1 Kings 8:65

_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._ From the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt - i:e., from one extremity of the kingdom to the other, the people flocked from all quarters. SEVEN DAYS AND SEVEN DAYS, EVEN FOURTEEN DAYS. The first seven were occupied with the dedication, and the other seven devoted to the feast of tabernacles (2 Chronicles 7:9). The particular form of expression indicates that the 14 days were not continuous, and that some interval occurred in consequence of the great day of atonement falling on the 10th day of the seventh month (1 Kings 8:2: cf....

62-66 Solomon offered a great sacrifice. He kept the feast of tabernacles, as it seems, after the feast of dedication. Thus should we go home, rejoicing, from holy ordinances, thankful for God's Goodness...

Verse 65. _FROM - HAMATH_] Supposed to be _Antioch_ of Syria; _unto the_ _river of Egypt _- to the _Rhinocorura_; the former being on the _north_, the latter on the _south_: i.e., from one extremity of the land to the other....

A feast necessarily accompanied such a sacrifice as Solomon was holding. Compare Leviticus 19:5. On the present occasion there was a double festival - first, the Feast of the Dedication, from the 8th to the 15th of the month Ethanim (or Tisri), and then the Feast of tabernacles, from the 15th to the 22nd 1 Kings 8:2. On the day after this, “the eighth day,” counting from the commencement of the second seven, and the twenty-third day of the month (margin reference “m”), Solomon dismissed the people to their homes. THE ENTERING IN OF HAMATH - Compare Numbers 13:21, note andmargin reference. The phrase marks the extreme northern boundary of the holy land....

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 ...

AND AT THAT TIME SOLOMON HELD A FEAST, AND ALL ISRAEL WITH HIM,.... Partaking of the parts of the peace offerings which belonged to him, and were offered by way of thanksgiving on the occasion, together with whatsoever he might as a liberal prince provide for this entertainment: FOR IT WAS FOR A GREAT CONGREGATION, FROM THE ENTERING IN OF HAMATH UNTO THE RIVER OF EGYPT; consisting of a number of people, gathered together from Hamath, which was on the northern border of the land of Israel, to the river of Egypt; either the Nile, or Rhinoculura, a branch of it, which lay on the southern border of the land: and this was kept BEFORE THE LORD; as in his presence, with thankfulness to him, and with a view to his glory: SEVEN DAYS AND SEVEN DAYS, EVEN FOURTEEN DAYS; seven days for the dedication of the house, and seven days for the feast of tabernacles, as the Targum; which agrees with...

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,...

A FEAST. the feast: viz. the Feast of Tabernacles. See note on 1 Kings 8:2. SEVEN DAYS AND SEVEN DAYS. Figure of speech _Epizeuxis._ App-6. The first seven the Feast of Dedication; the second the Feast of Tabernacles....

_Solomon held a feast_ Better - THE feast." The special feast of Tabernacles (cf. 1 Kings 8:2), a very fitting occasion for the great multitude to make themselves an encampment in the open country around. The part played by Solomon in all this dedication ceremony shews us that the ordinances of the Pentateuch had not yet come into observance. Israel had not advanced beyond the traditional religion contained in the -book of the covenant". But the failure of the nation herein cannot of itself be held to establish the non-existence of the Levitical law. _from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt_ Within these limits the whole land of Palestine was embraced. Hamath on the north was situated in the valley of the Orontes, and for a long time was the chief city of the northern part of Syria. On the south the river of Egypt (_nahal Mizraim_) is identified for us