13 If H2005 I shut up H6113 heaven H8064 that there be no rain, H4306 or if I command H6680 the locusts H2284 to devour H398 the land, H776 or if I send H7971 pestilence H1698 among my people; H5971
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; 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 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:
Else, H3588 if thou refuse H3986 to let my people H5971 go, H7971 behold, to morrow H4279 will I bring H935 the locusts H697 into thy coast: H1366 And they shall cover H3680 the face H5869 of the earth, H776 that one cannot be able H3201 to see H7200 the earth: H776 and they shall eat H398 the residue H3499 of that which is escaped, H6413 which remaineth H7604 unto you from the hail, H1259 and shall eat H398 every tree H6086 which groweth H6779 for you out of the field: H7704 And they shall fill H4390 thy houses, H1004 and the houses H1004 of all thy servants, H5650 and the houses H1004 of all the Egyptians; H4714 which neither thy fathers, H1 nor thy fathers' H1 fathers H1 have seen, H7200 since the day H3117 that they were upon the earth H127 unto this day. H3117 And he turned H6437 himself, and went out H3318 from Pharaoh. H6547
And Moses H4872 said H559 unto Aaron, H175 Take H3947 a censer, H4289 and put H5414 fire H784 therein from off H6440 the altar, H4196 and put H7760 on incense, H7004 and go H3212 quickly H4120 unto the congregation, H5712 and make an atonement H3722 for them: for there is wrath H7110 gone out H3318 from the LORD; H3068 the plague H5063 is begun. H2490 And Aaron H175 took H3947 as Moses H4872 commanded, H1696 and ran H7323 into the midst H8432 of the congregation; H6951 and, behold, the plague H5063 was begun H2490 among the people: H5971 and he put H5414 on incense, H7004 and made an atonement H3722 for the people. H5971
So Gad H1410 came H935 to David, H1732 and told H5046 him, and said H559 unto him, Shall seven H7651 years H8141 of famine H7458 come H935 unto thee in thy land? H776 or wilt thou flee H5127 three H7969 months H2320 before H6440 thine enemies, H6862 while they pursue H7291 thee? or that there be three H7969 days' H3117 pestilence H1698 in thy land? H776 now advise, H3045 and see H7200 what answer H1697 I shall return H7725 to him that sent H7971 me. And David H1732 said H559 unto Gad, H1410 I am in a great H3966 strait: H6887 let us fall H5307 now into the hand H3027 of the LORD; H3068 for his mercies H7356 are great: H7227 and let me not fall H5307 into the hand H3027 of man. H120 So the LORD H3068 sent H5414 a pestilence H1698 upon Israel H3478 from the morning H1242 even to the time H6256 appointed: H4150 and there died H4191 of the people H5971 from Dan H1835 even to Beersheba H884 seventy H7657 thousand H505 men. H376
Or if I send H7971 a pestilence H1698 into that land, H776 and pour out H8210 my fury H2534 upon it in blood, H1818 to cut off H3772 from it man H120 and beast: H929 Though Noah, H5146 Daniel, H1840 and Job, H347 were in it, H8432 as I live, H2416 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 they shall deliver H5337 neither son H1121 nor H518 daughter; H1323 they shall but deliver H5337 their own souls H5315 by their righteousness. H6666 For thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 How much more when I send H7971 my four H702 sore H7451 judgments H8201 upon Jerusalem, H3389 the sword, H2719 and the famine, H7458 and the noisome H7451 beast, H2416 and the pestilence, H1698 to cut off H3772 from it man H120 and beast? H929
That which the palmerworm H1501 hath left H3499 hath the locust H697 eaten; H398 and that which the locust H697 hath left H3499 hath the cankerworm H3218 eaten; H398 and that which the cankerworm H3218 hath left H3499 hath the caterpiller H2625 eaten. H398 Awake, H6974 ye drunkards, H7910 and weep; H1058 and howl, H3213 all ye drinkers H8354 of wine, H3196 because of the new wine; H6071 for it is cut off H3772 from your mouth. H6310 For a nation H1471 is come up H5927 upon my land, H776 strong, H6099 and without number, H4557 whose teeth H8127 are the teeth H8127 of a lion, H738 and he hath the cheek teeth H4973 of a great lion. H3833 He hath laid H7760 my vine H1612 waste, H8047 and barked H7111 my fig tree: H8384 he hath made it clean H2834 bare, H2834 and cast it away; H7993 the branches H8299 thereof are made white. H3835
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 7
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
2Ch 7:1-3. God Gives Testimony to Solomon's Prayer; the People Worship.
