Exposition of the Whole Bible

That is, its wings ftretched out meafured fo cubits, as did thofe of the other: both the bim were of one meafure, and of one fize, of the fame height and ftature, of: the fame breadth of their wings, and of the fame bulk of their bodies; they were of image-cwork, 2 Chron. iit. 10. very probably in the form of men: and this uniformity may denote the perfect agreement of angels; or elle the confent of the true, faithful witnefies of Chrift in all ages, who have all agreed in the perfon, of-.

fice and grace of Chrift, as reprefented by the mercy-feat and ark,” which thefe cherubim covered - with their wings. — ee ¥.26. The height of the one cherub was ten cu

bits, and fo was it of the other cherub.) Which is.

repeated from y.23. that it might be obferved, being of an extraordinary fize.;

¥. 27. And he fet the cherubim within the inner boufe, &c.| The holy of holies: and they firetched forth the wings of the cherubim; the carvers that framed them, they wrought them in that form; or imperfonally, the wings of the cherubim were ftretched out; this was the pofition of them, they overfhadowed and covered the mercy-feat and ark, and even the other two cherubim that were at the ends of the mercy-feat: fo that the wing of the one touched the one wall, the fouthern wall: and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wail; the northern wall; they reached from wall to wall, even the whole breadth of the houfe, which was 20 cubits, as their wings thus fpread were, y. 24, 25. 2 Chron. iit. 11. and their wings touched one another in the midft of the houfe; which was ten cubits, and that was the fpread of the wings of each of them; fo that the wing of the right-fide of the one ftretched out, touched the wing of the ‘left-fide of the other in the fame pofition; in 2 Cbron. iii. 13. their faces are faid to be ixward, or toward the boufe;

either toward the holy place, and fo faced thofe that came into that and faw them 3 or towards the inner part of the Holy of holies, their eum to the: holy place, or their faces were inward, a ¥. 28. And be overlaid the cherubim with gold.] Which may denote the purity and ‘excellency of angels; or the precious gifts and graces of the Spirit, with which the witnefles of Chrift- are adorned)’ ¥. 29. And be carved all the walls of the boufe about with carved’ figures of cherubim, and palmtrees, ond open flowers, 8c.) That is, of ‘palm* trees, thofe in full blow: if the cherubitm are an emblem of angels, the palm-trees fitly enough reprefent juft and upright men, who both

‘ a a. inthe church of God bélow, and‘in niavenvabovet both which) are-to’be feen the open'and’ fullblown flowers of divine grace, efpecially in the latter fates’ within and without; on the walls of the moft holy place, both within and without; and fo upon the walls of the holy place, ‘in’ each of whic were 'thefe feulptures, which were’ very Ofnat tal, and:were emblematical s\fee Beck ali a,

V CAWAVS * 37. US SS ae ae the floor of the boufe be’ et

986. “And holy ‘place, and‘of the holy of Holiés; "46 of the new Ferufalém is {aid to-be'pure g xxi. 21. this exprefies the purity and” E of it, particularly the ‘holy! converfa that dwell in the church, in heaven,’ fig

parc! of olive-tree, &¢.).-The door of the holy of ple aflémbled ’:

4 ot co “. MCh. vily.g1— 38. oT KIN GS, 653 _, ¥. 31. Aad for the entring of the oracle he made diftinguith it from the Suter court, where thé peo this was built with three rows of olies was a two-leaved or folding-door, made. of olive-wood; typical.of Chri, the door into the church above and below, the way to heaven and eternal life, the true olive-tree: she lintel and fidepois were @ ffth part of the wall; four cubits, 20 cubits being the breadth of the oracle; or the lintel was four cubits, 20 being the height of it alfo, bewed-ftone, and a row vf cedar-beams 5 the rows of ftones were one upon another, topped with ‘a row of cedarsbeams; or rather, the cedar was a lining to the ftones; and the whole is fuppofed to be about three cubits high, and ‘was fo low, that the people in the outward court might fee the priefts miniftring for them, and could converfe with them 3

¥. 32. The two doors alfo were of olive-tree, &c. The two leaves of the door, as before obferved, repeated, for the faxe of the ornament of them, as follows: and he carved upon them carvings of cberubims, and palm-trees, and open flowers as uponthe walls, ¥. 29. and overlaid them with gold, the ‘two doors: and pread gold upon the cherubims, and | court of the priefts was higher than that of the court of J/rae/ two cubits ‘and an half, called thé great court, for which doors were made, and thofe overlaid with brafs, 2 Chron. iv. g.

x. 37. In the 4th year was the foundation of the houfe of the Lord laid; &c.] The 4th year of Solomon’s reign: in the month Zif, fee the note on upon the palm-trees; thin plates of gold. y. 1, wher, x. 33. So alfo made be for the door of the &c.] The holy place: poffs of olive-tree, a fourth part of the wall; which was five cubits, its) 8ta breadth being 20; this door was a cubiv wider than that into the moft holy place, more CREAM BN into the one than into the other; as more go into the church on earth than into the heavenly glory.

¥. 34. And the two doors were of fir-trée, &c.\ The pofts were of olive, but the doors of fir, and they were both folding-doors, as appears by what follows: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the otber door were folding; which taking up lefs room, made the paflage wider, temple.) y.38. Inthe 11th year, &c.] ‘That is, of the reign of Solomon: in the month Bul, which is the month; from the month 4d7b or Nifany this month‘anfwers to part of our Ofoder, and part of CUIDES it is the fame month fometimes called Marchefvan; it had the name of Bul, becaufe of the rains which ufually fell in this month, ‘as Kimchi thinks, like a flood; and Noab’s flood is called Mabbul, from the fame root*, and when all the fruits were withered, and the leaves were fallen from the trees; or, as Yerchi fuppofes, becaufe the grafs was confumed in the field, and they were obliged to mix provender, for eattle, deriving the fee Ezek. xli. 24. word from another root *: in this month was tbe

¥. 35. And be carved thereon. cherubims, and palm-trees, and open flowers, &c.] As upon the doors of the moft holy place, ¥. 32. fee Ezek. Xi. 25. and covered them with gold, fitted upon the carved work; plates of gold were fitted, as to the dimenfions of them, to the cherubim, palm-trees, bouse finifbed throughout all the parts thereof; the porch, the holy place, and holy of holies, with al! the chambers and courts belonging to it: and according to all the fafbion of it, which David had given to Se/omon, to frame it by: fo be was fever years in building it; and fix months, which are not

¥. 36. And he built the inner court, &c.| The\ appears by comparing it with, ¥. 1.

court of the priefts, 2 Chron. iv. g. fo called to

T H1S-. chapter gives an account of fome buildings of Solomon for himfelf, y. 112, and of other things for the ufe of the temple; of two pillars of brais, ¥. 13—22. of the molten fea, y. 23—26. and of 10 bafes, and 10 lavers on them, ¥. 27 — 39. with other utenfils and ornaments, 49—57> built on mount Lebanon, which lay at the northern border of the land, \at-a great diltance from Ferufalem, whereas this was both a magazine of arms, and a court of judicature, ¥. 7, fee ch. x17. J/. xxii. 8. neither of which can be fuppofed to be far from Ferufalem, but:becaufe not only it was built of the cedars of Lebanon, but in a fituation, and among groves of trees which refembled it; it feems to have been a fummer-houfe; and fo the Targum calls it, a royal houfe of refrefhment: the length was 100 cubits, and the breadth thereof 50 cubits, and the height thereof 30 cubits; fo that it was in every meafure larger than the temple; and there was good reafon for it, fince into that only the priefts entered; whereas into this went not only Solomon's family, but his courtiers and nobles, and all foreign ambafladors, and whoever had any bufinefs with him, which required various rooms to receive them in: upon four rows of cedar-pillars, or piazzas: with cedar-beams upon the pillars, which laid the floor for the fecond ftory.:; ¥. 3. And it was covered with cedar above the beams, that lay on 45 pillars,\15 in a row,]. the y. 1. But Solomon was building bis own house 13 years, &c.] He made more-hafte with the houfe of God than with his own, for that was but feven years in building; which fhewed greater regard ‘to the honour of God than to his own glory, or even convenience; nor was this built till after that: and finifbed all his boufe; or houfes he undertook to build, the fingular for the plural; even the ‘houfe of God, his own palace, and that for the “daughter of Pbharab, and that which is next mentioned, which were in all 20 years a building, ch, ix. it $2. He built alfo the houfe of the foreft of Le-' banon, &c.] Befides the temple, his own palace, and the queen’s; fo called, not. becaufe it was

‘the fecond floor were three rows of pillars, 15 in a row, which made 45, that ftood to eaft, north and fouth; and upon thefe pillars beams, which were the floor of the third ftory, over which was a roof of cedar-wood. ‘ y¥. 4. And there were windows in three rows, &c. | Both in the 2d and 3d ftories, eaft, north and fouth, there being none in the weft, where the porch ftood: and ligkt was againft light in three ranks; or the,windows, through which light was let, anfwered to each other.

y¥.5. And all the doors and pofts were square with the windows, &c.|} The doors into the feveral {tories and apartments, and the pofts and lintel of but Solomen’s houfe.

them, and the windows over them, were all {quare:

which, according to the Radvins, as Kimchi fays, were five hands-breadth: and cedars; beams of cedars over them, or thefe, both the foundation and the walls were lined with them. ¥.12. And the great court round about, &c.) Which farrounded Solomon’s houle: was with t rows of hewed ftones, and a row of cedar-beams thefe rows were one upon another, and were a wa to the court, which were either topped with a row of cedar-wood, or that was a lining to the ftones = for the inner court of the houfe of the Lord; or rather as, or like to that, as appears from ch. vi. 36. and for the porch of the houfe,; not the temple,

¥. 13. And king Solomon fent and fetched Hiram and light was againft light in three ranks; they anout of Tyre.} Not the king of Tyre, but an arti-

{wered one another as before. y. 6. And he made a porch of pillars, &c.] At ficer in it, after defcribed, whom Solomon had heard of, and upon his-requeft Huram fent him to him, the welt end of the houfe: and the length thereof [2 Crom. ii 1 3. his name is called Hyperon by Clewas 50 cubits; anfwerable to the breadth of the b mens of Alexandria’. ye houfe: and the breadth thereof 30 cubits; which added to the length of the: houfe, made it 130: and the porch was before them; the four rows of cedar- pillars of the houfe, ¥. 2. this porch was either for his guards to keep watch in; or for his courtiers to walkin, fheltered from rain or the like; or perhaps only for grandeur and magnificence: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them; the pillars of the porch, on which were laid beams, of cedar for a ftory over them, and fo on; thefe were before and right againft, and anfwered to the pillars of the houfe.

¥. 7, Then be made a porch for the throne, &c.] The ivory throne on which he fat to hear and try caufes, ch. x. 18. where be might judge, even the porch of judgment, which had its name from thence; this was either in his houfe in the foreft of Ledanon, or in his palace at Ferufalem, the former feems beft: and it was covered with cedar from one fide of the floor unto the other; that is, the whole floor.

y. 8. And his houfe where be dwelt, &c.} Which was properly his dwelling-place, that part of the houfe where he ufually refided: had another court within the porch, which was of the like work; a court between that and the porch, called.the inner court, 2 Kings xx. 4. Solomon made alfo a houfe for Pharaoh's danghter, whom be had taken to wite; fee ch. iii. 1. like unto this porch, being built of the fame fort of materials, though in a different form.

