply cases of transgression, and prays that they may be forgiven.

1Ki 8:27-28 1Ki 8:26 are closely connected in this sense: keep Thy words that were spoken to David; for although this temple cannot hold Thine infinite divine nature, I know that Thou wilt have respect to the prayer of Thy servant, to keep Thine eyes open over this temple, to hear every prayer which Thy people shall bring before Thee therein. וּפנית in 1Ki 8:28 continues the optative נא יאמן in 1Ki 8:26; and 1Ki 8:27 contains an intermediate thought, with which Solomon meets certain contracted ideas of the gracious presence of God in the temple. כּי (1Ki 8:27) signifies neither but, nevertheless, atque (Böttcher), nor “as” (Thenius, Bertheau); and the assertion that 1Ki 8:27 is the commencement of a new section is overthrown by the inadmissible rendering of וּפנית, “but Thou turnest Thyself” (Thenius). - With the words, “Should God really dwell upon the earth! behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens (i.e., the heavens in their widest extent, cf. Deu 10:14) cannot contain Thee, to say nothing (כּי אף; cf. Ewald, §§354, c.) of this house which I have built,” in which the infinitude of God and His exaltation above the world are expressed as clearly and forcibly as possible, Solomon does not intend to guard against the delusion that God really dwells in temples (J. D. Mich.), but simply to meet the erroneous idea that He dwells in the temple as men dwell in a house, namely, shut up within it, and not also outside and above it, - a delusion which sometimes forced its way into the unspiritual nation but which was always attacked by the prophets (cf. Mic 3:11; Jer 7:4, etc.). For it is evident that Solomon did combine with his clear perception of the infinite exaltation of God a firm belief in His real presence in the temple, and did not do homage to the abstract idealism of the rationalists, not merely from his declaration in 1Ki 8:12. that he had built this temple as a dwelling-place for God, but also from the substance of all the following prayers, and primarily from the general prayer in 1Ki 8:28, 1Ki 8:29, that God would take this temple under His special protection, and hearken to every prayer directed towards it. The distinction between תּפלּה, תּחנּה, and רנּה is the following: תּפלּה denotes prayer in general, praise, supplication, and thanksgiving; תּחנּה, supplication or entreaty, prayer for help and mercy; and רנּה, jubilation, prayer as the joyous utterance of praise and thanksgiving.

1Ki 8:29-32 “That Thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day.” אל־הבּית, speciali quadam providentia in hanc domum directi (Mich.). The following clause, “upon the place of which Thou hast said, My name shall be there” (namely, 2Sa 7:13, implicite), contains within itself the ground upon which the prayer rests. Because the name of God will be in the temple, i.e., because God will manifest His gracious presence there, He will also keep His eyes open upon it, so as to hear the prayer of Solomon directed towards it. הזּה המּקום אל (toward this place): because Solomon also was prayer in the court towards the temple. - In 1Ki 8:30, “and hear the supplication of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel,” he begins by asking that those prayers may be heard which the king and people shall henceforth bring before God in the temple. ושׁמעתּ corresponds to וּפנית in 1Ki 8:28, and is more precisely defined by the following תּשׁמע ואתּה (as for these prayers), Thou wilt hear them up to the place of Thine abode, to heaven. אל שׁמע is a pregnant expression: to hear the prayer, which ascends to heaven. In the Chronicles we find throughout the explanatory מן. The last words, “hear and forgive,” must be left in their general form, and not limited by anything to be supplied. Nothing but forgiveness of sin can remove the curse by which transgression is followed.

This general prayer is then particularized from 1Ki 8:31 onwards by the introduction of seven special petitions for an answer in the different cases in which, in future, prayers may be offered to God in the temple. The first prayer (1Ki 8:31, 1Ki 8:32) has reference to the oaths sworn in the temple, the sanctity of which God is asked to protect. “If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him, to cause him to swear, and he come (and) swear before the altar in this house, then wilt Thou hear,” etc. אשׁר את does not mean either “granted that” (Thenius) or “just when” (Ewald, §533, a.), although אם is used in the Chronicles, and we might render it freely “when;” but את is simply an accusative particle, serving to introduce the following clause, in the sense of “as for,” or “with regard to (such a case as) that a man sins” (vid., Ewald, §277, a.). אלה וּבא cannot be taken as anything but an asyndeton. For if אלה were a substantive, it would have the article (האלה) provided it were the subject, and the verb would be written בּאה; and if it were the object, we should have בּאלה, as in Neh 10:30 (cf. Eze 17:13). The prayer refers to the cases mentioned in Exo 22:6-12 and Lev 26:17, when property entrusted to any one had been lost or injured, or when a thing had been found and the finding was denied, or when an act of fraud had been committed; in which cases the law required not only compensation with the addition of a fifth of its value, but also a trespass-offering as an expiation of the sin committed by taking a false oath. But as this punishment could only be inflicted when the guilty person afterwards confessed his guilt, many false oaths might have been sworn in the cases in question and have remained unpunished, so far as men were concerned. Solomon therefore prays that the Lord will hear every such oath that shall have been sworn before the altar, and work (עשׂית), i.e., actively interpose, and judge His servants, to punish the guilty and justify the innocent. The construction השּׁמים תּשׁמע (1Ki 8:32, 1Ki 8:34, 1Ki 8:36, etc.) can be explained more simply from the adverbial use of the accusative (Ewald, §300, b.), than from השּׁמים אל in 1Ki 8:30. בּראשׁו דּרכּו תּת, to give (bring) his way upon his head, i.e., to cause the merited punishment to fall upon him (cf. Eze 9:10; Eze 11:21, etc.). רשׁע הרשׁרע and צדּיק הצדּיק recall Deu 25:2. For כּצדקתו לו תּת compare 2Sa 22:21, 2Sa 22:25. - The following cases are all taken from Lev 26 and Deut 28.

1Ki 8:33-34

The second petition, - “If Thy people Israel are smitten by the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee, and they turn to Thee and confess Thy name, ... then hear ... and bring them back into the land,” - refers to the threatenings in Lev 26:17 and Deu 28:25, where the nation is threatened with defeat and subjugation on the part of enemies, who shall invade the land, in which case prisoners of war are carried away into foreign lands, but the mass of the people remain in the land, so that they who are beaten can pray to the Lord in the temple, that He will forgive them their sin, save them out of the power of the enemy, and bring back the captives and fugitives into their fatherland.

1Ki 8:35-36

The third prayer refers to the remission of the punishment of drought threatened against the land, when the heaven is shut up, according to Lev 26:19; Deu 11:17; Deu 28:23. תענם כּי, because Thou humblest them (lxx, Vulg.); not “that Thou hearest them” (Chald. and others). תורם כּי, because Thou teachest them the good way. These words correspond to כי תענם, and contain a motive for forgiveness. Because God teaches His people and seeks by means of chastisements to bring them back to the good way when they fail to keep His commandments, He must forgive when they recognise the punishment as a divine chastisement and come to Him with penitential prayer.