1. the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering—Every act of worship was accompanied by a sacrifice. The preternatural stream of fire kindled the mass of flesh, and was a token of the divine acceptance of Solomon's prayer (see on Le 9:24; 1Ki 18:38).
the glory of the Lord filled the house—The cloud, which was the symbol of God's presence and majesty, filled the interior of the temple (Ex 40:35).
2. the priests could not enter—Both from awe of the miraculous fire that was burning on the altar and from the dense cloud that enveloped the sanctuary, they were unable for some time to perform their usual functions (see on 1Ki 8:10). But afterwards, their courage and confidence being revived, they approached the altar and busied themselves in the offering of an immense number of sacrifices.
3. all the children of Israel … bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement—This form of prostration (that of lying on one's knees with the forehead touching the earth), is the manner in which the Hebrews, and Orientals in general, express the most profound sentiments of reverence and humility. The courts of the temple were densely crowded on the occasion, and the immense multitude threw themselves on the ground. What led the Israelites suddenly to assume that prostrate attitude on the occasion referred to, was the spectacle of the symbolical cloud slowly and majestically descending upon the temple, and then entering it.
2Ch 7:4-11. Solomon's Sacrifices.
4. Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices—Whether the individual worshippers slaughtered their own cattle, or a certain portion of the vast number of the Levitical order in attendance performed that work, as they sometimes did, in either case the offerings were made through the priests, who presented the blood and the fat upon the altar (see on 1Ki 8:62).
5, 6. so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God—The ceremonial of dedication consisted principally in the introduction of the ark into the temple, and in the sacrificial offerings that were made on a scale of magnitude suitable to the extraordinary occasion. All present, the king, the people, and the priests, took part according to their respective stations in the performance of the solemn service. The duty, of course, devolved chiefly on the priests, and hence in proceeding to describe their several departments of work, the historian says, generally, "the priests waited on their offices." While great numbers would be occupied with the preparation and offering of the victims, others sounded with their trumpets, and the different bands of the Levites praised the Lord with vocal and instrumental music, by the hundred thirty-sixth Psalm, the oft-recurring chorus of which is, "for His mercy endureth for ever."
7. Solomon hallowed the middle of the court—On this extraordinary occasion, when a larger number of animals were offered than one altar and the usual place of rings to which the animals were bound would admit, the whole space was taken in that was between the place of rings and the west end of the court to be used as a temporary place for additional altars. On that part of the spacious court holocausts were burning all round.
8. Solomon kept the feast seven days—The time chosen for the dedication of the temple was immediately previous to the feast of tabernacles (see on 1Ki 8:1-12). That season, which came after the harvest, corresponding to our September and October, lasted seven days, and during so prolonged a festival there was time afforded for the offering of the immense sacrifices enumerated. A large proportion of these were peace offerings, which afforded to the people the means of festive enjoyment.
all Israel … from the entering in of Hamath—that is, the defile at Lebanon.
unto the river of Egypt—that is, Rhinocorura, now El-Arish, the south boundary of Palestine.
10. on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month—This was the last day of the feast of tabernacles.
2Ch 7:12-22. God Appears to Him.
12. the Lord appeared to Solomon by night—(See on 1Ki 9:1-9). The dedication of the temple must have been an occasion of intense national interest to Solomon and his subjects. Nor was the interest merely temporary or local. The record of it is read and thought of with an interest that is undiminished by the lapse of time. The fact that this was the only temple of all nations in which the true God was worshipped imparts a moral grandeur to the scene and prepares the mind for the sublime prayer that was offered at the dedication. The pure theism of that prayer—its acknowledgment of the unity of God as well as of His moral perfections in providence and grace, came from the same divine source as the miraculous fire. They indicated sentiments and feelings of exalted and spiritual devotion, which sprang not from the unaided mind of man, but from the fountain of revelation. The reality of the divine presence was attested by the miracle, and that miracle stamped the seal of truth upon the theology of the temple-worship.