1 chronicles 22 commentary

1 CHRONICLES 22 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1Then David said, “The house of the Lord God is
to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for
Israel.”
BARNES, "This is the house of the Lord God - The double miracle - that of the
angelic appearance and that of the fire from heaven - had convinced David that here he
had found the destined site of that “house” which it had been told him that his son
should build 1Ch_22:10. Hence, this public announcement.
CLARKE, "David said, This is the house of the Lord - Till a temple is built for
his name, this place shall be considered the temple of God; and on this altar, and not on
that at Gibeon, shall the burnt-offerings of Israel be made. David probably thought that
this was the place on which God designed that his house should be built; and perhaps it
was this that induced him to buy, not only the threshing-floor, but probably some
adjacent ground also, as Calmet supposes, that there might be sufficient room for such a
building.
GILL, "Then David said,.... Within himself, or to some principal persons about him:
this is the house of the Lord God; the place where the temple was to be built, hinted
at in Deu_12:5 and elsewhere; the meaning is, here, or in "this" place, shall be the house
of God, so Noldius (o), for as yet there were none; but it was now made known to David
that here it should be built, and so the words in 2Ch_3:1 should be rendered:
then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, which was
shown to David his father, which he prepared in the place of David, that
which he bought in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite: and this is the
altar for the burnt offering for Israel; not which he had built here; but this is the
place where one should be built for the people of Israel to bring their offerings to, and to
be here offered for them by the priests: this he said by a divine impulse upon his mind,
or which he concluded from the acceptance of his sacrifice here, signified by fire that
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came down from heaven and consumed it; and this being in the threshingfloor of the
Jebusites, might prefigure the church of God to be built up among the Gentiles.
HENRY 1-5, "Here is, I. The place fixed for the building of the temple (1Ch_22:1):
Then David said, by inspiration of God, and as a declaration of his mind, This is the
house of the Lord God. If a temple must be built for God, it is fit that it be left to him to
choose the ground, for all the earth is his; and this is the ground he makes choice of -
ground that pertained to a Jebusite, and perhaps there was not a spot of ground besides,
in or about Jerusalem, that did so - a happy presage of the setting up of the gospel
temple among the Gentiles. See Act_15:16, Act_15:17. The ground was a threshing-floor;
for the church of the living God is his floor, his threshing, and the corn of his floor, Isa_
21:10. Christ's fan is in his hand, thoroughly to purge his floor. This is to be the house
because this is the altar. The temple was built for the sake of the altar. There were altars
long before there were temples.
II. Preparation made for that building. David must not build it, but he would do all he
could towards it: He prepared abundantly before his death, 1Ch_22:5. This intimates
that the consideration of his age and growing infirmities, which showed him his death
approaching, quickened him, towards his latter end, to be very diligent in making this
preparation. What our hands find to do for God, and our souls, and our generation, let
us do it with all our might before our death, because, after death, there is no device nor
working. Now we are here told,
1. What induced him to make such preparation. Two things he considered: - (1.) That
Solomon was young and tender, and not likely to apply with any great vigour to this
business at first; so that, unless he found the wheels set a-going, he would be in danger
of losing a great deal of time at first, the rather because, being young, he would be
tempted to put it off; whereas, if he found the materials got ready to his hand, the most
difficult part of the work would be over, and this would excite and encourage him to go
about it in the beginnings of his reign. Note, Those that are aged and experienced should
consider those that are young and tender, and provide them what help they can, that
they may make the work of God as easy to them as possible. (2.) That the house must be
exceedingly magnificent, very stately and sumptuous, strong and beautiful, every thing
about it the best in its kind, and for a good reason, since it was intended for the honour
of the great God, the Lord of the whole earth, and was to be a type of Christ, in whom all
fulness dwells and in whom are hid all treasures. Men were then to be taught by sensible
methods. The grandeur of the house would help to affect the worshippers with a holy
awe and reverence of God, and would invite strangers to come to see it, and the wonder
of the world, who thereby would be brought acquainted with the true God. Therefore it is
here designed to be of fame and glory throughout all countries. David foretold this good
effect of its being magnificent, Psa_68:29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall
kings bring presents unto thee.
