Exposition of the Whole Bible

FLIS chapter relates Solomon’s preparation building the temple: on Hiram, king of| amicably ‘Tyre, fending a congratulatory letter to him, he returned another to him, fignifying his intention to build an houfe for God, and requefting him to for)food for his houfhold; and things went on very between them, ¥.7—12. the chapter concludes with an account of Solomon’s workmen, where, how, and in what they were employed,. 13—18.

fupply him with timber, and men to work it, ¥. “1—6. to which Hiram readily agreed, and fent

¥.1. And Hiram king of Tyre fent Jervants unta him cedar and fir, and Solomon in return fent him Solomon, &c.] His ambaffadors, to condote him on the death of his father, and congratulaté him on his acceffion to the throne; this king is called by the Phenician hiftorians *, Hirom, and by Eupolemus*, Suron, as he is Huram in 2 Chron. ii. 3. and by Theophilus of Antioch", Hierom the fon of Abcimalus, in the 12th year of whofe reign the temple was built: for be bad heard that they bad anointed him king in the room of bis father; that the Dfraelites had anointed him king: for Hiram was ever a lover of David; a friend and ally of his; and we never read of the Zyrians being at war with him, or affifting to any of his enemies.

i. 3. 8. and my fervants feall be with thy fervants: to affift them, and to carry the timber trom place to place, and to learn how to hew timber: and unto thee will I give hire for thy fervants, according fo all that thou foalt appoint; pay them for their work and fervice, as Hiram himfelf ‘thould, judge fit and reafonable for them; no mention being made of paying for the timber, feems to countenance the notion that the trees were Solomion’s; but when thé quantity of provifions fent yearly to Hiram for his houfhold, befides what the fervants had, is obferved, it feems to have been fent as an equivalent to the timber received by Solomon, fee y..10, 11.

either by the hand of his ambafladors when they for thou knowet that there is not among us any that returned, as Kimchi thinks, or by ambafladors. So- Jomonw fent on purpole. Fofephus™ appeals to the Tyrian archives for the genuinenefs of thefe letters, that pafied between Hiram and Solomon; and Expolemus, an heathen writer*, has both this which Solomon fent to Hiram, and that which Hiram fent in anfwer to it, which agree with thofe in the facred records: faying; as follows.

¥. 3. Thou knoweft how that David my father could not build an houfe unto the name of the Lord his Ged, &c.] Ashe defigned, and was defirous of; and which Hiram might know not only by common fame, but from David himfelf, between whom there was an intercourfe, and that in relation to cedars for building, which David had of Hiram, 2 Chron. ii. 3. for the wars which were about him on every fide; or warriors, as the Targum, the Philiftines, Moabites, Edomites, and Syrians: until the Lord put them under the foles of bis feet; made them fubject.and tributary. to him, as he did at length, fee 2 Sam. vii. 1. and viii. 1. &¥c. fo the Cetid, or textual reading is, but the Keri or marginal reading is, under the foles of my feet; that is, Solomon's, can frill to hew timber, like unta the Sidonians; it is not faid Tyrians, the Sidonians, perhaps, being more fkilful in this than they were; and the Sidomians are faid by Homer” to be woavdostaror, very ingenious; and they were both'under the jurifdiction and at the command of Hiram; fo Eupolemus * makes the infcription of Solomon’s letter to him to run thus, to Suron (i. e. Hiram) King of Tyres Sidon, and Phenicia. The Fews being chiefly employed in hufbandry, and in feeding cattle, werevery unfkilful in mechanic arts, and in this of cutting down trees, and hewing timber; for there is fkill to be exercifed therein; the proper time of cutting down trees fhould be obferved, the part in which they are to be cut, and the pofition in which they are to be put when cut down, as Vitruvius * directs, with other things, and P/iny” obferves the fame.

