12 And he stood H5975 before H6440 the altar H4196 of the LORD H3068 in the presence of all the congregation H6951 of Israel, H3478 and spread forth H6566 his hands: H3709
And Solomon H8010 stood H5975 before H6440 the altar H4196 of the LORD H3068 in the presence of H5048 all the congregation H6951 of Israel, H3478 and spread forth H6566 his hands H3709 toward heaven: H8064 And he said, H559 LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 there is no God H430 like thee, in heaven H8064 above, H4605 or on earth H776 beneath, who keepest H8104 covenant H1285 and mercy H2617 with thy servants H5650 that walk H1980 before H6440 thee with all their heart: H3820 Who hast kept H8104 with thy servant H5650 David H1732 my father H1 that thou promisedst H1696 him: thou spakest H1696 also with thy mouth, H6310 and hast fulfilled H4390 it with thine hand, H3027 as it is this day. H3117 Therefore now, LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 keep H8104 with thy servant H5650 David H1732 my father H1 that thou promisedst H1696 him, saying, H559 There shall not fail H3772 thee a man H376 in my sight H6440 to sit H3427 on the throne H3678 of Israel; H3478 so H7535 that thy children H1121 take heed H8104 to their way, H1870 that they walk H3212 before H6440 me as thou hast walked H1980 before H6440 me. And now, O God H430 of Israel, H3478 let thy word, H1697 I pray thee, be verified, H539 which thou spakest H1696 unto thy servant H5650 David H1732 my father. H1 But will God H430 indeed H552 dwell H3427 on the earth? H776 behold, the heaven H8064 and heaven H8064 of heavens H8064 cannot contain H3557 thee; how much less H637 this house H1004 that I have builded? H1129 Yet have thou respect H6437 unto the prayer H8605 of thy servant, H5650 and to his supplication, H8467 O LORD H3068 my God, H430 to hearken H8085 unto the cry H7440 and to the prayer, H8605 which thy servant H5650 prayeth H6419 before H6440 thee to day: H3117 That thine eyes H5869 may be open H6605 toward this house H1004 night H3915 and day, H3117 even toward the place H4725 of which thou hast said, H559 My name H8034 shall be there: that thou mayest hearken H8085 unto the prayer H8605 which thy servant H5650 shall make H6419 toward this place. H4725 And hearken H8085 thou to the supplication H8467 of thy servant, H5650 and of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 when they shall pray H6419 toward this place: H4725 and hear H8085 thou in heaven H8064 thy dwelling H3427 place: H4725 and when thou hearest, H8085 forgive. H5545 If any man H376 trespass H2398 against his neighbour, H7453 and an oath H423 be laid H5375 upon him to cause him to swear, H422 and the oath H423 come H935 before H6440 thine altar H4196 in this house: H1004 Then hear H8085 thou in heaven, H8064 and do, H6213 and judge H8199 thy servants, H5650 condemning H7561 the wicked, H7563 to bring H5414 his way H1870 upon his head; H7218 and justifying H6663 the righteous, H6662 to give H5414 him according to his righteousness. H6666 When thy people H5971 Israel H3478 be smitten down H5062 before H6440 the enemy, H341 because they have sinned H2398 against thee, and shall turn again H7725 to thee, and confess H3034 thy name, H8034 and pray, H6419 and make supplication H2603 unto thee in this house: H1004 Then hear H8085 thou in heaven, H8064 and forgive H5545 the sin H2403 of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 and bring them again H7725 unto the land H127 which thou gavest H5414 unto their fathers. H1 When heaven H8064 is shut up, H6113 and there is no rain, H4306 because they have sinned H2398 against thee; if they pray H6419 toward this place, H4725 and confess H3034 thy name, H8034 and turn H7725 from their sin, H2403 when thou afflictest H6031 them: Then hear H8085 thou in heaven, H8064 and forgive H5545 the sin H2403 of thy servants, H5650 and of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 that thou teach H3384 them the good H2896 way H1870 wherein they should walk, H3212 and give H5414 rain H4306 upon thy land, H776 which thou hast given H5414 to thy people H5971 for an inheritance. H5159 If there be in the land H776 famine, H7458 if there be pestilence, H1698 blasting, H7711 mildew, H3420 locust, H697 or if there be caterpiller; H2625 if their enemy H341 besiege H6887 them in the land H776 of their cities; H8179 whatsoever plague, H5061 whatsoever sickness H4245 there be; What prayer H8605 and supplication H8467 soever be made by any man, H120 or by all thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 which shall know H3045 every man H376 the plague H5061 of his own heart, H3824 and spread forth H6566 his hands H3709 toward this house: H1004 