Verse 1
The Lord hath said that he would dwell - Solomon, seeing the cloud descend and fill the house, immediately took for granted that the Lord had accepted the place, and was now present. What occurred now was precisely the same with what took place when Moses reared the tabernacle in the wilderness; see [Exo 40:34], [Exo 40:35] : A cloud covered the tent - and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent - because the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The Chaldee paraphrases thus: "Then said Solomon, It has pleased God to place his majesty in the city of Jerusalem, in the house of the sanctuary which I have built to the name of his Word, and he hath placed a dark cloud before him.
Verse 10
For the name of the Lord - "For the name of the Word of the Lord God of Israel." - Targum.
Verse 14
That walk before thee with all their hearts - "With all the will of their souls and with all the affection of their hearts." - Targum.
Verse 18
But will God in very deed dwell with men - "But who could have imagined, who could have thought it credible, that God should place his majesty among men dwelling upon earth? Behold, the highest heavens, the middle heavens, and the lowest heavens, cannot bear the glory of thy majesty, (for thou art the God who sustainest all the heavens, and the earth, and the deep, and all that is in them), nor can this house which I have built contain Thee." - Targum.
Verse 22
If a man sin against his neighbor - For the Seven cases put here by Solomon in his prayer, see the notes on 1 Kings 8:31-46 (note).
Verse 36
For there is no man which sinneth not - See this case largely considered in the note on [1Kgs 8:46] (note).
Verse 37
If they bethink themselves - "If thy fear should return into their hearts." - Targum.
The whole of this prayer is amply considered in the parallel place, 1 Kings 8:22-53 (note), where see the notes.
Verse 41
Let thy saints rejoice in goodness - "In the abundance of the tithes and other goods which shall be given to the Levites, as their reward for keeping the ark, and singing before it." - Jarchi.
Verse 42
Turn not away the face of thine anointed - "At least do me good; and if not for my sake, do it for thy own sake." - Jarchi.
These two last verses are not in the parallel place in 1 Kings 8:22-53. There are other differences between the two places in this prayer, but they are not of much consequence.
Introduction
Solomon having ended his prayer, the fire of the Lord comes down from heaven and consumes the offerings, [2Chr 7:1]. The people and the priests see this, and glorify God, and offer sacrifices, [2Chr 7:2-4]. Solomon offers twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the priests and Levites attend in their offices, [2Chr 7:5], [2Chr 7:6]. He keeps the feast seven days, and the dedication of the altar seven days, and dismisses the people, [2Chr 7:7-11]. The Lord appears unto him by night, and assures him that he has heard his prayer, [2Chr 7:12-16]; promises him and his posterity a perpetual government, if they be obedient, [2Chr 7:17], [2Chr 7:18]; but utter destruction should they disobey, and become idolaters, [2Chr 7:19-22].
Verse 1
The fire came down - The cloud had come down before, now the fire consumes the sacrifice, showing that both the house and the sacrifices were accepted by the Lord.
Verse 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, etc., presented them to the priests to be offered as the law required.
Verse 5
Twenty and two thousand oxen, etc. - 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.
Verse 8
The entering in of Hamath - "From the entrance of Antioch to the Nile of Egypt." - Targum.
Verse 10
On the three and twentieth day - This was the ninth day of the dedication of the temple; but in [1Kgs 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 dismissed the remainder on the ninth, what is called here the twenty-third, reckoning the fourteen days for the duration of the two feasts; in all, twenty-three."
The Targum paraphrases this verse thus: "The people departed with a glad heart, for all the good which God had done to David his servant, on whose account the doors of the sanctuary were open and for Solomon his son, because God had heard his prayer, and the majesty of the Lord had rested on the house of the sanctuary and for Israel, his people, because God had favourably accepted their oblations, and the heavenly fire had descended, and, burning on the altar, had devoured their sacrifices."
Verse 12
The Lord appeared to Solomon - This was a second manifestation; see [1Kgs 9:2-9] (note), and the notes there. The Targum says, "The Word of the Lord appeared to Solomon."
Verse 13
Or if I send pestilence - "The angel of death." - Targum.
Verse 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," etc. - Targum.
Verse 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.
Verse 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 branch.
Verse 21
Shall be an astonishment - The manner in which these disobedient people have been destroyed is truly astonishing: no nation was ever so highly favored, and none ever so severely and signally punished.