2. What preparation he made. In general, he prepared abundantly, as we shall find
afterwards; cedar and stones, iron and brass, are here specified, 1Ch_22:2-4. Cedar he
had from the Tyrians and the Zidonians. The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift,
Psa_45:12. He also got workmen together, the strangers that were in the land of Israel.
Some think that he employed them because they were generally better artists, and more
ingenious in manual operations, than the Israelites; or, rather, because he would not
employ the free-born Israelites in any thing that looked mean and servile. They were
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delivered from the bondage of making bricks in Egypt, and must not return to hew
stone. These strangers were proselytes to the Jewish religion, but, though not enslaved,
they were not of equal dignity with Israelites.
JAMISON, "1Ch_22:1-5. David perpares for building the Temple.
David said, This is the home of the Lord God — By the miraculous sign of fire
from heaven, and perhaps other intimations, David understood it to be the will of God
that the national place of worship should be fixed there, and he forthwith proceeded to
make preparations for the erection of the temple on that spot.
K&D, "With this chapter commences the second section of the history of David's
kingship, viz., the account of the preparations, dispositions, and arrangements which he
made in the last years of his reign for the establishment of his kingdom in the future
under his successors. All these preparations and dispositions had reference to the firm
establishment of the public worship of the Lord, in which Israel, as the people and
congregation of Jahve, might show its faithfulness to the covenant, so as to become
partakers of the divine protection, and the blessing which was promised. To build the
temple-this desire the Lord had not indeed granted the fulfilment of to David, but He
had given him the promise that his son should carry out that work. The grey-haired king
accordingly made preparations, after the site of the house of God which should be built
had been pointed out to him, such as would facilitate the execution of the work by his
successor. Of these preparations our chapter treats, and in it we have an account how
David provided the necessary labour and materials for the building of the temple (1Ch_
22:2-5), committed the execution of the work in a solemn way to his son Solomon (1Ch_
22:6-16), and called upon the chiefs of the people to give him their support in the work
(1Ch_22:17-19).
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 22:1. Then David said — Through the instinct and
direction of God’s Spirit, by which as he is said to have had the pattern of the house,
porch, altar, &c., (1 Chronicles 28:11-19,) so doubtless he was instructed as to the
place where the house should be built. This is the house, &c. — This is the place
appointed by God for the building of his temple and altar.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Then.—And.
This is the house.—Better, This is a house of Jehovah, the (true) God, and this (is) an
altar of burnt offering for Israel. The verse resumes the narrative suspended at 1
Chronicles 21:28. The place of the apparition is called “a house of God,” as in
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Genesis 28:17. Obviously, we have here the goal of the entire narrative of the census,
and the pestilence, which the chronicler would probably have omitted, as he has
omitted that of the famine (2 Samuel 21), were it not for the fact that it shows how
the site of the Temple was determined.
PARKER, ""Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the
altar of the burnt offering for Israel?— 1 Chronicles 22:1.
And yet not a stone of the building was laid!—The reference is to the site whereon
the temple is to be built.—We read, "Then Solomon began to build the house of the
Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his
father" ( 2 Chronicles 3:1): the literal rendering would be, "which was shewn to
David his father," the place being pointed out by the appearance of angels as the
spot on which the temple was to stand.—This is the very spirit of prophecy.—We
find all prophets impatient of time and space, and taking the future into their own
hands, and dealing with it as if it were the immediate present.—Say they: This is the
place, this is the time, this is the means,—a handling of time and space only to be
understood by those in whom the spirit of prophecy resides.—There are prophets,
and there are those who understand prophets, and both the classes may be said to
live upon the same intellectual plane.—Some men are poets, others are only readers
and lovers of poetry; yet those who love poetry are in a sense themselves poets,
having the poetic instinct but not poetic expression.—We are more than we show
ourselves to be in words.—The vividness of David"s representation is singularly
instructive, for David already seemed to see the temple and to be in the temple, and
to know all the appointments of that sacred pile.—It was the privilege of David to
live in the future as if it were present. Is there not a sense in which we can all do
this?—May we not even now be in heaven as to all our highest desires and truest
sympathies?—Why speak of heaven as in the future, or in the distance?—The
apostle did not scruple to say, "Our citizenship is in heaven."—Jesus Christ did not
hesitate to declare that whilst he was upon the earth he was in heaven. And the
glorious company of the apostles constantly declared that like Moses they endured
as seeing the invisible, and their thoughts were intent upon a house not made with
hands.
