2 Chronicles 9

2Ch 9:1  And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

The visit of the queen of Sheba - This event is narrated as a practical proof of Solomon's extraordinary wisdom. The narrative agrees exactly in both Chronicles and Kings.  

Our Savior has proposed this episode as an example in seeking after him, Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. we must not pass it over without observing, that those who know the worth of true wisdom will grudge no pains or cost to obtain it. The queen of Sheba put herself to a great deal of trouble and expense to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and yet, learning from him to serve God, and do her duty, she thought herself well paid for her pains.

2Ch 9:2  And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

2Ch 9:3  And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

2Ch 9:4  And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

2Ch 9:5  And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

2Ch 9:6  Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

2Ch 9:7  Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

2Ch 9:8  Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

2Ch 9:9  And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

2Ch 9:10  And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

2Ch 9:11  And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

Terraces - “stairs”

2Ch 9:12  And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

The narrative here is parallel with that in marginal reference, from which it varies but little, and to which it adds nothing.

Beside that which she had brought unto the king - In 1Ki_10:13 it is stated that Solomon gave her all she asked, besides that which he gave her of his royal bounty. It is not at all likely that he gave her back the presents which she brought to him, and which he had accepted. She had, no doubt, asked for several things which were peculiar to the land of Judea, and would be curiosities in her own kingdom; and besides these, he gave her other valuable presents.

2Ch 9:13  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

The imports here mentioned, would show that prosperity drew the minds of Solomon and his subjects to the love of things curious and uncommon, though useless in themselves.

2Ch 9:14  Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

2Ch 9:15  And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

2Ch 9:16  And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

2Ch 9:17  Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

2Ch 9:18  And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:

2Ch 9:19  And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

2Ch 9:20  And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

2Ch 9:21  For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

2Ch 9:22  And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

In 2Ch_9:22-28, all that remained to be said of Solomon's royal glory, his riches, his wisdom, and his revenues, is in conclusion briefly summed up, as in 1Ki_10:23-29. From 2Ch_9:25 onwards, the account given in the Chronicle diverges from that in 1Ki_10:26., in so far that what is narrated in 1Ki_10:26-28 concerning Solomon's chariots and horses, and his trade with Egypt in horses, is here partly replaced by statements similar in import to those in 1 Kings 5, because the former matters had been already treated of in Chr. 2Ch_1:14-17.

2Ch 9:23  And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

2Ch 9:24  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

2Ch 9:25  And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

Four thousand stalls for horses – It has been conjectured that the original term may signify not only stall or stable, but a number of horses occupying the same number of stalls. Supposing that ten were put together in one part, this would make forty thousand. According to this theory of explanation, the historian in Kings refers to horses 1Ki_10:26; while the historian in Chronicles speaks of the stalls in which they were kept. But more recent critics reject this mode of solving the difficulty, and, regarding the four thousand stalls as in keeping with the general magnificence of Solomon’s establishments, are agreed in considering the text in Kings as corrupt, through the error of some copyist.

2Ch 9:26  And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

2Ch 9:27  And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

2Ch 9:28  And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

Moses had expressly prohibited the multiplying of horses (Deu_17:16); by which the future king was forbidden to establish a body of calvary, because this could not be effected without sending into Egypt, with which people God had forbidden any communication, as this would be dangerous to His worship. When Solomon had violated this law, and multiplied horses to excess (1Ki_4:26), it was soon attended with those fatal consequences that the law foretold: for this wisest of kings having likewise, in violation of another law, married Pharaoh's daughter (the early fruits of this commerce), and then, by a repetition of the same crime, but a transgression of another law, had espoused more strange women (1Ki_4:26; 1Ki_11:1), they first,in defiance of a fourth law, persuaded him to build them idol temples for their use; and afterwards, against a fifth law, brought him to erect other temples for his own.

2Ch 9:29  Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

Iddo - We hear nothing of Iddo in Kings: but he is mentioned below twice 2Ch_12:15; 2Ch_13:22. In the latter of these passages he is called not “the seer,” but “the prophet.” He seems to have been the author of three works:

1) Visions against Jeroboam;

2) A book of genealogies; and

3) A commentary or history.

Nathan the prophet in the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer - These books are all lost.

