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.
