20 That thine eyes H5869 may be open H6605 upon this house H1004 day H3119 and night, H3915 upon the place H4725 whereof thou hast said H559 that thou wouldest put H7760 thy name H8034 there; to hearken H8085 unto the prayer H8605 which thy servant H5650 prayeth H6419 toward this place. H4725
21 Hearken H8085 therefore unto the supplications H8469 of thy servant, H5650 and of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 which they shall make H6419 toward this place: H4725 hear H8085 thou from thy dwelling H3427 place, H4725 even from heaven; H8064 and when thou hearest, H8085 forgive. H5545
22 If a man H376 sin H2398 against his neighbour, H7453 and an oath H423 be laid H5375 upon him to make him swear, H422 and the oath H423 come H935 before H6440 thine altar H4196 in this house; H1004
23 Then hear H8085 thou from heaven, H8064 and do, H6213 and judge H8199 thy servants, H5650 by requiting H7725 the wicked, H7563 by recompensing H5414 his way H1870 upon his own head; H7218 and by justifying H6663 the righteous, H6662 by giving H5414 him according to his righteousness. H6666
24 And if thy people H5971 Israel H3478 be put to the worse H5062 before H6440 the enemy, H341 because they have sinned H2398 against thee; and shall return H7725 and confess H3034 thy name, H8034 and pray H6419 and make supplication H2603 before H6440 thee in this house; H1004
25 Then hear H8085 thou from the heavens, H8064 and forgive H5545 the sin H2403 of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 and bring them again H7725 unto the land H127 which thou gavest H5414 to them and to their fathers. H1
26 When the heaven H8064 is shut up, H6113 and there is no rain, H4306 because they have sinned H2398 against thee; yet if they pray H6419 toward this place, H4725 and confess H3034 thy name, H8034 and turn H7725 from their sin, H2403 when thou dost afflict H6031 them;
27 Then hear H8085 thou from heaven, H8064 and forgive H5545 the sin H2403 of thy servants, H5650 and of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 when thou hast taught H3384 them the good H2896 way, H1870 wherein they should walk; H3212 and send H5414 rain H4306 upon thy land, H776 which thou hast given H5414 unto thy people H5971 for an inheritance. H5159
28 If there be dearth H7458 in the land, H776 if there be pestilence, H1698 if there be blasting, H7711 or mildew, H3420 locusts, H697 or caterpillers; H2625 if their enemies H341 besiege H6887 them in the cities H8179 of their land; H776 whatsoever sore H5061 or whatsoever sickness H4245 there be:
29 Then what prayer H8605 or what supplication H8467 soever shall be made of any man, H120 or of all thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 when every one H376 shall know H3045 his own sore H5061 and his own grief, H4341 and shall spread forth H6566 his hands H3709 in this house: H1004
30 Then hear H8085 thou from heaven H8064 thy dwelling H3427 place, H4349 and forgive, H5545 and render H5414 unto every man H376 according unto all his ways, H1870 whose heart H3824 thou knowest; H3045 (for thou only knowest H3045 the hearts H3824 of the children H1121 of men:) H120
31 That they may fear H3372 thee, to walk H3212 in thy ways, H1870 so long as H3117 they live H2416 H6440 in the land H127 which thou gavest H5414 unto our fathers. H1
32 Moreover concerning the stranger, H5237 which is not of thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 but is come H935 from a far H7350 country H776 for thy great H1419 name's H8034 sake, and thy mighty H2389 hand, H3027 and thy stretched out H5186 arm; H2220 if they come H935 and pray H6419 in this house; H1004
33 Then hear H8085 thou from the heavens, H8064 even from thy dwelling H3427 place, H4349 and do H6213 according to all that the stranger H5237 calleth H7121 to thee for; that all people H5971 of the earth H776 may know H3045 thy name, H8034 and fear H3372 thee, as doth thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 and may know H3045 that this house H1004 which I have built H1129 is called H7121 by thy name. H8034
34 If thy people H5971 go out H3318 to war H4421 against their enemies H341 by the way H1870 that thou shalt send H7971 them, and they pray H6419 unto thee toward H1870 this city H5892 which thou hast chosen, H977 and the house H1004 which I have built H1129 for thy name; H8034