PULPIT, "From the commencement of this chapter to the close of the First Book of
the Chronicles we again travel alone, and, with the exception of parallel passages of
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a merely ordinary character, have no longer the assistance of comparing different
descriptions of the same stretches of history. The present chapter relates David's
interested and zealous preparations for the building of the temple (1 Chronicles
22:1-5); his exhortations and solemn charge to his son and successor (1 Chronicles
22:6-16); and afterwards his injunctions to the "princes of Israel" (1 Chronicles
22:17-19) to help Solomon.
1 Chronicles 22:1
This verse evidently belongs to the close of the last' chapter, and should have had its
place there. It indicates a deep sense of relief that now visited David's mind. We can
imagine how he had pondered often and long the "place where" of the "exceeding
magnificent" house which it was in his heart to build for the Lord. The place was
now found, and the more unexpected and "dreadful" (Genesis 28:17) the method by
which it was arrived at, the more convincing and satisfactory, at all events in some
points of view. The extraordinary and impressive designating of this spot was in
itself a signal for an active commencement of the work, and made at the same time
such commencement practicable. Solomon and many others would afterwards often
think, often speak, of the "threshing-finer of Ornan the Jebusite" as the place
"which was shown to David his father," and which "David had prepared" (2
Chronicles 3:1). Here, then, he builds "the altar of burnt offering," as, on the
neighbouring "hill of Zion," he had reared the "tabernacle for the ark."
Preparations for the Temple
2 So David gave orders to assemble the foreigners
residing in Israel, and from among them he
appointed stonecutters to prepare dressed stone
for building the house of God.
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BARNES, "The strangers - i. e., the aliens the non-Israelite population of the land.
Compare 2Ch_2:17.
CLARKE, "The strangers that were in the land - Those who had become
proselytes to the Jewish religion, at least so far as to renounce idolatry, and keep what
were called the seven Noahic precepts. These were to be employed in the more servile
and difficult parts of the work: see on 1Ki_9:21 (note). For the account of building the
temple, see 1 Kings 5-9 (note), and the notes there.
GILL, "And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in
the land of Israel,.... The proselytes, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions;
that is, proselytes of the gate, who submitted to the seven precepts of Noah, were
admitted to dwell in the Cities of Israel, see Gen_9:4 and these were ordered to be got
together to be employed in building the temple, and making preparations for it; and that
partly because they were better artificers than the Israelites, who were chiefly employed
in husbandry and cattle, and partly that the Israelites, who were freemen, might not be
put to hard service; but chiefly this was for the sake of a mystery in it, denoting that the
Gentiles would be concerned in building the spiritual house and church of God, the
temple was a type and figure of, see Zec_6:15.
and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God; to dig
them out of the quarries, and fit them for the building.
JAMISON, "David commanded to gather together the strangers — partly the
descendants of the old Canaanites (2Ch_8:7-10), from whom was exacted a tribute of
bond service, and partly war captives (2Ch_2:7), reserved for the great work he
contemplated.
K&D, "Workmen and materials for the building of the temple. - 1Ch_22:2. In order
to procure the necessary workmen, David commanded that the strangers in the land of
Israel should be gathered together, and, as we learn from 2Ch_2:16, also numbered.
‫ים‬ ִ‫ֵר‬‫גּ‬ ַ‫,ה‬ the strangers, are the descendants of the Canaanites whom the Israelites had not
destroyed when they took possession of the land, but had reduced to bondage (2Ch_
8:7-9; 1Ki_9:20-22). This number was so considerable, that Solomon was able to employ
150,000 of them as labourers and stone-cutters (1Ki_5:15.; 2Ch_2:16.). These strangers
David appointed to be stone-cutters, to hew squared stones, ‫ית‬ִ‫ָז‬‫ג‬ ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫ב‬ ַ‫א‬ (see on 1Ki_5:18).
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BENSON 2-3, "1 Chronicles 22:2-3. To gather the strangers that were in the land of
Israel — The same persons whom Solomon afterward employed in the same work;
of which see 1 Kings 5:15; 1 Kings 9:20-21. He set masons to hew wrought stones —
Wherein he could not do much, being prevented by death; but Solomon carried on
and perfected what David had begun. For the joinings — To be used, together with
melted lead, for the joining of those great and square stones together.