1Ki 8:37-40

The fourth prayer relates to the removal of other land-plagues: famine (Lev 26:19-20, and Lev 26:26; Deu 28:23); pestilence (Lev 26:25); blight and mildew in the corn (Deu 28:22); locusts (חסיל, devourer, is connected with ארבּה without a copula, - in the Chronicles by Vâv, - to depict the plague of locusts more vividly before their eyes after Deu 28:38); oppression by enemies in their own land; lastly, plagues and diseases of all kinds, such as are threatened against the rebellious in Lev 26:16 and Deu 28:59-61. יצר is not the imperfect Kal of צוּר (Ges., Dietr., Fürst, Olsh. Gramm. p. 524), but the imperfect Hiphil of הצר in Deu 28:52, as in Neh 9:27; and the difficult expression שׁעריו בּארץ is probably to be altered into שׁ בּארץ, whilst שׁעריו is either to be taken as a second object to יצר, as Luther supposes, or as in apposition to בּארץ, in the land (in) his gates, as Bertheau assumes. The assertion of Thenius, that all the versions except the Vulgate are founded upon the reading עריו בּעחת, is incorrect. יהיה כּי is omitted after kaal-machalaah, since Solomon dropped the construction with which he commenced, and therefore briefly summed up all the prayers, addressed to God under the various chastisements here named, in the expression כּל־תּחנּה כּל־תּפלּה, which is placed absolutely at the opening of 1Ki 8:38. וגו ידעוּן אשׁר, “when they perceive each one the stroke of his heart,” i.e., not dolor animi quem quisque sentit (Vatab., C. a Lap.), but the plague regarded as a blow falling upon the heart, in other words, as a chastisement inflicted upon him by God. In all these cases may God hear his prayer, and do and give to every one according to his way. תּדע אשׁר, “as Thou knowest his heart,” i.e., as is profitable for every one according to the state of his heart of his disposition. God can do this, because He knows the hearts of all men (cf. Jer 17:10). The purpose assigned for all this hearing of prayer (1Ki 8:40), viz., “that they may fear Thee,” etc., is the same as in Deu 4:10.

1Ki 8:41-43

The fifth prayer has reference to the hearing of the prayers of foreigners, who shall pray in the temple. Solomon assumes as certain that foreigners will come and worship before Jehovah in His temple; even Moses himself had allowed the foreigners living among the Israelites to offer sacrifice at the temple (Num 15:14.), and the great name and the arm of the Lord, that had manifested itself in deeds of omnipotence, had become known in the times of Moses to the surrounding nations (Exo 15:14; Exo 18:1; Jos 5:1), and the report of this had reached Balaam even in Mesopotamia (see the Comm. on Num 22). הנּכרי אל does not mean “as for the foreigners” (Thenius), for אל is never used in this sense; but it is to be connected with תּשׁמע in 1Ki 8:43, as אל שׁמע frequently occurs (Bertheau).

1Ki 8:44-45

Finally, in 1Ki 8:44-50 Solomon also asks, that when prayers are directed towards the temple by those who are far away both from Jerusalem and the temple, they may be heard. The sixth case, in 1Ki 8:44, 1Ki 8:45, is, if Israel should be engaged in war with an enemy by the appointment of God; and the seventh, in 1Ki 8:46-50, is, if it should be carried away by enemies on account of its sins.Bertheau (on Chron.) has already proved that there is no force in the arguments by which Thenius attempts to show, on doctrinal grounds, that 1Ki 8:44-51 are an interpolated addition. As he correctly observes, “it is, on the contrary, quite in harmony with the original plan, that the two cases are also anticipated, in which the prayers of Israelites who are at a distance from the seat of the sanctuary are directed towards the temple, since it is perfectly appropriate that the prayers of the Israelites at the place of the sanctuary are mentioned first, then the prayers of foreigners at the same place, and lastly the prayers of Israelites, who, because they are not in Jerusalem, are obliged to content themselves with turning their faces towards the temple. We might also point to the fact that it is probably intentional that exactly seven cases are enumerated, inasmuch as in enumerations of this kind, which are not restricted by the nature of the case to any definite measure, such a number as seven easily furnishes an outward limit,” - or more correctly: because seven as a sacred or covenant number was more appropriate than any other to embrace all prayers addressed to God.

By the expression in 1Ki 8:44, “in the way which Thou sendest them,” the war is described as one undertaken by the direction of God, whether wages against an enemy who has invaded the land, or outside the land of Canaan for the chastisement of the heathen dwelling around them. “And shall pray וגו העיר דּרך:” i.e., in the direction towards the chosen city and the temple, namely, in faith in the actual presence of the covenant God in the temple. יהוה אל, “to Jehovah,” instead of “to Thee,” is probably introduced for the sake of greater clearness. משׁפּטם ועשׂית, and secure them justice (cf. Deu 10:18; Psa 9:5, etc.).

1Ki 8:46-49

In the seventh prayer, viz., if Israel should be given up to its enemies on account of its sins and carried away into the land of the enemy, Solomon had the threat in Lev 26:33, Lev 26:44 in his eye, though he does not confine his prayer to the exile of the whole nation foretold in that passage and in Deu 28:45., Deu 28:64, and Deu 30:1-5, but extends it to every case of transportation to an enemy’s land. לבּם אל והשׁיבוּ, “and they take it to heart,” compare Deu 4:39, and without the object, Deu 30:1; not “they feel remorse,” as Thenius supposes, because the Hiphil cannot have this reflective signification (Böttcher). The confession of sin in 1Ki 8:47, רשׁענוּ והעוינוּ חטאנוּ, was adopted by the Jews when in captivity as the most exhaustive expression of their deep consciousness of guilt (Dan 9:5; Psa 106:6). חטא, to slip, labi, depicts sin as a wandering from right; העוה, to act perversely, as a conscious perversion of justice; and רשׁע as a passionate rebellion against God (cf. Isa 57:20).

1Ki 8:50-53 לרחמים וּנתתּם: literally, “and make (place) them for compassion before their captors, that they may have compassion upon them,” i.e., cause them to meet with compassion from their enemies, who have carried them away. - In 1Ki 8:51-53 Solomon closes with general reasons, which should secure the hearing of his prayer on the part of God. Bertheau follows the earlier commentators in admitting that these reasons refer not merely to the last petitions, but to all the preceding ones.Seb. Schmidt has already given the following explanation: “These things which I have asked for myself and for my people do Thou, O Lord, because it is for Thy people that I have prayed, and I am their king: therefore hear Thou the prayers of Thy servant and Thy people. For in 1Ki 8:52 he makes mention of his own case and of the cases of all the rest, in which they would call upon the Lord.

The plea “for they are Thy people,” etc. (1Ki 8:51), is taken from Deu 4:10; and that in 1Ki 8:53, “Thou didst separate them,” etc., is taken from Lev 20:24, Lev 20:26, compared with Exo 19:5. וגו עיניך להיות, “that Thine eyes may be opened,” follows upon ושׁמעתּ (“then hear Thou”) in 1Ki 8:49; just as 1Ki 8:29 at the commencement of the prayer follows upon וּפנית in 1Ki 8:28. The recurrence of the same expression shows that the prayer is drawing to a close, and is rounded off by a return to the thought with which it opened. “As Thou spakest by Moses” points back to Exo 19:5. - In 2Ch 6:40-42 the conclusion of the prayer is somewhat altered, and closes with the appeal to the Lord to cause salvation and grace to go forth from the temple over His people.

