Bible Commentaries

Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

Solomon ... is yet young and tender. His father made this address before Solomon was endowed with the divine gift of wisdom; and David's reference to his son's extreme youth, in connection with the great national undertaking he had been divinely appointed to execute, was to apologize to this assembly of the estates, or rather, to assign the reason of his elaborate preparations for the work.

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

Moreover ... I have of mine own proper good , [ c

Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:

No JFB commentary on this verse.

The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?

Who then is willing to consecrate his service? [ l

Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly,

Then the chief of the fathers - or heads of the fathers (1 Chronicles 24:31; 1 Chronicles 27:1).

Princes of the tribes (1 Chronicles 27:16-22).

The rulers of the king's work - those who had charge of the royal demesnes and other possessions (1 Chronicles 27:25-31).

Offered willingly. Influenced by the persuasive address and example of the king, they acted according to their several abilities; and their united contributions amounted to the gross sum-of gold, 5,000 talents and 10,000 drams; and of silver, 10,000 talents, besides brass and iron.

And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

Drams - rather, darics, a Persian coin, with which the Jews, from the time of the captivity, became familiar, and which was afterward extensively circulated in the countries of Western Asia. It is estimated as equal in value to 25 shillings of British currency.

Of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. In Scripture, iron is always referred to as an article of comparatively low value, and of greater abundance and cheaper than bronze (Napier).

And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

And they with whom precious stones were found - rather, 'whatever was found along with it of precious stones they gave' (Bertheau). These gifts were deposited in the hands of Jehiel, whose family were charged with the treasures of the house of the Lord (1 Chronicles 26:21).

Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

Wherefore David blessed the Lord. This is a beautiful thanksgiving prayer. Its piety is displayed in the fervour of devotional feeling-in the ascription of all worldly wealth and greatness to God as the giver, in tracing the general readiness in contributing to the influence of His grace, in praying for the continuance of this happy disposition among the people, and in solemnly and earnestly commending the young king and his kingdom to the care and blessing of God.

Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.

All this store that we have prepared. We shall give in this table only the amount of gold and silver; and taking the talent of gold as worth 5,475 British pounds sterling(the talent being 125 lbs. in weight), the value of the gold will be about 73 shillings per oz. The talent of silver is given at 342 British pounds sterling, 3 shillings, 9d., or 4 shillings 4 1/2d. per oz. The total amount of the contributions will be: This amount so far exceeds not only every Oriental collection on record, but even the bounds of probability, that it is very generally allowed that either there is a corruption of the text in 1 Chronicles 22:14, or that the reckoning of the historian was by the Babylonian, which was only a half, or the Syrian, which was only a fifth part of the Hebrew, talent. This would bring the Scripture account more into accordance with the statements of Josephus, as well as within the range of credibility.

I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king.

Worshipped the Lord, and the king. Though the external attitude might be the same, the sentiments of which it was expressive were very different in the two cases-of divine worship in the one, of civil homage in the other. But the latter was recognized in a theocratic kingdom as vicegerent of Yahweh.

And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel:

They sacrificed. Hecatombs of burst offerings are mentioned, cf. 2 Chronicles 29:32; Ezra 6:17.

And did eat and drink before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the LORD to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest.

And did eat and drink before the Lord - either in the immediate vicinity of the ark, or, perhaps, rather in a religions and devout spirit, as partaking of a sacrificial meal.

Made Solomon ... king the second time. In reference to the first time, which was done precipitately, on Adonijah's conspiracy, cf. 1 Kings 1:35. This mention of a second anointing, in a historical book which does not record the first, and the description of the first, in another historical book which does not contain any allusion to the second, forms an undesigned coincidence which furnishes a strong confirmation of its truth.

Anointed ... Zadok. This statement implies that his appointment met the popular approval. His elevation as sole high priest was on the disgrace of Abiathar, one of Adonijah's accomplices.

Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord. As king of Israel, he was the Lord's vicegerent. When David was appointed successor to Saul, he was employed merely as Yahweh's deputy (2 Samuel 5:2). His commission runs in the style of that of an inferior officer. The people whom he was to rule were not David's; they were still God's. Even when the throne was made hereditary in the house of David, Yahweh exercised his right of election by preferring Solomon to all his brethren, so that when Solomon was anointed theocratic king in Israel, it was justly said of him, that he 'sat on the throne of the Lord' (Jamieson's 'Sacred History,' 1:, p. 314).

And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.

Submitted themselves , [ naat

And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

Thus David ... reigned - (see 1 Kings 2:11.)

And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,

Samuel the seer ... Nathan the prophet, and ... Gad the seer. The three words, Roeh, Nabi, and Chozeh, are here brought together and apparently contrasted (see the note at 1 Samuel 9:9).