ELLICOTT, " (2) And David commanded to gather together the strangers.—The
word rendered “to gather together” (kânas) is different from the terms used in 1
Chronicles 15:3-4; 1 Chronicles 19:7, and is late in this sense.
The strangers (gêrîm).—Sojourners, or resident foreigners, such as Israel had been
in Egypt (Genesis 15:13). The Canaanite population are meant, who lived on
sufferance under the Israelite dominion, and were liable to forced service if the
government required it. (See 2 Chronicles 8:7-8, and 1 Kings 9:20-21.) Solomon
found them by census to be 153,600 souls. The census was a preliminary to
apportioning their several tasks. (See 2 Chronicles 2:17-18.) David, probably on the
present occasion, had held a similar census of the Canaanite serfs (2 Chronicles
2:17).
And he set.—Appointed (1 Chronicles 15:16-17); literally, caused to stand.
Masons.—Hewers; selected, apparently, from among “the strangers.”
Wrought stones.—“Saxum quadratum,” square stones (1 Kings ; Isaiah 9:9).
To build the house—i.e., for building it hereafter. It is not said that the work was
begun at once, but only that the organisation of the serf labour originated with
David.
WHEDON, " 2. David commanded to gather together the strangers — These
strangers were the descendants of the old Canaanitish population of the land, whom
the Israelites had not been able to expel. Comp. 1 Kings 9:21, and 2 Chronicles 2:17.
Having settled on the site of Jehovah’s house, the king was stimulated to make, in
his last days, all possible preparations for the building of the same.
Masons to hew wrought stones — Or, stonecutters to cut hewn stones. Compare 1
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Kings 5:15; 1 Kings 5:17.
GUZIK, "1 CHRONICLES 22 - DAVID’S CHARGE TO SOLOMON
A. David gathers men, material, and a vision.
1. (1 Chronicles 22:2-4) David gathers men and material for building the temple.
So David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he
appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God. And David
prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints,
and bronze in abundance beyond measure, and cedar trees in abundance; for the
Sidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.
a. David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel: 1 Kings
5:15-18 describes how these were actually put to work in the building of the temple
in Solomon’s day, some 70,000 slaves.
b. Cedar trees in abundance: The cedar trees of Lebanon were legendary for their
excellent timber. This means David (and Solomon after him) wanted to build the
temple out of the best materials possible.
i. It also means that they were willing to build this great temple to God with
“Gentile” wood and using “Gentile” labor. This was a temple to the God of Israel,
but it was not only for Israel. Only Jews built the tabernacle, “But the temple is not
built without the aid of the Gentile Tyrians. They, together with us, make up the
Church of God.” (Trapp)
ii. Payne on iron in abundance: “The king’s provision of ‘a large amount of iron’
reflects how conditions had changed during his time - known archaeologically as
Iron I - due, no doubt, to the incorporation of iron-producing Philistines within the
sphere of Hebrew control.”
2. (1 Chronicles 22:5) David’s vision for the preparation of the temple.
Now David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be
built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious
throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.” So David made
abundant preparations before his death.
a. Solomon my son is young and inexperienced: Even after David’s death, Solomon
knew that he was young and inexperienced (1 Kings 3:7), so when offered anything
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he wanted wisdom to lead God’s people.
b. The house to be built for the LORD must be exceeding magnificent: Solomon had
the same vision for the glory of the temple, and he indeed built it according to
David’s vision of a magnificent, famous, and glorious building. Solomon had this
vision breathed into him through his father’s influence.
i. We can almost picture the old David and the young Solomon pouring over the
plans and ideas for the temple together with excitement. David knew that it was not
his place to build it, but had the right vision for what the temple should be in
general terms, and he passed that vision on to his son.
ii. So David made abundant preparations before his death: This indicates that David
was a peace with the idea that he himself could not build the temple and was content
to prepare the way for his son to build it successfully. “This is a picture of a man
who through stress and storm had found his way into the quiet calm assurance of
his place in the divine economy. . . . It is a condition of peace and power.” (Morgan)
iii. “The Chronicler was vitally concerned to insure support for the Jerusalem
temple in his day. No more fitting stimulus for dedication in this regard could then
be found than in the example set by David when he made preparations for the
construction of that temple in his day.” (Payne)
PARKER, ""And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in
the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of
God."— 1 Chronicles 22:2.