35 Then hear H8085 thou from the heavens H8064 their prayer H8605 and their supplication, H8467 and maintain H6213 their cause. H4941
36 If they sin H2398 against thee, (for there is no man H120 which sinneth H2398 not,) and thou be angry H599 with them, and deliver H5414 them over before H6440 their enemies, H341 and they carry them away H7617 captives H7617 unto a land H776 far off H7350 or near; H7138
37 Yet if they bethink H7725 H3824 themselves in the land H776 whither they are carried captive, H7617 and turn H7725 and pray H2603 unto thee in the land H776 of their captivity, H7628 saying, H559 We have sinned, H2398 we have done amiss, H5753 and have dealt wickedly; H7561
38 If they return H7725 to thee with all their heart H3820 and with all their soul H5315 in the land H776 of their captivity, H7628 whither they have carried them captives, H7617 and pray H6419 toward H1870 their land, H776 which thou gavest H5414 unto their fathers, H1 and toward the city H5892 which thou hast chosen, H977 and toward the house H1004 which I have built H1129 for thy name: H8034
39 Then hear H8085 thou from the heavens, H8064 even from thy dwelling H3427 place, H4349 their prayer H8605 and their supplications, H8467 and maintain H6213 their cause, H4941 and forgive H5545 thy people H5971 which have sinned H2398 against thee.
40 Now, my God, H430 let, I beseech thee, thine eyes H5869 be open, H6605 and let thine ears H241 be attent H7183 unto the prayer H8605 that is made in this place. H4725
41 Now therefore arise, H6965 O LORD H3068 God, H430 into thy resting H5118 place, thou, and the ark H727 of thy strength: H5797 let thy priests, H3548 O LORD H3068 God, H430 be clothed H3847 with salvation, H8668 and let thy saints H2623 rejoice H8055 in goodness. H2896
42 O LORD H3068 God, H430 turn not away H7725 the face H6440 of thine anointed: H4899 remember H2142 the mercies H2617 of David H1732 thy servant. H5650
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 6
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 6 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The words with which Solomon celebrates this wondrous evidence of the divine favour, entirely coincide with the narrative in 1 Kings 8:12-21, except that in 2 Chronicles 6:5. the actual words of Solomon's speech are more completely given than in 1 Kings 8:16, where the words, “and I have not chosen a man to be prince over my people Israel, and I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there,” are omitted. For the commentary on this address, see on 1 Kings 8:12-21.
Solomon's dedicatory prayer likewise corresponds exactly with the account of it given in 1 Kings 8:22-53 till near the end (2 Chronicles 6:40-42), where it takes quite a different turn. Besides this, in the introduction (2 Chronicles 6:13) Solomon's position during the prayer is more accurately described, it being there stated that Solomon had caused a high stage ( כּיּור , a basin-like elevation) to be erected, which he ascended, and kneeling, spoke the prayer which follows. This fact is not stated in 1 Kings 8:22, and Then. and Berth. conjecture that it has been dropped out of our text only by mistake. Perhaps so, but it may have been passed over by the author of the books of Kings as a point of subordinate importance. On the contents of the prayer, which begins with the joyful confession that the Lord had fulfilled His promise to David in reference to the building of the temple, and proceeds with a request for a further bestowment of the blessing promised to His people, and a supplication that all prayers made to the Lord in the temple may be heard, see the Com. on 1 Kings 8:22. The conclusion of the prayer in the Chronicle is different from that in 1 Kings 8. There the last supplication, that the prayers might be heard, is followed by the thought: for they (the Israelites) are Thy people and inheritance; and in the further amplification of this thought the prayer returns to the idea with which it commenced. In the narrative of the Chronicle, on the other hand, the supplications conclude with the general thought (2 Chronicles 6:40): “Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attend unto the prayer of this place” (i.e., unto the prayer spoken in this place). There follows, then, the conclusion of the whole prayer - a summons to the Lord (2 Chronicles 6:41.): “And now, Lord God, arise