1Ki 8:54-55

Concluding Act of the dedication of the temple. 1Ki 8:54-61. Blessing the congregation. - After the conclusion of the prayer, Solomon rose up from his knees and blessed all the assembled congregation. פּרוּשׂות וכפּיו is a circumstantial clause, which must be connected with the previous words and rendered thus: “from lying upon his knees with his hands spread out towards heaven.” “And he stood,” i.e., he came from the altar and stood nearer to the assembled congregation. The blessing begins with praise to the Lord for the fulfilment of His promises (1Ki 8:16), and consists in the petition that the Lord will always fulfil his (Solomon’s) prayers, and grant His people the promised salvation.This blessing is omitted from the Chronicles, because it is simply a recapitulation of the longer prayer; but instead of it we have a statement, in 2Ch 7:1-4, to the effect that fire fell from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering upon the altar. This statement, which even Movers regards as a traditional, i.e., a legendary addition, according to his erroneous view of the sources of the Chronicles, is confirmed by the similar miracle which occurred at the dedication of the temple. It is omitted, like so many other things in the account before us, because all that was essential in this occurrence was contained implicite in the filling of the temple with the glory of the Lord. Just as at the consecration of the Mosaic sanctuary the Lord did not merely manifest His gracious presence through the cloud which filled the tent, but also kindled the first sacrifice with fire from heaven (Lev 9:24), to sanctify the altar as the legitimate place of sacrifice; so also at the temple the miraculous kindling of the first sacrifice with fire from heaven was the immediate and even necessary consequence of the filling of the temple with the cloud, in which the presence of Jehovah was embodied.

1Ki 8:56-58

The praise of Jehovah rests, so far as the first part is concerned, upon the promise in Deu 12:9-10, and upon its fulfilment in Jos 21:44-45 and Jos 23:14; and the second part is founded upon Lev 26:3-13 and Deu 28:1-14, where the “good word, which the Lord spake by Moses,” is more precisely described as the blessing which the Lord had promised to His people and had hitherto bestowed upon them. He had already given Israel rest by means of Joshua when the land of Canaan was taken; but since many parts of the land still remained in the hands of the Canaanites, this rest was only fully secured to them by David’s victories over all their enemies. This glorious fulfilment warranted the hope that the Lord would also fulfil in the future what He had promised His servant David (2Sa 7:10), if the people themselves would only faithfully adhere to their God. Solomon therefore sums up all his wishes for the good of the kingdom in 1Ki 8:57-61 in the words, “May Jehovah our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor forsake us, to incline our heart to Himself, that we may walk in all His ways,” etc. - that the evil words predicted by Moses in Lev 26:14., Deu 28:15, may not fall upon us. For 1Ki 8:57 compare Deu 31:6, Deu 31:8, and Jos 1:5. יטּשׁנוּ אל corresponds to ירפּך אל in these passages. In the Pentateuch נטשׁ is used but once of men who forsake the Lord, viz., Deu 32:15; in other cases it is only used in the general sense of casting away, letting alone, and other similar meanings. It is first used of God, in the sense of forsaking His people, in Psa 27:9 in connection with עזב; and it frequently occurs afterwards in Jeremiah.

1Ki 8:59-60

May these my words, which I have prayed (vv. 25-43), be near to Jehovah our God day and night, that He may secure the right of His servant (the king) and of His people, as every day demands. בּיומו יום דּבר, as in Exo 5:13; Exo 16:4. - For 1Ki 8:60 compare 1Ki 8:43.

1Ki 8:61

Let your heart be יי עם שׁלם, wholly, undividedly devoted to the Lord (cf. 1Ki 11:4; 1Ki 15:3, 1Ki 15:14, etc.).

1Ki 8:62-64 Sacrifices and feast. - 1Ki 8:62, 1Ki 8:63. The dedicatory prayer was followed by a magnificent sacrifice offered by the king and all Israel. The thank-offering (שׁלמים זבח) consisted, in accordance with the magnitude of the manifestation of divine grace, of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. This enormous number of sacrificial animals, in which J. D. Michaelis found serious difficulties, Thenius endeavours to set aside as too large, by calculating that as these sacrifices were offered in seven days, reckoning the sacrificial day at twelve full hours, there must have been about five oxen and about twenty-five sheep slaughtered and offered in sacrifice every minute for the king alone. This calculation would be conclusive, if there were any foundation for the three assumptions upon which it rests: namely, (1) that the number of sacrifices mentioned was offered for the king alone; (2) that the slaughtering and preparation of the sacrificial animals could only be performed by the priests and Levites; and (3) that the whole of the flesh of these sacrificial animals was to be consumed upon the altar. But these three assumptions are all erroneous. There is nothing in the account about their being “for the king alone.” For it is obvious that the words “and Solomon offered a sacrifice” are not to be understood as signifying that the king had these sacrifices offered for himself alone, but that the words refer to the sacrifices offered by the king and all Israel for the consecration of the temple, from the simple fact that in 1Ki 8:62 “Solomon and all Israel” are expressly mentioned as offering sacrifice, and that after the statement of the number of the sacrifices we find these words in 1Ki 8:63 : “so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.” Moreover it is very evident from the law in Lev 1 and 3 that at the offering of sacrifice the slaughtering, flaying, and preparation of the sacrificial animals were performed by any Israelite, and that it was only the sprinkling of the blood against the altar and the burning of the sacrificial portions upon the altar which were the exclusive province of the priests. In order to form a correct idea of the enormous number of sacrifices which could be slaughtered on any one day we will refer again to the notice in Josephus (Bell. Jud. vi. 9, 3) already mentioned in the Comm. on the Pentateuch, p. 683 (translation), that in the reign of the emperor Nero the procurator Cestius directed the priests to count the number of the paschal lambs, and that they counted 250,000, which were slaughtered for the passover between the ninth and eleventh hours of the day, and of which the blood was sprinkled upon the altar. If then it was possible at that time to slaughter more than 250,000 lambs in three hours of the afternoon, and to sprinkle the blood upon the altar, there can have been no difficulty in slaughtering and sacrificing 3000 oxen and 18,000 sheep at the dedication of the temple on each of the seven days of the festival. As all Israel from Hamath to the brook of Egypt came to Jerusalem to this festival, we shall not be above the mark if we estimate the number of the heads of houses present at 100,000. And with very little trouble they could have slaughtered 3000 oxen and 18,000 sheep a day and prepared them for sacrificing. How many priests took an active part in this, we do not indeed know, in fact we have no information as to the number of the priests in Solomon’s time; but we know that in the time of David the number of Levites qualified for service, reckoning from their thirtieth year, was 38,000, so that we may certainly assume that there were two or three thousand priests. Now if only the half of these Levites and priests had come to Jerusalem to the dedication of the temple, they alone could have slaughtered 3000 oxen and 18,000 sheep every day. And would not a thousand priests have been sufficient to sprinkle the blood of so many animals upon the altar and to turn the fat between the morning and evening sacrifice? If we divided these sacrifices among a thousand priests, each one would only have had to attend to the sprinkling of the blood and burning of the fat of three oxen and eighteen sheep each day. - But the brazen altar of burnt-offering might not have been large enough for the burning of so many sacrifices, notwithstanding the fact that only the fat portions of the thank-offerings were consumed, and they did not require much room; since the morning and evening burnt-offerings were added daily, and as festal offerings they would certainly not consist of a lamb only, but at least of one bullock, and they were burned whole, although the altar of burnt-offering with a surface of 144 square yards (see my bibl. Archäol. i. p. 127) would hold a very large quantity of sacrificial flesh at once. In v. 64, however, it is expressly stated that Solomon sanctified the middle of the court, which was before the house of Jehovah, to burn the burnt-offering and meat-offering and the fat portions of the thank-offerings there, because the brazen altar was too small to hold these sacrifices. “The middle of the court” (החצר תּוך) is the whole of the inner portion of the court of the priests, which was in front of the temple-house and formed the centre of the court surrounding the temple. Of course we have not to imagine that the sacrifices were offered upon the stone pavement of the court, but must assume that there were auxiliary altars erected in the inner court around the brazen altar. By the burnt-offering and the meat-offering (belonging to it: ואת־המּנחה את־העולה) we are not to understand certain burnt-offerings, which were offered for a definite number of thank-offerings, as Thenius supposes. The singular and the definite article are both at variance with this. The reference is rather to the (well-known) daily morning and evening burnt-offerings with their meat-offering, and in this case, no doubt, to such a festal sacrifice as is prescribed in Num 28 for the great yearly feasts.