The "strangers" are the aliens.—We read of them in 1 Kings 9:20-21, "And all the
people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,
which were not of the children of Israel, their children that were left after them in
the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon
those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day."—There is a very
pathetic expression in this account of the strangers,—"whom the children of Israel
also were not able utterly to destroy."—Was not the destruction only partial in
order to realise a divine providence? Would not such strangers or aliens be useful in
the building of the temple?—Whom we are not able to destroy we may be able to
employ in holy service, is a doctrine which is not applicable to persons only, but has
a distinct reference to emotions, passions, impulses, and sympathies.—We are to
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hold ourselves in bondage, and often we are to drive ourselves to forced labour, and
to become hewers of wood and stone, bearers of burdens, and indeed slaves to our
higher manhood.—David did not hesitate to reckon the Canaanite serfs in the
census which he took of the people.—In taking the census of a nation we do not only
count the king, the statesmen, the military officers, and men of similar rank and
position; we count down, even to young children; yea, we do not exclude the cradle
itself when we number the people.—There is a higher as well as a lower census.—
For civil and military purposes the infant is of no account, but the statesman looks
not at the infant as he is to-day, but at the man as he will be in due process of
time.—The magistrate counts life, not years only.—He says the nation is strong to
such and such an extent, because he counts the little as well as the great.—A man
should take a census of himself in the same way; he is not all genius, intellect, might,
faculty; he has his peculiarities, infirmities, his germs of power, his beginnings and
possibilities of strength; all this he should reckon when he takes a census of himself,
and in reckoning even the least of his elements and faculties he should regard them
not as they immediately are, but as what they are in possibility under rightly-
accepted divine training.
PULPIT, "The strangers. These are plainly called in the Septuagint "proselytes"
( τοὺς προσηλὺτους). They were, of course, foreign workmen, who came in pursuit
of their trade. The injunctions as to "strangers," and with regard to showing them
kindness, are very numerous, beginning with Exodus 12:19, Exodus 12:48, Exodus
12:49; Exodus 22:21 (20); Exodus 23:9; Le Exodus 19:10, 33, 34; Exodus 15:14-16;
Deuteronomy 10:18, Deuteronomy 10:19; Joshua 8:33-35. It was not David's object
merely to gain cheap or compulsory work (2 Chronicles 2:17, 2 Chronicles 2:18), but
to obtain a skill, which immigrants from certain places would possess, in excess of
that of his own people (2 Chronicles 2:7, 2 Chronicles 2:8, 2 Chronicles 2:13,2
Chronicles 2:14), especially considering the absorption of Israel in the pursuit of
war, which had so largely impeded their study and practice of these the arts of
peace.
3 He provided a large amount of iron to make
nails for the doors of the gateways and for the
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fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed.
BARNES, "For the joinings - i. e., the girders, or cramps - pieces of iron to be used
in joining beams or stones together.
CLARKE, "Irons - for the nails, etc. - Iron for bolts, bars, hinges, etc., etc.
GILL, "And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of
the gates, and for the joinings,.... Great plenty of iron to make nails of for joining
the boards together, of which the doors and gates were to be made, and for the fastening
of the hinges of them:
and brass in abundance without weight; for making the altar of brass, and the
laver of brass, and other vessels. Brass was much used by the Heathens in sacred things,
as Macrobius (p) observes.
K&D, "1Ch_22:3
Iron and brass he prepared in abundance: the iron for the nails of the doors, i.e., for
the folding-doors of the gates, i.e., partly for the pivots (Zapfen) on which the folding-
doors turned, partly to strengthen the boards of which doors were made; as also for the
‫ת‬ ‫ר‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ַ‫ח‬ ְ‫,מ‬ literally, things to connect, i.e., properly iron cramps.
ELLICOTT, " (3) For the nails.—Mismĕrîm happens to occur only in the later
books of the Old Testament, but may well be an ancient word. (Comp. the Assyrian
asmarê “spears,” which derives from the same root.)
For the doors of the gates.—he doors were to be what we call folding-doors (1 Kings
6:34-35).
For the joinings.—Literally, things that couple, or connect (feminine participle): i.e.,
iron clamps and hinges. In 2 Chronicles 34:11 the same term is used of wooden
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clamps or braces.