2Ch 9:30  And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

2Ch 9:31  And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles 8

2Ch 8:1  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

At the end of twenty years - He employed seven years and a half in building the temple, and twelve and a half, or thirteen, in building his own house. The date, “at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built,” agrees with that in 1Ki_9:10. The twenty years are to be reckoned from the commencement of the building of the temple, for he had spent seven years in the building of the temple, and thirteen years in that of his palace (1Ki_6:38; 1Ki_7:1).

2Ch 8:2  That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

The cities which Huram had restored to Solomon - These cities had not been mentioned previously by the writer of Chronicles, who, however, seems to assume that the fact of their having been given by Hiram to Solomon is known to his readers. 1Ki_9:11-13.

Solomon built them - or rebuilt them, being very much out of repair, which might be one reason of Huram's not accepting them:

Caused the children of Israel to live there - These cities lay in the northwest of Galilee. Though included within the limits of the promised land, they had never been conquered. The right of occupying them Solomon granted to Huram, who, after consideration, refused them as unsuitable to the commercial habits of his subjects (1Ki_9:11). Solomon, having wrested them from the possession of the Canaanite inhabitants, repaired them and filled them with a colony of Hebrews.

2Ch 8:3  And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

Solomon went to Hamathzobah - In an hostile manner, which is the only instance of any warlike expedition of Solomon's. This was Coelesyria, which though subdued in the times of David, perhaps rebelled, and now Solomon went forth to reduce it:

Hamathzobah - Usually identified with the “great Hamath” Amo_6:2; the capital of Coele-Syria; but possibly a town of Zobah otherwise unknown, which revolted from Solomon, and was reduced to subjection.

Solomon went to Hamath-zobah — Hamath was on the Orontes, in Coele-Syria. Its king, Toi, had been the ally of David; but from the combination, Hamath and Zobah, it would appear that some revolution had taken place which led to the union of these two petty kingdoms of Syria into one. For what cause the resentment of Solomon was provoked against it, we are not informed, but he sent an armed force which reduced it. He made himself master also of Tadmor, (Palmyra in the same region). Various other cities along the frontiers of his extended dominions he repaired and fitted up, either to serve as store-places for the furtherance of his commercial enterprises, or to secure his kingdom from foreign invasion.

2Ch 8:4  And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

Tadmor - Palmyra of the Greeks, as we learn from Josephus, a celebrated city of Syria, situated in an oasis, or fertile spot of land, surrounded on all sides by a vast sandy desert, like an island in the midst of the ocean;.

all the storehouses which he built in Hamath - a country in Syria, which he made himself master of, and where he laid up store of provision and ammunition to keep it, should any attempt be made to rescue it out of his hands.

2Ch 8:5  Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether -  He rebuilt these ancient cities. Only mention is made of the latter in 1Ki_9:17,

2Ch 8:6  And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

2Ch 8:7  As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,

all the people that were left, etc. — The descendants of the Canaanites who remained in the country were treated as war prisoners, being obliged to “pay tribute or to serve as galley slaves” (2Ch_2:18), while the Israelites were employed in no works but such as were of an honorable character.

2Ch 8:8  But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

2Ch 8:9  But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

2Ch 8:10  And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

two hundred and fifty that bare rule —Comparing 1Ki 5:16 Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work. and 1Ki 9:23 These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work. with 2Ch 2:18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work. and this verse, 2Ch_8:10, the entire number of the overseers will be seen to be stated by both writers at 3,850; but in the one case nationality, in the other degree of authority, is made the principle of the division.

2Ch 8:11  And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her — On his marriage with the Egyptian princess at the beginning of his reign, he assigned her a temporary abode in the city of David, that is, Jerusalem, until a suitable palace for his wife had been erected.

The reason given for this change of residence on the part of the Egyptian princess is, that Solomon could not allow her, an Egyptian, to dwell in the palace of King David, which had been sanctified by the reception of the ark, and consequently assigned to her a dwelling in the city of David until he should have finished the building of his palace, in which she might dwell along with him. It seems she was received on her arrival into his mother’s abode (Son_3:4; Son_8:2).

