Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 8:1 - 8:11

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 8:1 - 8:11


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The Ceremony Of Dedication

v. 1. Then Solomon, the Temple being completed in all its parts, assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, the princes of the father-houses, all these being representatives of the entire congregation, unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion, the summit of Moriah being higher than Mount Zion.

v. 2. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim,
also known as Tishri, which is the seventh month. The festival here referred to is the Feast of Tabernacles, which seems at that time to have been better observed than the other two great festivals, and it was very appropriate that Solomon chose just this season of the year.

v. 3. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark,
the bearing of which was their special work, Num_4:15.

v. 4. And they brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tabernacle of the Congregation,
the tent which seems finally to have been located on a hill near Gibeon, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up, the latter carrying the coverings of the Tabernacle, Num_3:31; Num_4:5 ff.

v. 5. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him were with him before the ark,
in a procession which went ahead of the priests, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told or numbered for multitude, nobody thought it worthwhile to count the great number of sacrifices, for there was no regard to expense.

v. 6. And the priests brought in the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord unto his place, in to the oracle of the house, to the Most Holy Place, even under the wings of the cherubim,
evidently setting the ark so as to have it stand with its length north and south.

v. 7. For the cherubim,
1Ki_6:27, spread forth their two wings, those which touched in the middle of the room, over the place of the ark, and the cherubim, bending forward as did those on the cover of the ark, covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

v. 8. And they drew out the staves,
that is, the staves were very long on account of the great weight of the ark and on account of the fact that the bearers were not allowed to touch the sacred vessel, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the Holy Place before the oracle, that is, if any one approached very near to the Most Holy Place; and they were not seen without; and there they are unto this day, this account having been written before the destruction of Jerusalem.

v. 9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
It seems, then, that "the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded," Heb_9:4, had been removed from the ark or were again deposited later.

v. 10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the Holy Place, that the cloud,
the visible token of the presence of Jehovah in the fullness of His majesty, as in the wilderness, filled the house of the Lord,

v. 11. so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
Cf Exo_40:34-35. The entire Sanctuary was filled with this gracious manifestation, making it impossible for the priests, for the time being, to perform their work. The Church of the New Testament is assured of the continual merciful presence of Jehovah, until at last we shall progress from believing to seeing.