And brass.—Bronze, which was much used in the ornamental work of ancient
buildings. Comp. the plates of bronze which once adorned the doors of the temple of
Shalmaneser II. (B.C. 854), at Balawât, and are now in the British Museum.
Sennacherib, in a later age (B.C. 700), describes the doors of his palace at Nineveh
as “overlaid with shining bronze.”
Without weight.—A natural hyperbole. The actual amounts would, of course, be
known to the royal treasurers. (Comp. the common use of the phrases la niba, la
mani “without number,” “without measure,” in Assyrian accounts of spoils and
captives.)
WHEDON, " 3. Nails for the doors of the gates — “That is, for the folding doors of
the gates; partly for the pivots on which the folding doors turned, partly to
strengthen the boards of which the doors were made.” — Keil.
For the joinings — For cramps, or iron holders to fasten and hold beams and stones
together.
Without weight — The bulk and amount was so great as not to be easily weighed. As
we sometimes familiarly say, “There was no weighing it.”
PARKER, "For All Gleaners
"And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and
for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight." — 1 Chronicles 23:3.
David could hardly keep his hands off the actual building of the temple itself.—We
have seen again and again that he went as near to it as he could possibly
approach.—It sometimes becomes difficult to say who really did build the temple, so
little was left for Solomon to do.—Is it not so with all the temples of civilisation?—
Who built the temple of Literature?—Who erected the temple of Science?—Who is
the architect and who the builder of the temple of Discovery,—the discovery of arts,
sciences, provinces, continents, lakes, and rivers?—The last man is so immediately
behind us that we dare not take credit to ourselves for aught we do; so much has
been done in preparation that when we speak of the temple we say it was built by
the age or the generation or the spirit of the times.—There Isaiah , of course, always
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one man whose name takes the lead in the higher architecture and erection of
temples, but the name of the leader is only symbolical of the multitude of his
followers and supporters.—David was content to prepare the way of the Lord; John
was content to be a voice crying in the wilderness; other men have laboured, and we
have entered into their labours.—We say David prepared, and Solomon built, but
how could Solomon have built if David had not prepared?—We do not make our
own roads, our own libraries, our own code of laws; we take the roads that are
made, the libraries that are in existence, the laws that are operating, and these we
enlarge or amend: or enrich or advance upon in some sense, but in reality we do but
carry out what older and abler men it may be have prepared to our hands.—
Gratitude should hold in loving remembrance all those who have even prepared for
the building of the temple.—Think of the fathers and mothers, the statesmen and
soldiers, the authors and artists, the preachers and teachers, who have been in this
great world-house before us, preparing as it were for our advent and occupation; we
should read our indebtedness on all the grave-stones; we should see our obligation
in old age, and in things that are ready to vanish away.—We should not ruthlessly
abrogate the past, but genuinely and philosophically fulfil it.—Jesus Christ himself
said that he came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it; that Isaiah , to bring to bud
and fruitage the things that had already been sown in the human mind by the action
of previous teachers and legislators.—For our encouragement, when our ambition
seems to be limited within a sphere which makes us impatient, we should read the
words, "And David prepared," and remember that if a king could prepare for the
building of a temple without actually building it himself, we should look upon every
action we do and probably upon every word we speak as contributions towards the
erection of a divine house upon the earth.—We read much of the "abundance" with
which David prepared; he prepared iron in abundance, he gathered brass in
abundance, he collected cedar trees in abundance; nothing was begrudged or
limited; throughout the whole there was a presence of generosity and overflowing-
ness, which indicated that the work was undertaken by generous and energetic
hands. David"s estimate of the work that was to be done will be seen in the fifth
verse.
PULPIT. "Iron… the joinings; and brass. The very first Bible mention of metals
(Genesis 4:22) places these two together. Whence Solomon got his "abundance" of
the latter we have read in 1 Chronicles 18:8; for the "abundance' of the former he
would not necessarily go further than his own land. Although the expression, "the
land whose stones are iron" (Deuteronomy 8:9), is possibly enough a poetical figure
where it stands, yet some of the force of the figure may have sprung from its
13

nearness to fact. The abundant use of iron in a great variety of tools, implements,
weapons, and the knowledge of it in bar and sheet, might be illustrated from a large
number of quotations from Scripture (Deuteronomy 19:5; Deuteronomy 27:5; 2
Samuel 12:31; 2 Kings 6:5; Isaiah 10:34; Amos 1:3; and many others). The
"joinings" were the clamps and plates of various size and shape, which held
strongly together, whether beams of wood or blocks of stone.
