2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 5
1Thus all the work that Solomon did for Yahweh’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of God’s house.
2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion. 3So all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4All the elders of Israel came. The Levites took up the ark; 5and they brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these the Levitical priests brought up. 6King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 7The priests brought in the ark of Yahweh’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. 8For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above. 9The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark in front of the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside; and it is there to this day. 10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11When the priests had come out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions; 12also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets); 13when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying,
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 21 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry2
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
This agrees with what we had Kg1 8:2, etc., where an account was given of the solemn introduction of the ark into the new-erected temple. 1. There needed no great solemnity for the bringing in of the dedicated things, Ch2 5:1. They added to the wealth, and…
Solomon, and the elders of Israel, had done what they could to grace the solemnity of the introduction of the ark; but God, by testifying his acceptance of what they did, put the greatest honour upon it. The cloud of glory that filled the house beautified it…
John Gill1
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
See Chapter Introduction
Adam Clarke8
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
Brought in all the things - See the note on Kg1 7:51.
The feast - "That is, the feast of tabernacles, which was held in the seventh month." - Targum. See Kg1 8:2.
They drew out the staves - As the ark was no longer to be carried about, these were unnecessary.
Keil & Delitzsch5
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The first part of the celebration was the transfer of the ark from Mount Zion to the temple (Ch2 5:2-14), and in connection with this we have the words in which Solomon celebrates the entry of the Lord into the new temple (Ch2 6:1-11). This section has been…
Instead of הלויּם, we have in 2 Kings הכּהנים, the priests bare the ark; and since even according to the Chronicle (Ch2 5:7) the priests bare the ark into the holy place, we must understand by הלויּם such Levites were also priests. - In Ch2 5:5, too the words…
נתן אשׁר, who had given, i.e., laid in, is not so exact as שׁם הנּיח אשׁר (Kg1 8:9), but may be justified by a reference to Exo 40:20.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown5
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
BRINGING UP OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. (Ch2 5:2-13) Then Solomon assembled . . . in the feast which was in the seventh month--The feast of the dedication of the temple was on the eighth day of that month. This is related, word for word, the same as in Kg1…
there it is unto this day--that is, at the time when this history was composed; for after the Babylonish captivity there is no trace of either ark or staves.
all the priests that were present . . . did not then wait by course--The rotation system of weekly service introduced by David was intended for the ordinary duties of the priesthood; on extraordinary occasions, or when more than wonted solemnity attached to…
World English Bible — Public domain