2 Chronicles 5:9

2Ch 5:9 And they drew out the staves [of the ark], 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.

Ver. 9. And there it is unto this day,] i.e., Until the time that the larger Chronicles of the Kings of Judah out of which Ezra compiled this abstract - were written.

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.

5:9 The Hebrew phrase to this day might be an idiom meaning from then on. The Ark was evidently not in the Temple following the Exile, when the Chronicler wrote.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, without the Oracle.

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

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. They drew out the staves] As the ark was no longer to be carried about, these were unnecessary.

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

(9) And they drew out . . . were seen.—Rather, And the staves were so long that the tips of the staves were seen. &c.

From the ark.—1Ki_8:8, “from the Holy Place.” So the LXX. and four Hebrew MSS. The priests in the great hall could see the tips of the staves projecting within the Holy of Holies; but persons outside (“without”) of the great hall could not see them.

And there it is unto this day.—And it (the ark) remained there unto this day. So Vulg., “fuit itaque arca ibi.” LXX., Syr., Targ., Arab., They—i.e., the poles were there; and so some Heb. MSS., and 1Ki_8:8. This is no doubt right. A letter has fallen out of the Hebrew text. That the chronicler has preserved this remark without modification to suit altered circumstances, and indeed that the compiler of Kings did the same long before him, is a striking instance of the way in which Oriental historiographers are content to borrow with literal exactitude from the works of predecessors, even in cases where such borrowing appears to the modern mind infelicitous.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. And they drew out the staves of the ark] R.V. And the staves were so long.

from the ark] Read (with LXX. and 1Ki_8:8) 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 1Ki_8:8, but they are out of place in Chron., for when the Chronicler wrote the ark had long ago disappeared. The vessels which were brought back from the Babylonian captivity are specified in Ezr_1:9-10, but the ark of the covenant is not reckoned among them.

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.

From the ark - Or, according to a different reading here and according to 1Ki 8:8, some read, “the ends of the staves were seen from the Holy place.”

There it is unto this day - This should be corrected as in the margin.

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

Oracle, pushing out the veil, (Haydock) in the tabernacle of Moses, but not in the temple, which was of larger dimensions. (Calmet) --- But if. Hebrew, "but they were not seen without. And there it is till this day."

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).

When this history was first written: not when it was reviewed by Ezra, who made some additions to it; for after the return from Babylon neither staves nor ark were any more seen or heard of.

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

They drew out; i.e. the staves projected. A similar intransitive occurs in Exo_20:12. Were seen from the ark. The words, "from the ark," are here probably by misposition, and should follow the words, the staves projected; while the parallel tells us what should be in their place here, namely, "from the holy place". (1Ki_8:8) The confusion and omission will merely lie with some copyists, for five manuscripts show the words "from the holy place." There it is unto this day. The parallelreads, (1Ki_8:8) there they are unto this day," i.e. the staves. In either case, whether the ark or the staves were spoken of, the memorandum is exceedingly interesting and noteworthy, as a patent bare copy of an old record dating before the destruction of the temple, on the part of whether the writer of Kings or Chronicles. Plainly the historian touches ground, and shows us that we do also; for it is evident that, far from cunningly devised fable, he has before him in either case an original document.

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

To this day - When this history was first written; not when it was reviewed by Ezra: for after the return from Babylon, neither staves nor ark were any more seen.

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

their ends were seen ... they could not be seen

This can be stated in active form. AT: "people could see their ends ... people could not see them"

to this day

This means the day on which the writer wrote.

translationWords

holy place

Moses

Horeb

covenant

people group

Israel

Egypt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.