Page images
PDF
EPUB

42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of A. C. 1001. thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;

43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name,

to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, Heb. thy which I have builded, is called by thy name.

name is called upon this house.

44 ¶ If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou +Heb. the way hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:

of the city.

45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

Or, right.

36.

46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou 1 2 Chron. vi. be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

back to their

47 Yet if they shall § bethink themselves in the land whither they were car-Heb. bring ried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them heart. that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:

49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee.

1 KINGS VIII. ver. 62 to the end.

|| Or, right.

vii. 4.

62¶ And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the m 2 Chron. LORD.

63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

vii. 7.

64 "The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was be- n 2 Chron. fore the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, *Or, thanked. and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the

LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

A. C. 1001.

a ch. ix. 10.

* Heb. ribs.

+Heb. sight against sight.

+ Or, spaces and pillars

CHAPTER IV.

Other Buildings and Magnificence of Solomon.

SECTION I.

Building of the House of Lebanon-God appears to Solomon.

1 KINGS VII. VER. 1-13.

1 But Solomon was building his own house a thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2¶ He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon ; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

4 And there were windows in three rows, and † light was against light in three ranks.

5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the were square in windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

prospect.

6 ¶ And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits and Or, accord. the porch was § before them: and the other pillars and the Or, accord. thick beam were || before them.

ing to them.

ing to them.

Heb. from floor to floor.

b ch. iii. 1.

7¶ Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar * from one side of the floor to the other.

8¶And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.

b

9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court:

10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.

12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD and for the porch of the house.

2 CHRONICLES VII. ver. 11, TO THE END.

c 1 Kings ix.

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and A. C. 1001. 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 i, &c. prosperously effected.

12And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and

said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen a Deut. xii. 5. this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

14 If my people, which are called by my name, 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.

Heb. upon name is called.

which my

15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent ech. vi. 40. + unto the prayer that is made in this place.

and mine

16 For now have 'I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

eyes

17 And 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 shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

18 Then I will stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

19 But 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;

20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all

nations.

+ Heb. to the

prayer of this

place.
f ch. vi. 6.

[blocks in formation]

21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto i Deut. xxix. this house?

22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD 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.

24. Jer. xxii.

8,9.

A.C. 1001.

k 2 Chron. vii. 11, &c.

1 ch. iii. 5.

1 KINGS IX. VER. 1-10.

1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,

2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, 'as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou m ch. viii. 29. hast built, m to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

n 2 Sam. vii.

4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, "as I 12. 1 Chr. xxil, promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the

10.

throne of Israel.

6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them :

7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and o Jer. vii. 14. this house, which I have hallowed "for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

p Deut. xxix. 24, 25, 26. Jer. xxii. 8, 9.

q 2 Chron. viii. 1.

not right in his

8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, P Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?

9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

SECTION II.

Conquests, &c. of Solomon.

1 KINGS IX. VER. 10-15.

10 ¶ And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house,

11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which * Heb. were Solomon had given him; and they *pleased him not. 13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of +That is, dis-+ Cabul unto this day.

eyes.

pleasing, or, dirty.

14 And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

2 CHRONICLEs viii. ver. 1-12.

1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, A.C. 1001. wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house,

2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.

4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

r1 Kings ix. 10, &c.

6 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and * all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Le- Heb. all the banon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

desire of Solomon which he desired to

7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and build. the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,

8 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

[ocr errors]

Kings iii.

1. & vii. 8. &

10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people 11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh s 1 out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for ix 24. her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are + holy, where- + Heb. holunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

1 KINGS IX. VER. 24.

Ress.

24¶ But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city 12 Chron. viii. of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.

SECTION III.

SONG OF SOLOMON 17.

1 The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

7 The Book of Canticles is inserted here on the authority of Lightfoot; who observes, that it must have been composed after the building of the summer"Come with house in the forest of Lebanon. He infers this from chap. iv. 8.

me from Lebanon, my spouse;" and chap. vii. 4. The common opinion respect

« PreviousContinue »