Chapter VII

=1‒3= (not in 1 Kings).
THE SACRIFICES CONSUMED BY FIRE FROM HEAVEN.

¹Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came
down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the
sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

=1.= _the fire came down from heaven_] As the discovery of the spot, approved by Jehovah, for the site of the Temple was ratified by the sign of fire from heaven (see 1 Chronicles xxi. 26, note), so tradition or the Chronicler thought that the conclusion of the dedication must have been marked by the same sign of Divine favour.

_consumed the burnt offering_] Compare Leviticus ix. 24; 1 Kings xviii. 38.

²And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD,
because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. ³And
all the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down,
and the glory of the LORD was upon the house; and they bowed
themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and
worshipped, and gave thanks unto the LORD, _saying_, For he is
good; for his mercy _endureth_ for ever.

=2.= _the priests could not enter_] Compare v. 14.

=4‒10= (= 1 Kings viii. 62‒66).
THE GREAT FEAST OF DEDICATION.

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the
LORD. ⁵And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two
thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the
king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

=5.= _twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep_] These high numbers appear also in 1 Kings.

⁶And the priests stood, according to their offices; the Levites
also with instruments of music¹ of the LORD, which David the
king had made to give thanks unto the LORD, for his mercy
_endureth_ for ever, when David praised by their ministry: and
the priests sounded trumpets before them; and all Israel stood.

¹ Or, _for the song of the LORD_.

=6.= This verse, which is characteristic of the Chronicler, does not appear in 1 Kings.

_instruments of music of the LORD_] margin, =instruments for the song of the LORD=. Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 5; Amos vi. 5.

_the priests sounded trumpets_] Compare v. 12.

⁷Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was
before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt
offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the
brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the
burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat.

=7.= _the fat_] Specially mentioned as the choice part of the sacrificial victim, a part never to be eaten but always to be burnt. Leviticus iii. 16, 17.

_peace offerings_] See note on 1 Chronicles xvi. 1.

_the brasen altar which Solomon had made_] Compare iv. 1; 1 Kings ix. 25.

_meal offering_] an offering consisting of fine flour mixed with oil and frankincense. Compare Leviticus ii. 1‒7.

⁸So Solomon held the feast at that time seven days, and all
Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in
of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt.

=8.= _the feast_] i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles (see note below on _seven days..._, verse 9).

_from the entering in of Hamath_] See note on 1 Chronicles xiii. 5.

_the brook of Egypt_] i.e. not the Nile, but the stream called _Shihor of Egypt_ in 1 Chronicles xiii. 5 (see note).

⁹And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly¹: for they
kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven
days.

¹ Or, _closing festival_.

=9.= _a solemn assembly_] margin, =a closing festival=. In the later stage of ritual, which is represented in the Priestly Code, an eighth day, to be observed as an holy assembly, was added to the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus xxiii. 36; Numbers xxix. 35). The earlier custom terminated the festival on the seventh day, and the people went away on the eighth (Deuteronomy xvi. 13, 15).

_seven days, and ... seven days_] Compare 1 Kings viii. 65, 66. The _original_ text in Kings agreed with the earlier custom referred to in the previous note, the people being dismissed on the eighth day after observing the seven days Feast of Tabernacles. The evidence of the LXX. and also the opening words of verse 66 put it beyond doubt that in the present text of Kings the words _and seven days, even fourteen days_ are a late addition due probably to the influence of the statement in Chronicles The Chronicler, or the tradition he follows, did not deem it fitting that there should be no special festival for the dedication of the Temple. His statement of events is therefore: a seven days Dedication Feast (from the 8th to the 14th of the month), followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, seven days _plus_ one day of holy assembly (from the 15th to the 22nd); and finally on the 23rd of the month the dismissal of the people to their homes (see verse 10).

¹⁰And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he
sent the people away unto their tents, joyful and glad of heart
for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to
Solomon, and to Israel his people.

=10.= _unto their tents_] The Hebrew word (_ōhel_) here approaches in meaning the corresponding Arabic word (_ahl_), which denotes _household_ or _one’s own people_, e.g. in the phrase _ahlu ’linjil_, “the household of the Gospel,” i.e. “the Christians,” a phrase found in the Koran. Compare x. 16, xxv. 22.

=11‒22= (= 1 Kings ix. 1‒9).
THE NIGHT VISION IN ANSWER TO SOLOMON’S PRAYER.

¹¹Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the
king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make
in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously
effected. ¹²And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said
unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to
myself for an house of sacrifice.

=12.= _appeared ... by night_] Compare i. 7.

_an house of sacrifice_] Compare ii. 6.

¹³If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command
the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among
my people; ¹⁴if my people, which are called by my name¹, shall
humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ¹⁵Now mine eyes
shall be open, and mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is
made in this place.

¹ Hebrew _upon whom my name is called_.

=13‒15.= These verses have no parallel in 1 Kings ix. 1‒9, but are closely modelled upon the language of Solomon’s prayer in vi. 26‒28, 40.

=13.= _to devour the land_] LXX. _to devour the trees_; compare Exodus x. 15; Joel i. 6, 7.

=15.= _Now ... in this place_] Compare vi. 40.

¹⁶For now have I chosen and hallowed this house, that my name
may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be
there perpetually. ¹⁷And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before
me as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I
have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgements;
¹⁸then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as
I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail
thee a man to be ruler in Israel. ¹⁹But if ye turn away, and
forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before
you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them: ²⁰then
will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have
given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name,
will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a
byword among all peoples.

=16.= _for ever_] Compare xxx. 8.

²¹And this house, which is so high, every one that passeth by it
shall be astonished, and shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus
unto this land, and to this house?

=21.= _which is so high_] The Hebrew must be rendered by a past tense, =which was high=――as though the speaker spoke from a later standpoint than the age of Solomon. That interpretation, however, is clumsy; and in all probability the reading in Chronicles is simply an attempt to improve an erroneous text in Kings. There the original reading probably was “and this house _shall become ruins_; every one who passes by,” etc.

²²And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD, the God
of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of
Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and
served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

=22.= _they shall answer_] Render, =men shall say=.