20 O Jehovah, there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee.
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.
I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me;
To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal `to him'? saith the Holy One.
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
For who in the skies can be compared unto Jehovah? Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto Jehovah,
There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord; Neither `are there any works' like unto thy works.
We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, What work thou didst in their days, In the days of old.
There is none holy as Jehovah; For there is none besides thee, Neither is there any rock like our God.
Know therefore this day, and lay it to thy heart, that Jehovah he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.
Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 17
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 17 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 17
This chapter contains an account of David's intention to build an house for God, which, he signified to Nathan the prophet, who first encouraged him to it; but afterwards was sent by the Lord to him with an order to desist from it, assuring him, at the same time, that his son should build it, and that his own house and kingdom should be established for ever; for which David expressed great thankfulness, the whole of which is related in 2 Samuel 7:1 with some little variation, see the notes there; only one thing has since occurred, which I would just take notice of, that here, 1 Chronicles 17:5 as there also, it is said by the Lord, that he had "not dwelt in an house since the day he brought up Israel out of Egypt"; which seems to suggest that he had dwelt in one before, as has been hinted on 2 Samuel 7:6 even while the people of Israel were in Egypt, though it is nowhere mentioned by Moses, or any other writer; yet it is not unreasonable to suppose it; for as the ancestors of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when only travellers from place to place, built altars for God wherever they came; so their posterity, it is highly probable, not only did the same, but when they found themselves settled in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, might build places of worship; and when we consider the wealth of Joseph, and his family, and indeed of all Israel, who enjoyed for many years great plenty, prosperity, and liberty, before their servitude, the vast numbers they increased to and the long continuance of them in Egypt, more than two hundred years; it will not seem strange that they should build houses for religious worship, and even one grand and splendid for public service, to which also they might be led by the example of the Egyptians; who, as Herodotus saysF9 , were the first that erected altars, images, and temples to the gods, and who in the times of Joseph had one at On, where his father-in-law officiated as priest, Genesis 41:45 or rather to this they might be directed by some hints and instructions of their father Jacob before his death, who it is certain had a notion of a Bethel, an house for the public worship of God, Genesis 28:17 and I find a learned manF11Dickinson. Physic. vet. & vera, c. 19. sect. 24. of our own nation of this opinion, and which he founds upon this passage; and he supposes the house God dwelt in, in Egypt, was not a tent of goats' hair, as in the wilderness, but a structure of stones or bricks, a firm and stable house, such an one as Abraham built at Damascus when settled there; which continued to the times of Augustus Caesar, as related by Nicholas of DamascusF12Apud. Joseph. Antiqu. l. 1. c. 7. sect. 2. . See 2 Samuel 7:1.cf13 (i) Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 4.
See Chapter Introduction