4 He also provided more cedar logs than could be
counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had
brought large numbers of them to David.
GILL, "Also cedar trees in abundance,.... To be sawed into boards and planks for
the cieling, wainscotting, and flooring of the temple, and other things:
for the Zidonians, and they of Tyre, brought much cedar wood to David; from
Mount Lebanon, which was chiefly in their possession; and which they did either of
themselves as a free gift and present to him, or at his request, for which he paid them;
and this is another thing prefiguring the help of the Gentiles in building up the church of
Christ in Gospel times.
K&D, "1Ch_22:4
The Tyrians sent him cedar trees or beams in abundance, probably in exchange for
grain, wine, and fruit of various sorts, which the Phoenicians obtained from the
Israelites; cf. Movers, Phönizier, iii. 1, S. 88ff. Sidonians and Tyrians are named to
denote the Phoenicians generally, as in Ezr_3:7. When Solomon began to build the
temple, he made a regular treaty with Hiram king of Tyre about the delivery of the
necessary cedar wood, 1Ki_5:15.
ELLICOTT, " (4) Also cedar trees in abundance.—Literally, and beams or logs of
cedars without number. A rhetorical exaggeration, like that which we have just
14

noted. (See also 1 Chronicles 14:1.)
The Zidonians and they of Tyra (i.e., the Phoenicians) brought much cedar wood—
i.e., in the way of ordinary commerce, to barter them for supplies of grain, wine, oil,
and other products of the soil, which their own rocky coast-land did not yield in
sufficiency. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 14:1.) At a later time Hiram entered into an express
contract with Solomon to supply the cedar and other materials required for building
the Temple (1 Kings 5:8-11).
PULPIT, "The Zidonians and they of Tyre (see 1 Kings 5:6, 1 Kings 5:9, 1 Kings
5:13-18; 2 Chronicles 2:16-18). The interesting passages in Homer, Herodotus, and
Strabo, which speak of Zidon, etc; are in entire accord with what is here said, and
are well worth perusal; e.g. 'Iliad,' 6:289-295, "And she descended to the vaulted
chamber, where were the garments all embroidered, the works of women of Sidon,
whom the godlike Alexander himself brought from Sidon when he crossed the wide
sea, by the way that he brought Helen of noble lineage;" 'Iliad,' 23. 743, 744, "And
this vessel was of unsurpassed fame for beauty over all the land, for the men of
Sidon, cunning artificers, had skilfully wrought it, and Phoenicians had brought it
over the dark sea;" 'Odyssey,' 4:615-618, "And it was all silver, but the borders
were mingled with gold. It was the work of Hephaestus. The illustrious Phademus,
King of the Sidonians, gave it me when his palace sheltered me on my return
thither;" 'Odyssey,' 15:424, "I boast to come from Sidon, famed for its skill in the
working of brass." Similar references may be found in Herodotus (7:44, 96) and
Strabo (1 Chronicles 16:2, § 23. See also 'Speaker's Commentary,' under 1 Kings
5:6).
5 David said, “My son Solomon is young and
inexperienced, and the house to be built for the
Lord should be of great magnificence and fame
and splendor in the sight of all the nations.
Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So
15

David made extensive preparations before his
death.
BARNES, "Young and tender - The exact age of Solomon at this time is uncertain;
but it cannot have been more than 24 or 25. It may have been as little as 14 or 15.
Compare the 1Ki_2:2 note.
GILL, "And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender,.... Jarchi
supposes he was about twelve years of age, though he observes that the same word is
used of Joshua when forty two years of age; it is probable Solomon might be now about
twenty:
and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding
magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: and such was the
temple built by Solomon; it was renowned throughout the whole earth; never was there
a temple equal to it, no, not the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, built by the
assistance of many kings, and at the expense of all Asia, and was two hundred years in
building:
I will therefore now, make preparation for it; seeing his son was so young, and
this building to be so magnificent, though he himself was not admitted to build it:
so David prepared abundantly before his death; of which we have an after
account in this chapter, and more largely in 1Ch_28:1.