2Ch 8:12  Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord - Meaning not merely at the time he rebuilt the above cities, it was his constant practice: Cf. 1Ki_9:25, where it is merely briefly recorded that Solomon offered sacrifices three times a year on the altar built by him to the Lord. He no longer now sacrifices upon the altar of the tabernacle at Gibeon, as in the beginning of his reign (2Ch_1:3.).

on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch - the brazen altar, which was at the entrance into the temple, within the court; 2Ch_4:1.

2Ch 8:13  Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

Three times in the year - These were the three great annual feasts which serves to explain the three times in 1Ki_9:25.

Even after a certain rate every day, according to the commandment of Moses - The daily sacrifice, morning and evening, Exo 29:38-39 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:

on the sabbaths, and on the new moons - when there were additional sacrifices, Num 28:9 And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:

2Ch 8:14  And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

the courses of the priests to their service - The twenty four courses which served weekly in their turns, 1Ch_24:1.

the Levites to their charges - who also had their courses by lot, to sing the praises of God, when the priests sacrificed, or blew the trumpets, 1Ch_25:1,

for so had David the man of God commanded - 1Ch_26:1, who in all these affairs acted as a prophet, under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit of God.

The man of God - This phrase, so common in Kings, is rare in Chronicles, and is applied only to Moses 1Ch_23:14, David, and an unnamed prophet 2Ch_25:7, 2Ch_25:9.

2Ch 8:15  And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

The commandment of the king - The ordinances of David which by divine authority he established. The priests and Levites departed not from it, not from the commandment of Solomon, according to the order of David, but in all things obeyed it:

or concerning the treasures - such of the Levites as had the care of them were faithful to their trust.

2Ch 8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished - The materials were prepared, and the money for the expenses; and even the very stones and timber were made fit for the building, so that there was nothing to slow the completion of it:

so the house of God was perfected - in the space of seven years, in all the parts, and according to the form and pattern of it.

2Ch 8:17  Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth — These two maritime ports were situated at the eastern gulf of the Red Sea. Solomon, determined to cultivate the arts of peace, was wise enough to perceive that his kingdom could become great and glorious only by encouraging a spirit of commercial enterprise among his subjects; and, accordingly, with that in mind he made a contract with Huram for ships and seamen to instruct his people in navigation.

2Ch 8:18  And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

Four hundred and fifty talents - 1Ki 9:28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon. One or other of the two texts has suffered from that transcriptional error to which numbers are liable.

Knowledge of the sea - Skilful sailors. Solomon probably bore the expenses and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill. The Tyrians, on the contrary, lived on and in the sea.

Knowledge of the sea - This navy of Solomon was manned by Tyrians, for Solomon had no seamen capable of performing distant expeditions. The Hebrew fishermen, whose boats plied on the Sea of Tiberias or coasted the shores of the Mediterranean, were not equal to the conducting of large vessels laden with valuable cargoes on long voyages and through the wide and unfrequented ocean.

2 Chronicles 7

2Ch 7:1  Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

The fire came down from heaven - As in the time of Moses on the dedication of the tabernacle Lev 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. The fact is omitted from the narrative of Kings.

The fire came down from heaven - The cloud had come down before, now the fire consumes the sacrifice, showing that both the house and the sacrifices were accepted by the Lord.

2Ch 7:2  And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.

2Ch 7:3  And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement — This form of prostration (that of lying on one’s knees with the forehead touching the earth), is the manner in which the Hebrews, and those in the region in general, express the most profound sentiments of reverence and humility. The courts of the temple were densely crowded on the occasion, and the immense multitude threw themselves on the ground. What led the Israelites suddenly to assume that prostrate attitude on the occasion referred to, was the spectacle of the symbolical cloud slowly and majestically descending upon the temple, and then entering it.

2Ch 7:4  Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

The king and all the people offered sacrifices - Whether the individual worshippers slaughtered their own cattle, or a certain portion of the vast number of the Levitical order in attendance performed that work, as they sometimes did, in either case the offerings were made through the priests, who presented the blood and the fat upon the altar.

