2 Chronicles 7:11

THE LORD’S RESPONSE TO THE PRAYER OF SOLOMON

(2Ch_7:11-22. Comp. 1Ki_9:1-9).

The substance and, for the most part, the language of both passages are the same, but the chronicler paraphrases occasionally, and has added a considerable section not extant in Kings (2Ch_7:13-16).

(11) All that came into Solomon’s heart to make.—A paraphrase of all the desire (Isa_21:4; 2Ch_8:6) of Solomon that he willed to do. The rest of the verse is wanting in Kings.

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

2Ch 7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

Ver. 11. See on 1Ki 9:1.

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.

δ. Revelation of the Lord to Solomon on the Completion of the Temple and his House 2Ch_7:11-22

2Ch_7:11.And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and in all that came into Solomon’s heart to do in the house of the Lord, and in his 12own house, he succeeded. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. 13If I shut up heaven and there be no rain, or if I command 14the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people. And my people, on whom my name is called, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent 16to the prayer of this place. And now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there17always. And thou, if thou walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and observe my statutes and my judgments: 18Then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not’ be cut off from theea man to rule in Israel. 19But if ye [and your children][2] turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them: 20Then will I pluck them out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified to my name, will I east out of my sight, and make it a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21And this house, which was high,3 every passer-by shall be astonished at it, and he 22shall say, Why hath the Lord done this unto this land and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath He brought all this evil upon them.

EXEGETICAL

The parallel text 1Ki_9:1-9 agrees in substance, but often not in words, with our section; in particular, the latter contains some farther extensions and explanations of what is there commanded, and a longer independent addition, 2Ch_7:12 b

2Ch_7:16 a.

2Ch_7:11 b.—And all that came into Solomon’s heart. This is a paraphrase of וְאֶת־כָּל־חֵשֶׁק שְׁל׳, “and all the desire of Solomon”; comp. also for חֵשֶׁק, desire, 8:6.

2Ch_7:12. The Lord appeared to Solomon by night. The addition:“ the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon,” 1Ki_9:2, is wanting here. On the contrary, 1 Kings 9 : wants all that follows from “have chosen this place for myself” to “have chosen and sanctified this house,” 2Ch_7:16.

2Ch_7:13. If I shut up heaven and there be no rain; comp. 6:26, 28, where, among other land plagues, the three here mentioned, drought, locust, and pestilence, are named. The twofold הֵן is here equivalent to the אִם, “if,” appearing in the third place; comp. Isa_54:15; Jer_3:1; Job_40:23; and see our remark on the latter passage.

2Ch_7:14. And my people … humble themselves. Comp. 6:33; Deu_28:10; Jer_15:16; on 2Ch_7:15, comp. 6:40; on 2Ch_7:16, comp. 6:5, 6.

2Ch_7:17. And do according to all, literally, “to do,” etc. The וְ before לַֽעֲשׂוֹת is redundant, and must apparently be erased according to 1 Kings 9 :

2Ch_7:18. As I have covenanted with David thy father.כָּרַתִּי without the object בְּרִית appears to be a mistake for דִּבַּרְתִּי; but comp. 5:10.—There shall not be cut off from thee a man to rule in Israel. For this in 1Ki_9:5 is: … “a man on the throne of Israel.” Our מושׁל בישׂראל seems to be an unintentional variation of the text there, arising from a recollection of Mic_5:1.

2Ch_7:19. But if ye turn away. For the necessary supplement of וּבְנֵיכֶם,“and your children,” comp. Crit. Note.

2Ch_7:20. Then will I pluck them; נָתַשׁ (for the הִכְרִית in 1Ki_9:7) in this sense also Deu_29:27; 1Ki_14:15. For the following: “casting out” of God’s sight, comp. Deu_9:17, Rev_2:5; for a “proverb and a byword among all all nations,” Deu_28:37, Jer_24:9.

2Ch_7:21. And this house, which was high. In favour of the here probably necessary emendation יִהְיֶה עִיִּים, comp., besides the remark in the Crit. Note, Mic_3:12; Jer_26:18; Psa_79:1. For the following: “every passer-by shall be astonished,” comp. Jer_18:16; Jer_19:8.—Why hath the Lord done this. For בַּמֶּה 1 Kings has the more usual and intelligible עַל־מָה.