1Ki 8:65-66

Thus Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the neighbourhood of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, i.e., from the whole land in its fullest extent from north to south. “The district of Hamath,” i.e., Epiphania on the Orontes, is mentioned as the northern boundary (cf. Num 34:8; Num 13:21; Jos 13:5, etc.); and “the brook of Egypt” (מצרים נחל), Rhinocorura, as the southern boundary (cf. Num 34:8; Jos 15:4). “The feast” (החג), which Solomon held with the people “seven days and seven days, fourteen days,” is not the feast of the dedication, but, as in 1Ki 8:2, the feast of tabernacles, which fell in the seventh month; and the meaning of the verse is, that on that occasion the feast of the seventh month was kept for fourteen days, namely, seven days as the feast of the dedication, and seven days as the feast of tabernacles. We are obliged to take the words in this way, partly on account of the evident reference to בּחג (at the feast) in 1Ki 8:2 in the expression את־החג (the feast) in this verse, and partly on account of the statement which follows in 1Ki 8:66, “and on the eighth day he sent the people away.” The “eight day” is not the first day of the feast of tabernacles (Thenius); but the eighth day, as the conclusion of the feast of tabernacles, עצרת (Lev 23:36). The correctness of this view is placed beyond all doubt by the context in the Chronicles, which states more clearly that, “Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him ... and they kept עצרת (the closing feast) on the eight day; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days; and on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away.” The feast of tabernacles lasted seven days, from the 15th to the 21st, with a closing festival on the eighth day, i.e., the 22nd of the month (Lev 23:33-39). This festival was preceded by the dedication of the temple from the 8th to the 14th of the month. The statement in 1Ki 8:66, “on the eighth day he sent the people away,” if we take the words in their strict sense, is at variance with the statement in the Chronicles, “on the 23rd day,” since the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles was the 22nd day of the month; but it may easily be accounted for from want of precision in a well-known matter. Solomon sent the people away on the eighth day, i.e., on the afternoon or evening of the atzereth of the feast of tabernacles, so that on the morning of the next day, i.e., on the 23rd of the month, the people took their journey home, “joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to His servant David and to the people.” David is mentioned, because the completion of the building of the temple was the fulfilment of the divine promise given to him. “Tents,” for houses, as in 2Sa 10:1; Jdg 7:8, and other passages.

The Dedication of the Temple. (b. c. 1003.)

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord , and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. 5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto 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 unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. 7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, 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 oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, 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. 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 , 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 .

The temple, though richly beautified, yet while it was without the ark was like a body without a soul, or a candlestick without a candle, or (to speak more properly) a house without an inhabitant. All the cost and pains bestowed on this stately structure are lost if God do not accept them; and, unless he please to own it as the place where he will record his name, it is after all but a ruinous heap. When therefore all the work is ended (ch. vii. 51), the one thing needful is yet behind, and that is the bringing in of the ark. This therefore is the end which must crown the work, and which here we have an account of the doing of with great solemnity.

I. Solomon presides in this service, as David did in the bringing up of the ark to Jerusalem; and neither of them thought it below him to follow the ark nor to lead the people in their attendance on it. Solomon glories in the title of the preacher (Eccl. i. 1), and the master of assemblies, Eccl. xii. 11. This great assembly he summons (v. 1), and he is the centre of it, for to him they all assembled (v. 2) at the feast in the seventh month, namely, the feast of tabernacles, which was appointed on the fifteenth day of that month, Lev. xxiii. 34. David, like a very good man, brings the ark to a convenient place, near him; Solomon, like a very great man, brings it to a magnificent place. As every man has received the gift, so let him minister; and let children proceed in God's service where their parents left off.

II. All Israel attend the service, their judges and the chief of their tribes and families, all their officers, civil and military, and (as they speak in the north) the heads of their clans. A convention of these might well be called an assembly of all Israel. These came together, on this occasion, 1. To do honour to Solomon, and to return him the thanks of the nation for all the good offices he had done in kindness to them. 2. To do honour to the ark, to pay respect to it, and testify their universal joy and satisfaction in its settlement. The advancement of the ark in external splendour, though it has often proved too strong a temptation to its hypocritical followers, yet, because it may prove an advantage to its true interests, is to be rejoiced in (with trembling) by all that wish well to it. Public mercies call for public acknowledgments. Those that appeared before the Lord did not appear empty, for they all sacrificed sheep and oxen innumerable, v. 5. The people in Solomon's time were very rich, very easy, and very cheerful, and therefore it was fit that, on this occasion, they should consecrate not only their cheerfulness, but a part of their wealth, to God and his honour.

III. The priests do their part of the service. In the wilderness, the Levites were to carry the ark, because then there were not priests enough to do it; but here (it being the last time that the ark was to be carried) the priests themselves did it, as they were ordered to do when it surrounded Jericho. We are here told, 1. What was in the ark, nothing but the two tables of stone (v. 9), a treasure far exceeding all the dedicated things both of David and Solomon. The pot of manna and Aaron's rod were by the ark, but not in it. 2. What was brought up with the ark (v. 4): The tabernacle of the congregation. It is probable that both that which Moses set up in the wilderness, which was in Gibeon, and that which David pitched in Zion, were brought to the temple, to which they did, as it were, surrender all their holiness, merging it in that of the temple, which must henceforward be the place where God must be sought unto. Thus will all the church's holy things on earth, that are so much its joy and glory, be swallowed up in the perfection of holiness above. 3. Where it was fixed in its place, the place appointed for its rest after all its wanderings (v. 6): In the oracle of the house, whence they expected God to speak to them, even in the most holy place, which was made so by the presence of the ark, under the wings of the great cherubim which Solomon set up (ch. vi. 27), signifying the special protection of angels, under which God's ordinances and the assemblies of his people are taken. The staves of the ark were drawn out, so as to be seen from under the wings of the cherubim, to direct the high priest to the mercy-seat, over the ark, when he went in, once a year, to sprinkle the blood there; so that still they continued of some use, though there was no longer occasion for them to carry it by.

