VI. 2. KING SOLOMON BLESSES HIS PEOPLE AND HIS GOD (2 Chronicles 6:1.) (Comp. 1 Kings 8:12.) This section also is in verbal agreement with the parallel account, with a few slight exceptions. (1) THE THICK DARKNESS. — ‘_Araphel,_ which is explained as _caligo nubium,_ “gloom of clouds.” (See Exodus 2... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I HAVE BUILT. — _And I, on my part, have built._ Kings, “I _have_ built” (_bânôh bânîthî_); scil., as “Thou didst indicate.” This seems original. So the Syr. here, _mebnô b’nîth,_ but not LXX. and Vulg. HABITATION. — _Zĕbûl,_ a poetic word, occurring only five times. (Comp. Habakkuk 3:11.) AND... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE KING. — The verse is word for word as in Kings. TURNED. — _Turned round_ (1 Chronicles 10:14). STOOD. — Was _standing. _... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH WITH HIS HANDS FULFILLED... DAVID. — Literally, _who spake_ (“promised,” _2 Chronicles 6:10_), _by his mouth with David my father, and by his hands fulfilled._ (See 1 Chronicles 11:2; 1 Chronicles 17:4.) The only variant in this verse is _hands_ for _hand._ The unpointed text of Kings might... [ Continue Reading ]
MY PEOPLE OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT. — Kings, “My people _Israel out of Egypt.”_ (Comp 2 Chronicles 5:10.) The Syr. and Arab. have _Israel_ here also. NEITHER CHOSE I ANY MAN TO BE A RULER (_nâgîd_) OVER MY PEOPLE ISRAEL. — Neither this sentence nor the following is found in the parallel passage, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT (_and_) I HAVE CHOSEN JERUSALEM. — Some MSS. omit this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING THOU SHALT NOT BUILD. — _Only thou, thou shalt not build;_ with stress on the pronoun. BUT THY SON. — Heb., _for thy son;_ so LXX.; Kings, “but;” and so some MSS. and the Syriac, Vulg., and Arabic here. Otherwise the whole verse is as in Kings.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD... HIS WORD. — _And Jehovah hath established,_ or _ratified, his word._ Literally, _caused to rise up._ SPOKEN — i.e., promised. SET. — _Seated._ (No variant from Kings.)... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN IT HAVE I PUT THE ARK. — _And_ _I_ _have set there the ark,_ abridged from 1 Kings 8:21, “and I have set there a place for the ark.” So Syriac and Arabic, “and I have prepared a place for the ark.” WHEREIN IS THE COVENANT. — The two tables of the Law. (See 2 Chronicles 5:10.)... [ Continue Reading ]
3. THE KING UTTERS THE PRAYER OF CONSECRATION (2 Chronicles 6:12). (Comp. 1 Kings 8:22.) The whole is given as in Kings, save that one verse (2 Chronicles 6:13) is added, and the peroration (2 Chronicles 6:40) is quite different. (12) STOOD. — _Took his place._ It is not implied that he remained _... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR SOLOMON HAD MADE A BRASEN SCAFFOLD. — This verse is not in Kings. But it may once have followed 1 Kings 8:22. At least, marks of the chronicler’s individual style are not apparent in it. SCAFFOLD. — Literally, _pan_ (_kîyôr_; see 2 Chronicles 4:6). The “scaffold” looked like a “laver” turned up... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE HEAVEN NOR IN THE EARTH. — Abridged from “in the heaven _above,_ and _upon_ the earth _beneath”_ (Kings). Syriac, “Thou art the Lord that sittest in heaven above, and Thy will (pl.) is done on earth beneath;” apparently a curious reminiscence of the Lord’s Prayer. The Assyrians also spoke of... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE. — _And now._ So in 2 Chronicles 6:17. KEEP THAT WHICH THOU HAST PROMISED — _i.e.,_ Thy further promise. See the fulfilment of the former promise, as described in 2 Chronicles 6:10, _supr._ THERE SHALL NOT FAIL THEE. — See margin. Authorised Version follows LXX., Οὐκ ἐκλείψει σοι_;_... [ Continue Reading ]