¥. 7. Andit came to pafs, when-Hiram beard thé words of Solomon, &c.] «The letter read he feng him: that be rejoiced greatly; that the friendfhip which had fubfifted between him and Dévid was like to be continued between him and his fucceffor, which agrees with what follows; it was true of but chiefly for what follows: /aying, Bleffed be the x. 4. But now the Lord my God bath given me reli on every fide, &c.] From foreign enemies; tor Solomon had no wars with any: fo that there is uzither adverfary; or Satan, no internal enemy in his kingdom, as well as no external ones, Adonijak, Foab, and other ill-defigning perfons being cut off: nor evil occurrent, nothing that rofe up, and met him, to difcourage or hinder the profecution of the good work he had in view.

y. 5. And bebold, I purpofe to build an boufe unto the name of the Lord my God, &c.] For his worfhip, and for his honour and glory: as the Lord fpake unto David my father; by the prophet Nathan, 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13. faying, Thy fon whom I will fet upon thy throne in thy room, he fhall build an houfe unto my name; which was no fmall encouragement

Lord this day; or Febovah, by which he feems to have fome knowledge of the true God, the God of Tfrael, and might worfhip him, though along with him other deities, as fome heathen princes did: which hath given unto David a wife fon over this great people; which he perceived by the letter he fent him, and by his folicitous concern to build an houle for the worfhip and honour of God, and by various other things which his ambaffadors reported to him they had feen and heard in Solomon’s court.

y. 8.. And Hiram fent to Solomon, &c.| A letter to him, to the following purpole: /aying, I bave confidered the things which thou fenteft to me for; whether he could, and whether it was fitting he fhould grant his requeft; which was acting like a wife and prudent prince: and J will do all thy defire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of to Solomon to go about this work; in which hewas fir; or of cyprefs, @s in Fo/ephus’s copy of this let-

¥. 6. Now therefore command thou, that they hew me cedars out of Lebanon, &c.] That is, order his fervants to cut them down there for him. Some think that Lebanon belonged to the land of J/rael, and therefore So/omon did not afk for the cedars upon it, but for his fervants to hew them for him; but as ic lay upon the borders of J/rael, part of it might belong to them, and another part to Hiram, and on'which the belt cedars might grow, and fo he furnifhed Solomon both with trees, and men to cut them, as it feems from’y. 10. fee alfo 2 Chron.

ter, and which grew on Lebanon *; thefe were odorous, found, and durable timber, efpecially the cedar, and therefore chofen by So/omon tor building.

¥. 9. My fervants hall bring them down from Lebanon unto the fea, &c.] The Mediterranean fea, on which Zyre ftood: and I will convey them by fea in flotes, which were either a fort of carriage for the timber the Zyrians and Sidonians had, being furnifhed with various navigable veffels; or thefe were the timber itfelf, and the planks of it, which being faftened together, were fet afloat under the direction of fome boats with oars, of which they had plenty: unto the place that thou fhalt ap-

2 Chron. ii. 16. belonging to the land of J the fame fea: and will caufe them to be difcbarged rael, in fquaring the timber in Lebanon, y. 6. a4 inonth they were in Lebanon, and two monibs at home, that they might not be over-worked; for they wrought.

there; either to be unloaded from the veffels, or to be unloofed and taken up feparately: and thou foalt reésive them; by his fervants appointed there to bring them to Yerufalem, which was 40 miles from Joppa: and thou fhalt accomplifh my. defire in giving food for my bcufbold, fignifying, that all that he defired in return was, that he would fupply him with corn or wheat, which he ftodd in need of, and his letter in Fofephus ‘ exprefies; and we find in after-times, this place was fupplied with breadcorn from Fudea, fee Ezra iii, 7. Ezek. XXvil. 17. Adis Xil. 20.

¥. 10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, 8c.] Ordered his fervants to cut them down from Lebanon, and fent them to him in flotes, which he received: according to all bis defire; he had as many as he requiefted, and what he wanted.