Then hear H8085 thou in heaven H8064 thy dwelling H3427 place, H4349 and forgive, H5545 and do, H6213 and give H5414 to every man H376 according to his ways, H1870 whose heart H3824 thou knowest; H3045 (for thou, even thou only, knowest H3045 the hearts H3824 of all the children H1121 of men;) H120 That they may fear H3372 thee all the days H3117 that they live H2416 in H6440 the land H127 which thou gavest H5414 unto our fathers. H1 Moreover concerning a stranger, H5237 that is not of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 but cometh out H935 of a far H7350 country H776 for H4616 thy name's H8034 sake; (For they shall hear H8085 of thy great H1419 name, H8034 and of thy strong H2389 hand, H3027 and of thy stretched out H5186 arm;) H2220 when he shall come H935 and pray H6419 toward this house; H1004 Hear H8085 thou in heaven H8064 thy dwelling H3427 place, H4349 and do H6213 according to all that the stranger H5237 calleth H7121 to thee for: that all people H5971 of the earth H776 may know H3045 thy name, H8034 to fear H3372 thee, as do thy people H5971 Israel; H3478 and that they may know H3045 that this house, H1004 which I have builded, H1129 is called H7121 by thy name. H8034 If thy people H5971 go out H3318 to battle H4421 against their enemy, H341 whithersoever H1870 thou shalt send H7971 them, and shall pray H6419 unto the LORD H3068 toward H1870 the city H5892 which thou hast chosen, H977 and toward the house H1004 that I have built H1129 for thy name: H8034 Then hear H8085 thou in heaven H8064 their prayer H8605 and their supplication, H8467 and maintain H6213 their cause. H4941 If they sin H2398 against thee, (for there is no man H120 that sinneth H2398 not,) and thou be angry H599 with them, and deliver H5414 them to the enemy, H341 so that they carry them away H7617 captives H7617 unto H6440 the land H776 of the enemy, H341 far H7350 or near; H7138 Yet if they shall bethink H7725 themselves in the land H776 whither they were carried captives, H7617 and repent, H7725 H3820 and make supplication H2603 unto thee in the land H776 of them that carried them captives, H7617 saying, H559 We have sinned, H2398 and have done perversely, H5753 we have committed wickedness; H7561 And so return H7725 unto thee with all their heart, H3824 and with all their soul, H5315 in the land H776 of their enemies, H341 which led them away captive, H7617 and pray H6419 unto thee toward H1870 their land, H776 which thou gavest H5414 unto their fathers, H1 the city H5892 which thou hast chosen, H977 and the house H1004 which I have built H1129 for thy name: H8034 Then hear H8085 thou their prayer H8605 and their supplication H8467 in heaven H8064 thy dwelling H3427 place, H4349 and maintain H6213 their cause, H4941 And forgive H5545 thy people H5971 that have sinned H2398 against thee, and all their transgressions H6588 wherein they have transgressed H6586 against thee, and give H5414 them compassion H7356 before H6440 them who carried them captive, H7617 that they may have compassion H7355 on them: For they be thy people, H5971 and thine inheritance, H5159 which thou broughtest forth H3318 out of Egypt, H4714 from the midst H8432 of the furnace H3564 of iron: H1270 That thine eyes H5869 may be open H6605 unto the supplication H8467 of thy servant, H5650 and unto the supplication H8467 of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 to hearken H8085 unto them in all that they call H7121 for unto thee. For thou didst separate H914 them from among all the people H5971 of the earth, H776 to be thine inheritance, H5159 as thou spakest H1696 by the hand H3027 of Moses H4872 thy servant, H5650 when thou broughtest H3318 our fathers H1 out of Egypt, H4714 O Lord H136 GOD. H3069
[[A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 Give H3051 unto the LORD, H3068 O ye mighty, H1121 H410 give H3051 unto the LORD H3068 glory H3519 and strength. H5797 Give H3051 unto the LORD H3068 the glory H3519 due unto his name; H8034 worship H7812 the LORD H3068 in the beauty H1927 of holiness. H6944
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 6
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 6 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The words with which Solomon celebrates this wondrous evidence of the divine favour, entirely coincide with the narrative in 1 Kings 8:12-21, except that in 2 Chronicles 6:5. the actual words of Solomon's speech are more completely given than in 1 Kings 8:16, where the words, “and I have not chosen a man to be prince over my people Israel, and I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there,” are omitted. For the commentary on this address, see on 1 Kings 8:12-21.