¥. 9. All thefe were of coftly fiones, &c.] Marble, porphyry, &¢. according to the meafure of hewed fiones, fawed with faws, within and without; they were all hewed, and fquared, and polifhed, and fo they appeared both on the infide of the building, and-without: even from the foundation unto the copimg, from the bottom to the top: and fo on the cutfide toward the great court; where the people ufed to affemble when they had caufes to be tried, and was adjoining to the king’s houfe.

¥.10. and the foundation was of coftly tones, even great fiones, &c.] Of a great price, and very large: flones of ten cubits, and flones of eight cubits; fome of one meafure, and fome of another; not fo many cubits fquare, but of folid meafure; they were fo many in length.

y.11. Aud above were coftly ftones, &c.] Above the foundation, from thence to the top of the buildings; the whole walls were made of fuch quite u to the cieling: after the meafure of hewed ftones;

p|put; or the chapiter at the top of them, ir

¥. 14. He was a widow's fon of the tribe of Naphtali, &c.| In 2 Chron. ii. 14. his mother is faid to be of the daughters of Daz, as the might be, and yet her fon of the tribe of Naphtali; for either fhe was of the city of Dax, which is placed in the tribe of Nephtali™, or her mother was ef the tribe of Dan; and therefore fhe is faid to be of the — daughters of Dar, when her father was of the tribe. of Napbiali, as it is exprefied by the Targum on 2 Chron. ii. 14. and in which way moft, of the Jewifh commentators reconcile this; or fhe was of. Dan, and her hufband of Naphtali, befides, if there was any miftake, it muft be aferibed, not to the facred hiftorians, but to the king of Fyre, whofe words they are in the above place, and who might not be fo well acquainted with the tribe this man and his parents were of: and bis father was a man of Tyre; not a Tyrian by birth, but one who had - dwelt there a while, and therefore fo called, as Obed-cdom, for a like reafon, is called the Gittife: a worker in brafs; and he was filled with wifdom, and underftanding, and cunning to work all works in brafs; which might be true both of the father and of the fon, and eipecially of the fon, who had im-. proved upon his father’s knowledge and inftructions; and who was fkilful to work in other things befides brafs, as gold, filver, iron, tone, timber, purple, blue and fine linen, crimfon, and all forts of engraving, and every device that could be put to him by the moft ingenious workmen that either David or Solomon had, 2 Chron. ii. 14. but this is only mentioned, becaufe it was in fuch work he was only employed by Solomon, and it feems by the mode of expreffion, that befides ‘his ‘natural genius, and his diligence and induftry, he was filled with wifdom from God more immediately for this fervice, as Bezaleel and Aboliab was for the fervice of the tabernacle: and he came to king Salomen, and wrought all bis work; in brafs, as fol-

¥.15. For be caft two pillars of brafs 1% bigh a piece, &c.| In 2 Chron, iii. 15. they faid to be 35 cubits high, which muft be u ftood of the length or heighth of them } and whereas that would allow but 17 cub a half to a pillar, either the round number ¢ is ufed, or half a cubit in each may be alle either for the bafe or pedeftal into which they might go fuch a length, and {fo only. ‘ pafs either of them about; that was the circumference of them, and therefore their diameter mutt be four cubits, Eupolemus, an heathen writer", fpeaks of thefe pillars, but he makes the circuit of them to be but 10 cubits; and fays, they were equal in height with the temple, and {tood on the right and left, and were made of brafs, and covered with gold, the thicknefs of a finger.

y. 16. And he made two chapiters of molten brafs to fet upon the tops of the pillars, &c.| Thefe were Jarge ovals in the form of a crown, as the word fignifies; or like two crowns joined together, as Ben Gerfom, or bowls, as they are called, ¥.41. the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits; in 2. Kings xxv. 17. they are faid to bé but three cubits high; but that is to be underftood only of the ornamented part of them, the wreathen work and pomegranates on them, as there exprefled; here it includes with that, the part’ below un-or- 96 appeared in fight ina row, the other four being hid behind them. + y¥. 21. And he fet up the pillars in the pérch of the ¢emple, &c.} Not at the door or entrance into the temple, as Yarchi, but at the entrance into the porch: and be fet up the right pillar; or the pillar on the right hand as you went in, which wads oti the north, the front being eait: and calléd the name thereof Fachin, which fignifies he will efablifh, i. e. the houfe to which here was an entrance, fo long as the pure worfhip of God fhould continue in it: and be fet up the left pillar, or the pillar on the Jeft hand, which was to the fouthy unlefs thé pofition of them was as you come out: and called the name thereof Boaz, which fignifies i# him, or it, is frength, namely, in the Lord that dwelt there; for this has no refpect to Boaz, a ‘prince of the houfe ‘of Fudab, from whom all its kings fprung, as the Yargum, in 2 Chron. iii. 17. fugeefts. Thefe names were given them not by Hiram the namented. Yan jartificer, but by Solomon, and which were very ex- y. 17. And nets of chequer-work, and wreaths of chain-work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of tke pillars, &c.] Thefe were the ornaments of the chapiters; the former being like thick branches of trees, with their boughs and leaves curioufly wrought, as the word fignifies, and the Jatter like fringes, fych as the Yews wore at the fkirt of their garments: feven for the one chapiter, and Jeven for the other chapiter, perhaps with four rows of chequer-work, and three of chain-work.

preffive; not fo much of the nobility of the kingdom of the houfe.of David, as the Targum intimates; or of the church of God, the pillar and ground of truth; as of Chri himfelf, and the two natures in him, and of -his royal dignity, fignified by the crowns or chapiters on them, decorated as they were, whole legs are as pillars of marble, and in whom are righteoufnefs and ftrength; which is no fmall encouragement to thofe who are entring into the church ef God the temple was a type of; who, fhould they fear, being feeble and weak, that they fhould totter and fall, here ftands Yachin, to let them know the Lord will eftablith and fettle them,; or that they fhould never hold out to the end, here is Boaz to direct them to Chri, in whom their ftrength lies, fee Cent. iv. 15. Jf xiv. 24. Allufion is had to thefe, Rev. iii.-12.

¥.18. And he made the pillars, &c.|..Or adorned them in this manner: and two rows round about upon the one net-work, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates, that is, there were two rows of figures like pomegranates upon the net or branch-work that covered the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars; and Kimchi owns, that fome copies fo read, on the top of the pillars, inftead of pomegranates, though he thinks ita miftake: and fo did be for the, other chapiter; put two rows about that alfo. y¥. 19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily-work in the porch, &c.] Or fuch as was in the porch of the temple; the work was like that wrought in the form of the flower of lilies open: four cubits; of the five cubits of which the chapiters confifted, four of them were of lily-work, the two rows of pomegranates taking up the other; though Dr. Lightfoot ° thinks, that at the head of the pillar was a border or circle of lily-work, that ftood out four cubits under the chapiter, into and along the porch; a four cubitcircle, after the manner of a {pread lily.

y.22. And upon the top of the pillars was lilywork, &c.] Which feems to be repeated from y. 19. and confirms that: and fo was the work of the pillars finifbed in the manner defcribed.

y. 23. And be made a molten fea, 8c.) A large veffel made of molten brafs, which, becaufe of the great quantity of water it held, is called a fea; as it was ulual with the Fews to call a large collection of waters a fea, as the fea of Tiberias and Galilee. This was made by the man of Tyre, as the pillars, by the order of Solomon, and anfwered to the brazen laver in the tabernacle, only larger than that and was not only for the priefts to wafh their hands and feet in, but to dip upon occafion, and by the Fews? is exprefly faid to be a dipping-place for the priefts, fee 2 Chron. iv. 6. ten cubits from the one brim to the other which was the -diameter of it: it was round all about; {pheerical or circular; not as an hemifphere, as Zofephus*, and Procopius Gazaeus, but rather cylindrical: and bis height was five cudits; from the bottom of it, not including the pedeftal of oxen on which it ftood: and a line of 30 cubits did compafs it round about, this was the circumference of it; which anfwers to the diameter of 10 cubits, or near it, a round number being given not ftriétly mathematical.

¥. 20. And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates alo above, over againft the belly which was by the net-work, &c.} The fupplement is needlefs, according to the above writer; the fenfe being only, that the chapiters werg above the lilywork, which wrought out as far as the belly of the chapiters, or the middle cubit of them, which the pomegranates filled up: aud the pomegranates were 200, in rows round about upon the other chapiter; there were fo many in each, which in all made 400, asin ¥. 42. In Fer. lii. 23. it is faid, there were 96 ona fide, and yet 100 round about; the meaning of which is, either that there were 24 to every wind, as the word there is, and four on the four angles, and fo in all 1003;

y. 24. And under the brim of it round about there were kuops compaffing it, &cc.] Of an oval form, - and therefore the Targum.calls them figures of eggs; in 2 Chron. iy. 3. they are faid to have the fimilior, as the above learned ' tude of oxen, being like the heads of oxen, and writer, when the pillars wete fet to thé wall, only the other parts oval, or thefe were in the form of gourds, as fometimes the word is rendered, 2.Kimgs iv. 39. which had on them the figures of the heads of oxen, and might ferve as cocks to let out the water: fen in a cubit, compaffing the fea round about it; and as the circumference was 30 cubits, there mult be 300 of thefe in the circuit: she kncps were caft in two rows, when it was caft, for thefe were calt together with the fea, and being in two rows, there muft be in all 600 of them. ¥..25. It ficod upon twelve oxen, &c.| Figures of them in brafs, of full proportion: three looking towards the north, and three locking towards the weft, and three looking toward the fouth, and three locking toward the eaft., and fo turned to the four quarters of the world: aad she ‘fea was fet above upon them as it were on the backs of them, and their mouths ferved as fpouts or cocks, to let water out of it on all fides: and all their binder parts were inward; that they might not be feen, and which met in a center; they that were north came ‘ againft thofe that were fouth, and they in the eaft met-with thofe to the weft. The brafs.of. the fea, according. to Facob Leon’, weirs i800 Arobas, and, with 12 oxen under, 32,5003 each: reba being 25 pounds weight. y¥.26. And it was an hand-breadth thick, &c.) Or four fingers, asin Fer. lii. 21. and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of.a cup, with flowers of lilies; embroidered and engraven on it for ornament-fake: it contained 2000 baths; which is reckoned about 500 barrels of -water,; it was filled by the Gzbeouttes 3 in 2 Chron. iv. 5. it is faid to receive and hold 3000 baths, which the Jewish writers ° thus reconcile; they fuppofe here it, means fo many baths of liquid, as the Targum exprefies, there of cry meafure, which might be heaped up, and fo contain more; but as this was a vefiel for water, and'this diftinétion feems to anfwer no purpofe, it may be better to obferve, that in commion, for the ule of the priefts, whether for wafhing their hands and feet, or dipping their bodies, it had no more than 2000 baths in it, but if filled up to the brim, it would hold 3000. How a vefiel of fuch dimenfions fhould hold fo much is. difficult to account for; the Rabdins fay ‘, that in the two upper cubits of it it was circular, and in the three lower cubits fquare, by which they imagine it would hold more, and the pofition of it on the oxen feems to countenance this; but very probable it was wider, and bellied out in the lower part of it, and fo more capacious; but of the contents of this, according to mathematical rules, fee a treatife of bifhop Cumberlands*. It is faid ¥ of a temple of Neptune’s, inthe forepart of it were two figns of him, and another of Aimpbytrite, and that was a brazen fea. This brazen fea of Solomon was typical of Chrift, the fountain opened to wafh in for uncleannefs, by all that are made priefts unto God; and this being larger than the laver in the tabernacle, may denote the greater efficacy of Cbriff’s blood than in any thing in the law of Maes, to cleanfe from fin; and the larger provifion made for it, not only for Yrael, but for all the people of God in the feveral nations of the world, in the four quarters of its being publithed, and proclaimed, and direéted to by the twelve apoftles of Chri, and by all Gofpelminifters fince, fignified by oxen for their laborioufnefs and ftrength. In the fecond temple there no fea, nor bafes ‘after-mentioned, nor ‘avers, one, which ftood between the’ porch and ‘the altar, — which was for the priefts to wath. their hands

