26 `In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name -- from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them --
And in the turning back of the wicked From his wickedness that he hath done, And he doth judgment and righteousness, He his soul doth keep alive. And he seeth and turneth back, From all his transgressions that he hath done, He doth surely live, he doth not die, And the house of Israel have said, Not pondered is the way of the Lord, My ways -- are they not pondered? O house of Israel -- are not your ways unpondered? Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Turn ye back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block, Cast from off you all your transgressions, By which ye have transgressed, And make to you a new heart, and a new spirit, And why do ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And turn ye back and live!
Enter ye Beth-El, and transgress, At Gilgal multiply transgression, And bring in every morning your sacrifices, Every third year your tithes. And perfume with leaven a thank-offering, And proclaim willing gifts, sound ye! For so ye have loved, O sons of Israel, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. And I also -- I have given to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places, And ye have not turned back unto Me, an affirmation of Jehovah. And I also -- I have withheld from you the rain. While yet three months to harvest, And I have sent rain on one city, And on another city I do not send rain, One portion is rained on, And the portion on which it raineth not withereth. And wandered have two or three cities, Unto the same city to drink water, And they are not satisfied, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah. I have smitten you with blasting and with mildew, The abundance of your gardens and of your vineyards, And of your figs, and of your olives, Eat doth the palmer-worm, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.
Blow ye a trumpet in Zion, Sanctify a fast -- proclaim a restraint. Gather the people, sanctify an assembly, Assemble the aged, Gather infants and sucklings of the breasts, Go out let a bridegroom from his inner chamber, And a bride out of her closet. Between the porch and the altar weep let the priests, ministrants of Jehovah, And let them say: `Have pity, O Jehovah, on Thy people, And give not Thy inheritance to reproach, To the ruling over them of nations, Why do they say among peoples, Where `is' their God?'
Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation. Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, `Into' the house of Jehovah your God, And cry unto Jehovah, `Alas for the day! For near `is' a day of Jehovah, And as destruction from the mighty it cometh. Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing? Rotted have scattered things under their clods, Desolated have been storehouses, Broken down have been granaries, For withered hath the corn. How have cattle sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated. Unto Thee, O Jehovah, I do call, For fire hath consumed comely places of a wilderness, And a flame hath set on fire all trees of the field. Also the cattle of the field long for Thee, For dried up have been streams of water, And fire hath consumed comely places of a wilderness!'
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths: Mourned hath Judah, and her gates have languished, They have mourned to the earth, And the cry of Jerusalem hath gone up. And their honourable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back -- their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head. Because the ground hath been broken, For there hath been no rain in the land, Ashamed have been husbandmen, They have covered their head. For even the hind in the field hath brought forth -- to forsake `it!' For there hath been no grass. And wild asses have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Consumed have been their eyes, for there is no herb. Surely our iniquities have testified against us, O Jehovah, work for Thy name's sake, For many have been our backslidings, Against Thee we have sinned. O Hope of Israel -- its saviour in time of trouble, Why art Thou as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveller turned aside to lodge? Why art Thou as one dumb? As a mighty one not able to save? And Thou `art' in our midst, O Jehovah, And Thy name over us is called, leave us not.
Thus said Jehovah: `Where `is' this -- the bill of your mother's divorce, Whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Lo, for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away. Wherefore have I come, and there is no one? I called, and there is none answering, Hath My hand been at all short of redemption? And is there not in me power to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up a sea, I make rivers a wilderness, Their fish stinketh, for there is no water, And dieth with thirst.
And when he is in distress he hath appeased the face of Jehovah his God, and is humbled exceedingly before the God of his fathers, and prayeth unto Him, and He is entreated of him, and heareth his supplication, and bringeth him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom, and Manasseh knoweth that Jehovah -- He `is' God.
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, saith unto Ahab, `Jehovah, God of Israel, liveth, before whom I have stood, there is not these years dew and rain, except according to my word.' And the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, `Go from this `place'; and thou hast turned for thee eastward, and been hidden by the brook Cherith, that `is' on the front of the Jordan, and it hath been, from the brook thou dost drink, and the ravens I have commanded to sustain thee there.' And he goeth and doth according to the word of Jehovah, yea, he goeth and dwelleth by the brook Cherith, that `is' on the front of the Jordan, and the ravens are bringing to him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and of the brook he drinketh. And it cometh to pass, at the end of days, that the brook drieth up, for there hath been no rain in the land, and the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, `Rise, go to Zarephath, that `is' to Zidon, and thou hast dwelt there; lo, I have commanded there a widow woman to sustain thee.' And he riseth, and goeth to Zarephath, and cometh in unto the opening of the city, and lo there, a widow woman gathering sticks, and he calleth unto her, and saith, `Bring, I pray thee, to me, a little water in a vessel, and I drink.' And she goeth to bring `it', and he calleth unto her and saith, `Bring, I pray thee, to me a morsel of bread in thy hand.' And she saith, `Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but the fulness of the hand of meal in a pitcher, and a little oil in a dish; and lo, I am gathering two sticks, and have gone in and prepared it for myself, and for my son, and we have eaten it -- and died.' And Elijah saith unto her, `Fear not, go, do according to thy word, only make for me thence a little cake, in the first place, and thou hast brought out to me; and for thee and for thy son make -- last; for thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, The pitcher of meal is not consumed, and the dish of oil is not lacking, till the day of Jehovah's giving a shower on the face of the ground.' And she goeth, and doth according to the word of Elijah, and she eateth, she and he, and her household -- days; the pitcher of meal was not consumed, and the dish of oil did not lack, according to the word of Jehovah that He spake by the hand of Elijah. And it cometh to pass, after these things, the son of the woman, mistress of the house, hath been sick, and his sickness is very severe till that no breath hath been left in him. And she saith unto Elijah, `What -- to me and to thee, O man of God? thou hast come unto me to cause mine iniquity to be remembered, and to put my son to death!'
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.