¥. 11. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thoujand meafures of wheat for food to bis boujbold, &c.] This “‘meafure was the Hebrew meafure, Cor or Corus, and, according to bifhop Cumderland “, its contents were 17,477 folid inches; it was equal to ten Epbabs, each of which held two gallons and an half, and the Cor held 75 wine gallons five pints, and fomewhat more; according to fome ‘, what it held was equal to 648 Roman pounds; fo that 20,000 of them contained 12,960,000 pounds of wheat: and 20 meafures of pure oil, {queezed out of the olives without breaking them; the fame kind of meafure is here ¢xprefléd as before, and the quantity anfwered to 12960 Roman pounds; another writer * reckons a Cor to contain 1080 Roman pounds; fo that Hiram had every year 21,600 pounds of oil. In 2 Chron. ii. 10. it is 20,000 baths of oil, now not to take notice that the mea- but four months in thé year in the hard fervice in Lebanon, the teft of their time was {pent in ma-_ naging their domeftic affairs, thefe were [raclites = and Adoniram was over the levy, the fame that wise over the tribute or the collectors of the tax, ch. iv. — 6. and according to the Targum, thele were fuch perfons. % dens, &c.] Tocarry the ftones from the moun-_ tains out of which they were dug, and which were near Ferufalem, to the city; thele were firangers in D/rael, as were thofe that follow: and 80,000 bewers in the mountains; that dug the ftones out of the quarries, and fquared them; thefe, with the others, made 150,000, fee 2 Chron. il. 17. according to Facob Leon ®, the number of workmen at the temple for feven years was 163,600, and fome make them more. fie a y¥. 16. Befides the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, &c.] Over the whole work, preparatory for the building of the temple; though it feems chiefly to have refpect to that of hewing the ftones, and bringing them to the city: 3300 which ruled over the people that wrought in the work, to keep them to their work, and to fee that they performed it well: in 2 Chron. ii. 18. they are faid to be 3600, which is,00 more than ~ here; thofe 300 are the chief officers mentioned in the former.part of this verfe, which were over the whole work, and even over the 3300 overfeers, and with them made up the fum of 3600: fo Facob Leon * obferves there were 3300 mafter workmen, and 300 commanders over them all. ~ y. 17. 4nd the king commanded, and they brought fures are different, a bath was but the tenth part of great flones, 8cc.} Not in quality, but in quan- a Cor, reference is had to different things; here the writer relates what was given to Hiram for his own family, there what was given to the workmen where feveral other things are mentioned befides thefe: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year; fo long as the building lafted, and the workmen were employed; but./darbinel thinks that’ he gave tity, large ftones, fit to lay in the foundation; ftrong, and durable againft all thé injuries of tite, as. Fofepbus fays*: coftly fiones,; not what are commonly called precious ftones, as gems, pearls, &c.. but ftones of value, as marble, porphyry, Ge.

and hewed flones; not rough as they were taken out: of the quarry, but hewed, and made fmooth: to it to him as long as he lived, out of his great mu- /ay the foundation, of the houfe; which, though out nificence and liberality. ¥. 12. And the Lord gave Solomon wifdom, as be promifed him, &c.] Which, among other things,|Céri appeared in his preparations for building the temple, and in his agreements with Hiram for timber?, its foundation is faid to be laid even fapphires and other precious ftones, fee Jf Ii Rev. xxi. 19.: 4 and workmen for that purpofé, and by continuing of fight, was to be laid with goodly ftones for the magnificence of the building; fo the pa Ne ith and confirming friendfhip between himfelf Hliram, who was fo ferviceable, to him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together; in order to continue and eftablifh peace and friendfhip berween them, which Solomon might lawfully do, the 7; ‘yrians being no andjders did hew them, &c.] The ftones; for it feems. Solomon had not only hewers of wood, but of ftone,, from Hiram: and the ftone-fquarers; or rather the — Giblites, the men of Geba/, which were under the jurifdiction of Tyre, and were fkilful in this fort of; work, as fome of them were in others, fee Ezek.

part of the feven nations with whom alliaaces were forbidden.

XXvil. 9. fo they prepared timber and ftones to build the houfe; both Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders,

¥. 13. And king Solomon raifed a levy out of ali and the large number of workmen, both J/raelites

Lrael, 8c.) Not of money, but of men, as follows: and the levy was 30,000 men, for what purpole, and how they were employed, the next verfe fhews.

and ftrangers; which latter were an emblem of the Gentiles concerned in the ‘building of the fpiritu:

temple, the church of Chrift, Zech. vi, 15. and | whereas the number of ftrangers that sae daa —?