Seats, ftands, or fettles for the 10 lav ‘and four cubits the breadth thereof; as broad as it

‘was long, and fo a fquare, that the Javer’ mi ftand firm upon it: and three cubits the beighbof it;

‘around, like the ftaves of a cart on addition, made of thin work, y. 29. they iii ait tana 5 y. 27. And be made 10 bafes of ee mentioned: four cubits was the length of from the ground-plates to the furface, that i. priefts might be able to reach the Javers, and waf their’ facrifices. ~ Re y¥. 28. And the work of the bafes was on this manner, €c.] The following was the form in which they were made; they bad borders; plates of brafs all around them, which inclofed them; and the borders were between the ledges; which were. thort ftaves or bars of brafs, that ae all fide, or the rails of a balcony, only in double rows; and between thefe were the borders or plates of brafs, _ y. 29. And on the borders that were between the ledges, were lions, oxen, and cherubims, 8c.) The figures of them, for ornament-fake; the cherubim, being diftinguifhed from lions and oxen, might be figures of men, or elfe’of eagles, as Fofephus ", fee Ezek. i, 10. and upon the ledges there was a baje above, a flat piece of brats laid upon the top of the {taves or bars; and beneath the lions and oxen were certhin additicns made of thin work; thefe, accord= - ing to Dr. Lightfoot*, whom 1 chiefly follow in this account, were fhelving plates of ‘brafs at the bottom of the borders:and bars, «where the priefts watfhed the facrifices; the filth of which ran off the eafier, through the flopinefs of them. 7 7”

¥. 30. And every bafe bad four brazen wheels, and plates of brafs, &c.] Flat pieces or planks of brafs, on which the wheels ftood, and not on the bare floor; fo that thefe wheels feem only to ferve as fupporters, not to cafry the Javer from place to place, as is ufually faid; for they were not like chariot-wheels, on two fides. of the ‘carriage, bur fet one at each fquare; and befides, when the lavers were placed upon them, they were fixed in 2 certain place, y. 39. and the four corners thereof had underfetters, or fooulders*, or pillars, which were placed on the plates of brafs the wheels were; and ferved with them to fupport the lavers when laid upon the bafes, ‘and fo were of the fame ufe as mens fhoulders, to bear burdens on them: under the laver were underfetters molten; catt as, and when and where, the bafes were, and the plates on which they ftood; this explains the ule they were fioad at af iy the fide of, or within-fide the floping fhelves.

¥. 31. And the mouth of it within the chapiter, and above, was a cubit, &c.] On the lid of the bafe rofe up a leffer/bafe, called the chapiter, whicl was circular, like a coronet, as the word f the infide of which was hollow, for the } of the laver to reft in; this afcended ftr half a cubit, and then widening, “UR cubit more, and fo in its whole heig of, being under the laver; thefé pillars the four corners of the bafe: at the fide cubit; the circpit or circumference of whi ch 3 s called —

~.-:; 4 a 4 _ * > —. 3 CRI SI— 40D WwW RMMG * the mouth of the bafe, into which the feet of the laver was fet, the meafure of which is next given: but the mouth theréof was round, after the work of the bafe, a cubit and an balf; which was either the circumference or the diameter of it; one fhould think the latter: and alfo upon the mouth of it were gravings, with their borders, four-/quare, not round; though the mouth was round, the border of it was four-fquare, which had figures engraved therecn, perhaps the fame as on the other borders, lions, oxen, and cherubim.

y. 32. And under the borders were four wheels, &c.] Not under the borders laft mentioned, but thofe in ¥. 29. and the axle-trees of the wheels were joined to the bafe; to the four fides of it: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit; that is, from the plate of brafs on which it ftood, to the axis or femicircle of it fo that the hichef part of the ring being alfo a cubit and an half; reached to the top of -the bafe, it being but’ three cubits high, y¥. 27.

¥. 33. And the work of the wheels was like the werk of a chariot-wheel, &c:|, In the fame form and fafhion as one of them; the’ Targum is, “ like a chariot of glory;” a fplendid one, curioufly wrought; unle{s reference is had in it to the chariot of Exekiel’s vifion: their axle-trees, and their xaves, and their felloes, and their {pokes were all molten; caft together when the bafe was.

¥.34. And there were four underfetters to th four corners of one bafe, 8c. ] Or pillars, as in ¥. 30. avid the underfetters were of the bafe itfelf; they were caft together, and of the fame piece of metal with it.

¥. 35. And in the top of the bafe was there a round compa/s of balf a cubtt high, &c.) The fame with the chapiter, ¥. 31. which rofe up ftrait half a cubit, and widening upwards half a cubit more, here called the round compafs of it: and on the top of the bafe, the ledges thereof, and the borders thereof, were of the fame, of the fame piece of brafs with the bafe, all being caft together.

y. 36. For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, &c.) In this, and the preceding verfe, a different word is ufed, tranflated, ledges, from that in ¥. 28, 29. the Targum renders it axle-trees; as if the axle-trees of the wheels, and the borders, circumferences and rings of them were meant,_in which were the followings engravings: it literally fignifies hands or handles; and Procopius Gazeus fays, that the bafes had, in the upper part of them, forms of hands holding a circle like a crown: he graved cherubims, lions, and palm-trees, according to the proportion of every one; thefe figures were made as: large as the plates of the ledges, and the borders would allow room for: and the addition round about; which were floping fhelves of brafs around the bafe, ¥. 29.

SMe 38. Then made beter lavers of brafs, Bec.) There was bur one in the ‘tabernacle of Mojes, and what: became of that is not known: fome Fewifh writers © fay, it was placed in Su/omon’s temple, and thefe lavers, five onthe right, and five on the left of it, however, here were enoagh provided. for the purpofe forthe priefts to wath their burnt-offerings in, 2 Chyon. iv. 6. and were typical of the’ large provifion made in the blood of Chrift for the: cleanfing of his people; whofe works, fervices and facrifices, as ‘well as perfons and garments, need continual wafhing in that blood; fee Rom: xii. 1. Rev. vit. 13. one laver contained 40 baths; and a bath, accorditig to bifhop Cumberland *, held feven wine-gallons, and two quarts and half a pint: aud» every laver was four cubits; that-is, fquare; this was the diameter of it: and upon every of ‘the ten bafes, one laver; tor which they were made, even to fet the lavers on, and were exactly of the fame méafure.

¥. 39. And:he put five bafes on the right fide of the houfe, &e | ~ On the fouth fide, which is com=' monly ‘underftood; that is, of the courts of the priefts, where they were placed for their ufe: and Live on the left fide of the hoafe; on the north,:as it muft be, if the fouth is.on the right; though as the entrance. into the temple was at the eat, when a man went in, the’ north mutt ‘be ‘on’ the’ right, and the fouth on the left; and this feems to be the pofition, by what follows:.and he fet the fea on the right fide of the houfe. eaftward over-againft the fouth; and therefore the right fide muft be the north, which is ‘oppofite to the fouth;. the fea feems to have ftood north-eaft, which was for the priefts to wath in before they entered on divine fervice, fee the note on Exod. xxx. 20. hence it became cuftomary with the heathens, to wath before they performed any religious worfhip*; particularly the hands and feet’. © ’-:

¥. 40. And Hiram made the lavers, and the fhovels, and the bafons, &c.] The lavers are not the 10 before mentioned, of the make of which an account is before givens but thefe, according to Far chi and Ben Gerfom, are the fame with the pots, y. 45. and fo they are called in 2 Chron. iv. 11. the ufe of which, as they fay, was to put the athes of the altar into; as the /Zovels,. next mentioned, were a fort of beefoms to fweep them off, and the bafons were to receive the blood of the facrifices, and fprinkle it; no mention is here made of the altar of brafs he made, but is in’2 Chron. iv. 11. nor of the flefh-hooks to take the flefh out of the pots, as in 2 Chron. iv. 16. fo Hiram made an end of doing all the work that be made-king Solomon for the boufe of the Lord; what he undertook, and was employed in, he finifhed, which were all works of brafs; of which a recapitulation is made in the following verfes to the end of the 45th, where they are faid to be thefe were ornamented in like manner.

y.37. After this manner he made the ten bafes, &c.] This was the form and fafhion’ of them as above defcribed: all of them had one éafting, one meafure, and one fize, they were: all caft into the fame mould, and were exactly alike in their form,. figures and bignefs, and each weighed 2000 taents, and the weight of a talent was 93 pounds as and upwards, according to Facob Leon?. made of bright brafs, free of all drofs and rutt; good, as the Targum, even the beft brafs they were made of; the brafs David took from Hadarezer, 1 Chron. xviii. 8. which Fofephus ® too much magnifes, when he fays it was better than gold:

¥. 46. Ja the plain of Fericho did the king cof them in the clay-ground, &¢.). Which being thick, the word fignifies, and‘ {tif and clofe, was’ fit for fuch a purpole as cafting brafs; of fuch clay, furnaces of earth ufed to be imade to melt metals in; but here were large things to be caft, as the two pillars, the fea, the 10 lavers, $c. moulds were made in the ground, and fo the melted brafs was poured into them, which gave it its different forins; this, no doubt, was done by Hiram, tho’ faid to be done by the king, becaufe done by hisj orders: the place where it was done was a part of the plain of ‘Yericho, which lay between Succoth and Zarthan; Succoth was in the tribe of Gad, on other fide Fordan, Zarthen was near it on this fide, in the tribe of Manaffeb, the fame that is called Zartanab, ch. iv, 12. and Zaretan, Fob. iii. 16. and Zeredathab, 2 Chron. iv. 17. The firft cafters of brafs are faid® to be Theodorus and Rhacus, both Samians. Ben Gerfom thinks,

¥. 49. And the candlefticks of pure gold, five on the right fide, and five ow the left, before the cracle, &c.]_ Thefe ftood in the holy-place, where the fhew-bread tables did, right before the holy of holies; there were ten of thefe as of them, which were placed, as the fame Fewi/h writers fay, not on the right and left of the temple, but on the and left of Mo/es’s candleftick, which ftood on greater degree of fpiritual light in the church of Chrif, under the, Gofpel-difpenfation than under the law: with the flowers; the figures of flowers, — fuch as were wrought on the candieftick of Mojes: avd the lamps, which were feven to each candle- — ftick, and fo muft be in all 70; which may put us — in mind of the 70 difciples of Cbriff, fome of the — firft lights of the Gofpel-church:; and the tongs of gold,; which were ufed to take the wicks out of the thejoil, and put into the lamps. pe an y. 50. And the bowls, &c.] To keep the oil; in: and the /nuffers; to trim the Jamps with; tho” fome interpret the word of mufical inftraments, as — the Targum, of pfalteries: and the Lafons, which were to receive the blood of the facrifices; and particularly the blood of thofe — that were brought into the fanctuary, fee Hed. xiii. 11. there were an hundred of them, 2 Cdron, iv. 8. and the /pocns; which held the incenfé: and the - cenfers of pure gold; with which the coals were carhe brought!ried from one altar to another, on which the inthemjcenfe was burnt; not only thofe but all the other veffels were of pure gold: and the hinges of gold,. \both for the doors of the inner houfe, the moft boly or, as the Targum, place, and for the doors of the houje, to wit, of the the holy of holies and the holy place, the hinges of the doors of each, on which they were is,jhung, and turned, were of gold; fo grand and magnificent was this edifice, and fo liberal Solomon in the building of it.