2Ch 7:5  And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

Twenty and two thousand oxen, etc. - The amount of all the victims that had been offered during the seven days of the feast of tabernacles, and the seven days of the feast of the dedication.

the king and all the people dedicated the house of God — The ceremonial of dedication consisted principally in the introduction of the ark into the temple, and in the sacrificial offerings that were made on a scale of magnitude suitable to the extraordinary occasion. All present, the king, the people, and the priests, took part according to their respective stations in the performance of the solemn service. The duty, of course, devolved chiefly on the priests, and hence in proceeding to describe their several departments of work, the historian says, generally, “the priests waited on their offices.” While great numbers would be occupied with the preparation and offering of the victims, others sounded with their trumpets, and the different bands of the Levites praised the Lord with vocal and instrumental music,

2Ch 7:6  And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

And the priests waited on their offices - Performed them, some in offering sacrifices, others in blowing trumpets, as it may be explained from the latter part of the verse:

when David praised by their ministry - the songs sung being composed by him, and the instruments they played upon being of his invention, and used by his order:

and all Israel stood - while this sacred and delightful service was performing, they both stood up, and stood by the priests and Levites, and joined with them in praising the Lord. What a sight to behold.

2Ch 7:7  Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

Solomon hallowed the middle of the court — On this extraordinary occasion, when a larger number of animals were offered than one altar and the usual place of rings to which the animals were bound would admit, the whole space was taken in that was between the place of rings and the west end of the court to be used as a temporary place for additional altars.

2Ch 7:8  Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.

Solomon kept the feast - Solomon kept at this same time, not the Feast of the Dedication only, but also the Feast of tabernacles. The former lasted seven days, from the 8th of Tisri to the 15th, the latter also seven days, from the 15th to the 22nd. On the day following the people were dismissed 2Ch_7:10.

from the entering - That is, from one extremity of the land to another; Hamath being situated on the north, and the river of Egypt on the south.

2Ch 7:9  And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

2Ch 7:10  And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

On the three and twentieth day - This was the ninth day of the dedication of the temple; but in 1Ki_8:66 it is called the eighth day. Some reconcile this with the idea that Solomon gave them leave to go on the eighth day, but they left on the ninth day.

2Ch 7:11  Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

2Ch 7:12  And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

An house of sacrifice - This expression does not elsewhere occur. Its meaning, however, is clear. God declares that Solomon’s Temple is the place whereunto all Israelites were commanded to bring their burnt-offerings and sacrifices.

The Lord appeared to Solomon - This was a second manifestation. From hence, to the end of the chapter, much the same things are related as in 1 Kings, except 2Ch_7:13 which contain an answer to the particular requests made by Solomon in case of a famine or pestilence, that when the people of Israel should humble themselves in prayer and supplication, the Lord would be attentive to them, and forgive them, 2Ch_6:26 and which is given as a specimen, and as encouragement to expect the same treatment in all other cases mentioned in Solomon's prayer, they so behaving.

2Ch 7:13  If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2Ch 7:15  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

2Ch 7:16  For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

2Ch 7:17  And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

2Ch 7:18  Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

There shall not fail thee a man - This promise was not fulfilled, because the condition was not fulfilled; they forsook God, and He cut them off, and the throne also.

2Ch 7:19  But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

2Ch 7:20  Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

2Ch 7:21  And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

2Ch 7:22  And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

Because they forsook the Lord - While they cleaved to God, the most powerful enemy could make no impression on them; but when they forsook Him, then the weakest and most inconsiderable of their foes harassed, oppressed, and reduced them to bondage and misery. It was by no personal prowess, genuine heroism, or supereminent military tactics, that the Jews were enabled to resist and overcome their enemies; it was by the Divine power alone; for, destitute of this, they were even worse than other men.

2 Chronicles 6

2Ch 6:1  Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

The Lord hath said that he would dwell - Solomon, seeing the cloud descend and fill the house, immediately took for granted that the Lord had accepted the place, and was now present. What occurred now was precisely the same with what took place when Moses reared the tabernacle in the wilderness; Exo 40:34-35 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

The Lord hath said that he would dwell - He regarded it himself, and directed the people also to regard it, as an undoubted sign and welcome pledge of the divine presence and acceptance of the building reared to His honor and worship. He referred not to any particular declaration of God, but to the cloud having been all along in the national history of Israel the recognized symbol of the divine presence.

2Ch 6:2  But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.

2Ch 6:3  And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

2Ch 6:4  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,

2Ch 6:5  Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

neither chose I any man to be ruler - The judges and Saul were chosen by God, for a season, to be rulers of Israel; but not to establish a permanent and hereditary authority over that people, as was the case with David. This clause is wanting in the parallel passage of Kings; but it helps to clear the sense.

