V. 2–viii. 10 — The Dedication of the Temple
Chapter V
2–10 (= 1 Kings viii. 1–9).
The Ark brought into the Sanctuary.
This section is taken almost verbatim from 1 Kings.
²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
2. Then Solomon assembled] The same verb in the Hebrew as in 1 Chronicles xv. 3 (see note there) and in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 1.
the city of David] See 1 Chronicles xi. 5, note on the strong hold of Zion.
³And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.
3. the feast] i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e. after the fruit harvest.
in the seventh month] In 1 Kings the name of the month is given as Ethanim, but this word was perhaps obsolete when the Chronicler wrote; at any rate we know that in post-biblical times the seventh month was regularly called Tisri.
⁴And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.
4. the Levites took up the ark] According to 1 Kings the priests performed this duty. In the days of David and Solomon all Levites were possible priests, Levi being the name of the priestly clan and not of a lower order of priests. At a later period the Levites were regarded as a class subordinate to the priests, having duties distinct from those of the priests—e.g. the task of bearing the tabernacle and all its furniture (see Numbers i. 50, etc.). The Chronicler believing that this distinction had been in force from the time of Moses onwards “corrects” the text of Kings by changing “priests” into “Levites”: compare 1 Chronicles xv. 2, 12, 13. See the special note on 1 Chronicles vi., pp. 51 f.
⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these did the priests the Levites bring up. ⁶And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
5. the tent of meeting] i.e. the Mosaic tabernacle, which the Chronicler believed to have been in existence in the time of David and Solomon, and to have been at Gibeon (i. 3 f.). The parallel statement in Kings comes not from the early sources but from the hand of a late reviser.
the priests the Levites] here the older phrase, which does not indicate a distinction between Priests and Levites, has been allowed to stand, perhaps “because certain utensils might well have been borne by the priests” (so Curtis), or possibly through slight carelessness on the Chronicler’s part. The parallel in Kings has “the priests and the Levites.”
⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
7. the priests brought in the ark] Only the priests might lawfully place the Ark within the Holy of Holies (compare Numbers iv. 5 ff.). The Chronicler therefore had no cause for changing priests into Levites here.
into the oracle] See iii. 16, note.
⁹And the staves¹ were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there it is, unto this day.
¹ Or, they drew out the staves, so that &c.
9. from the ark] Read (with LXX. and 1 Kings viii. 8) from the holy place. One standing in the Holy Place and looking towards the Holy of Holies could see the heads of the staves.
and there it is, unto this day] These words are taken over with the loss of one letter (which here makes the difference between singular and plural) from 1 Kings viii. 8, but they are out of place in Chronicles, for when the Chronicler wrote the Ark had long ago disappeared. The vessels which were brought back from the Babylonian captivity are specified in Ezra i. 9, 10, but the Ark of the covenant is not reckoned among them.
¹⁰There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, when¹ the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
¹ Or, where.
10. which Moses put there] Exodus xl. 20.
at Horeb] Deuteronomy v. 2.
11–14 (= 1 Kings viii. 10, 11).
The Descent of the Glory of the Lord.
¹¹And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their courses;
11. out of the holy place] The priests could remain neither in the Holy of Holies where they had deposited the Ark, nor even in the Holy Place, but were driven altogether out of the Temple building into the Temple court (compare verse 14).
11–13a. for all... his mercy endureth for ever] a long parenthesis added by the Chronicler to intimate that the whole body and not merely the monthly “course” of priests and of Levitical singers were present (verses 11b–12); and to suggest the grandeur of the musical service (verse 13a).
11. their courses] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1–19.
¹²also the Levites which were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
12. Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons] Compare 1 Chronicles xxv. 1–7.
psalteries... harps] See 1 Chronicles xiii. 8, notes.
at the east end of the altar] Looking westward, facing the Holy of Holies. To face the east was to turn the back upon the sanctuary; Ezekiel viii. 16.
trumpets] See 1 Chronicles xv. 24, note.
¹³it came even to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music¹, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, ¹⁴so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
¹ Or, for song.
13. of music] Rather, as margin, for song.
for his mercy endureth for ever] 1 Chronicles xvi. 41.
was filled with a cloud] Exodus xl. 34, 35.