¥. 14. And be fent them to Lebanon, 10,000 4 the building was far greater than that of the month by courfes, 8cc. | the fervants of his he a In their turns; thefe are|/ites, it may denote the greater number of Geniiles opofed to be with Airam’s|in the Gofpel-church-ftate. ee ae YS

T HIS chapter gives an account of the building of the temple, for which preparations were before madé, and begins. with che time of its building, ¥. 1. gives the dimenfions of it and the porch before it, ¥. 2, 3. obferves the windows in it and chambers about it, ¥. 4—-10. and while it was building, Solomon had a word from the Lord relative to it, ¥. 1r—14. and then the.account goes on concerning the walls of- the shoufe, and the flooring of it, y. 15—18. and the oracle in it, and the cherubim in that, ¥. t9g—30. and the doors into it, and the carved work.of them, ¥. 31~-26.

the holy place, with the chambers that were over it, which were 90 cubits, three ftories high, was in all 120 cubits, 2 Chron. iii. 4: fome reftrain it to the porch qnly, which ftood at the end, like one of our high fteeples, as they think.

¥.3. And the porch before the temple of the houfe, &c.] Which ftood at. the eaft end of it: 20 cxbits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the boufe; which was from north to fouth, and of the fame dimenfion, fo that they exaétly anfwered each other: and.10 cubits was the breadth thereof before the houfe; which being added to it, make the whole of the building, moft holy place, holy place and porch, 7ocubits; the height of the porch is not here given, but in 2 Chron, iii. 4. where it is faid to be 120 cubits high, equal to the heighth of the houfe, with the chambers over it; but there the breadth of the porch is not given, as it is here 5 by thefe dimenfions we may obferve the’ difference between the tabernacle and the temple; the temple was twice as long, and as broad, and thrice as high as that, fee Exod. xxvi. 8, 16. This fabrick was an emblem of the church of God, fometimes called an holy temple, and the temple of the living God, 2 Cor. vi. 16. Eph. it. 21.

¥.4. And for the boufe he made windows of narrow lights.\|_ Or open, fout°, which could be both, having fhutters to them, to open or fhut at pleafure; windows which they could open, and look through at them, or /but when they pleafed; the Targum is, ** open within, and fhut without;”’ or, as others underftand it, they were wide within, and narrow without; by being narrow without, the houfe was preferved from bad weather, as well as could not fo eafily be looked into by thofe without; and by being broader within, the light that y. 1. And it came to pafs in the 480th year aie the children of Ifrael were come out of the land of Egypt, &cc.] The Lyrian writers * make it 560 years from hence; but this no doubt is righteft, which Junius reckons thus; 40 years J/rael were in the -wildernefs, 17 under Fo/foua, 299 under the judges, 80 under Eli, Samuel, and Saul, 40 under David, add to whiclt the 4 years of Solomon, and they make 480'; they are fomewhat differently reckoned by others”, from the coming out of Egypt to Fofoua4o years, from thence to the firft fervitude under Cufban 25, from thence to the death of Abimelech 256, under Thola 23, from thence to the Ammonitifh fervitude 4, under that 18, under the judges, Fephthah, Ibzan,- Elon, and Abdon 31, Samuel and Saul 40, David 40, and Solomon 3, in all 4803 inthe fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Ifrael, when he was clear of all difturbers of his government, and had got all things ready for the ‘building of the temple, and had gathered together gold and filver enough of his own to defray the expences; for, as for what David gave him, he put that into the treafury of the Lord’s houfe, fee ch. vii. 51. in the month Zif, which is the fecond month, and fo mutt be Fiar, for Abid or Nifan was the firft, and iar was the fecond, which anfwered to part of our April and part of May; ‘called Zif either from’ the fplendor of the fun, being now higher, and fo the greater; or from the trees and? flowers of the field being in all their glory; and fo the Targum here calls it, the month of fplendor of flowers: and it was on the 2d day it, that he began to build the houfe of the Lord, and a very fit and proper feafon of the year it was to begin it in, fee-2 Chron. iii. ‘2.