2Ch 6:6  But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

But I have chosen Jerusalem - This clause is also not found in Kings. Jerusalem was expressly marked out, by the building of the temple, to be the center of the worship of Israel; as the Lord had before spoken by Moses.

2Ch 6:7  Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

2Ch 6:8  But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart:

2Ch 6:9  Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

2Ch 6:10  The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

2Ch 6:11  And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

the covenant of the Lord - As "there was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone," consequently they are called the covenant, i.e., a sign of the covenant.

2Ch 6:12  And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

Solomon's dedicatory prayer corresponds exactly with the account of it given in 1 Kings 8:22-53 till near the end (2Ch_6:40-42), where it takes quite a different turn. Besides this, in the introduction (2Ch_6:13) Solomon's position during the prayer is more accurately described, it being there stated that Solomon had caused a high stage to be erected, which he ascended, and kneeling, spoke the prayer which follows. This fact is not stated in 1Ki_8:22. On the contents of the prayer, which begins with the joyful confession that the Lord had fulfilled His promise to David in reference to the building of the temple, and proceeds with a request for a further bestowment of the blessing promised to His people, and a supplication that all prayers made to the Lord in the temple may be heard. The conclusion of the prayer in the Chronicle is different from that in 1 Kings 8. There the last supplication, that the prayers might be heard, is followed by the thought: for they (the Israelites) are Thy people and inheritance; and in the further amplification of this thought the prayer returns to the idea with which it commenced. In the narrative of the Chronicle, on the other hand, the supplications conclude with the general thought (2Ch_6:40): “Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attend unto the prayer of this place” (i.e., unto the prayer spoken in this place). There follows, then, the conclusion of the whole prayer - a summons to the Lord (2Ch_6:41.): “And now, Lord God, arise into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength; let Thy priests, Lord God, clothe themselves in salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in good! Lord God, turn not away the face of Thine anointed: remember the pious deeds of Thy servant David.”

2Ch 6:13  For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,

2Ch 6:14  And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

2Ch 6:15  Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

2Ch 6:16  Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

There shall not fail thee a man - There shall not a man be cut off

2Ch 6:17  Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.

2Ch 6:18  But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

how much less this house which I have built —Solomon described the true and proper use of the temple, when he entreated that the Lord would “hearken unto the supplications of His servant and His people Israel, which they should make towards this place.” In short, the grand purpose for which the temple was erected was precisely the same as that contemplated by churches - to afford the opportunity and means of public and social worship, according to the ritual of the Mosaic dispensation - to supplicate the divine mercy and favor - to render thanks for past instances of goodness, and offer petitions for future blessings

2Ch 6:19  Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

2Ch 6:20  That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

2Ch 6:21  Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

2Ch 6:22  If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear — In cases where the testimony of witnesses could not be obtained and there was no way of settling a difference or dispute between two people but by accepting the oath of the accused, the practice had gradually crept in and had acquired the force of consuetudinary law, for the party to be brought before the altar, where his oath was taken with all due solemnity, together with the imprecation of a curse to fall upon himself if his disavowal should be found untrue. There is an allusion to such a practice in this passage.

2Ch 6:23  Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

2Ch 6:24  And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

2Ch 6:25  Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

2Ch 6:26  When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

2Ch 6:27  Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

2Ch 6:28  If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:

2Ch 6:29  Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

2Ch 6:30  Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)

2Ch 6:31  That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

2Ch 6:32  Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;

2Ch 6:33  Then hear thou from the heavens, even from 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, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

2Ch 6:34  If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

2Ch 6:35  Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

2Ch 6:36  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

2Ch 6:37  Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

2Ch 6:38  If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

2Ch 6:39  Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

2Ch 6:40  Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

In Kings, a different conclusion takes the place of these verses.  Both writers in the two parallel passages on the dedication give the speech in a somewhat abbreviated form.

2Ch 6:41  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.

2Ch 6:42  O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

turn not away the face of thine anointed —The words are equivalent in meaning to this: Do not reject my present petitions; do not send me from Thy throne of grace dejected in countenance and disappointed in heart.

remember the mercies of David thy servant — that is, the mercies promised to David, and in consideration of that promise, hear and answer my prayer.