1 Kings 8:66

1Ki 8:66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

Ver. 66. He sent the people away.] Blessing their good king, and congratulating their own great happiness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki_8:66

On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king.

The earthly fellowship of the good

I. The fellowship of the good on earth is imperfect. Secular concerns, physical infirmities, incongruities of mind, temper, education, worldly condition, and other circumstances, expose it to interruption. On the eighth day he sent the people away. Follow them in imagination. Some go south to Bethlehem, and Hebron, and Libah; some to the east, to the pleasant vales of the Jordan, etc.

II. The fellowship of the good on earth tends to the promotion of all good feeling.

1. Increased attachment to those who are over them in the Lord. And they blessed the king (1Pe_2:13-17).

2. Increased sympathy with, and delight in the work of God. Joyful and glad of heart, for, etc. No petty jealousies, no sectarian strifes, no proud boasting. The tribes are lost in Israel. Solomon and David are one. The Lord is all in all. What a lesson to Christians.

3. Increased aptitude for the service of God in their several houses. They seem to have had a deep sense of the transitoriness of earthly things. Went unto their tents. The word stands for houses. It had come down from the time of the patriarchs. Would suggest the thought, we are pilgrims. What are our houses, and the fabric of our families, the organisations of our churches, but tents? (Heb_12:27-28).

III. The fellowship of the good on earth prophesies of a more perfect and enduring fellowship hereafter.

1. More perfect. No distractions, no weariness, no incongruities, nothing to mar or interrupt the universal harmony.

2. More enduring. All things earthly are transitory. The sweetest song must come to an end, the pleasantest book must be laid aside, the most endearing fellowship, etc. Not so hereafter. In heaven there is no sending away. (William Forsyth.)

The afterwards of Divine worship

After the worship of the Lords Day, and especially after the Lords Supper, we should continue in devotion, and make the whole day a post-communion. As civet boxes retain their scent when the civet is taken out, so, when the act of visible communion is over, our thoughts and discourse and actions should still savour of the solemnity. Certainly it is an argument of much weakness to be all for flashes and sudden starts. This retaining of their perfume by boxes and drawers in which sweet scents have been placed is a fragrant figure of the abiding nature of grace in a heart wherein it has once been stored up. II ordinances yield the influence designed by them, their savour will remain in our lives. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, blessed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 66. They blessed the king] Wished him all spiritual and temporal happiness. They were contented with their king, at peace among themselves, and happy in their God; so that they returned to their houses magnifying their God for all his bounty to them, their country, and their king. How happy must these people have been, and how prosperous, had their king continued to walk uprightly before God! But alas! the king fell, and the nation followed his example.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

66. On the eighth day] i.e. Of the feast of Tabernacles, which had been preceded on this occasion by the feast of Dedication. Therefore this was the fifteenth day of the whole ceremony. It is defined in 2Ch_7:10 as ‘the three and twentieth day of the seventh month.’

and they blessed the king] Josephus explains thus: ‘they went away thanking the king for his forethought about them, and for the conduct which he had exhibited towards them, and praying God to give them Solomon as their king for a long time to come.’

and went unto their tents] The expression is a survival from those times when the home was a tent. Cf. 2Sa_18:17; 2Sa_19:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their tents - i. e. “their homes.” The word “tents” was used for “houses” from an old habit of speech, which had come down from the time when the Israelites were a nomadic nation.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Eighth day, at the conclusion of the second octave. (Haydock) --- Blessed the king, as he had done them before. The most honourable performs this office, Hebrew vii. 7. (Calmet) --- The king and people wished all sorts of happiness to each other. --- David. The glory of his son reflected honour on him. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Solomon having joined with the people in the solemn assembly, which was kept on the eighth day, in the close of that day and service he took his solemn farewell, and dismissed them with his blessing; and the next morning when the heads and elders who came to Solomon upon this special summons, above, 1Ki 8:3, and with them divers of the people came to take their leave of the king, he sent them away. And so this place agrees very well with 2Ch 7:9,10.

They blessed the king, i.e. they prayed to God to bless him, according to their duty and custom. Or,

they praised him, for his great care and pains in building of the temple, and setting up God’s worship among them.

The goodness that the Lord had done for David, in giving him a sure house, and a wise and religious son, by whom he had now fulfilled the promise made to David about the building of the temple.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

66. On the eighth day — The day following the last seven days’ feast, which was the twenty-third day of the seventh month. 2Ch_7:10.

Went unto their tents — That is, went home. Compare note on 1Sa_17:54.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On the eighth day he sent the people away i.e., on the eighth day of the second feast, the "three and twentieth day of the month" (ib., ver. 10). The first impression is that the eighth day of the period of fourteen days is meant, but the context, to say nothing of the Chronicles, contradicts this. The feast of dedication began on the eighth day of the month Ethanim (ver. 2), and lasted until the fourteenth. The feast of tabernacles began on the fifteenth and lasted till the twenty-first. On the evening of the twenty-second, the "day of restraint", Lev_23:36 marg. he dismissed the people, who would depart to their homes next morning: and they blessed i.e., felicitated, saluted (on taking leave). Cf. Pro_27:14 2Ki_4:29 1Sa_25:6, 1Sa_25:14. Marg. thanked. (See note on ver. 14) the king, and went unto their tents i.e., homes an archaic expression, dating from the times of the desert wanderings. (Jos_22:4 Jud_1:7:8 2Sa_20:1 1Ki_12:16) joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant the real founder of the temple. Solomon had but carried out his ideas and had entered into his labours, and for Israel his people.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He sent - Solomon having joined with the people in the solemn assembly, which was kept on the eighth day; in the close of that day took his solemn farewell, and dismissed them with his blessing; and the next morning when the heads and elders with divers of the people came to take their leave of the king, he sent them away.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

For Dovid His servant. To make known that He forgave them their sins, as we find in [Maseches] Mo’ed Katan. When Shlomo wished to bring the Ark into the Holy of Holies, the gates clung to one another.

And for Yisroel His people. That He forgave them the sin of Yom Kippur, and a Bas Kol emanated and declared, “All of you are prepared for the life of the World to Come.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.