y.47. And Solomon left all the vefféls unweighed, becaufe they were exceeding many, &c.| The veffels of brafs before mentioned, being fo large, at leaft fome of them, and fo numerous; the Zargum is, he laid them up, or placed them;

them from whence they were caft, and put in the fanctuary without weighing them: neither was the weight of the brafs found out or fearched'; it never was enquired into;

there was no end of it, it was fo much, temple;

¥. 48. And Solomon made all the veffels that pertaineth unto the houfe of the Lord, &c.| ‘That he ordered them to be made, even all that were in the tabernacle of Mo/es; all were new made, excepting the ark, mercy-feat, and cherubim: ¢he altar of gold; the altar of incenfe, which was made of cedar, covered with gold, ch. vi. 20. called the golden altar, Rev. viii. 3. of gold whereupon the foew-bread was; this includes all the tables, for there were ten of them, 2 Chrou. iv. 8. where they are faid to be placed, five on the right-hand, and five on the left; which, according to the Fews *, were not on the right and left of the temple, but on the right and left of the table of Mofes, and which being placed on the north fide, thefe muft be alfo, Exod. xl. 22. there being more tables in the temple than in the tabernacle, may denote the greater provifion of fpiritual food in the word and ordinances of the Gofpel-church, of which the temple was a figure, than under the legal difpenfation. ’ but it is certain he made y.51. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made.for the houfe of the Lord, &c.) Which hence jhe ordered to be made to be put into it, either for and the table the ornament of it, or for the ufe and fervice of it; all was compleatly finithed in the fpace of feven years: and Solomon had brought in the things which David bis father had dedicated; had laid up for, and devoted to the building of the temple, and for the fervice of it; not all, but what was left; what }was over and above there was a need of; though the Fews commonly fay, that he made ufe of nene of his father’s, but built it and furnifhed it at his own expence; for which reafon he did not begin’to build as foon as he came to the throne, they fuppofe, but ftayed four years, until he had laidupa _ fufficiency of his own to defray the expence of it; ufe of the bras his father referved for this. work, fee 1 Chron. xviii. 8. and which, perhaps it may be faid, is the reafon it is not mentioned here as laid up: even the filver, and she gold, and the veffels did be put among the treafures of the houfe of the Lord; he did not convert them to his own ufe, but laid them up in the treafury of. right the fanctuary, for the purchafe of facrifices, the the repair of the houfe in future time, &e, fouth fide, Exod. xl. 24.. thefe may denote the

T HI Ss chapter gives an account of the intro-! duction of the ark into the temple, ¥. of the glory of the Lord filling it, ¥. 10,11. a fpeech Solomon made to the people concerning the building of the temple, and how he came to be engaged init, ¥. 12—21. of a prayer of his he put up on this occafion, requefting, that what fupplications foever were made at any time, or on any account, by Jjraelites or ftrangers, might be accepted; 1—g.'by the Lord, y. 22—s3. and of his blefling the of people of J/rae/ at the clofe of it, with fome ufeful exhortations, ¥. 54—61. and of the great number of facrifices offered up by him, and the jeaft hemade' for the people, upon which he difmified them, ¥, al 62—66. 4

¥.1. Then Solomon affembled the elders of Ifrael, &c.] The judges in the feveral cities, or fenators of the great Sanbedrim, as others; though it is a queftion whether as yet there was fuch a court: and all the beads of the tribes; the princes of the 12 tribes: the chief of the fathers of the children of J/rael; the ptincipal men of the ancient families in every tribe: uato king Solomon in Ferufalem; thefe he fummoned together to himfelf there where the temple was built: bat they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of Davidy which is Zion, whither David brought it, when he had taken that fort, fo called, and dwelt in it; and from this mountain Solcmon propofed to bring it up to the temple on a higher mountain, y.4. And they brought up the ark of the Lord,: &c.] From the city of David to the temple: and the tabernacle of the congregation; not the tent David made for the ark, though that might be brought alfo, but the ¢abernacle of Mo/es; which had been many years at Gibeon; but now removed to Zion, and from thence to the temple; where it was laid up, as having been a facred thing; that it might not be put to common or {uperttitious ufes, and to prevent the being of more places than one for worthip: and all the holy veffels that were in the tabernacle; as the candleftick, fhew-bread-table, incenfe-altar, (ce. even thofe did the priefts and the Levites bring up; fome brought one, and fome another; the priefts brought the ark; and the Le-

Moriah, not far from one another. vites the veffels. ’

y. 2. And all the men of Ifrael affembled them- Selves unto king Solomon at the feaft, &c.] Not of tabernacles, as the Targum on 2 Chron.v. 3. and fo Farchi; though that was in the fame month next mentioned, and began on the 15th of it, and held feven days; wherefore this muft be the feaft of the dedication of the temple, and which was kept before that; fince both lafted 14 days, and the people were difmiffed on the 23d of the month; now not only the above principal perfons convened, but a vaft number of the common people got to-| gether, to fee the folemnity of removing the ark, and of dedicating the temple, and to attend the feaft of it, and the more, fince in a few days was the time for all the males in J/rael to appear there: in the month Ethanim, which is the 7th month; it was, as the Targum fays, originally the firft month; but upon the children of Jrael coming out of Egypt in 4b or Nifan, that became the firft month, and this was the 7th from that; and is the fame with 7i/7i, which anfwers to part of September, and part of Oé?ober, here called Ethanim;, which fome render the month of the ancients, others of ftrong ones; either becaufe of the many feafts that were in it, as fome fay; or becaufe it was the time of ingathering all the increafe and fruits of the earth, which ftrengthen and fupport man’s life; or rather of wever-failing, i. e. waters, fhowers falling in this month, and the rivers full of water’; fo September is feptimus imber, according to [fdore”, and the three following months are alike derived; this, by the Egyptians was called J heuth, and was with them the firft monthin the year"; fo Porphyry fays°, with the Egyptians the beginning of the year was not Aquarius, as with the Romans, but Cancer; and fo the month of September was the firlt with the Ethiopians, and with moft people’; though with the Chinefe about the middle of Aquarius’. Now, though the temple was finifhed in the 8th month, ch. vi. 38. it was not dedicated until the 7th the following year; it required time to finifh utenfils and veffels, and put them in their proper place, and for the drying of the walls, &c.

y.5. And king Solomon, and ail the congregation of J/rael, that were affembled together, &c..) On this folemn occafion: were with him before the ark; whilft it was in the court of. the priefts, before it was carried) into the moft holy place: /acrijicing, /beep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbred for multitude; the phrale feems to be hyperbolical, }and defigned to denote a great number.

y. 6. And the priefis brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, &c. |. Detined for it, the like to which it had in the tabernacle: into the oracle of the boufe, to the mofi holy place; that part of the houfe where the divine oracle was, the holy of holies; for though iato it none but the high-prieft might enter, and he, but once a year; yet in cafe of neceffity, as for the repair of it, which the ews * gather. from hence, other priefts might enter, as was the cafe now; an high-prieft could not carry in the ark himfelf, and therefore it was neceflary to employ others; and befides, as yet the divine majefty had not taken up his refidence in it:,even under the wings of the cherubim; the large ones which Solomon had made, ch. vi. 23. not thofe of Mo/es. ia y.7. For the cherubim Jpread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, &c.| The moft holy place where the ark ftood, even from wall to wall:.and the cherubim covered the ark, and the /taves thereof above fo that neither could be feen.

y. 8. And they drew out the flaves, &c.] Not made them larger, as Ben Gerfom, than thofe in the tabernacle of Mo/es, this place being larger than that; nor did they draw them wholly out, and lay them up in the fanctuary, there being no farther ufe for them, the ark having now a fixed place, and not to be removed; which. would have been contrary to Exed. xxv. 15. but they drew them out fome little way: that the ends of the fiaves were /een out in the holy place before the oracle 5 not inJin that’ part of the temple commonly called the thejholy place, in diftinction from the moft holy, for that feems to be denied in the next claufe; nor could they be feen there, fince there was a wall and a vail between them; though fome think they might be feen when the door was opened, and the veil turned afide; and thefe alfo pufhing againft the veil, might be feen prominent, like the breafts forlof a woman under a covering, as the ews exprefs waslit; but the fenfe is, that the ends of thefe were feen out of the ark from under the wings of the cherubim, being a little drawn, in that part of the y. 3. And all the elders of Irael came, &c. ] To Zion, the city of David: and the priefts took up the ark from thence; in 2 Chron. v. 4. it is faid the Levites did it, whofe bufinefs it was, Deut. xxxi. 25. and fo the priefts might be called; every prieft was a Levite, though every Levite not a prieft, and the priefts did at all times bear the ark; fee Yof. iii. 15. and vi. 4. 2 Sam. xv.

29. moft holy place, which is before the oracle or mercy-feat: and they were not feen without, neither quite out of the ark, nor without the moft holy place, nor in the holy places but were only feen by the high-prieft when he went in on the day of atonement, and ferved as a direction to him to go between them before the ark, and there ‘perform his work *; which, through the darknefs of the place, and the ark being covered with the wings of the cherubim, he could not otherwife difcern the exact temple dedicated to Fupiter Scotitas, or the dark;?

as Paufanias” relatés; and the van e and’

place where it ftood: and there they are unto this day; when the writer of this book lived, even in the fame fituation. SG y. 9. There was nothing tn the ark, fave the two tables of flone which Mofes put theré at Horeb,&c

That is, there were no other writings; or, as Ben Gerfom fays, no other part of the law, but the decalogue; otherwife he obferves there were: in it Aarons rod and the pot of manna, according to Heb. ix. 4. though the particle there may be rendered at, or with, or by, fee the notes there’; and fo they might be not within it, but in fome «place on the fides of it, fee Deut. xxxi. 26) when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Tfrael, when they came out of the land of Egypt; about two months after.;

y. 10. And it came to pafs when the priefts were come out of the holy place, &c.| The moft holy place, having fet up the ark of the Lord there, who were all fanctified that were there, and did not wait by courfe as at other times, fee 2 Chron. v.11. dylon.

where, in ¥. 12, 13. it is faid, that at this time, manner, the Farguin is, “ihe Lord is p rufalem,” inthe temple there.’ This was in by the heathens; hence the Lacedemonidns had a

¥. £3. I have furely built thee an houfe’ to dwell

in, &c.] Turning himfelf from the priefts’ and~ people, he quieted with a few words) he addrefied the Lord; having built an houfe for him, for his © worfhip and’ glory, with this view, that he might dwell in it, he was now, by the above token) folly: affured it would be an habitation for him: “@ fee tled place’ for thee to ubide'in for ever; whichis obs ferved in diftinétion from the tabernacle of Mofes, 4" which was often removed from ‘place“to place,

