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. Ver. 1. _Then Solomon assembled,... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which [is] the seventh month. Ver. 2. _In the month Ethanim._] Which signifieth ripeness or strengh: either because the fruits were then ripe, _sc., _ in September, and strengthened the heart of man;... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. Ver. 3. _And all the elders of Israel came._] Heads of tribes, and fathers of families: bringing with them multitudes of common people, who cheerfully and voluntarily flocked to this feast, _quod ob hanc dedicationem magnificentiss... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 4. _And the tabenacle of the congregation._] Made by Moses, and hitherto transportative, and for many ye... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 5. _Sacrificing sheep and oxen._] At every six paces likely, as 2 Samuel 6:13, but far more liberal... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 6. _And the priests brought in the ark._] Which they had taken off the Levites' shoulders, to bring it into the place ap... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 7. _And the cherubims covered the ark_] Which had the law within it, and the mercy seat upon it: to set forth Christ's covering the curses of the law, in... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 8. _That the ends of the staves were seen._] These made a lane, as it were, for the high priest when he entered into... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Kings 8:9 [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. Ver. 9. _There was nothing in the ark save the two tables._] That is, Nothing of the book of... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy [place], that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, Ver. 10. _That the cloud filled._] By a cloud did God oft both represent his glory and cover it: signifying thereby that it was both invisible and unapproachable. But as a man that... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 11. _So that the priests could not stand,_] _sc., _ With the safeguard of their lives, their eyes at least. The holy angels clap their wings upon their faces, as it... [ Continue Reading ]
Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. Ver. 12. _The Lord hath said that he would dwell._] Lev 16:1-2 _Psalms 18:11,12_ _; _ Psa 97:2 He hath said it, and he hath often done it, for man's sake, who can far less look upon God in his excellency, than he can upon... [ Continue Reading ]
I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. Ver. 13. _I have surely built thee._] His great joy breaketh forth into a prayer. _ A settled place for thee to abide in._] Some render it, _Directionem ad solium tuum,_ a direction to thine eternal thron... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;) Ver. 14. _And the king turned his face about,_] viz., Fromward the altar and mercy seat, whither they looked when they prayed in the temple, as when otherwise they looked towa... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Ver. 15. And hath with his hand _a_ fulfilled.] He hath powerfully performed his promise to David. Solomon is thankful as well for the promise to his fat... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 16. _I brought forth Israel out of Egypt._] This memorable mercy is often mentioned... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. Ver. 17. _And it was in the heart of David my father._] Happy Solomon in such a father! and no less happy David in such a son! For his father's honour, and his own also, he so often mentioneth this... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 18. _Thou didst well, that it was in thine heart._] It is God's revealed will that men should be "ready to every good work." David was so to this of... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 19. _Unto my name,_] _i.e., _ For mine honour and service. See on 1 Kings 8:18 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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 an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. Ver. 20. _And the Lord hath performed his word._] He never yet "suffered his f... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 21. _A place for the ark._] Even the best and innermost part of the temple, because it was the chiefest evidence of God's presence, an... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 22. _And spread forth his hands towards heaven._] In prayer the ancients used to spread out the palms of their hands, as it were to receive a blessing fro... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 23. _And he said, Lord God of Israel._] This was a worthy precedent for princes, who, if they would i... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 24. _Who hast kept with thy servant David._] See 1 Kings 8:15. We may pray to good purpose, though in the selfsame words as b... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 25. _Keep... [ Continue Reading ]
And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. Ver. 26. _And now let thy word, I pray thee, be verified._] He reiterateth and reinforceth his former request: this evinceth his holy importunity. This he learned of his father. Co... [ Continue Reading ]
