CHAPTER VII _Solomon having ended his prayer, the fire of the Lord comes_ _down from heaven and consumes the offerings_, 1. _The people and the priests see this, and glorify God, and_ _offer sacrifices_, 2-4. _Solomon offers_ twenty-two thousand _oxen, and_ one hundred and twenty thousand _she... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:4. _THE KING AND ALL THE PEOPLE OFFERED SACRIFICES_] They presented the victims to the priests, and they and the Levites slew them, and sprinkled the blood: or perhaps the people themselves slew them; and, having caught the blood, collected the fat, c., presented them to the pri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:5. _TWENTY AND TWO THOUSAND OXEN, C._] The amount of all the victims that had been offered during the _seven_ days of the feast of tabernacles, and the seven days of the feast of the _dedication_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:8. _THE ENTERING IN OF HAMATH_] "From the entrance of Antioch to the Nile of Egypt." - _Targum_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:10. _ON THE THREE AND TWENTIETH DAY_] This was the _ninth_ day of the dedication of the temple; but in 1 Kings 8:66 it is called the _eighth_ day. "The meaning is this," says _Jarchi_: "he gave them liberty to return on the _eighth_ day, and many of them did then return: and he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:12. _THE LORD APPEARED TO SOLOMON_] This was a _second_ manifestation; see 1 Kings 9:2, and the notes there. The _Targum_ says, "The WORD of the Lord appeared to Solomon.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:13. _OR IF I SEND PESTILENCE_] "The angel of death." - _Targum_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:15. _NOW MINE EYES SHALL BE OPEN_] It shall be pleasing to me in the _sight_ of _my_ WORD, that I should incline mine ear," c. - _Targum_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:18. _THERE SHALL NOT FAIL THEE A MAN_] This _promise_ was not fulfilled, because the _condition_ was not fulfilled; they forsook God, and he cut _them_ off, and the _throne_ also.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:20. _THEN WILL I PLUCK THEM UP BY THE ROOTS_] How completely has this been fulfilled! not only all the _branches_ of the Jewish political tree have been cut off, but the very _roots_ have been plucked up; so that the day of the Lord's anger has left them neither _root_ nor _bran... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:21. _SHALL BE AN ASTONISHMENT_] The _manner_ in which these disobedient people have been destroyed is truly _astonishing_: no nation was ever so highly favoured, and none ever so severely and signally punished.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 7:22. _BECAUSE THEY FORSOOK THE LORD_] While they cleaved to God, the most powerful enemy could make no impression on them; but when they forsook him, then the weakest and most inconsiderable of their foes harassed, oppressed, and reduced them to bondage and misery. It was by no p... [ Continue Reading ]