2 Then doth Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the city of David -- it `is' Zion.
3 And assembled unto the king are all the men of Israel in the feast -- it `is' the seventh month;
4 and all the elders of Israel come in, and the Levites lift up the ark,
5 and they bring up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the vessels of the sanctuary that `are' in the tent; brought them up have the priests, the Levites;
6 and king Solomon and all the company of Israel who are convened unto him before the ark are sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered from multitude.
7 And the priests bring in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, unto the oracle of the house, unto the holy of holies, unto the place of the wings of the cherubs;
8 and the cherubs are spreading out wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubs cover over the ark, and over its staves, from above;
9 and they lengthen the staves, and the heads of the staves are seen out of the ark on the front of the oracle, and they are not seen without; and it is there unto this day.
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.
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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
2Ch 5:1. The Dedicated Treasures.
1. Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated—the immense sums and the store of valuable articles which his father and other generals had reserved and appropriated for the temple (1Ch 22:14; 26:26).
2Ch 5:2-13. Bringing Up of the Ark of the Covenant.
2, 3. Then Solomon assembled … in the feast which was in the seventh month—The feast of the dedication of the temple was on the eighth day of that month. This is related, word for word, the same as in 1Ki 8:1-10.
9. there it is unto this day—that is, at the time when this history was composed; for after the Babylonish captivity there is no trace of either ark or staves.
11. all the priests that were present … did not then wait by course—The rotation system of weekly service introduced by David was intended for the ordinary duties of the priesthood; on extraordinary occasions, or when more than wonted solemnity attached to them, the priests attended in a body.
12. the Levites which were the singers—On great and solemn occasions, such as this, a full choir was required, and their station was taken with scrupulous regard to their official parts: the family of Heman occupied the central place, the family of Asaph stood on his right, and that of Jeduthun on his left; the place allotted to the vocal department was a space between the court of Israel and the altar in the east end of the priests' court.
with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—The trumpet was always used by the priests, and in the divine service it was specially employed in calling the people together during the holy solemnities, and in drawing attention to new and successive parts of the ritual. The number of trumpets used in the divine service could not be less than two (Nu 10:2), and their greatest number never exceeded the precedent set at the dedication of the temple. The station where the priests were sounding with trumpets was apart from that of the other musicians; for while the Levite singers occupied an orchestra east of the altar, the priests stood at the marble table on the southwest of the altar. There both of them stood with their faces to the altar. The manner of blowing the trumpets was, first, by a long plain blast, then by one with breakings and quaverings, and then by a long plain blast again [Brown, Jewish Antiquities].
13. the house was filled with a cloud—(See on 1Ki 8:10).