Ch. vith F 9416.) dote the darknefs ofthe former difperifition } reference thay be had- to Lev. xvi. 2. or rather as now faid by the Lord; that is, it appe be his’refolution and determination to dwe caufe hisShaltinal or divine majefty to” dvwell-in Fox a otherwife this did not continue for ever’; though So= lomon might hope it would), at leaft unto the times’ of the Meffiah; and indeed fuch a building 6n'this’ fpot, for fuch ufe, did.continue fo long, excepe) ing the interval of the 70 years captivity im Ba~ yy. 14. Aid the king turned bis face about, &e]

the Levites, who were’ fingers of the families of He was before the altar, ys 22. with his face to°

Afaph, Heman, and Feduthun, arrayed in fine linen, with their mufical inftruments in their hands, ftood at the eaft end of the altar of burnt-offering, and 120 priefts blowing their trumpets, praifed the Lord together with one found, declaring his goodnefs and his mercy, whieh endure for ever: and then it was that the cloud filled the houfe of the Lord; the whole temple, both the holy of holies and the holy place, and the court of the priefts; fo that it was vifible to all, and was a token of the divine prefence of God, of his taking poffeffion of his houfe, and of his taking up his refidence in it.

y. 11. So that the'priefts could not fland to minifter, becaufe of the cloud, &c.) Either through the darknefs it firft caufed, or through the light that broke out of it, which was dazzling to them, or through the terror it ftruck their minds with; they could neither minifter in ‘the holy place, by offering incenfe there; and as for the moft holy place, none but the ‘high-prieft could minifter there, and that on one day only; nor in the court of the priefts, at the altar of burnt-offerings: for!

that firft; and looking towards the holy, and the moft holy place, filled with the cloud andglory; and now he turned himfelf and ftood with the-altar bes hind him, and looking ‘to the court of the peoples and bleffed all the congregation of I/rael; either blef? fed the Lord before'them, or prayed for bleffings for them, or congratulated them upon the Lord’s taking up his refidence ia the temple, which was ~ fo great an honour and favour to them: and a the congregation of Ifrael flood; ready to receive the king’s bleffing, and in hanour of him, and reverence to the divine Being. The Jews fay, none might fit in the court but the kings of the houfe of David. Ae |

¥ 15. And be feid, bleffed be the Lord God of —

Vrael, &c.] All praife and glory, honour and bleffing be afcribed to the Lord; who had 4freth - fhown himfelf ‘to be Jrae!’s Covenant-God, by taking up his refidence among them in the témple he had filled with his glory: which /pake with bis the glory of the Lord bad filled the boufe of the Lord; a bright and glorious ftream came forth from the cloud, and fpread itfelf all over the houfe, andj then took up its abode in the moft holy place as in have a fon that fhould build an houf for ice and which he had by his power and providene faithfully performed; or rather which {pake concerning David, fo Noldius*, for God did not {peak

4. fee Ezek, xhiii, 2.| with his mouth to David, but to | faying 5 as follows, « y.12. And then {pake Solomon, &c.] Perceiving by this fymbol that the Lord was come into his houfe, to take up his dwelling in it, and feeing the priefts and people in confternation at it, fpake the following words to their comfort: the Lord faid that be would dwell in the thick darkne s;

and now was fulfilling his promife, and therefore to be confidered not as a tokén of his difpleafure, but of his gracious prefence; this was done for the greater awe of the divine’ Majefty, and to de-

-Trael out of Egypt, &c | Which was now at y.16. Since the day that I brought forth city out of all the tribes of Ifrael to build an boufe, that my name might be therein; he had choien in his mind from all eternity; but he ot made known this choice, nor the place he ha chofen; he gave hints by Mo/es, that there was place which he fhould chufe, or declare he h chofen to put his name in, but did not exprefs o fa.

3. Pp Agreement of cuftoms betw So Sept.

mouth to David my father, and hath with bis band — fulfilled it; who gracioufly promifed him he fhould

Deut. xii. 5, 11. but now it was a clear Cafe, that he had chofen Ferufalem, and that was the city he always had in view, fee 2 Chron. vi. 6. but 1 chofe David to be over my people Ifrael; to be their king, and to him he gave the firft hint of the place where the temple was to be built, 1 Chron. xxii. 1. and he chofe no man, and his family with him, before him, to rule over //rae/, and be concerned in fuch a work, fee 2 Chron. vi. 5.

¥. 17. And it was in the heart of David my father, &c.]+ His mind was difpofed to it, his heart was fet'upon? it, he had taken up a refolution: an boufe for the name of the Lord God of Ifracl; for his worfhip and fervice, for his honour and glory, 2 Sam. vii. 3.

¥.18. And the Lord faid-unto David my father, &c.| By Nathan the prophet: Whereas it was in well that 1t was in tine heart, his defign was good, and {fo far it was acceptable to the Lord, that he thought of fuch\a thing, though it was not. his pleature that he fhould do it, as follows.

¥. 19. Neverthele/s, thou (halt not build the bouje, &c.] Which is implied in the queftion in 2 Sam, vii. 5. but thy fon that hall come forth out of thy loins, Be foall build the houfe unto my name, which is expreffed in 2 Sam. vii. 12; 13.

y¥. 20. And the Lord hath performed his word that

‘to build) fore thee with all their heart;

¥. 23. And be faid,*Lord God of Irae, &c.] Their covenant-God and Father, whereby he was diftinguifhed from all the Gods of the Gentiles: there is uo Géd like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; none among the angels in heaven, nor among kings and civil magiftrates on earth, who both are fometimes called Elobim, gods; but. only in a figurative fenfe, and not to be compared with the one only true God, for the perfection of his nature; or the works of his hands: who keepeff covenant and mercy with thy fervants that walk beperforms his promifes, by which he both declares his mercy or goodnefs, and his faithfulnels to fach who walk before him in his ways, and according to his word, in the fincerity and uprightnefs of their hearts.

¥. 24. Who haft kept with thy fervant David my

thine heart to build an houfe unto my name, thou didft father that thou promifed? him, &c.) Concerning

a fon, his fucceffor, and the buflder of the temple: thou [pakeft alfo with thy mouth, and haft fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day, the temple being now finifhed by him, fee y. 15,

¥. 25. Therefore now, Lord God of Ifrael, keep with thy fervant David my father that thou promifedft him, &c.] That as he had fulfilled one part of his promife refpecting himfelf, his immediate fucceffor, fo that he would fulfil the other refpecting his more remote offspring: _/aying, There he /pake; &c.} To Duvid, concerning ‘his fon’s| ball not fail thee a man in my fight, to fit on the building the temple: and Iam rifen up in the room of David my father, and fit on the throne of Irael, as the Lord promifed; facceeded him in the kingdom: and have built an houfe for the name of the Lord God of Ifrael, the temple he had now finifhed; and thus the promife to David was punctually fulfilled, that he fhould havea fon that fhould fuceced him in the throne, and build the houfe of the Lord., yi ar. And Ihave fet there a place for the ark, &e.} The moft holy place: wherein is the covenant of the Lord; the two tables of ftone, on which were the ‘covenant of the Lord, as the Targum: which he made with our fathers, when be brought them out of the land of Egypt; asin ¥. 9. ©

- ¥. 22% And Solomon ftood before the altar of the Lord, &e }. ‘The altar of the burnt-offering in the court of the priefts, where he prayed the following prayer; and which altar was typical of Chri?, who is always to “be an fight in prayer, and through whom all facrifices of prayer and praife become acceptable to God. In 2 Chron. vi. +13, he is faid to tard upon a feaffold of" brafs, five ‘cubits long, five broad, and ‘three high,’ which ftood in the midft of the court; it was 4 fort Of a pulpit, round, as a lavee, for which the word is fometimes ufed, and on which he kneeled = -in the prefence of all the congregaticn of Ifrael, who ftood in the great conrt’

before kim, called the court of Drael: and fpread Jorth bis bands toward heaven; and hence it apars, that though So/omon ftood before the altar, he did not lay hold on i with his hands, as the heathens did when they prayed; for they fay’, that prayer alone does not appeafe the deity, ‘ unlefs he that prays alfo lays hold on the altar with his hands; hence altars at-firft, as we are‘told*, were called anfe; and lifting up or fpreading the hands towards heaven was a proper gefture with t Greeks'and Romans *. i throne of I/rael; one of David’s pofterity to inherit his throne and kingdom, but with this provifo: fo that thy children take heed to their way; in what way they walk, and how they walk in it: that they walk before me as thou bajft walked before me; meaning as David walked, fee Pf. cxxxii. t1, 12.

¥. 26. And now, O God of Ifrael, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, &c.] Truly made good, and punctually performed: which thou fpakeft unte thy fervant David my father, the fame requeft in other words, repeated to thew his ardent and vehement defire to have it fulfilled.

¥. 27. But will God indeed dwell on the earth 2 &c.] Is it true? can any credit be given to it? who could ever have thought it, that fo great and glorious ‘a Being, who inhabits eternity, dwells in the higheft heavens, fhould ever condefcend to dwell on earth * fuch was the amazing condefcen-_ fion of Chrift, the Son of God, to tabernacle in human nature with men on earth, to which So/omon perhaps might have refpect; his temple being the figure of his body, in which the Godhead dwells, Fobnii. 19. Col. ii. g. fee Fobn i, 14. behold, the beaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, not only the vifible heavens, but the third heaven, where the throne of God is, and is the habitation of angels and faints; though there God makes the moft glorious difplays of himfelf, yet he is fo immenfe and infinite, that he is not to be comprehended and circumf{cribed in any place whatever: how much lefs this boufe that I have builded 2 though temples built for idols contain them, and are large enough, yet Solomon had no notion, when he built his temple, though it was for the name of God, that he was reftrained to it, but dwelt every where, filling heaven and earth with his prefence.

he|| y. 28: Yet have thou refped to the prayer of thy fervant, and to bis Jupplication, O Lord my ae a Ci knowledged himfelf, and efteemed it an honour to be the fervant of the Lord, and who was alfo an humble fuppliant of his, and defired his prayers,

and fupplications might be attended to: fo bearken unto the cry, and to the prayer which thy fervant prayeth before thee this day; the particulars of which follow.

y. 29. That thine eyes may be open towards this houfe night and day, &c.] That is, to the people that pray in it, as they are to his righteous ones, crates ° and Hannibal * thew, and others Grofius refers to;. yea, they alfo laid hold on the altar; at — leaft touched it when they {wore ‘, to give the greater fanction to the oath. ee

¥. 32. Then hear thou in beaven, 8ec.}\ When, the injured perfon makes fupplication to-have juftice done him: and do, and judge thy servants; contending with one another, the one affirming, - the other denying: condemning the wicked, by bring= ing bis way upon his bead, inflicting upon the punifhment imprecated by him,in his oath: am