Footnotes:

[2] וּבְנֵיהֶם seems to have fallen out after אַתֶּם, not merely according to 1Ki_9:6, but according to the suffix of the 3d per. in נְתַשְׁתִּים (and also לָהֶם), 2Ch_7:20.

[3]For עֶלְיוֹן, which the Vulg. does not give, and the Pesch. and Arab. render by “desolation,” עִיִּים (ruinæ) appears to have originally stood in the text; thus instead of אֲשֶׁר־הָיָה עֶלִיוֹן there was probably יִהְיֶה עִיִּים, ruina fiet. In the parallel text 1Ki_9:8, indeed, עֶלְיוֹן stands, and the Sept. renders our passage: καὶ ὁ οἶκος οὗτος ὁ ὑψηλός.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. The Second Vision

CHAPTER 7:11-22

1. All finished by Solomon (2Ch 7:11)

2. The divine answer and the warning (2Ch 7:12-22)

A second time the Lord appeared unto Solomon. At this time He did not say again “Ask what shall I give thee,” but He assured him that Solomon’s prayer had been heard and He had chosen the dedicated place for Himself. He graciously assures the king that if He has chastised His people by sending drought, locusts or pestilence and they humble themselves, and seek His face, turning away from their wicked ways, that He will forgive and heal their land. There can be no recovery apart from the conditions mentioned in these verses. His people who have failed must first humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn away from their evil ways. The warning given in verses 19-22 had passed into history and found its literal fulfillment.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The narrative now runs parallel with 1Ki 9:1-9, but is more full, and presents less of verbal agreement. 2Ch 7:13-15 are additional to the earlier record.

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

See now for the parallel 1Ki_9:1-9 The king"s house the house of the Lord his own house. The expressions that we have in this verse guide us amid some ambiguities to the correct date of the consecration of the temple. The verse purports to speak of the final completion the temple and the king"s house or palace, with all whatsoever that was necessary to them in the matter of their furnishing. And, to say the least, the impression naturally produced on the reader is that they are spoken of as being thus completed simultaneously, although, beyond doubt, there was a sense in which the temple was (not utterly finished but) built long before the palace. Accordingly, when the next verse tells us of God"s answer vouchsafed to the dedication prayer of Solomon, we are not driven to the supposition that several years had elapsed since the final completion of the temple and the dedication of it on the one hand, nor, on the other hand, a similar interval lost between the dedication prayer and the Divine acknowledgment of it. It may be again stated that the main structure of the temple (not including courts, pillars, furnishing, vessels, etc.) was built after seven years" process, in the eleventh year of Solomon"s reign, but the palace only after another complete twelve years, (1Ki_7:1) in Solomon"s twenty-fourth year. A liberal study of the parallel narrative of Kings in its entirety strengthens considerably this view, inasmuch as there the whole account of the palace-building finds its place previous to the account of the dedicating of the temple. However, though there can be little practical doubt as to how the facts of the case stood and stand, yet this occasion must count one to be added to the chronological memorabilia of Scripture, in that, while both the accounts to which we have access leave very vague the very things we should naturally expect to have been stated concisely, they also both seem entirely unconscious of it a directest outcome of the fact that both writers were but picking their own way in the midst of borrowed material, neither of them the original historian.

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

Solomon finished the house of Yahweh and his own house

The readers should understand that Solomon probably commanded other people to do the actual work. AT: "the workers whom Solomon commanded finished the house of Yahweh and Solomon's own house" (See: Metonymy)

Everything that came into Solomon's heart to make

The heart is spoken of as if it were a container, and desires are spoken of as if they came into the heart. AT: "Everything that Solomon desired to make" (See: Metaphor)

he successfully carried out

This is an idiom. AT: "he successfully finished" or "he caused to be done successfully (See: Idiom)

by night

"at night" or "one night"

a house of sacrifice

"the house where people will offer sacrifices to me"

translationWords

heart

sacrifice

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