y. 2. And the houfe whith king Solomon built for the Lord, &c.| For his worfhip,’ honour, and glory: the length thereof was 60 cubits, from eaft to weft, including the holy place and the moft holy place; the holy place was 40 cubits, and the moft holy place 20 the fame meafure, as’ to Eupolemus, an heathen writer", gives of the temple, but is miftaken in the other meafures: and the breadth thereof 20 cubits; from north to fouth: and the height thereof 30 cubits; this muft be underftood of the holy: place, for the oracle or moft holy place was but 20 cubits high, y. 20. though was let in fpréad itfelf within the houfe; which fome interpret only of the holy place, the’ moft holy place having, as they fuppofe,. no windows in it, which yet is not certain: now thefe ‘windows may denote the word and ordinances of the chureh of God, whereby light is communicated to }men; ‘which in the prefent {tate is but narrow or {mall, in comparifon of the new Feru/alem-cHurchftate, and the ultimate glory; and efpecially fo it was under the legal difpenfation, which was very oflobfcure; fee Cant. ii. 9. If. Ix. 8.

y. 5. And againft the wall of the boufe he’ built chambers round about, &c.} Or near it, as Farchi interprets it, for the beams of them were not faftened in it,-y. 6. or rather upon it?; and when they are faid to be round about thé‘houfe, it muft be underftood of the two fides, north and fouth, and of the weft end only, for at the eaft end, where the porch was,, there were none: againtt the length,'walls of: the houfe round about, both of the temple, and of ‘the oracle that is, both of the holy, and \the moft holy place: and be made chambers round about; the faid buildings; which is repeated that it might be obferved; how many chambers there were, is not faid; Fo/fepbus fays *there were 30 of them, and over them others of the fame meafure and number, and over them others alfo; fo that there were three ftories of them, and in all 903 and which is-countenanced by what follows in the next verfe, and agrees with Ezek. xli. 6. the ewi whether minifters or members, fhould do all they do for the edification of the church, in a quiet and peaceable manner, without clamour, contention; b}jars and tumults.

doétors fay‘, there were 38 of them, 15 on the north, 15 on the fouth, and eight on the welt;

they that were to the north and fouth, were five upon five, and five over them; and they that were to the weft were thrée upon three, and two over them; upper rooms or chambers were rare in heathen temples*: thefe chambers were for the priefts, where they lodged and laid up their garments, and eat their holy things; and were emblems of congregated churches, where the true members thereof, who are priefts to God, have communion with him, and partake of divine x. 6. And the nethermoft chamber was five cubits bread, &c.| The nethermoft row of them, which were upon the firft floor: and the middle was fix cubits broad, and the third was feven cubits broad; fo that the middlemoft was a cubit larger than the loweft, and the higheft a cubit larger than that: the reafon of which was, for without in the wall of the houfe be made narrowed refts round about, or rebatements; the thicknefs of the wall, as it was raifed, became narrower at the height of every five cubits; thus the wall being fuppofed to be fix cubits broad, as in Ezek. xli. 5. when it came to be five cubits high, it was narrowed a cubit, which left a projection, rebatement or bench for the beams of the firft chambers to be laid upon, which made the fecond row of chambers broader by a cubit; and the fame being obferved in the next {tory, made the higheft a cubit broader than the middlemoft; and this was done, that the beams fhould not be faftened in the walls of the houfe; or be inferted into them, which could not be done without making holes in it; and thefe: holes could nor be made without an iron inftrument, and which was not to be ufed, as the next words fhew; whereas by the above method the beams of the chambers could be Jaid upon the buttrefles, benches or rebatements Jeft, without the ufe of any: the gradual enlargement of ‘thefe chambers, as they rofe higher, may denote the enlargement of the church of God both as to numbers, gifts and grace, the nearer it comes to the heavenly ttate, as in the fpiritual and perfonal reign of Chrift.

¥. 7. And the houfe, when it was in building, &c.]