Pf, xxxiii. 15. even towards the place of which juftifying the righteous, to give him according to bis thon-haft faid, my name foall be there, there fhould be fome difplays of his prefence, power and providence, of his goodnefs, grace and mercy: ¢dat thou mayeft hearken unto the prayer which thy fervant foall make towards this place; not only to what he fhould make in it, but to what he fhould make in his own houfe, with his face directed towards this, as would be, and was the practice of good people in after-times, yea even when the temple lay in ruins; fee Daa, vi. 10. figuring the refpect gracious fouls have to Chrift by faith in their prayers, in whom the Godhead dwells bodily, fee Fer. ii. 4. and it is obfervable, according toa Fewifo canon», one at a diftance, in another Jand, was not only to turn his face to the land of J rael;

but direct his heart to Feru/alem, and the temple, and the holy of holies; and if in the land, to erifelem, Sc. and if in Ferufalem, not only to the temple, and holy of holies, but if behind the mercy-feat, he was to turn his face to it; which was a fymbol of Chrift, the propitiatory and throne of righteoufnefs; by making it appear that his caufe is juft. - yes eae. XY. 33. When thy people Ifrael fall be fmitten down befare the enemy, &c.} Beaten. and routed, — many flain, and others carried captive er shad been their cafe, and might be again, and:was, tho” — now atime of peace: Acaufe they have againft thee; which always was the reafon of their’ t given up into the hands of their enemies? foall turn again to thee, to thy worfhip, as the Targum, having fallen into idolatry, which was generally the cafe when. they fell before their ene+ mies: and confe/s thy name, own him to be the — true God, acknowledge his juftice in their punith-_ ment, confefs their fin, repent of it, and give him, glory: aud pray and make fupplication unto thee in this houfe; not the captives, unlefs it fhould be’ rendered, as it may, toward this boufe’ 5 but thofe that efcaped, or their brethren that went not out to battle, who fhould pray for them here. a _¥. 34. ben hear thou in heaven, and forgive the.

grace, to be looked unto by faith, Rom, iil. 25. /inof thy people Lrael, &c.] It being not perfonal y. 30.. And bearken.thou to the fupplication of thy fervant, and of thy people Ijrael, when they fhall pray towards this place, &c.|] Not only he defires his prayers might be heard, but thofe of the. people of J/rael, then, and at all times in fucceeding ages, whenéver they fhould look towards the temple, and to him. that was typified by it; to whofe blood, righteoufnefs, facrifice and mediation, the acceptance of prayers with God is to be alcribed: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; for though he condefcended to take up his refidence in the temple, yet.his more proper and more glorious dwelling was if heaven, and from whence_notwithftanding the diftance of it, he could hear. the prayers of his people, and does: and when. thou heareft, forgive, manifett_and apply pardoning grace and mercy on account of fins confeffed, and repented of; or remove calamities and, diftrefles on account of fin, which fometimes is meant, and but public fins, which would be the caufe of fuch a calamity: and bring them again unto the land which thou gaveft unto their fathers; as Wad ‘been: often their cafe in the time of the judges.

¥. 35. When heaven is fout up, 8c.) As it may be faid to be when the.air is quite ferene, and nota cloud init: aud there.7s no rain; in, its feafon, neither the former nor the latter, as i¢ was in the times of Elijah: because they have finned againft thee; want of rain was threatened in cafe of fin, and! was. always the effect..of ity Lev. xxvi.s19, 20% Deut. XXVill. 23, 24. if they pray towards. this places in any part of the country where they. were; for it fometimes rained on one city, and ‘not onm:another,, Amos iv. 7. and confe/s thy names own;his power. and his providence, and the juftnef& of his dealings, with them: and. turn from their fin, when thou af) Slicteft them, their affliction. being made ufeful, co) bring them to a fenfe of their fin, and co repentance! for it,. and reformation from its:or,-ehen thom frequently im this prayer, by the forgivenels of bearef or anfweref them*; {fo the Targum, te~.

7.al If any man trefpafs againft his neighbour, to repentance... -

&c¢.] By being unfaithful in a truft committed to]

ceiveft their prayer; thus the goodnefs of God leads,, 11S ceees rnin;

¥..36. Then bear thou in beavewgitiad him, or the like: aid an oath be laid upon.bim| fin of thy fervants, and of thy people Ijrael, 8ee.}, to caufe. him to fwear; he denying that ever any thing was committed to his truft, and there being no witneffés of it, the judge obliges him to take anoath he never had tiny; and the oath come. before thine altar in this houfe; where it was taken, as in the prefence of God, and as appealing to him: hence in corrupt times they came to fwear by the altar, Matt, xxii, 29, and fo the heathens ufed to take their oaths in the temples of their gods, and at theirlaltars, as the inftances of Calii- by removing the judgment of dro that thou teach them the good way. bhey.

walk, the way of worfhip and duty preferibed: by)

the Lord,. which was, good in itfelf,., them, good things being enjoyed: by them: that!

walk therein; and this the Lord a by afflictions, as well.as by his words but 5% =z ever he does it, it, is. by his fpirit, er: tions are bleflings, P/. xciv. rz. fee"2; 27. where the fame phrafe is differently rendered:

“there be caterpillar, creatures very pernicious to the

_ only ‘to Gods it is his ‘prerogative to knew the

‘their affliction, and beftowing his bleffings on ae oa nN % eo th ee Poe Cheviiiivi37—4a4. [. KING S. sand give rain upon thy land which thou baft given to thy people for an inheritance as he did at the prayer of Liijah, James v. 18.

¥, 37. If there be in the land famine, &c.) Through want of rain, or any other caufe, as there had been a three years famine in the time of David, and it is fuppofed ir might be again, though Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey: “if there be peftilence; as there had been, for David's numbering the people: d/afting; or blights, occafioned by the eaft-wind: mildew; akind of clammy dew, which falling on plants, corn, €c. corrupts and. deftroys them, fee Amos iv. 9. locuft, or if divine gift, and which they sheld. by the tenute of their obedience, J/ i, 1.9.

¥. 413. Moreover, concerning a ftranger that is not of thy people. Ifrael, 8c] One. of sanother country, not belonging to any of the tribes of I/rael, yet having fome knowledge of, and difpofition to; the.true worthip of God: due cémeth out of a far country for thy names fake; as the Ethiopian eunuch did, to pray to him; worthip him, and offer fuch facrifices.as were allowed a Gentile to do, Lev. xxii. 18, led thereunto-by. the fame of him, as follows. Take

¥. 42. (For they foal] bear of thy great. same; &c.] Of his great name, \Febovah; of him as the eternal, immutable, and felf-exiftent beings of the perfections of his nature, as difplayed in. his mighty works: and of thy firong hand, and. of thy ftretched out arms) which had done formerly fuch mighty works in Egypt, at the Red Sea; in thewildernefs, in the land of Cangans\in\ the times of David, and ftill under the reign of Solomon,..and even:in future ages, befides the works of. creation «and providence in general;, when he fhall come\and pray towards this houfe; not being admitted into it, only into a court,. which in after-times was called the court of the Gentiles, fee Ads xxi. 10.

¥. 43, Hear, thon in heaven thy dwelling-place, &c,].. The prayer of the ftranger: and do according to all that the firanger\ calleth-to thee for y which were confiftent,with the willef God and-his glory, and for the good-of thedftranger;, this is moré-abfolutely and unconditionally exprefied than ‘the. requefts for the Lraelites y ityis not -defired that he would do, by them, accerdine to their ways; andif they turned from their fins, or knew the plague of their hearts.; the reafon of which is fuppofed to:be, becaufe the Jraelites knew the will of God, when the ftrangers did not; and ‘therefore it is defired that, notwithftanding.. their ignorance, and their non-compliance with the divine will, through that, they might be heard and anfwered: that ail people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Ifrael; might: know: him to be a God, hearing and an{wering, prayer, forgiving fin, and beftowing favours, whichomight Jead them to fear him and his goodnefs, as J/rael did s and that they may know that. this houje which Khave builded, is called by thy name;~that-he dwelt init, granted his prefence, \heard, and received: the -fupplications of men,, anfwered their requefts, and accepted of their facrifices here.” Solomon feenis' to “have had:knowledge of- the calling of the Gevtilés,.and to defire Mesa Tfithy people ga. tutto battle ogainft their enemy, &%0,} Ina foreign: country, threatening to invade them,|.or: having, itrefpafiéd on_their -borders, orfome way -orotlersinfrineéd! ond their liberties and privilegessand forgiven them. juft occafion.to gato war withstheth: -wbitherfoever thou foalt; fend. them; > this, cafe fuppofes their! atking counfel of God,, or -Heving'a “direction and commiffion.from him by a prophet, or fome-otherway, to engage in war with the enemy:) andi shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou bafchofen, andtoward-the houféd \have built for thy-aaine; for notwith{tanding the guftnefs.of their caufe, and having-a.warrant from*God to.go to war, yet they were to pray to.hiny for fuccefs when ata diftance, even in\a. foreign land, and” abour to engage the fruits of the earth, and caufe a ftarcity of them, fee Foel i. 4. if their enemy befiege them in the land of their cities; fo that they cannot go out to gather the increafe of the earth, or till their land: whatfoever plague, whatfoever fickne/s there be; whatever {troke from the hand of God, or what judgment or calamity foever befalls.

¥. 38. What prayer and fupplication foever, &c.] On account of any of the above things, or any other: de made by any man, or by all thy people Ifrael y by a private man, for fuch an one might go to the temple and pray by himéfelf, fee Luke xvii. 10, 11. Or by the public congregation: which foall know evtry man the plague of bis own heart; be fenfibleof his fin as the caufeof his diftrels, and own it, though ever {6 privately committed, which none knows but God and his own heart; and which: may ‘be* only ‘an heart-fin, not actually committed 5 as all'fin is originally in. the heart, and {prings from it,. that is the fource of all Wickednefs; it may refpect the corruption of nature, indwelling ‘fin, which truly deferves this. name, and which every good man is led to obferve, confefs, and’ bewail,: Pf lis'4)'5.° In 2 Chron. vir-20. it is, fhall know his own fore and’ his owt’ grief; what particularly affects him,’ and gives him pain and forrow, as every man beft knows his own affiction and trouble, and*fo can \beft reprefent. his own cafe'té the Lord: and fpread forth his bands towards this boufe; pray with his face towards it, and: his "hands: fpread* out, ‘a prayer-gelture, and what was.now ufed by- Salomon, y,22.> a Sox 300. Phen hear thou in heaven thy dwellingplace, éce.} « Which. was more properly’ fo \than this) Solomon had built, and’ the Lord. had; taken pofleffion' of: aad forgive, remove the calamity and'dittrefs, be it what it may: and do, and give to every mon according to'his ways, whofe heart thou knowe/? }- that his prayer 18-Cordial and fincere, his confeffion’ and repentance ‘genuine, and that he Is truly fenfible of his fin, and -forry’ for ir, and is: pure in his intentions and refolutions, through a Vine grace; to depart from ic for the future: (for thou, even thou only knoweft the bearts of all the children of men,) he knows, all men, ‘the hearts-of them all, whac is in them, wWhdt.comes out of’ them, and fs according to'thém; omnifciencebelongs heart and fearch the rein’, fee “Fer. xvii. 9, ov; © 40. That they may fear thee, &c,).) For his goodne(s-fake’ in hearing their prayer, removing them, particularly in forgiving their fins, fee P/ exxx. 4." Hof: tii. 5. all the days that they live in the land which thou gaveft unto our fathers; pee 10 eng only for the prefent, whilft the mercy is frefh, but] enemy; and this they, were to-do,°turming their all the days of their lives; to which they were thed faces towards the city of Ferufalem, and the temmore obliged by the good land they pofléffed as ayple there; declaring thereby, hat their dependence bf ayticedh saved 100 He ue ae ee was

“ youd a 664 L KINGS, Ch viiir.45—57 was upon the Lord that dwelt there, and their expectation of victory was only from him, tion of