into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength; let Thy priests, Lord God, clothe themselves in salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in good! Lord God, turn not away the face of Thine anointed: remember the pious deeds of Thy servant David.” הסדים as in 2 Chronicles 32:32; 2 Chronicles 35:26, and Nehemiah 13:14. On this Thenius remarks, to 1 Kings 8:53 : “This conclusion is probably authentic, for there is in the text of the prayer, 1 Kings 8, no special expression of dedication, and this the summons to enter into possession of the temple very fittingly supplies. The whole contents of the conclusion are in perfect correspondence with the situation, and, as to form, nothing better could be desired. It can scarcely be thought an arbitrary addition made by the chronicler for no other reason than that the summons spoken of, if taken literally, is irreconcilable with the entrance of the cloud into the temple, of which he has already given us an account.” Berth. indeed thinks that it does not thence follow that our conclusion is authentic, and considers it more probable that it was introduced because it appeared more suitable, in place of the somewhat obscure words in 1 Kings 8:51-53, though not by the author of the Chronicle, and scarcely at an earlier time. The decision on this question can only be arrived at in connection with the question as to the origin of the statements peculiar to the Chronicle contained in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.
If we consider, in the first place, our verses in themselves, they contain no thought which Solomon might not have spoken, and consequently nothing which would tend to show that they are not authentic. It is true that the phrase קשּׁבות אזניך occurs only here and in 2 Chronicles 7:15, and again in Psalms 130:2, and the noun נוּח instead of מנוּחה is found only in Esther 9:16-18 in the form נוח ; but even if these two expressions be peculiar to the later time, no further conclusion can be drawn from that, than that the author of the Chronicle has here, as often elsewhere, given the thoughts of his authority in the language of his own time. Nor is the relation in which 2 Chronicles 6:41, 2 Chronicles 6:42 stand to Psalms 132:8-10 a valid proof of the later composition of the conclusion of our prayer. For ( a ) it is still a question whether our verses have been borrowed from Ps 132, or the verses of the psalm from our passage; and ( b ) the period when Psalms 138:1-8 was written is so doubtful, that some regard it as a Solomonic psalm, while others place it in the post-exilic period. Neither the one nor the other of these questions can be determined on convincing grounds. The appeal to the fact that the chronicler has compounded the hymn in 1 Chron 15 also out of post-exilic psalms proves nothing, for even in that case it is at least doubtful if that be a correct account of the matter. But the further assertion, that the conclusion (2 Chronicles 6:42) resembles Isaiah 55:3, and that recollections of this passage may have had some effect also on the conclusion (2 Chronicles 6:41), is undoubtedly erroneous, for דויד חסדי in 2 Chronicles 6:42 has quite a different meaning from that which it has in Isaiah 55:3. There דּוד חסדי are the favours granted to David by the Lord; in 2 Chronicles 6:42, on the contrary, they are the pious deeds of David, - all that he had done for the raising and advancement of the public worship (see above). The phrase וגו קוּמה , “Arise, O Lord God, into Thy rest,” is modelled on the formula which was spoken when the ark was lifted and when it was set down on the journey through the wilderness, which explains both קוּמה and the use of לנוּחך , which is formed after בּנוּחה , Numbers 10:36. The call to arise into rest is not inconsistent with the fact that the ark had already been brought into the most holy place, for קוּמה has merely the general signification, “to set oneself to anything.” The idea is, that God would now take the rest to which the throne of His glory had attained, show Himself to His people from this His throne to be the God of salvation, endue His priests, the guardians of His sanctuary, with salvation, and cause the pious to rejoice in His goodness. בטּוב ישׂמחוּ is generalized in Psalms 132:9 into ירנּנוּ . פּני פ השׁב , to turn away the face of any one, i.e., to deny the request, cf. 1 Kings 2:16.