BE VERIFIED. — 1 Chronicles 17:23. LXX. and Syriac add, “I pray” (Heb., _nâ_)_,_ as in Kings. THY WORD. — Or _promise_ (2 Chronicles 6:10; 2 Chronicles 6:15, _supr._) UNTO THY SERVANT DAVID. — Heb., _to thy servant, to David._ Kings, “to thy servant David my father.” So Syriac here.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WILL GOD IN VERY DEED. — Or, _what? will God,_ &c. — The LXX. imitates the Hebrew ὅτι εἰ�; Vuig., “ergone credibile est ut habitet Deus?” WITH MEN. — Not in Kings. Syriac, “with his people, Israel;” Arabic, “with his people.” (Comp. Revelation 21:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE RESPECT THEREFORE. — _But turn thou unto._ The Authorised Version follows the LXX. and Vulg., ἐπιβλέψῃ); “ut respicias.” BEFORE THEE. — Kings adds, “to-day.” So LXX., Syriac, Arabic here.... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON. — _Unto_ or _toward._ “Day and night” (as in Psalms 1:2); Kings, “night and day” (as in Isaiah 27:3); for which the chronicler has substituted a more usual phrase. The Syriac and Arabic follow Kings. PRAYETH. — _Shall pray,_ scil., at any time. TOWARD THIS PLACE. — The margin is wrong, thoug... [ Continue Reading ]
SUPPLICATIONS. — _Tahănûnîm,_ a word chiefly poetic and late, which nowhere appears in Kings, and only here in Chronicles. Kings has the older synonym _tĕhinnâh._ HEAR THOU FROM THY DWELLING PLACE, EVEN FROM HEAVEN. — _Yea thou_ — _thou shalt hear from the place of thy dwelling, from the heavens._... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN SIN. — Kings, “whatever a man sin.” AND AN OATH BE LAID UPON HIM. — _And he_ (_i.e.,_ his neighbour or, indefinitely, _people_)_ lay an oath upon him._ (See Exodus 22:11.) AND THE OATH COME BEFORE THINE ALTAR. — _And he_ (the offender) _enter upon an oath before thine altar._ (Comp. Ezeki... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM HEAVEN. — In Kings we have not the preposition. Perhaps the meaning there is “to heaven,” as in 2 Chronicles 6:30. The chronicler has substituted a more ordinary expression, which, indeed, is found in all the versions of Kings. Similarly in 2 Chronicles 6:25; 2 Chronicles 6:30; 2 Chronicles 6:3... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THY PEOPLE ISRAEL BE PUT TO THE WORSE. — See margin. Kings has a different construction, “when thy people Israel are smitten.” (Comp. 2 Chronicles 6:26.) BECAUSE THEY HAVE SINNED. — _When_ or _if they sin_ (so also in 2 Chronicles 6:26). LXX., ἐὰν ἁμάρτωσίν. Vuig., “peccabunt enim tibi,” as... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN HEAR THOU FROM HEAVEN. — Rather, (_to_)_ heaven_ or (_in_)_ heaven,_ as in Kings. (Comp. Note on 2 Chronicles 6:23.) The versions read “from heaven.” WHEN THOU ... WAY. — _For thou pointest them to the good way._ A construction only found here. Comp. Psalms 27:11, where we see the simple accus... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THEIR ENEMIES BESIEGE THEM. — _If his enemies_ (Kings, “enemy”) _besiege him._ (So in 2 Chronicles 6:34.) IN THE CITIES OF THEIR LAND. — See margin, which correctly renders the Hebrew text. But the expression “in the land of his gates” is strange. LXX. has, “if the enemy afflict him before their... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN. — Or _if,_ as in LXX. Hebrew, _‘asher._ (See Note on 2 Chronicles 6:24.) HIS OWN SORE (_plague_) AND HIS OWN GRIEF. — Kings, “the plague of his own heart.” So Syriac and Arabic. The phrase of the chronicler looks like a gloss on this. IN THIS HOUSE. — The margin is right.... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY MAN. — _The man._ Distributive use of the article. WHOSE HEART THOU KNOWEST. — _Because thou knowest his heart._ So Syriac and Arabic. The Vulg., “which thou knowest him to have in his heart” (as if _eth_ meant _with,_ here). THE CHILDREN OF MEN. — _All_ has dropped out. So some MSS., Syriac... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WALK IN THY WAYS. — An explanatory remark added by the chronicler.... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER CONCERNING THE STRANGER. — In this verse, 1 Kings 8:41, are run together, probably by an error of transcription. BUT IS COME. — _And shall come._ FOR THY GREAT NAME’S SAKE. — Kings, “for thy name sake (for they will hear of thy great name and thy mighty hand and thy stretched-out arm), an... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN. — (_And_) Kings omits; but compare 2 Chronicles 6:30; 2 Chronicles 6:27; 2 Chronicles 6:23, which have the particle. So also some MSS., as well as the LXX., and Syriac, of Kings. PEOPLE. — _The peoples._ AND FEAR THEE. — Better without _and;_ as in Kings, “that they may fear thee.” So Syriac... [ Continue Reading ]
TOWARD THIS CITY. — Literally, _the way of this city._ So in 2 Chronicles 6:38, “the way of their land.”... [ Continue Reading ]
MAINTAIN THEIR CAUSE. — _Do_ (_i.e.,_ accomplish) _their right._ Vulg., “avenge” (them).... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR ENEMIES. — _An enemy._ AND THEY CARRY THEM AWAY. — See margin. LXX., αἰχμαλωτεύσουσιναὐτοὺς οἱ αἰχμαλωτεύοντες αὐτοὺς.... [ Continue Reading ]
YET IF THEY BETHINK THEMSELVES. — Compare-margin. _If they take it to heart, i.e.,_ repent (Deut. iv- 39). WE HAVE SINNED, WE HAVE DONE AMISS, AND HAVE DEALT WICKEDLY. — Comp. the same three verbs in Psalms 106:6; Daniel 9:5 (Kings puts the conjunction before the second verb). There is a climax, “w... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LAND OF THEIR CAPTIVITY, WHITHER THEY HAVE CARRIED THEM CAPTIVES. — Kings, “in the land of their enemies who carried them captives.” The Syriac has, “in the cities of their captors who carried them captive.” Perhaps _their captivity_ is a corruption of _their captors;_ or the relative (’_ashe... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR SUPPLICATIONS. — Kings, sing.; and so some MSS., LXX., Syriac, and Arabic. The plural is found nowhere else, and is probably incorrect here. AND FORGIVE THY PEOPLE. — This is the first clause of 1 Kings 8:50; and from this point to the end of Solomon’s Prayer, the two texts are wholly dissimi... [ Continue Reading ]
(40-42) THE PERORATION. (40) LET, I BESEECH THEE, THINE EYES BE OPEN. — Comp. 2 Chronicles 6:20, _supr.,_ and 2 Chronicles 7:15; also 1 Kings 8:52. AND LET THINE EARS BE ATTENT._ — Attentive, listening_ (_qas‘s‘ûbôth_). The same phrase recurs (2 Chronicles 7:15), which is, in fact, a repetition of... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE ARISE, O LORD GOD, INTO THY RESTING PLACE. — The two verses (2 Chronicles 6:41) are slightly altered from Psalms 132:8. It would seem that the chronicler selected them as forming a more natural and appropriate conclusion to the Prayer of Dedication than that which he found in the older... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD GOD. — Not in the psalm. The temple invocation is used as in the priest’s blessing (Numbers 6:24). TURN NOT AWAY THE FACE OF THINE ANOINTED — _i.e.,_ deny not his request (1 Kings 2:16). Psalms 132:10 : — “For the sake of David Thy servant, Turn not away the face of Thine Anointed.” The me... [ Continue Reading ]