And all the while it was building: was built of fione made ready, before it was brought thither, being hewn or fquared by the builders and ftone-fquarers of Solomon and Hiram, ch. v. 18. wherefore the builders had nothing more to do than to lay them in their proper places in the building; it was built with thee {tones quite up to the cieling, as Ya jays.‘ and thefe fo admirably polifhed, and ephus 0 artifi- } cially joined together, that not the leaft fign of an ax, or of any working-tool, could be difcerned in them: fo that there was neither hammer, nor ax, nor any foal of iron heard in the boufe while it was in buildiag; the firft of thefe obfervations fhews, that none are to be laid in the fpiritual building of the church, but fuch as are firft hewed and {quared by the Spirit, grace and word of God; or who have an experience of the grace of God, are found in the faith, and of becoming lives and converfations; and the other denotes, that fuch as are therein, gum, foretelling what would y. 8. The door of the middle chamber was im the right fide of the houfe, &c.} The fouth fide of it: and they went up with winding ftairs into the wu chamber; which were without fide the chambers, and which winded about for the fake of taking up lefs rooms, and which led up to the door of the middle chamber, on the fouth of which they went into it; according to the Vulgate Latin and Tigurine verfions, they went up in the form of a cockle, or the fhell of a fail; in like manner as was the afcent of the temple, of Pan at Alexendria, as Strabo" relates: and out of the middle into the third; the third chamber, and by winding ftairs~ up to that; and the like might be on the north fide, though not exprefied, and on the weft: the Jews fay”, that in the fecond temple, thefe windingftairs went from the north-ealt to the north-weit, whereby they went up to the roof of the chambers, and fo to the fouth and weft; with this compare Ezek, xli. 7. and which may reprefent the windings and turnings of God’s people in this prefent ftate, their many afflictions and tribulations, thro’ which they pals from one ftate to another.

¥.9. So he built the houfe, and finifbed it, 8c. The body of it, the walls of the holy, and moft holy place, with the chambers on the fides of them, and the porch at the end that led into them: and covered the houfe with beams and boards of cedar; with hollow boards, as the Zargum, which formed an arch cieling to it, and made it look very grand and beautiful; and then over them were laid beams and planks of cedar, not properly as a flat roof to it, but rather as a flooring for other build- - ings; for upon this, as in the next verle, there were chambers built. ~

¥. 10. And then he built chambers againft all the houfe, five cubits high, &c.] Which fome under-_ ftand of the fame chambers in y. 5; 6. here made mention of again for the fake of giving the height of them, not before given; but they were built againft, or upon the wall of the houfe, thefe again{t, or rather upon the whole houfe itfelf; and are the chambers réferred to in the notes on ¥.2. which confifting of three {tories of go cubits, raifed the whole houte to an equal height with the porch, 2 Chron, iii. 4, as is there intended*; thefe ’ are the upper chambers in 2 Chron, iii. g. and they refted on the houfe with timber of cedar; or on the timber of cedar, the beams of cedar, with which the houfe was covered, as in the preceding verfes; on thefe the chambers refted, being built upon them; and in one of thefe chambers the difciples might be after Chrift’s afcenfion, 4s i, 1 2). ad

X. 11. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, &¢c.] The word of prophecy, as the Zarbe the cafe of this building, according. to the obedience or difobedience of him, and the people of J/raél; which was brought to him either by an impulfe of the

Spirit of God upon him; or by the hand of a prophet, as Kimchi thinkss and fome of the Fewy, writers ’, as he particularly, name 4by4 > Shi fonite, as the prophet that was fent with this mef-— fage to'him: faying; as follows, = =

¥. 12. Concerning shis houfe with thou art in building, &cc.| Or with refpect'to that, thefe things of holies: was 40 cibits log, and which, wick are to be faid as from the Lord: if thou wilt walk in my fiatutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, even all the the moft holy place, being 20 cubits, as in the preceding verle; made the length of the whole houlé 60 cubits, as in ¥. 2.

laws of God, moral, ceremonial and judicial; and

¥.18. and the cedar of the bonfe within, &c.]

this _refpeéts not only Solomon perfonally, but his With which the infide of the place was lined: was fucceffors, and even all the people of J/rael: then will I perform my covenant with thee, which I pake unto David thy father; by Nathan the prophet, not only that he fhould build an houfe for God, lof eggs: and open flowers» not in the

‘which fhould be a fettled dwelling-place, but that his own houfe and kingdom fhould be eftablifhed for a long time to come, and his potterity fhould enjoy the prefence of God in this houfe, provided carved with knops; of an oval form; fo the ‘Largum fays, they had the appearance of egas; and

Ben Gerfom \ikewile, that they were in the form figure of buds, but flowers blown, and Open, as lies and others; fo the the Targum: all was cedar; the wainfcotting of the houfe, the fides of it at leaft; if not the Hoor, and the carved work of it; and regard was had to the precepts and ordinances of this was done, that the gold might be isid upon

¥. 13. And I will dwell among the children of Ifvael, &c.\ In this houfe now building, and which was in the middle of the land, and where he would meet with them, and accept their facrifices, not only of flain beafts, but of prayer and praife: and wi / not forfake my people Ifrael, and leave them to the mercy of their enemies, and to be carried captive by them, but protect and defend them.

