3 Then Solomon, and all the men of Israel with him, went to the high place at Gibeon, because the Tent of meeting of God, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had made in the waste land, was there.
And Zadok the priest, with his brothers the priests, before the House of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon;
For the House of the Lord, which Moses had made in the waste land, and the altar of burned offerings, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
And you are to make a House for me, with ten curtains of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman. Every curtain is to be twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide, all of the same measure. Five curtains are to be joined together, and the other five are to be joined together. And you are to put twists of blue cord on the edge of the outside curtain of the first group of five, and on the edge of the outside curtain of the second group of five; Fifty twists on one curtain and fifty on the other, the twists to be opposite one another. Then make fifty gold hooks, joining the curtains together by the hooks, and in this way the House will be made. And you are to make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the House, eleven curtains. Every curtain is to be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide, all of the same measure. Five of these curtains are to be joined together, and the other six are to be joined together, the sixth being folded over to make a hanging in front of the tent. And you are to put fifty twists of cord on the edge of the outside curtain of one group, and fifty twists on the edge of the outside curtain of the other group. Then make fifty brass hooks and put the hooks into the twists, joining the tent together to make it one. And the folded part which is over of the curtains of the tent, the half-curtain which is folded back, will be hanging down over the back of the House. And the cubit which is over of the ten curtains at the sides will be hanging over the two sides of the House as a cover. And then you are to make a cover for the tent, of sheepskins coloured red, and a cover of leather over that. And you are to make upright boards of hard wood for the House. Every board is to be ten cubits high and a cubit and a half wide. Every board is to be joined to the one nearest to it by two tongues, and so for every board in the House. These are the boards needed for the house; twenty boards for the south side, With forty silver bases under the twenty boards, two bases under every board to take its tongues. And twenty boards for the second side of the house on the north, With their forty silver bases, two under every board. And six boards for the back of the House on the west, With two boards for the angles of the House at the back. The two are to be joined together at the base and at the top to one ring, forming the two angles. So there are to be eight boards, with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under every board. And make rods of the same wood, five for the boards on the one side, And five for the boards on the other side of the House, and five for the west side of the House at the back. And the middle rod is to go through the rings of all the boards from end to end. And the boards are to be plated with gold, having gold rings for the rods to go through: and the rods are to be plated with gold. And you are to make the House from the design which you saw on the mountain. And you are to make a veil of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman: Hanging it by gold hooks from four pillars of wood, plated with gold and fixed in silver bases. And you are to put up the veil under the hooks, and put inside it the ark of the law: the veil is to be a division between the holy place and the most holy. You are to put the cover on the ark of the law, inside the most holy place. And outside the veil you are to put the table, and the support for the lights opposite the table on the south side of the House; and the table is to be on the north side. And you are to make a curtain for the doorway of the Tent, of the best linen with needlework of blue and purple and red. And make five pillars for the curtain, of hard wood plated with gold; their hooks are to be of gold and their bases of brass
Then all the expert workmen among them made the House with its ten curtains; of the best linen, blue and purple and red, they made them, with winged ones worked by expert designers.
On the first day of the first month you are to put up the House of the Tent of meeting.
And the voice of the Lord came to Moses out of the Tent of meeting, saying,
So death came to Moses, the servant of the Lord, there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said.
And the king went to Gibeon to make an offering there, because that was the chief high place: it was Solomon's way to make a thousand burned offerings on that altar. In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you. And Solomon said, Great was your mercy to David my father, as his life before you was true and upright and his heart was true to you; and you have kept for him this greatest mercy, a son to take his place this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in. And your servant has round him the people of your selection, a people so great that they may not be numbered, and no account of them may be given. Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people? Now these words and Solomon's request were pleasing to the Lord. And God said to him, Because your request is for this thing, and not for long life for yourself or for wealth or for the destruction of your haters, but for wisdom to be a judge of causes; I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future. And with this I have given you what you made no request for: wealth and honour, so that no king was ever your equal. And if you go on in my ways, keeping my laws and my orders as your father David did, I will give you a long life. And Solomon, awakening, saw that it was a dream; then he came to Jerusalem, where he went before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings; and he made a feast for all his servants.
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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 1
2Ch 1:1-6. Solemn Offering of Solomon at Gibeon.
2-5. Then Solomon spake unto all Israel—The heads, or leading officers, who are afterwards specified, were summoned to attend their sovereign in a solemn religious procession. The date of this occurrence was the second year of Solomon's reign, and the high place at Gibeon was chosen for the performance of the sacred rites, because the tabernacle and all the ancient furniture connected with the national worship were deposited there. Zadok was the officiating high priest (1Ch 16:39). It is true that the ark had been removed and placed in a new tent which David had made for it at Jerusalem [2Ch 1:4]. But the brazen altar, "before the tabernacle of the Lord," on which the burnt offerings were appointed by the law to be made, was at Gibeon. And although David had been led by extraordinary events and tokens of the divine presence to sacrifice on the threshing-floor of Araunah, Solomon considered it his duty to present his offerings on the legally appointed spot "before the tabernacle," and on the time-honored altar prepared by the skill of Bezaleel in the wilderness (Ex 38:1).
6. offered a thousand burnt offerings—This holocaust he offered, of course, by the hands of the priests. The magnitude of the oblation became the rank of the offerer on this occasion of national solemnity.
2Ch 1:7-13. His Choice of Wisdom Is Blessed by God.
7. In that night did God appear unto Solomon—(See on 1Ki 3:5).
2Ch 1:14-17. His Strength and Wealth.
14. Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen—His passion for horses was greater than that of any Israelitish monarch before or after him. His stud comprised fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. This was a prohibited indulgence, whether as an instrument of luxury or power. But it was not merely for his own use that he imported the horses of Egypt. The immense equestrian establishment he erected was not for show merely, but also for profit. The Egyptian breed of horses was highly valued; and being as fine as the Arabian, but larger and more powerful, they were well fitted for being yoked in chariots. These were light but compact and solid vehicles, without springs. From the price stated (2Ch 1:17) as given for a chariot and a horse, it appears that the chariot cost four times the value of a horse. A horse brought a 150 shekels, which, estimating the shekels at 2s. 3d. or 2s. 6d., amount to £17 2s. or £18 15s., while a chariot brought 600 shekels, equal to £68 9s. or £75; and as an Egyptian chariot was usually drawn by two horses, a chariot and pair would cost £112 sterling. As the Syrians, who were fond of the Egyptian breed of horses, could import them into their own country only through Judea, Solomon early perceived the commercial advantages to be derived from this trade, and established a monopoly. His factors or agents purchased them in the markets or fairs of Egypt and brought them to the "chariot cities," the depots and stables he had erected on the frontiers of his kingdom, such as Bethmarcaboth, "the house of chariots," and Hazarsusah, "the village of horses" (Jos 19:5; 1Ki 10:28).
17. brought … for all the kings of the Hittites—A branch of this powerful tribe, when expelled from Palestine, had settled north of Lebanon, where they acquired large possessions contiguous to the Syrians.