1 Kings 8:13

_I HAVE SURELY BUILT THEE AN HOUSE TO DWELL IN, A SETTLED PLACE FOR THEE TO ABIDE IN FOR EVER._ I have surely built thee an house. This is an apostrophe to God, as perceiving His approach by the cloud and welcoming Him, with humble but lively thankfulness, to enter as guest or inhabitant of the fixed and permanent dwelling-place which, at His command, had been prepared for His reception. [The Septuagint gives a different version of this devout outcry or song:-Tote elaleese Saloomoon huper tou oikou hoos sunetelese tou oikodomeesai auton; Heelion egnoorisen ek ouranoo. Kurios eipe tou katoikein en gnofoo. Oikodomeeson oikon mou, oikon euprepee sautoo ton katoikein epi kainoteetos, ouk idou hautee gegraptai en biblioo tees oodees-Then spake Solomon in behalf of the house when he had finished building it: He knew the sun in the heaven, The Lord said from his dwelling in darkness, Build my...

12-21 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....

Verse 1 Kings 8:13. _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....

EXPOSITION THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.—The stately and impressive service with which the Temple, the character and contents of which have now been described, was dedicated, is related in this chapter, and divides itself into four sections. We have (1) the removal of the ark and Solomon's ascription of praise on the occasion (1 Kings 8:1). (2) The prayer of consecration (1 Kings 8:23-11). (3) The benediction of the congregation (1 Kings 8:55-11), and (4) the festal sacrifices which followed on and completed the dedication ...

I HAVE SURELY BUILT THEE AN HOUSE TO DWELL IN,.... Turning himself from the priests and people, he quieted with a few words, he addressed the Lord; having built an house for him, for his worship and glory, with this view, that he might dwell in it, he was now, by the above token, fully assured it would be an habitation for him: A SETTLED PLACE FOR THEE TO ABIDE IN FOR EVER; which is observed in distinction from the tabernacle of Moses, which was often removed from place to place, otherwise this did not continue for ever; though Solomon might hope it would, at least unto the times of the Messiah; and indeed such a building on this spot, for such use, did continue so long, excepting the interval of the seventy years' captivity in Babylon....

CHAPTER 8THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE _ 1. The great assembly (1 Kings 8:1)_ 2. The transportation of the ark (1 Kings 8:3) 3. The glory of the LORD filling the house (1 Kings 8:10) 4. Solomon's opening words (1 Kings 8:12) 5. Solomon's great prayer (1 Kings 8:22) 6. Solomon's benediction (1 Kings 8:54) 7. The sacrifices and the feast ...

SOLOMON'S DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE, PRAYER AND ADDRESS. This chapter is mainly Deuteronomic, being clearly written from the standpoint of one who has seen the Temple as the one national sanctuary of Israel, and has either witnessed its downfall or perceived that it was imminent. 1 Kings 8:1 is, however, probably from the early record of how the house of Yahweh was dedicated by Solomon, of which 1 Kings 8:62 is the continuation, the prayer of Solomon being Deuteronomic. In 1 Kings 8:12 f. we may have preserved an authentic poetic utterance of Solomon himself in the words of the dedication of the Temple. As they are given in the LXX they read as follows: Yahweh set the sun in heaven,...

HOUSE TO DWELL IN. Hebrew. _beth zebul =_ Assyrian _bit-zabali =_ high or lofty house. Compare Zebulun (Genesis 30:20)....

_I have surely built thee a house to dwell in_ R.V. - A HOUSE OF HABITATION," which is more literal, but not a more elegant rendering. The king sees that God has deigned to accept the house that has been built, and his desire that God may always dwell there fashions the language which he uses. It is to be noted that in this dedication the priests play but a secondary part. Zadok is not once named. Solomon presides, speaks, prays. The LXX. (_Vat._) omits these two verses altogether, but gives a modification and enlargement of them at 1 Kings 8:53 below. See note there. Josephus describes the opening of Solomon's address to God as -words which the king considered fit to be addressed to the divine Being, and which it was right for him to speak....

I. THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 8:1-66 Because of its importance in the history of redemption, the sacred historian devotes considerable space to the dedication of Solomon's Temple. For centuries God had been worshiped at a portable shrine, a tent which, with the passage of time, had become tattered and torn. Now the great day predicted by Moses and anticipated by David had finally come. Thousands of people flocked to Jerusalem to share in the paramount event. No doubt there was an air of expectancy throughout Jerusalem as people contemplated the possibility of a supernatural manifestation of God's approval of the new edifice. Without question the dedication of Solomon's Temple was the grandest ceremony ever performed under the Mosaic dispensation.[218] The solemn dedicatory transaction consisted of five acts: (1) a processional (1 Kings 8:1-14); (2) a speech ...