¥.14. So Solomon built the houfe, and finifbed it.) He went on with it until he had compleated it, animated and encouraged by the promife of the divine prefence in it, provided a proper regard was had to the will and ways of God. Abarbinel thinks the above meflage was fent him in the mid{t of his work, to ftrengthen and caution him from a dependence on the continuance of the fabrick, becaufe of the ftrength of it; fince its perpetuity depended on his, his fucceflors, and the peoples conduct and behaviour; wherefore confcious to himdelf of his own integrity, and hoping well of podterity, he was not difcouraged, but proceeded’ in his undertaking until he had brought it to perfection.

¥.15. And he built the walls of the house within swith boards of cedar, &c.] For as yet he had only built the ftone walls of it without, but now he wainfcotted it with cedar boards: and not only them, ‘but Joth the floor of the houfe, and the walls ‘of the cieling; or from the floor of the bhoufe, unto the walls of the cieling; that is, from the floor including that, ¢o the walls on each fide, reaching up to rhe cieling, he covered on the infide with wood; of one fort or another, cedar or fir, or both: particular of fir; which Hiram fent him, ch. v. 8,10. which is differently interpreted 5 by Fafepbus cyprefs; by others, as the Zigurine verfion, pine-tree wood; it is very probable it was of the cedar kind, and not the floor only, but the cieling alfo, 2 Chron. iii! 5.

, 16. And he built 20 cubits on the fides of the bouje, &c.] Atthe end or extremity of it, as the Targum; that is, he built the moft holy place, which was 20 cubits long, at the end of the. holy place, which he wainfcotted as the other: both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; or from the floor including that, to the walls on each fide \from wall to. wall, and taking in them, they were all lined with cedar wood: 4e even built them far it, which could not be done on ftone as on wood: and all was fo covered; that there was no ftone [een s ot which the outward walls were built > all this denotes the inward beauty of the church, and the curious workmanfhip of the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people, whereby they become all glorfous within, adorned with the graces of the blefied Spirit, their ftony hearts being kept out of fight, yea, taken away.

¥.19. And the oracle be prepared in the houfe within, &c.) In the innermoft part of ‘the houfe, he fitted up the oracle, or {peaking place, from whence the Lord fpake and gave anfwer; to receive what was to be put into it: particularly zo fet there the ark of the covenant of the Lord, even the very fame that Ma/es made, for which David had pitched atent in Zion, and where it now wasy for Solomon made no new ark.

¥. 20. And the oracle in the fore-part, &c. ] Which ftood in the fore-part of the temple, before a man’s face as he entered into it, and went on; or the fore-part of the holy of holies, next to the holy place, was of the dimenfions as follows, when the back part of it might be higher at leaft, and be equal to the holy place, even 30 feet; the fore-part being lower, and left open to Jet in the light of the candlefticks, \and the {moke of the incenfe, out of the holy place: this was 20 cubits in length, and 20 cubits.in.breadth, and 20 cubits in the height thereof; and was a perfect fquare; and as the moft holy place may be an emblem of the church triumphant, it may denote the perfection of its heavenly ftate; fo the new Feru/alemis afour- - fquare, Rev. xxi, 16, and be over-laid it with puré he covered the floor of the houfe with planks gold; to. make it rich, glorious and magnificent, and may denote the glory,.of the heavenly ftate, Rev. xxi. 21. and fo Florus’, the Roman hittorian, calls it the golden heaven, as it were, into which Pompey went, and faw the great fecret of the Fewi h nation, the ark: and fo covered the altar which was of cedar; the altar of incenfe, which is here mentioned, becaufe it was near the moft holy place, y. 22. this altar by Adofes was made of fhittimwood, but Solomon’s was of cedar it feems; unlefs as the words will bear to be rendered, he covered the altar with cedar*, though made of fhittim-wood, it had a covering of cedar over it; or if of ftones fuch a.covering was on it, that it might better receive the gold which was afterwards put upon it: ¥..21. 80 Solomon overlaid the houfe within with it within, even for the oracle, even for the moft boly place; which explains what building is fpoken of, and that the infide of that was covered with cedar from bottom to top.