IV. God graciously owns what is done and testifies his acceptance of it, v. 10, 11. The priests might come into the most holy place till God manifested his glory there; but, thenceforward, none might, at their peril, approach the ark, except the high priest, on the day of atonement. Therefore it was not till the priests had come out of the oracle that the Shechinah took possession of it, in a cloud, which filled not only the most holy place, but the temple, so that the priests who burnt incense at the golden altar could not bear it. By this visible emanation of the divine glory, 1. God put an honour upon the ark, and owned it as a token of his presence. The glory of it had been long diminished and eclipsed by its frequent removes, the meanness of its lodging, and its being exposed too much to common view; but God will now show that it is as dear to him as ever, and he will have it looked upon with as much veneration as it was when Moses first brought it into his tabernacle. 2. He testified his acceptance of the building and furnishing of the temple as good service done to his name and his kingdom among men. 3. He struck an awe upon this great assembly; and, by what they saw, confirmed their belief of what they read in the books of Moses concerning the glory of God's appearance to their fathers, that hereby they might be kept close to the service of the God of Israel and fortified against temptations to idolatry. 4. He showed himself ready to hear the prayer Solomon was now about to make; and not only so, but took up his residence in this house, that all his praying people might there be encouraged to make their applications to him. But the glory of God appeared in a cloud, a dark cloud, to signify, (1.) The darkness of that dispensation in comparison with the light of the gospel, by which, with open face, we behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. (2.) The darkness of our present state in comparison with the vision of God, which will be the happiness of heaven, where the divine glory is unveiled. Now we can only say what he is not, but then we shall see him as he is.

12 Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 13 I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. 14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;) 15 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath 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 a house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 18 And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. 19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. 20 And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake, 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 a 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 , which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Here, I. Solomon encourages the priests, who came out of the temple from their ministration, much astonished at the dark cloud that overshadowed them. The disciples of Christ feared when they entered into the cloud, though it was a bright cloud (Luke ix. 34), so did the priests when they found themselves wrapped in a thick cloud. To silence their fears, 1. He reminds them of that which they could not but know, that this was a token of God's presence (v. 12): The Lord said he would dwell in the thick darkness. It is so far from being a token of his displeasure that it is an indication of his favour; for he had said, I will appear in a cloud, Lev. xvi. 2. Note, Nothing is more effectual to reconcile us to dark dispensations than to consider what God hath said, and to compare his word and works together; as Lev. x. 3, This is that which the Lord hath said. God is light (1 John i. 5), and he dwells in light (1 Tim. vi. 16), but he dwells with men in the thick darkness, makes that his pavilion, because they could not bear the dazzling brightness of his glory. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself. Thus our holy faith is exercised and our holy fear is increased. Where God dwells in light faith is swallowed up in vision and fear in love. 2. He himself bids it welcome, as worthy of all acceptation; and since God, by this cloud, came down to take possession, he does, in a few words, solemnly give him possession (v. 13): "Surely I come," says God. "Amen," says Solomon, "Even so, come, Lord,. The house is thy own, entirely thy own, I have surely built it for thee, and furnished it for thee; it is for ever thy own, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever; it shall never be alienated nor converted to any other use; the ark shall never be removed from it, never unsettled again." It is Solomon's joy that God has taken possession; and it is his desire that he would keep possession. Let not the priests therefore dread that in which Solomon so much triumphs.

II. He instructs the people, and gives them a plain account concerning this house, which they now saw God take possession of. He spoke briefly to the priests, to satisfy them (a word to the wise), but turned his face about (v. 14) from them to the congregation that stood in the outer court, and addressed himself to them largely.

1. He blessed them. When they saw the dark cloud enter the temple they blessed themselves, being astonished at it and afraid lest the thick darkness should be utter darkness to them. The amazing sight, such as they had never seen in their days, we may suppose, drove every man to his prayers, and the vainest minds were made serious by it. Solomon therefore set in with their prayers, and blessed them all, as one having authority (for the less is blessed of the better); in God's name, he spoke peace to them, and a blessing, like that with which the angel blessed Gideon when he was in a fright, upon a similar occasion. Judg. vi. 22, 23, Peace be unto thee. Fear not; thou shalt not die. Solomon blessed them, that is, he pacified them, and freed them from the consternation they were in. To receive this blessing, they all stood up, in token of reverence and readiness to hear and accept it. It is a proper posture to be in when the blessing is pronounced.

2. He informed them concerning this house which he had built and was now dedicating.

(1.) He began his account with a thankful acknowledgment of the good hand of his God upon him hitherto: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, v. 15. What we have the pleasure of God must have the praise of. He thus engaged the congregation to lift up their hearts in thanksgivings to God, which would help to still the tumult of spirit which, probably, they were in. "Come," says he, "let God's awful appearances not drive us from him, but draw us to him; let us bless the Lord God of Israel." Thus Job, under a dark scene, blessed the name of the Lord. Solomon here blessed God, [1.] For his promise which he spoke with his mouth to David. [2.] For the performance, that he had now fulfilled it with his hand. We have then the best sense of God's mercies, and most grateful both to ourselves and to our God, when we run up those streams to the fountain of the covenant, and compare what God does with what he has said.

(2.) Solomon is now making a solemn surrender or dedication of this house unto God, delivering it to God by his own act and deed. Grants and conveyances commonly begin with recitals of what has been before done, leading to what is now done: accordingly, here is a recital of the special causes and considerations moving Solomon to build this house. [1.] He recites the want of such a place. It was necessary that this should be premised; for, according to the dispensation they were under, there must be but one place in which they must expect God to record his name. If, therefore, there were any other chosen, this would be a usurpation. But he shows, from what God himself had said, that there was no other (v. 16): I chose no city to build a house in for my name; therefore there is occasion for the building of this. [2.] He recites David's purpose to build such a place. God chose the person first that should rule his people (I chose David, v. 16) and then put it into his heart to build a house for God's name, v. 17. It was not a project of his own, for the magnifying of himself; but his good father, of blessed memory, laid the first design of it, though he lived not to lay the first stone. [3.] He recites God's promise concerning himself. God approved his father's purpose (v. 18): Thou didst well, that it was in thy heart. Note, Sincere intentions to do good shall be graciously approved and accepted of God, though Providence prevent our putting them in execution. The desire of a man is his kindness. See 2 Cor. viii. 12. God accepted David's good will, yet would not permit him to do the good work, but reserved the honour of it for his son (v. 19): He shall build the house to my name; so that what he had done was not of his own head, nor for his own glory, but the work itself was according to his father's design and his doing it was according to God's designation. [4.] He recites what he himself had done, and with what intention: I have built a house, not for my own name, but for the name of the Lord God of Israel (v. 20), and set there a place for the ark, v. 21. Thus all the right, title, interest, claim, and demand, whatsoever, which he or his had or might have in or to this house, or any of its appurtenances, he resigns, surrenders, and gives up, to God for ever. It is for his name, and his ark. In this, says he, the Lord hath performed his word that he spoke. Note, Whatever good we do, we must look upon it as the performance of God's promise to us, rather than the performance of our promises to him. The more we do for God the more we are indebted to him; for our sufficiency is of him, and not of ourselves.

Solomon's Prayer. (b. c. 1003.)

22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: 23 And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 25 Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. 26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. 27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? 28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: 32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. 35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. 37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, 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 man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: 39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) 40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; 42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; 43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. 44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: 51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. 53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God .