Solomon's dedicatory prayer likewise corresponds exactly with the account of it given in 1 Kings 8:22-53 till near the end (2 Chronicles 6:40-42), where it takes quite a different turn. Besides this, in the introduction (2 Chronicles 6:13) Solomon's position during the prayer is more accurately described, it being there stated that Solomon had caused a high stage ( כּיּור , a basin-like elevation) to be erected, which he ascended, and kneeling, spoke the prayer which follows. This fact is not stated in 1 Kings 8:22, and Then. and Berth. conjecture that it has been dropped out of our text only by mistake. Perhaps so, but it may have been passed over by the author of the books of Kings as a point of subordinate importance. On the contents of the prayer, which begins with the joyful confession that the Lord had fulfilled His promise to David in reference to the building of the temple, and proceeds with a request for a further bestowment of the blessing promised to His people, and a supplication that all prayers made to the Lord in the temple may be heard, see the Com. on 1 Kings 8:22. The conclusion of the prayer in the Chronicle is different from that in 1 Kings 8. There the last supplication, that the prayers might be heard, is followed by the thought: for they (the Israelites) are Thy people and inheritance; and in the further amplification of this thought the prayer returns to the idea with which it commenced. In the narrative of the Chronicle, on the other hand, the supplications conclude with the general thought (2 Chronicles 6:40): “Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attend unto the prayer of this place” (i.e., unto the prayer spoken in this place). There follows, then, the conclusion of the whole prayer - a summons to the Lord (2 Chronicles 6:41.): “And now, Lord God, arise into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength; let Thy priests, Lord God, clothe themselves in salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in good! Lord God, turn not away the face of Thine anointed: remember the pious deeds of Thy servant David.” הסדים as in 2 Chronicles 32:32; 2 Chronicles 35:26, and Nehemiah 13:14. On this Thenius remarks, to 1 Kings 8:53 : “This conclusion is probably authentic, for there is in the text of the prayer, 1 Kings 8, no special expression of dedication, and this the summons to enter into possession of the temple very fittingly supplies. The whole contents of the conclusion are in perfect correspondence with the situation, and, as to form, nothing better could be desired. It can scarcely be thought an arbitrary addition made by the chronicler for no other reason than that the summons spoken of, if taken literally, is irreconcilable with the entrance of the cloud into the temple, of which he has already given us an account.” Berth. indeed thinks that it does not thence follow that our conclusion is authentic, and considers it more probable that it was introduced because it appeared more suitable, in place of the somewhat obscure words in 1 Kings 8:51-53, though not by the author of the Chronicle, and scarcely at an earlier time. The decision on this question can only be arrived at in connection with the question as to the origin of the statements peculiar to the Chronicle contained in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.
If we consider, in the first place, our verses in themselves, they contain no thought which Solomon might not have spoken, and consequently nothing which would tend to show that they are not authentic. It is true that the phrase קשּׁבות אזניך occurs only here and in 2 Chronicles 7:15, and again in Psalms 130:2, and the noun נוּח instead of מנוּחה is found only in Esther 9:16-18 in the form נוח ; but even if these two expressions be peculiar to the later time, no further conclusion can be drawn from that, than that the author of the Chronicle has here, as often elsewhere, given the thoughts of his authority in the language of his own time. Nor is the relation in which 2 Chronicles 6:41, 2 Chronicles 6:42 stand to Psalms 132:8-10 a valid proof of the later composition of the conclusion of our prayer. For ( a ) it is still a question whether our verses have been borrowed from Ps 132, or the verses of the psalm from our passage; and ( b ) the period when Psalms 138:1-8 was written is so doubtful, that some regard it as a Solomonic psalm, while others place it in the post-exilic period. Neither the one nor the other of these questions can be determined on convincing grounds. The appeal to the fact that the chronicler has compounded the hymn in 1 Chron 15 also out of post-exilic psalms proves nothing, for even in that case it is at least doubtful if that be a correct account of the matter. But the further assertion, that the conclusion (2 Chronicles 6:42) resembles Isaiah 55:3, and that recollections of this passage may have had some effect also on the conclusion (2 Chronicles 6:41), is undoubtedly erroneous, for דויד חסדי in 2 Chronicles 6:42 has quite a different meaning from that which it has in Isaiah 55:3. There דּוד חסדי are the favours granted to David by the Lord; in 2 Chronicles 6:42, on the contrary, they are the pious deeds of David, - all that he had done for the raising and advancement of the public worship (see above). The phrase וגו קוּמה , “Arise, O Lord God, into Thy rest,” is modelled on the formula which was spoken when the ark was lifted and when it was set down on the journey through the wilderness, which explains both קוּמה and the use of לנוּחך , which is formed after בּנוּחה , Numbers 10:36. The call to arise into rest is not inconsistent with the fact that the ark had already been brought into the most holy place, for קוּמה has merely the general signification, “to set oneself to anything.” The idea is, that God would now take the rest to which the throne of His glory had attained, show Himself to His people from this His throne to be the God of salvation, endue His priests, the guardians of His sanctuary, with salvation, and cause the pious to rejoice in His goodness. בטּוב ישׂמחוּ is generalized in Psalms 132:9 into ירנּנוּ . פּני פ השׁב , to turn away the face of any one, i.e., to deny the request, cf. 1 Kings 2:16.