¥.46. If they fin againft thee, &c.] The fame perfons when they were gone forth to battle, not obferving the divine commands as they fhould: there is wo man that finneth not, fuch isthe depravity of human nature, the treachery of the heart, and the temptations of Satan, of which Solomon had early notice, and was afterwards ftill more confirmed in the truth Of, Eccl. vii. 20. _ ¥. 52. That. thine eyes may be open to = fi thy Servant, &c.]_ That is, attentiv meaning himfelf and his prefent {upplication; or any other he fhould hereafter put up in this place: and unto the fupplication of thy people Lrael, to bear their)ken unto them in all that they call unto thee; at any time, and upon any account; fo far as maybe » agreeable to his will, make for his glory, and their good; fee Deut. iv. 7. he < for) y. 53. For thou didjt-feparate shem from among all people of the earth to be thine inheritance, By his choice of them in his own mind, by ther a demption of them out of Egypi, by the peculiar, laws he gave them, and by the fpecinl blefii * and thou conferredupon them: as thou {pakeft by thehandof =

¥. 45. Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, 6c.) For fuccets: and maintain their caufe; do them juftice, and avenge their injuries, as the Targum; let it appear that caufe is right, by giving them victory.

be angry with them; for their fins, and refent their conduct: foas to deliver them to the enemy, fo they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far or near, as into Affyria or Babylon, whither they were carried. rate them from all Mo/es thy Jervant, when thou broughte/? ou athers that out of Exypt, O Lord our God; it waS het jpake this to Mojes, and by him to the people, 4 _ xix. 5, 6. and it was he that did it, namely a nations, to be his people and p y¥. 48. And fo return unto thee, with all their heart, and with all their foul, &cc.] In the moft fincere and cordial manner, with great ingenuity and uprightnefs; the Targum is, ** return unto thy worfhip;” relinquifhing falfe worfhip they had given into, and ferve the Lord in the -beft manner ‘they could: in the land of their enemies, which led them* away prayer, and now continued in captive; and fo at a diftance from that temple and the fervice of ait, which they could not attend: and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou ga vet unto their fathers, the city which thou haft chofen, and the Boufe whith I have built for thy name; that is, turning their faces when théy: prayed towards the land of Jjrael, the. ‘city: of ferufalem, and the temple init; this they could do ina foreign land, fee\Dan. vi. 10, rs wig cea

¥e4g: Then hear thou their prayers, and their Jipplication,:.in beaven thy dwelling plate, &c.j For their deliverance out of. captivity: and maintain bleffing the people.,: ecg

¥.55. And he flood and bleffed all the congregation of Irael with a loud voice, &c.] Turning-himfelf from the altar, and his face to the people, giving them his benedi¢tion, not only as the father of his people, but as preacher in Jeru/alem, clofing jit with a word of exhortation to them: /ayiag; as follows. on i Ww ODER. #0 LW

¥.. 50. Blefled be. the Lord. that bath given reft unto bis people Iirael, according to all that. be pramifed, &c.1 A Jand of reft, and reft in. the land from‘all enemies; fee Deut. xii. 9, 10., there bath not failed one word of all bis good promifes, avbich he their caufe plead it, and do'them juftice, avenge

¥. 51. For they be thy people and thine inberitance, &c.] ‘Whom the Lord had chofen above all people, to be a fpecial people to him, and to be his portion and poffeffion; fee Deut. vii. 6. and xxxii. 9. which thos broughgelt forth out of Egypt from the midft of the furnace of iron, hard and cruel bondage in Egypt 5 fee the note'on Deut. iv. 20. pramifed by the hand of Mofes bis fervant; fo Fox + foua obferved a little before his death,,ch. xxiiigaga to which Solomon feems to have refpect; and who lived to fee a greater accomplifhment.of thesgras cious promifes of God, and his. faithfulnefs there=. i both in the times. of his father David, and his — beforeto se awe ' go>) wave see

¥. 50. And forgive thy people that bave finned againft thee, and all their tranfgrefions wherein they bave tranfgrelfed againft thee, &c.| “By returning them to their own land, by which it would appear that the-Lord had forgiven their trefpaffes, ‘as well as by what follows: and give them compaffion them who carried them captive, that they may have compafion on them, for it is in the power of to work upon the affections of men, and difpcfe their ‘minds to ule his people well, and to pity them under their diftreffes, as the Chaldeans did the Fews in Babylon, Pf. cvi. 46.

y. 57. The Lord. our God be with us.as-be was God) with our fathers, &c.]_. dbrabam,. Jfaac,\and Jacob, and thofe thar came out of _Bgypi, and efpecially that initerad nee the land of Camganun- - der Fofbuc, and fubdued it; as the Lord had been — | with them to guide and direct them, «prote& and — \ defend them, fucceed and profper, then mon defires he might be with them:

more defireablé than the prefence of € could not have prayed for a greater bleffing himfelf and his people; the Targum is,, Word of the Lord our God be for our help, as. was for the help of our fathers:” /et bim.not, us, nor forfake us; this was ‘no’ doubt a prayer ~ faith, founded upon a divine promite, ‘Fo/b. off in 2 hours timé 256,500 lanibs were Mains however this was a very munificent facrifice of Solomons,

Pit “ tly tea cee in which he greatly exceeded the heathens, -whofe ‘¥. 58. That be may incline our hearts untorbim, &c.] By his {pirit to love; fear, and ferve him; attend to his worfhip, word, and ordinances: ¢o walk in all bis ways; he has prefcribed and directed to: and to keep bis commandments, and his ftatutes, and bis judgments, which he commanded-our fathers; all his laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial:

¥. 61. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord your God, &c.] Sincere in their love tovhim, united in their worfhip of him, and conftant in their obedience to him: to walk in bis ftatutes, and to keep bis commandments, as at this day, as they did that day, neither king nor people having as yet fallen into idolatry, but fhewing by their then prefent appearance a zeal for God, his houfe, bigheft number of facrifices were Hecatombs, or by. to; hundreds, but his by thoufands; /a the king and all the children of Ijracl dedicated the boufe of the Lord 5, devoted it to divine and religious worfhip by thefe facrifices: hence in imitation of this fprung the dedicationof temples with the heathens; the fi ft of which among the Romans was that in the capitol at Rome by Romulus; the rites and ceremonies ufed therein by them may be read in-Cicero, Livy, Tacitus,-and others“.

¥. 59. And let thefe my words wherewith I have made fupplication before the Lord, &c.} At this time: de nigh unto the Lord our God day and night; be continually remembered’and regarded by him, that fo gracious anfwers might always be returned to thofe who fupplicated in this place: that he maintain the caufe of his fervant; of himfelf and his fucceffors in the throne, that they may continue to pofiefS it in peace, to the glory of God, and the good of the people: aud the caufe of bis people T rael at all times, that their rights and privileges might be continued, and they fupported in them; and both his caufe and theirs be regarded: as the imatier foall require; as they fhould ftand in need of affiftance, direction, and protection. ¥. 65.

«64. The fame day did the king hallow the midd/e of the court that was before the boufe of the Lord, &c } The court. of the priefts that was before the, holy place, adjoining to it, in which was the altar of burnt-offering; this, or however the middle part of it, he fanctified for prefent ule, tovoffer fa~ -\crifices on, for a reafon hereafter given: for shere e offered burnt-offerings and meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings; which was the reafon why the middle of the great court was for this time fet apart for this fervice.: Ms And at that time Solomon held a feaft and all Ifrael with bim, &c:| Partaking of the parts of the peace-offerings which belonged to him, and were offered by way of thank{giying on the occafion, together with whatfoever he-might as a. liberal prince provide for this entertainment: for it was for @ great congregation, from the entring im of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, confitting of as alljnumber-of people, gathered together from Haath, which was on the northern border of, the rael to the river of Hgypt; either the Nile, or Rbinoculura, a branch of it, which lay on the -fouthern border of the land: and. this was kept Jefore the Lord, asin his prefence, with thankfulnefs to him, and with a view to his glory: /even days and seven days, even fourteen days 5 Seven days for the dedication of the houle, and ieven days for the feaft of tabernacles, as the Targum which andjagrees with 2 Chron, vii. 9. the fealt of dedication

¥.60. That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, &c.] By chaftifing the people of J/rael when they finned; by hearing and.anfwering their prayers when they prayed unto him; by forgiving their firfs, and delivering them out of their troubles; by maintaining their caufe, and protecting them in the enjoyment of their bleffings: and that there is none e//e; no God befides him; being elfe fictitious deities, or nominal ones; he only is the one living and true God. land_of J worthip. was firit, and began perhaps on the 7th day of the

¥. 62. And the king and all Ifrael with him offered facrifice before the Lord;} For burnt-offerings, which having been laid upon the altar, as foon as the king had done praying to God, and bleffing the people, and exhorting them, fire came down from héaven, and confumed them; which fhewed the Lord’s acceptance of the facrifices, and was another confirmation befides the cloud, of the Lord’s well-pleafednefs with the temple, and of his taking poffeffion of it to refidein it; upon which the people bowed and worthipped, and praifed the Lord for his goodnefs and mercy, 2 Chron, vii. 1, month, as the feaft of tabernacles did omthe rgth: within this time, namely on. the rorliitas a faftday, the day of atonement; which was either obferved _between the two feafts, or was omitted, which is not likely; or they did not eat-and drink until the evening of that day. The Septyagint verfion, according to the Vatican copy,’ reads seven days only once; fee 2 Chron. vii. 8.

¥. 66. On the eighth day he fent the people away, &c.] That is, of the feaft of tabernacles, the 8th from the tit of that which was a folemn day, and fell on the 22d of the month; at the clofe of

2, 3: which the.difmiffion was made, or they had leave y¥. 63: And Solomon offered a facrifice of peaceofferings, which be offered unto the Lord, &cc. of which belonged to the offerer, and with thofe Solomon feafted the people all the days of the feaft of the dedication, if not of tabernacles alfo; the number was, exceeding large, as follows: 22000 oxen, and 120,000 fheep; which, as fuggefted, might be the number for all the 14 days; nor need it feem incredible, fince as Fo/épbus * fays, at a pafiover celebrated in the times of Ce to go, but they did not until the 23d, according Part}to 2 Chron. vii. 10. and they bleffed the king 5 returned him thanks for his care, and charge, and-pains, in building the temple; for his prayers for them, forjand the feaft he had now made, and withed all health and happinefs to him: and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, or to their cities, as the Targum, to their feveral habitations; being greatly delighted with what they had feen and fius the heard, and partook of efpecially: for all the good-

- Roman governor, at the evening of the paffover, nefs the Lord had done for David bis fervant, and.

for Ifrael bis people; in 2

. for David in giving him fuch a fon |them po sacri pa) 9 pre had buile|they enjoyed fo much peace and profperity, ¢ and fucceflor, who according to promife the houfe of the Lord, and for Solomon, him upto fuch dignity, and enabling him to fuch a temple for

HIS chapter relates a fecond vifion Solomon had at Gideon, in which he received an an-

{wer to his prayer, in the preceding chapter, y.