Solomon having made a general surrender of this house to God, which God had signified his acceptance of by taking possession, next follows Solomon's prayer, in which he makes a more particular declaration of the uses of that surrender, with all humility and reverence, desiring that God would agree thereto. In short, it is his request that this temple may be deemed and taken, not only for a house of sacrifice (no mention is made of that in all this prayer, that was taken for granted), but a house of prayer for all people; and herein it was a type of the gospel church; see Isa. lvi. 7, compared with Matt. xxi. 13. Therefore Solomon opened this house, not only with an extraordinary sacrifice, but with an extraordinary prayer.

I. The person that prayed this prayer was great. Solomon did not appoint one of the priests to do it, nor one of the prophets, but did it himself, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, v. 22. 1. It was well that he was able to do it, a sign that he had made a good improvement of the pious education which his parents gave him. With all his learning, it seems, he learnt to pray well, and knew how to express himself to God in a suitable manner, pro re nata—on the spur of the occasion, without a prescribed form. In the crowd of his philosophical transactions, his proverbs, and songs, he did not forget his devotions. He was a gainer by prayer (ch. iii. 11, &c.), and, we may suppose, gave himself much to it, so that he excelled, as we find here, in praying gifts. 2. It was well that he was willing to do it, and not shy of performing divine service before so great a congregation. He was far from thinking it any disparagement to him to be his own chaplain and the mouth of the assembly to God; and shall any think themselves too great to do this office for their own families? Solomon, in all his other glory, even on his ivory throne, looked not so great as he did now. Great men should thus support the reputation of religious exercises and so honour God with their greatness. Solomon was herein a type of Christ, the great intercessor for all over whom he rules.

II. The posture in which he prayed was very reverent, and expressive of humility, seriousness, and fervency in prayer. He stood before the altar of the Lord, intimating that he expected the success of his prayer in virtue of that sacrifice which should be offered up in the fulness of time, typified by the sacrifices offered at that altar. But when he addressed himself to prayer, 1. He kneeled down, as appears, v. 54, where he is said to rise from his knees; compare 2 Chron. vi. 13. Kneeling is the most proper posture for prayer, Eph. iii. 14. The greatest of men must not think it below them to kneel before the Lord their Maker. Mr. Herbert says, "Kneeling never spoiled silk stocking." 2. He spread forth his hands towards heaven, and (as it should seem by v. 54) continued so to the end of the prayer, hereby expressing his desire towards, and expectations from, God, as a Father in heaven. He spread forth his hands, as it were to offer up the prayer from an open enlarged heart and to present it to heaven, and also to receive thence, with both arms, the mercy which he prayed for. Such outward expressions of the fixedness and fervour of devotion ought not to be despised or ridiculed.

III. The prayer itself was very long, and perhaps much longer than is here recorded. At the throne of grace we have liberty of speech, and should use our liberty. It is not making long prayers, but making them for a pretence, that Christ condemns. In this excellent prayer Solomon does, as we should in every prayer,

1. Give glory to God. This he begins with, as the most proper act of adoration. He addresses himself to God as the Lord God of Israel, a God in covenant with them And, (1.) He gives him the praise of what he is, in general, the best of beings in himself ("There is no God like thee, none of the powers in heaven or earth to be compared with thee"), and the best of masters to his people: "Who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants; not only as good as thy word in keeping covenant, but better than thy word in keeping mercy, doing that for them of which thou hast not given them an express promise, provided they walk before thee with all their heart, are zealous for thee, with an eye to thee." (2.) He gives him thanks for what he had done, in particular, for his family (v. 24): "Thou hast kept with thy servant David, as with thy other servants, that which thou promisedst him." The promise was a great favour to him, his support and joy, and now performance is the crown of it: Thou hast fulfilled it, as it is this day. Fresh experiences of the truth of God's promises call for enlarged praises.

2. He sues for grace and favour from God.

(1.) That God would perform to him and his the mercy which he had promised, v. 25, 26. Observe how this comes in. He thankfully acknowledges the performance of the promise in part; hitherto God had been faithful to his word: "Thou hast kept with thy servant David that which thou promisedst him, so far that his son fills his throne and has built the intended temple; therefore now keep with thy servant David that which thou hast further promised him, and which yet remains to be fulfilled in its season." Note, The experiences we have had of God's performing his promises should encourage us to depend upon them and plead them with God: and those who expect further mercies must be thankful for former mercies. Hitherto God has helped, 2 Cor. i. 10. Solomon repeats the promise (v. 25): There shall not fail thee a man to sit on the throne, not omitting the condition, so that thy children take heed to their way; for we cannot expect God's performance of the promise but upon our performance of the condition. And then he humbly begs this entail (v. 26): Now, O God of Israel! let thy word be verified. God's promises (as we have often observed) must be both the guide of our desires and the ground of our hopes and expectations in prayer. David had prayed (2 Sam. vii. 25): Lord, do as thou hast said. Note, Children should learn of their godly parents how to pray, and plead in prayer.

(2.) That God would have respect to this temple which he had now taken possession of, and that his eyes might be continually open towards it (v. 29), that he would graciously own it, and so put an honour upon it. To this purpose,

[1.] He premises, First, A humble admiration of God's gracious condescension (v. 27): "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Can we imagine that a Being infinitely high, and holy, and happy, will stoop so low as to let it be said of him that he dwells upon the earth and blesses the worms of the earth with his presence—the earth, that is corrupt, and overspread with sin—cursed, and reserved to fire? Lord, how is it?" Secondly, A humble acknowledgment of the incapacity of the house he had built, though very capacious, to contain God: "The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, for no place can include him who is present in all places; even this house is too little, too mean to be the residence of him that is infinite in being and glory." Note, When we have done the most we can for God we must acknowledge the infinite distance and disproportion between us and him, between our services and his perfections.

[2.] This premised, he prays in general, First, That God would graciously hear and answer the prayer he was now praying, v. 28. It was a humble prayer (the prayer of thy servant), an earnest prayer (such a prayer as is a cry), a prayer made in faith (before thee, as the Lord, and my God): "Lord, hearken to it, have respect to it, not as the prayer of Israel's king (no man's dignity in the world, or titles of honour, will recommend him to God), but as the prayer of thy servant." Secondly, That God would in like manner hear and answer all the prayers that should, at any time hereafter, be made in or towards this house which he had now built, and of which God had said, My name shall be there (v. 29), his own prayers (Hearken to the prayers which thy servant shall make), and the prayers of all Israel, and of every particular Israelite (v. 30): "Hear it in heaven, that is indeed thy dwelling-place, of which this is but a figure; and, when thou hearest, forgive the sin that separates between them and God, even the iniquity of their holy things." a. He supposes that God's people will ever be a prayer people; he resolves to adhere to that duty himself. b. He directs them to have an eye, in their prayers, to that place where God was pleased to manifest his glory as he did not any where else on earth. None but priests might come into that place; but, when they worshipped in the courts of the temple, it must be with an eye towards it, not as the object of their worship (that were idolatry), but as an instituted medium of their worship, helping the weakness of their faith, and typifying the mediation of Jesus Christ, who is the true temple, to whom we must have an eye in every thing wherein we have to do with God. Those that were at a distance looked towards Jerusalem, for the sake of the temple, even when it was in ruins, Dan. vi. 10. c. He begs that God will hear the prayers, and forgive the sins, of all that look this way in their prayers. Not as if he thought all the devout prayers offered up to God by those who had no knowledge of this house, or regard to it, were therefore rejected; but he desired that the sensible tokens of the divine presence with which this house was blessed might always give sensible encouragement and comfort to believing petitioners.