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? Ver. 27. _Will God indeed dwell on the earth?_] _Mirabundus ita exclamat,_ saith Vatablus, who further observeth here, that the Hebrew words are prepos... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 28. _Yet have thou respect,_] _q.d., _ Though thou art immense and infinite in thine own nature, yet, &c. _ An... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 29. _That thine eyes may be open._] See Psalms 34:15. _See Trapp on "_... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 30. _And hearken thou, &c._] These repetitions of the selfsame petitions, argue greatest earnestnes... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 31. _And an oath be laid upon him, to cause him to swear._] An oath may lawfully be taken for the help of truth in necessity, and not else. Hence t... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 32. _Condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head._] This God hath done on those who have taken fa... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 33. _And confess thy name._] Submit to thy justice, and implore thy mercy.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 34. _And forgive the sin of thy people._] For else, if thou shouldst turn again their captivity, they could have no great comfort. Pardon of sin is a pri... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 35. _When heaven is shut up._] These bottles of the sky stopped. _ And confess thy name._] As 1 Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 36. _That thou teach them the good way._] By causing them to... [ Continue Reading ]
If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, [or] if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness [there be]; Ver. 37. _If blasting mildew, &c._] These, the very heathens acknowledged to be... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 38. _Which shall know every man the plague of his own heart._] His own iniquity; Psa 18:23 the cause of... [ Continue Reading ]
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;) Ver. 39. _And give to every man according to his ways._] "Do good, O Lord, unto those... [ Continue Reading ]
That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Ver. 40. _That they may fear thee._] For thy just judgments on hypocrites, and mercies to the sincere. Psa 130:4 Hos 3:5... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover concerning a stranger, that [is] not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; Ver. 41. _Moreover, concerning a stranger._] A proselyte, such as was the eunuch, Act 8:27 Cornelius. Act 10:1... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Kings 8:42 (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; Ver. 42. _And of thy strong hand and stretchedout arm._] Thy great power and readiness to relieve and supply the wants of all thy suppliants, of... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 43. _That all peo... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 44. _If thy people go out to battle._] Upon a necessary justice, or a just necessi... [ Continue Reading ]
Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. Ver. 45. _And maintain their cause._] By appearing for them in the high places of the field, and fighting their battles.... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 46. _For there is no man that sinneth not._] This is _triste mortalitatis privilegium._... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Kings 8:47 [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; Ver. 47. _Yet if they shall... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 48. _A... [ Continue Reading ]
Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, Ver. 49. _And maintain their cause._] Or, Right. Vindicate them out of the hands of their oppressors, who cannot do, but they must overdo. Zec 1:15... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 50. _And give them compassion._] This prayer was answered for th... [ Continue Reading ]
For they [be] thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: Ver. 51. _For they be thy people._] Culled and called out of the rest of the world. Thou hast avouched them for thine; and they have avouched thee for their God. _ From... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 52. _In all that they call for unto thee._] Lawful petitions and honest hearts is all that God calleth for: bring these, a... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 53. _As thou spakest by the hand of Moses,_] _q.d., _ _Huius rei habeo authorem gravissim... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 54. _When Solomon had made an end of praying._] See 2 Chronicles 6:41, where... [ Continue Reading ]
And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Ver. 55. _And he stood and blessed all the congregation._] Praying for them, and praising God for his mercy to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 56. _Blessed be the Lord._] _Praemittit gratiarum actionem benedictioni._... [ Continue Reading ]
_The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:_ Ver. 57. _Let him not leave us, nor forsake us._] Or, If he leave us for a time, let him not forsake us utterly.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 58. _That he may incline our hearts._] Cause us to keep his commandments, Eze 36:26-27 bend us to the obedience of his will. _Lex... [ Continue Reading ]
_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:_ Ver. 59. _Be nigh unto the Lord our God._] Hang ever up... [ Continue Reading ]
That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD [is] God, [and that there is] none else. Ver. 60. _That all the people, &c._] It is the ingenuity of saints, in all their desired and expected mercies, to study and to promote God's ends more than their own.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 61. _As at this day._] Keep up your affections as much as may be, in this float wherein now you find them.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. Ver. 62. _Offered sacrifice before the Lord._] Peace offerings especially; for these were never omitted. "In everything give thanks.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 63. _And Solomon offered._] This was the greatest sacrifice th... [ Continue Reading ]
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 mea... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 65. _From the entering in of Hamath,_] _i.e., _ From north to south. Understan... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 66. _He sent the people away._] Blessing their good king, and congratulating th... [ Continue Reading ]