‘zg. the prefents that pafled between him and Hiram king of Tyre, ¥. 10—14. the places that So-

Jomon built or repaired, Ys 15—19. the Canaanitifh people that became bondmen to him, and the odicers he had among the children of Hrael, ¥.

the removal of Pharaob’s daughter to the houfe built for her, ¥. 24. Solomon's attention to religious fervices, ¥. 25. and the navy of fhips y. 1. Andit came to pafs when Solomon had finifhed the building of the houfe of the Lord, 8c.) Which was done in 7 years, ch. vi. 38. and the king’s houfe; his own palace, which was finifhed in 13 years, ch. vii. 1. and all Solomon’s defire which he was pleafed todo; all his other buildings, the houle for Pba- vaob’s daughter, the houfe of the foreft of Leday9% or your children, non, and, may include his vineyards, gardens, orchards, and pools of water, made for his pleafure, Eccl. ii. 4, 5, 6. in which he fucceeded and profpered, 2 Chron. vil. 11., y¥.2. Chat the Lord appeared to Solomon: the fecond time, &c.} ‘Funius and Tremellus read this verfe with the following, to the endof the gth, in a parenthefis, and render this claufe, had appeared, &c. and Pifcator tranflates it, moreover the Lord appeared, &c, as beginning a diftin& narrative from the former; and indeed if the words are to be connected with the preceding, as in our verfion, this appearance mutt be 13 years after the building ofthe temple, which is not probable; but rather it was the night after the dedication of it, when an anfwer was returned to Solomon’s prayer in the preceding chapter; for that it fhould~ be deferred 12 or 13 years is not reafonable to fuppofe; and this appearance was the fecond of the kind and manner: as be bad appeared unto him at Gibeon; in a dream, and a vifion, and by night, ch. iii. 5. fee 2 Chron. vii. 12. +; 3. And the Lord faid unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy fupplication that thou haft made before me, &c.| With delight and pleafure, and had accepted it; meaning the prayer recorded in the preceding chapter: I bave hallowed this boufe which » thou baft built, by the cloud of glory filling it, and by fire defcending from heaven, and confuming the facrifices offered in it, 2 Chron. vii. 1. to put my name therefor ever, there to grant his prefence, fo long.as his pure worfhip fhould be continued in it; fo the Targum adds, ‘‘ and my Shekinah or divine inajefty fhall abide in it, if my will is done there continually:” and mine eyes and mine beart fall be there perpetually; his eyes of -providence fhould be upon it, to watch over it, and protect it, and his worfhippers in it; and he fhould have a cordial regard to the facrificés there offered, and to the per-

Chron. vii. 10. itis added |glory; and for the people of J/rael, in gi in raifing | full and free exercife of the true religion, w build |accommodations, and in fuch a fplen the worfhip’ of God and his|as now. | » "th fuch a king to, rule over them,

, sie fons of the offerers, fo long as they offered hem: in aright way, and to right ends and purpofes. _ y.4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as Datta thy father walked, in integrity of “beart, and in uprighinefs, &c.| Who though guilty of many fin and failings in life, yet was fincere and upr the worfhip of God, never apoftatized from fell into idolatry, which is what is chief; to do according to all that Ihave commana wilt keep my ftatutes and my judgments 5 the laws of God, moral, ceremonial, and vii. 12,13. Pf. CXxXil. 11, 12.: dha: aah y¥. 6. But if you fhall at all turn from following me, &c.}] From my worthip, as the

Targum; either Solomon, or his fucceffors, or the people of J/rae/, and their pofterity 5 fhould they turn their backs on God and his worfhip, meaning not in a fingle inftance, or in fome imall deeree; butas inthe original, if in turning yeturn® that is, utterly and entirely, or wholly turn from him and his worfhip to other gods, as follows: aad

for the Lord\ will not keep my commandments and my Statutes, which

Ihave fet before you, but go and ferve other gods, and worfbip them, neglecting the will and worfhip of God, go into idolatrous practices, as Solomon himlelf did.

y¥. 7. Then will I cut off Ifrael out. of the land I have given them, Sc.] Suffer them to be carried © captive into other lands, as the ten tribes were into Affria, and the two tribes to Babylon, which is called a plucking them up by the roots in 2 Chraw. vii. 20. and this boufe which I have hallowed for my name will I caft out of my fight, as it was when burnt by Nebuchadnezzar: and Irael fhall be a proverb and a bye-word amoung all people; both fo their fins and for their miferies; fee Deut. xxviii. 37. fer. xxiv. g; in 2 Chron. vii. 20. the houfe or temple is faidto be madea proverb of.

y.8. And at this houfe which is high, &e. The houfe of the moft high, as fome render it, 1. in h efteem, fame, and glory, as we as it was iit on an high hill, and was itfelf 120 cubits high, 2 Chron. iii. 4. te Targum is, ** _and this houfe which was high fhall be deftroyed:” ever; one that paffeth by it fall be aftonifhed; at the ruins of the temple, and of the city of Ferufalem, had been fo magnificent: and /ball b; and derifion of the people of J/rael, rejoici their ruin.: and they (hall fay, why hath th done thus unto this land, and ta this k ed it to be done, to lie thus in wz a land in which it had been faid he del looked unto from one end of the year to th and a houfe he had taken up his dwelling ins ly fomething more than ordinary, they fuggeft, fure- land about thefe would require a good deal of pains and labour to’ till, which they were not ufed mutt be the caufe of all this. to..

¥. 9. And they foall anfwer, &c.] Who were left in the land when others were carried captive, as were fome by Nebuchadnezzar, and who were capable of making the following anfwer: decaufe they forfook. the Lord; the worthip of the Lord their God, as the Targum: who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt 5 which is obferved as an aggravation of their fin:

¥.13. And be faid, &c.] By letter tohim: whet cities are the/e which thou baft given me, my brother? fo he’ called him, being not only his neighbour, but his ally, in friendfhip and covenant with him; ‘and this he faid of them not by way of complaint, or contempt, as unworthy of his acceptance; for fo munificent a prince as Solomon, would never of- ‘and bave taken bold fer to a king to whom he was fo much obliged any thing mean and contemptible; but as being unfuitable to him, however valuable they mieht be in themfelves, or of advantage to others: and he cal- /ed them the land of Cabul unto this day, or rather the words fhould be rendered imperfonally, they were called fo; for Hiram could not call them by this name to the times of the writer of this book; nor is there any reafon to'think he would give them any name at all, and much lefsa contemptible one, - jas this is thought to be, when he did not chufe to accept of them. Some interpret®the word fhut up, or unfruitiul, fandy, dirty,. clayey; fo inthe Talmud * it is faid to be a fandy land, and called Cadul, becaufe a man’s foot was plunged in it up to upon other gods; the gods of the people, as the Targum; of the Gentiles, who knew not the true God: and have worfhipped them, and ferved them; even idols of gold and filver, wood and ftone; an inftance of judicial blindnefs they were left unto, who had been favoured with a revelation from God: therefore bath the Lord brought upon them all #his evil, their idolatry was the caufe of it, than which nothing is more provoking to God. ' y.10. And it came to pals at the end of twenty years, &c.| From the time Solomon firft began to build: when Solomon had built the two boujes, the boufe of the Lord, and the king’s houfe; the firlt was feven years in building, and the other thirteen; in all twenty. his ancles, and is reprefented as unfruitful.. Fo- y. 11. (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furni/bed Solomon with cedar-trees and fir-trees, &c. fephus {ays in the Phawici For the building of both his houfes; fee ch. v. 8, 10. and with gold according to all his defire) 5 which is not before mentioned, and accounts for it from whence Solomon had his gold; if he made no ule, as fome think he did not, of what his father left him; fee ch. vil. 51. with which he covered feveral parts of the temple, and made feveral veffels in it. Hiram traded to Ophir, and had it from thence; and he could fupply Solomon with it, and did, before he fenta navy thither: that then Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee; that is, by or near it, for they were not in the land of Canaan; for then Solomon could not have difpofed of them, being allotted and belonging to one of the tribes of J/rael, and part of the Lord’s inheritance; but they were upon the borders, particularly on the borders of Apher, if Cabul in Fo/d. xix. 27. can be thought to be the fame with thefe; though fome think that Solomon did not give Hiram the poffeffion of thefe cities, bur the royalties and revenues of them, their produce until the debt was paid: but they rather feem to be a gratuity, and a full grant of them, and might be cities which David had conquered, and taken out of the hands of the antient inhabitants of them; and fo Solomon had a right to difpofe of them, being left him by his father; for it is plain as yet they were not inhabited by J/raelites; {ee 2 Chron. viii.2. They are by a Fewi/o writer faid to be 22 very wrongly, y. 12. And Hiram came out from Tyre to fee th cities which Solomon bad given kim, &c.| For “He cities being in or near Galilee, were not far from Tyre: and they pleafed bim not, being either out of repair, as fome think; fee 2 Chron. viii. 2. or the ground barren, and unfruitfal; which is not likely, being in a very fruitful country, as the tribes on which they bordered were: but they were not agreeable to him, they did not fuit with the difpofition of him and his people, who were given not to hufbandry, but to merchandize; and the an tongue it fignifies not pleafing, which agrees with what Hiram fays, y¥. 12. Hillerus* interprets it @s nothing, they being as nothing to Hiram, of no ufe to him, whatever they might be to others; and therefore he reftored them to Solomon, 2 Chron. viii. 2. which feems to be the beft fenfe of the word. They are the fame with Decapolis, Matt. iv. 25. fo called from 10 cities therein |.

v.14. And Hiram fent to the king 120 talents. of gold;| Not after athe cities had been given him, but before; and it may be rendered bad fent™, and is the fum of the gold he furnifhed him with for the temple, ¥. 11. which according to Brerewood * was 540,000 pounds of our money; and according to another ° writer, it amounted to 1,466,400 ducats of gold, taking a talent at 12220 ducats.

v.15. And this is the reafon of the levy which king Solomon raifed, &c.] Both of men to work, ch. v.13. and of money to defray theexpence: it was for to build the houfe of the Lord, thetemple: and bis own boufe,; or palace: and Millo; which he repaired; fee the note.on 1 Sam. v.-9. and the wall of Ferufalem; which, as Abarbinel fays, was a large building, there being three walls one within another: aad Hazer; a city in the tribe of Naphtali, and which had been a royal city with the Canaanites; fee Foo. xi, 1. and xix. 36. and Megiddo, which was in the tribeof Manaffeb, Fofh, Xvii. 11. and Gezer; which was in the tribe of Ephraim, and formerly aroyal city of the Canaauites, Fofo. X. 33. and xvi. 3.

y¥. 16. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, &c. Egypt

\lay lower than Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh is faid to go up to its what moved him to it, is not certain; whether he went of himfelf provoked, or was moved to it by Solomon, who had married his daughter; however fo he did, arid took the place, and burnt it: aad flain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city; for though it was given to the tribe of Ephraim, yet they could not drive the Canaanites y. 18. And Baalath, &c.] A city in the tribe of | Dan, Fofo. xix. 44 end Tadmor in the wilderne/s in the land; or Tamar, asin the Cetid, or feriptural reading; for we go according to the marginal reading, and fo Thamaro in Ptolemy?; and is thought by fome to be the fame with Tamar Ezek. xlvii. 19. which Ferom there fays is Palmyra. Tamar fignifics a palm-tree, from whence city had its name Paljyra, the fituation of which place agrees with this; hence we read both in P lemy% and Pliny‘ of the Palmyrene deferts: ruins of it are to be feen to this day, and of this account is given; that it is inclofed on fides with long ridges of mountains, which towards the eaft gradually, tothe diftance of about an hour’s riding; but to the fouth ftretches a vaft plain, beyond the reach of the eye;—the air is good, but the foil exceeding barren; to be feen therein, fave fome few palm-trees in the gardens, and here and thereabout thetown; and from thefe trees, | conceive, fays my author, it obtain-j ed its name both in Hebrew and in Latin:—it appears to have been of a large extent, by the this kingdom; now for the doing of al this wa; and given levy both of men and mieiey railed, ne of | next follows. Bs) et pieahort