[3.] More particularly, he here puts divers cases in which he supposed application would be made to God by prayer in or towards this house of prayer.

First, If God were appealed to by an oath for the determining of any controverted right between man and man, and the oath were taken before this altar, he prayed that God would, in some way or other, discover the truth, and judge between the contending parties, v. 31, 32. He prayed that, in difficult matters, this throne of grace might be a throne of judgment, from which God would right the injured that believingly appealed to it, and punish the injurious that presumptuously appealed to it. It was usual to swear by the temple and altar (Matt. xxiii. 16, 18), which corruption perhaps took its rise from this supposition of an oath taken, not by the temple or altar, but at or near them, for the greater solemnity.

Secondly, If the people of Israel were groaning under any national calamity, or any particular Israelite under any personal calamity, he desired that the prayers they should make in or towards this house might be heard and answered.

a. In case of public judgments, war (v. 33), want of rain (v. 35), famine, or pestilence (v. 37), and he ends with an et cetera—any plague or sickness; for no calamity befals other people which may not befal God's Israel. Now he supposes, (a.) That the cause of the judgment would be sin, and nothing else. "If they be smitten before the enemy, if there be no rain, it is because they have sinned against thee." It is sin that makes all the mischief. (b.) That the consequence of the judgment would be that they would cry to God, and make supplication to him in or towards that house. Those that slighted him before would solicit him then. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee. In their afflictions they will seek me early and earnestly. (c.) That the condition of the removal of the judgment was something more than barely praying for it. He could not, he would not, ask that their prayer might be answered unless they did also turn from their sin (v. 35) and turn again to God (v. 33), that is, unless they did truly repent and reform. On no other terms may we look for salvation in this world or the other. But, if they did thus qualify themselves for mercy, he prays, [a.] That God would hear from heaven, his holy temple above, to which they must look, through this temple. [b.] That he would forgive their sin; for then only are judgments removed in mercy when sin is pardoned. [c.] That he would teach them the good way wherein they should walk, by his Spirit, with his word and prophets; and thus they might be both profited by their trouble (for blessed is the man whom God chastens and teaches), and prepared for deliverance, which then comes in love when it finds us brought back to the good way of God and duty. [d.] That he would then remove the judgment, and redress the grievance, whatever it might be—not only accept the prayer, but give in the mercy prayed for.

b. In case of personal afflictions, v. 38-40. "If any man of Israel has an errand to thee, here let him find thee, here let him find favour with thee." He does not mention particulars, so numerous, so various, are the grievances of the children of men. (a.) He supposes that the complainants themselves would very sensibly feel their own burden, and would open that case to God which otherwise they kept to themselves and did not make any man acquainted with: They shall know every man the plague of his own heart, what it is that pains him, and (as we say) where the shoe pinches, and shall spread their hands, that is, spread their case, as Hezekiah spread the letter, in prayer, towards this house; whether the trouble be of body or mind, they shall represent it before God. Inward burdens seem especially meant. Sin is the plague of our own heart; our indwelling corruptions are our spiritual diseases. Every Israelite indeed endeavours to know these, that he may mortify them and watch against the risings of them. These he complains of. This is the burden he groans under: O wretched man that I am! These drive him to his knees, drive him to the sanctuary. Lamenting these, he spreads forth his hands in prayer. (b.) He refers all cases of this kind, that should be brought hither, to God. [a.] To his omniscience: "Thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men, not only the plagues of their hearts, their several wants and burdens" (these he knows, but he will know them from us), "but the desire and intent of the heart, the sincerity or hypocrisy of it. Thou knowest which prayer comes from the heart, and which from the lips only." The hearts of kings are not unsearchable to God. [b.] To his justice: Give to every man according to his ways; and he will not fail to do so, by the rules of grace, not the law, for then we should all be undone. [c.] To his mercy: Hear, and forgive, and do (v. 39), that they may fear thee all their days, v. 40. This use we should make of the mercy of God to us in hearing our prayers and forgiving our sins, we should thereby he engaged to fear him while we live. Fear the Lord and his goodness. There is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared.

c. The case of the stranger that is not an Israelite is next mentioned, a proselyte that comes to the temple to pray to the God of Israel, being convinced of the folly and wickedness of worshipping the gods of his country. (a.) He supposed that there would be many such (v. 41, 42), that the fame of God's great works which he had wrought for Israel, by which he proved himself to be above all gods, nay, to be God alone, would reach to distant countries: "Those that live remote shall hear of thy strong hand, and thy stretched-out arm; and this will bring all thinking considerate people to pray towards this house, that they may obtain the favour of a God that is able to do them a real kindness." (b.) He begged that God would accept and answer the proselyte's prayer (v. 43): Do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for. Thus early, thus ancient, were the indications of favour towards the sinners of the Gentiles: as there was then one law for the native and for the stranger (Exod. xii. 49), so there was one gospel for both. (c.) Herein he aimed at the glory of God and the propagating of the knowledge of him: "O let the stranger, in a special manner, speed well in his addresses, that he may carry away with him to his own country a good report of the God of Israel, that all people may know thee and fear thee (and, if they know thee aright, they will fear thee) as do thy people Israel." So far was Solomon from monopolizing the knowledge and service of God, and wishing to have them confined to Israel only (which was the envious desire of the Jews in the days of Christ and his apostles), that he prayed that all people might fear God as Israel did. Would to God that all the children of men might receive the adoption, and be made God's children! Father, thus glorify thy name.

d. The case of an army going forth to battle is next recommended by Solomon to the divine favour. It is supposed that the army is encamped at a distance, somewhere a great way off, sent by divine order against the enemy, v. 44. "When they are ready to engage, and consider the perils and doubtful issues of battle, and put up a prayer to God for protection and success, with their eye towards this city and temple, then hear their prayer, encourage their hearts, strengthen their hands, cover their heads, and so maintain their cause and give them victory." Soldiers in the field must not think it enough that those who tarry at home pray for them, but must pray for themselves, and they are here encouraged to hope fore a gracious answer. Praying should always go along with fighting.

e. The case of poor captives is the last that is here mentioned as a proper object of divine compassion. (a.) He supposes that Israel will sin. He knew them, and himself, and the nature of man, too well to think this a foreign supposition; for there is no man that sinneth not, that does not enough to justify God in the severest rebukes of his providence, no man but what is in danger of falling into gross sin, and will if God leave him to himself. (b.) He supposes, what may well be expected, that, if Israel revolt from God, God will be angry with them, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, to be carried captive into a strange country, v. 46. (c.) He then supposes that they will bethink themselves, will consider their ways (for afflictions put men upon consideration), and, when once they are brought to consider, they will repent and pray, will confess their sins, and humble themselves, saying, We have sinned and have done perversely (v. 47), and in the land of their enemies will return to God, whom they had forsaken in their own land. (d.) He supposes that in their prayers they will look towards their own land, the holy land, Jerusalem, the holy city, and the temple, the holy house, and directs them so to do (v. 48), for his sake who gave them that land, chose that city, and to whose honour that house was built. (e.) He prays that then God would hear their prayers, forgive their sins, plead their cause, and incline their enemies to have compassion on them, v. 49, 50. God has all hearts in his hand, and can, when he pleases, turn the strongest stream the contrary way, and make those to pity his people who have been their most cruel persecutors. See this prayer answered, Ps. cvi. 46. He made them to be pitied of those that carried them captive, which, if it did not release them, yet eased their captivity. (f.) He pleads their relation to God, and his interest in them: "They are thy people, whom thou hast taken into thy covenant and under thy care and conduct, thy inheritance, from which, more than from any other nation, thy rent and tribute of glory issue and arise (v. 51), separated from among all people to be so and by distinguishing favours appropriated to thee," v. 53.

