10 There is nothing in the ark but the two tables that Moses gave in Horeb, where Jehovah covenanted with the sons of Israel, in their going out from Egypt.
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid all round about with gold, in which `is' the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
and I write on the tables the words which were on the first tables, which thou hast broken, and thou hast placed them in the ark; and I make an ark of shittim wood, and grave two tables of stone like the first, and go up to the mount, and the two tables in my hand. `And He writeth on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Matters, which Jehovah hath spoken unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly, and Jehovah giveth them unto me, and I turn and come down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made, and they are there, as Jehovah commanded me.
`And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth `is' Mine;
and he taketh the Book of the Covenant, and proclaimeth in the ears of the people, and they say, `All that which Jehovah hath spoken we do, and obey.' And Moses taketh the blood, and sprinkleth on the people, and saith, `Lo, the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you, concerning all these things.'
And Moses turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony `are' in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that `are' they written; and the tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.
And it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount;
And he taketh and putteth the testimony unto the ark, and setteth the staves on the ark, and putteth the mercy-seat on the ark above;
These `are' the words of the covenant which Jehovah hath commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, apart from the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.
`Ye are standing to-day, all of you, before Jehovah your God -- your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your authorities -- every man of Israel; your infants, your wives, and thy sojourner who `is' in the midst of thy camps, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water -- for thy passing over into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into His oath which Jehovah thy God is making with thee to-day; in order to establish thee to-day to Him for a people, and He Himself is thy God, as He hath spoken to thee, and as He hath sworn to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. `And not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath;
Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have made with the house of Israel And with the house of Judah a new covenant, Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day of My laying hold on their hand, To bring them out of the land of Egypt, In that they made void My covenant, And I ruled over them -- an affirmation of Jehovah. For this `is' the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people. And they do not teach any more Each his neighbour, and each his brother, Saying, Know ye Jehovah, For they all know Me, from their least unto their greatest, An affirmation of Jehovah; For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I make mention no more.
and now he hath obtained a more excellent service, how much also of a better covenant is he mediator, which on better promises hath been sanctioned, for if that first were faultless, a place would not have been sought for a second. For finding fault, He saith to them, `Lo, days come, saith the Lord, and I will complete with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, a new covenant, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day of My taking `them' by their hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt -- because they did not remain in My covenant, and I did not regard them, saith the Lord, -- because this `is' the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, giving My laws into their mind, and upon their hearts I will write them, and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to Me for a people; and they shall not teach each his neighbour, and each his brother, saying, Know thou the Lord, because they shall all know Me from the small one of them unto the great one of them, because I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will remember no more;' -- in the saying `new,' He hath made the first old, and what doth become obsolete and is old `is' nigh disappearing.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 5
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 5 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 5 & 6
The words with which chapter five begins are the same with 1 Kings 7:51 and what is contained in that and chapter six is much the same with 1 Kings 8:1 on which see the notes; the blessing of Solomon on the people of Israel, which is there, is here omitted, and two verses are here added, much the same with Psalm 132:8.
See Chapter Introduction