y.17. And the houfe, that is, the temple before it, &c.] The holy place, which was before the holy pure gold, &c.| The infide of the-holy of holies with fine gold, which gold amounted to 600 talents, 2 Crom. iii. 8. and thefe to 7,332,0co ducats _ 4 of gold, or 3 millions and 45,000 pounds fterling: and he made a partition, by the chains of gold before the oracle; between the holy, and the moft holy, and were inftead of a vail in the tabernacle of Mo/es between them; or here was alfo a vail befide the partition made by:chains of gold acro{s the oracle; for the partition was a wall of the thicknefs of a cubit, as Maimonides * {ays; and in 2 Chron, iil. 14. exprefs mention is made of a vail of blue, Se. and in imitation of this had the heathens their dei- ‘ties within vails®: and be overlaid it with gold, the partition-wall. bata ¥.22. And the whole houfe be overlaid with gold, &c.] Both the holy place, and the moft holy place: uatil he had jfinifhed all the bbufe; in this iplendid and glorious manner: al/o the whale altar that was by the oracle; the altar of incenfe, which ftood juft before the entrance into the oracle, or. moft holy place: 4e overlaid with gold; he overlaid it all over with gold; hence it is called the golden altar, and was an emblem of the excellent and effectual mediation and interceffion of Chrift, Rev. viii. 3,4. Agreeable to this account Eupolemus, an heathen writer", teftifies, that the whole houfe, from the floor to the roof, was covered with gold, as well as with cedar and cyprefs wood, that the ftone-work might not appear; and fo the capitol at Rome, perhaps in imitation of this temple, its roofs and tiles were gilded with gold*; a magnificent temple, like this, was at Up/a/ in Switzerland, as Olaus Magnus relates *. ¥ 23. And within the oracle be made twa cherubim of olive-tree, &c.|° Or of the oil-tree, as in If; xli. 19. fee Neb, viii. 15. for there are other trees befides olives, out of which oil is prefied, as pine-trees, cyprefs-trees, &c. and which fome think are here meant; though the Zargum interprets it of the olive-tree: thefe cherubim are different from thofe made by Mo/es, and were befides therm; thefe were larger than they; thefe were made of olive- _wood, they of gold; thefe ftood on the floor of the houfe, they at the two ends’of the mercy-feat, and were made out of it, and were with it in this holy place in Solomon’s temple:' thefe two cherubim may be emblems of the angels in their greatnefs and glory, who are always in the prefence of looked obliquely t6”each other.

God, behold his face; and» wait to dochis will; or it may be rather of the’two witneffes, -faid to be the two olive-trees ftanding before’ the God*of the whole‘earth, Rev: xi..3, 4. who have’ boldnefs to enter into the holieft' of all, and have fight’ and knowledge of the myfteriés of the ark and mercyfeat; have their commiffion from heaven; and {peak according to the oracles of God; thefe “ate ‘faid to be of image-work, ‘2 Chron. iti. 10. ‘2. @“of various forms, as the face ofa: man,‘ a lidn,’‘an'ox, and eagle, Ezek. iv-‘to.' Dr. Lighéfoor thinks ® they refembled thé'two Teftaments,' which in their beginning and end reach the two fides of the world, the creation and the laft judement; and inthe middle do fweetly join the oné to the other: each ten cubits high; half as “high as the moft holy place; emblems either of the high angels, thofe thrones, dominions, principalities and powers, or of ‘men of uncommon fize'as to their gifts and’ grace! ° y.24. And five’ cubits was the one wing’ of tbe and five cubits the other wing of the cherub’ on the other fide him: from the'uttermoft part of tbe one wing, to the uttermoft part of the other wing, ‘were ten cubits; half thé breadth of the’ houfe.

¥.25. And the otber cherub was ten chbits, 8c.)