Lastly, After all these particulars, he concludes with this general request, that God would hearken to all his praying people in all that they call unto him for, v. 52. No place now, under the gospel, can be imagined to add any acceptableness to the prayers made in or towards it, as the temple then did. That was a shadow: the substance is Christ; whatever we ask in his name, it shall be given us.

Solomon Blesses and Exhorts the People. (b. c. 1003.)

54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord , he arose from before the altar of the Lord , from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 Blessed be the Lord , that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, 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 nigh unto 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, as the matter shall require: 60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else. 61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

Solomon, after his sermon in Ecclesiastes, gives us the conclusion of the whole matter; so he does here, after this long prayer; it is called his blessing the people, v. 55. He pronounced it standing, that he might be the better heard, and because he blessed as one having authority. Never were words more fitly spoken, nor more pertinently. Never was congregation dismissed with that which was more likely to affect them and abide with them.

I. He gives God the glory of the great and kind things he had done for Israel, v. 56. He stood up to bless the congregation (v. 55), but began with blessing God; for we must in every thing give thanks. Do we expect God should do well for us and ours? let us take all occasion to speak well of him and his. He blesses God who has given, he does not say wealth, and honour, and power, and victory, to Israel, but rest, as if that were a blessing more valuable than any of those. Let not those who have rest under-value that blessing, though they want some others. He compares the blessings God had bestowed upon them with the promises he had given them, that God might have the honour of his faithfulness and the truth of that word of his which he has magnified above all his name. 1. He refers to the promises given by the hand of Moses, as he did (v. 15, 24) to those which were made to David. There were promises given by Moses, as well as precepts. It was long ere God gave Israel the promised rest, but they had it at last, after many trials. The day will come when God's spiritual Israel will rest from all their labours. 2. He does, as it were, write a receipt in full on the back of these bonds: There has not failed one word of all his good promises. This discharge he gives in the name of all Israel, to the everlasting honour of the divine faithfulness, and the everlasting encouragement of all those that build upon the divine promises.

II. He blesses himself and the congregation, expressing his earnest desire and hope of these four things:—1. The presence of God with them, which is all in all to the happiness of a church and nation and of every particular person. This great congregation was now shortly to be scattered, and it was not likely that they would ever be all together again in this world. Solomon therefore dismisses them with this blessing: "The Lord be present with us, and that will be comfort enough when we are absent from each other. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers (v. 57); let him not leave us, let him be to us to day, and to ours for ever, what he was to those that went before us." 2. The power of his grace upon them: "Let him be with us, and continue with us, not that he may enlarge our coasts and increase our wealth, but that he may incline our hearts to himself, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments," v. 58. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings, with which we should covet earnestly to be blessed. Our hearts are naturally averse to our duty, and apt to decline from God; it is his grace that inclines them, grace that must be obtained by prayer. 3. An answer to the prayer he had now made: "Let these my words be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, v. 59. Let a gracious return be made to every prayer that shall be made here, and that will be a continual answer to this prayer." What Solomon asks here for his prayer is still granted in the intercession of Christ, of which his supplication was a type; that powerful prevailing intercession is before the Lord our God day and night, for our great Advocate attends continually to this very thing, and we may depend upon him to maintain our cause (against the adversary that accuses us day and night, Rev. xii. 10) and the common cause of his people Israel, at all times, upon all occasions, as the matter shall require, so as to speak for us the word of the day in its day, as the original here reads it, from which we shall receive grace sufficient, suitable, and seasonable, in every time of need. 4. The glorifying of God in the enlargement of his kingdom among men. Let Israel be thus blessed, thus favoured; not that all people may become tributaries to us (Solomon sees his kingdom as great as he desires), but that all people may know that the Lord is God, and he only, and may come and worship him, v. 60. With this Solomon's prayers, like the prayers of his father David, the son of Jesse, are ended (Ps. lxxii. 19, 20): Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. We cannot close our prayers with a better summary than this, Father, glorify thy name.

III. He solemnly charges his people to continue and persevere in their duty to God. Having spoken to God for them, he here speaks from God to them, and those only would fare the better for his prayers that were made better by his preaching. His admonition, at parting, is, "Let your heart be perfect with the Lord our God, v. 61. Let your obedience be universal, without dividing—upright, without dissembling—constant, without declining;" this is evangelical perfection.

Solomon Holds a Great Feast. (b. c. 1003.)

62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord . 63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord , two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children 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 offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen 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 a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

We read before that Judah and Israel were eating and drinking, and very cheerful under their own vines and fig-trees; here we have them so in God's courts. Now they found Solomon's words true concerning Wisdom's ways, that they are ways of pleasantness.

I. They had abundant joy and satisfaction while they attended at God's house, for there, 1. Solomon offered a great sacrifice, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, enough to have drained the country of cattle if it had not been a very fruitful land. The heathen thought themselves very generous when they offered sacrifices by hundreds (hecatombs they called them), but Solomon out-did them: he offered them by thousands. When Moses dedicated his altar, the peace-offerings were twenty-four bullocks, and of rams, goats, and lambs, 180 (Num. vii. 88); then the people were poor, but now that they had increased in wealth more was expected from them. Where God sows plentifully he must reap accordingly. All these sacrifices could not be offered in one day, but in the several days of the feast. Thirty oxen a day served Solomon's table, but thousands shall go to God's altar. Few are thus minded, to spend more on their souls than on their bodies. The flesh of the peace-offerings, which belonged to the offerer, it is likely, Solomon treated the people with. Christ fed those who attended him. The brazen altar was not large enough to receive all these sacrifices, so that, to serve the present occasion, they were forced to offer many of them in the middle of the court, (v. 64), some think on altars, altars of earth or stone, erected for the purpose and taken down when the solemnity was over, others think on the bare ground. Those that will be generous in serving God need not stint themselves for want of room and occasion to be so. 2. He kept a feast, the feast of tabernacles, as it should seem, after the feast of dedication, and both together lasted fourteen days (v. 65), yet they said not, Behold, what a weariness is this!

II. They carried this joy and satisfaction with them to their own houses. When they were dismissed they blessed the king (v. 66), applauded him, admired him, and returned him the thanks of the congregation, and then went to their tents joyful and glad of heart, all easy and pleased. God's goodness was the matter of their joy, so it should be of ours at all times. They rejoiced in God's blessing both on the royal family and on the kingdom; thus should we go home rejoicing from holy ordinances, and go on our way rejoicing for God's goodness to our Lord Jesus (of whom David his servant was a type, in the advancement and establishment of his throne, pursuant to the covenant of redemption), and to all believers, his spiritual Israel, in their sanctification and consolation, pursuant to the covenant of grace. If we rejoice not herein always it is our own fault.