=2‒10= (= 1 Kings viii. 1‒9).
THE ARK BROUGHT INTO THE SANCTUARY.
This section is taken almost verbatim from 1 Kings.
²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the
heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ _houses_ of the
children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the
covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
=2.= _Then Solomon assembled_] The same verb in the Hebrew as in 1
Chronicles xv. 3 (see note there) and in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 1.
_the city of David_] See 1 Chronicles xi. 5, note on _the strong hold
of Zion_.
³And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king at
the feast, which was _in_ the seventh month.
=3.= _the feast_] i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e. after the fruit
harvest.
in _the seventh month_] In 1 Kings the name of the month is given as
_Ethanim_, but this word was perhaps obsolete when the Chronicler wrote;
at any rate we know that in post-biblical times the seventh month was
regularly called _Tisri_.
⁴And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the
ark.
=4.= _the Levites took up the ark_] According to 1 Kings the _priests_
performed this duty. In the days of David and Solomon all Levites were
possible priests, Levi being the name of the priestly clan and not of a
lower order of priests. At a later period the Levites were regarded as
a class subordinate to the priests, having duties distinct from those
of the priests――e.g. the task of bearing the tabernacle and all its
furniture (see Numbers i. 50, etc.). The Chronicler believing that this
distinction had been in force from the time of Moses onwards “corrects”
the text of Kings by changing “priests” into “Levites”: compare
1 Chronicles xv. 2, 12, 13. See the special note on 1 Chronicles vi.,
pp. 51 f.
⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all
the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these did the priests
the Levites bring up. ⁶And king Solomon and all the congregation
of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were before the ark,
sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered
for multitude.
=5.= _the tent of meeting_] i.e. the Mosaic tabernacle, which the
Chronicler believed to have been in existence in the time of David and
Solomon, and to have been at Gibeon (i. 3 f.). The parallel statement
in Kings comes not from the early sources but from the hand of a late
reviser.
_the priests the Levites_] here the older phrase, which does not
indicate a distinction between Priests and Levites, has been allowed
to stand, perhaps “because certain utensils might well have been borne
by the priests” (so Curtis), or possibly through slight carelessness on
the Chronicler’s part. The parallel in Kings has “the priests _and_ the
Levites.”
⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD
unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy
place, even under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸For the cherubim
spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the
cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
=7.= _the priests brought in the ark_] Only the priests might lawfully
place the Ark within the Holy of Holies (compare Numbers iv. 5 ff.).
The Chronicler therefore had no cause for changing _priests_ into
_Levites_ here.
_into the oracle_] See iii. 16, note.
⁹And the staves¹ were so long that the ends of the staves were
seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen
without: and there it is, unto this day.
¹ Or, _they drew out the staves, so that &c._
=9.= _from the ark_] Read (with LXX. and 1 Kings viii. 8) =from the
holy place=. One standing in the Holy Place and looking towards the
Holy of Holies could see the heads of the staves.
_and there it is, unto this day_] These words are taken over with
the loss of one letter (which here makes the difference between
singular and plural) from 1 Kings viii. 8, but they are out of place
in Chronicles, for when the Chronicler wrote the Ark had long ago
disappeared. The vessels which were brought back from the Babylonian
captivity are specified in Ezra i. 9, 10, but the Ark of the covenant
is not reckoned among them.
¹⁰There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses
put _there_ at Horeb, when¹ the LORD made a covenant with the
children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
¹ Or, _where_.
=10.= _which Moses put_ there] Exodus xl. 20.
_at Horeb_] Deuteronomy v. 2.
=11‒14= (= 1 Kings viii. 10, 11).
THE DESCENT OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD.
¹¹And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of
the holy place, (for all the priests that were present had
sanctified themselves, and did not keep their courses;
=11.= _out of the holy place_] The priests could remain neither in the
Holy of Holies where they had deposited the Ark, nor even in the Holy
Place, but were driven altogether out of the Temple building into the
Temple court (compare verse 14).
=11‒13=a. _for all ... his mercy_ endureth _for ever_] a long
parenthesis added by the Chronicler to intimate that the whole body
and not merely the monthly “course” of priests and of Levitical singers
were present (verses 11b‒12); and to suggest the grandeur of the
musical service (verse 13a).
=11.= _their courses_] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1‒19.
¹²also the Levites which were the singers, all of them, even
Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brethren,
arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps,
stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and
twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
=12.= _Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons_] Compare 1 Chronicles
xxv. 1‒7.
_psalteries ... harps_] See 1 Chronicles xiii. 8, notes.
_at the east end of the altar_] Looking westward, facing the Holy of
Holies. To face the east was to turn the back upon the sanctuary;
Ezekiel viii. 16.
_trumpets_] See 1 Chronicles xv. 24, note.
¹³it came even to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were
as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking
the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets
and cymbals and instruments of music¹, and praised the LORD,
_saying_, For he is good; for his mercy _endureth_ for ever:
that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of
the LORD, ¹⁴so that the priests could not stand to minister by
reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD filled the house
of God.
¹ Or, _for song_.
=13.= _of music_] Rather, as margin, =for song=.
_for his mercy_ endureth _for ever_] 1 Chronicles xvi. 41.
_was filled with a cloud_] Exodus xl. 34, 35.