K&D, "1Ch_22:5
1Ch_22:5 gives in substance the reason of what precedes, although it is connected
with it only by ‫ו‬ consec. Because his son Solomon was still in tender youth, and the
building to be executed was an exceedingly great work, David determined to make
considerable preparation before his death. ָ‫ָר‬‫ו‬ ָ‫ָר‬‫ו‬ ‫ר‬ַ‫ַע‬‫נ‬, puer et tener, repeated in 1Ch_
29:1, indicates a very early age. Solomon could not then be quite twenty years old, as he
was born only after the Syro-Ammonite war (see on 2Sa_12:24), and calls himself at the
commencement of his reign still ‫ן‬ֹ‫ט‬ ָ‫ק‬ ‫ר‬ַ‫ַע‬‫נ‬ (1Ki_3:7). The word ‫ר‬ַ‫ַע‬‫נ‬ may of itself denote
not merely a boy, but also a grown youth; but here it is limited to the boyish age by the
addition of ָ‫ָר‬‫ו‬. Berth. wrongly compares Exo_33:11, where ‫ר‬ַ‫ַע‬‫נ‬ denotes not a boy, but a
lad, i.e., a servant. In the succeeding clause ‫ליהוה‬ ‫ת‬ ‫נ‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫ל‬ is to be taken relatively: and the
house which is to be built to the Lord is to be made great exceedingly (‫ה‬ָ‫ֲל‬‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ see on
16

1Ch_14:2), for a name and glory for all lands, i.e., that it might be to the Lord for whom
it should be built for an honour and glory in all lands. ‫ל‬ ‫ָא‬‫נ‬ ‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ִ‫כ‬ ָ‫,א‬ I will (= therefore will
I) prepare for him (Solomon), scil. whatever I can prepare to forward this great work.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 22:5. So David prepared abundantly — And with good
reason, because it was intended for the honour of the great God, and was to be a
type of Christ, in whom all fulness dwells, and in whom are hid all treasures.
ELLICOTT, " (5) Solomon my son is young and tender—i.e., an inexperienced
young man. David repeats the expression (1 Chronicles 29:1); and it is applied to
Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 13:7) at the age of forty-one. The word here rendered
“young,” literally, “youth” (na’ar), is even more vague than the Latin adolescens. It
may mean a new-born babe (Exodus 2:6), a young child (Isaiah 7:16; Isaiah 8:4), a
youth (Isaiah 3:5; 1 Samuel 17:55), or a man in the prime of life (1 Samuel 30:17;
Exodus 33:11). Solomon calls himself “a young child” (na‘ar qâtôn) even after his
accession to the throne (1 Kings 3:7), though he was born soon after the time of the
Syro-Ammonite war (2 Samuel 12:24).
Tender.—Timid (Deuteronomy 20:8).
The house that is to be builded . . . exceeding magnifical.—Literally, the house to
build . . . (one is) to make great exceedingly. For the infinitival construction, comp. 1
Chronicles 5:1; 1 Chronicles 13:4; 1 Chronicles 9:25; 1 Chronicles 15:2.
Exceeding.—Literally, unto height, upwards; an adverbial expression, which
frequently occurs in the Chronicles. (See 1 Chronicles 14:2 : “On high.”)
Of fame and of glory throughout all countries.—Literally, for a name and for a
glory (tiph’ereth) for all the lands. (Comp. Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 60:3, et seq., Isaiah
62:2-3.) In similar terms the famous Assyrian Sennacherib (Sin-ahi-irba) speaks of
his palace as built “for the lodging (taprati) of multitudes of men.” And of his
temple of Nergal he says: “The house of Nergal, within the city of Tarbiçu, I caused
to be made, and like day I caused it to shine” (usnammir).
I will therefore now make preparation for it.—Literally, Let me now prepare for
him—the expression of an earnest desire, and self-encouragement to an arduous
task, rather than of mere resolve.
We need not suppose that the verse relates to any actual utterance of David’s. It is
not said when nor to whom he spoke. The historian is merely representing the king’s
motive for these preparations. “To say” in Hebrew often means to think, by an
17

elliptic construction. (Comp. Exodus 2:14 with Genesis 17:17.)
So David prepared.—It is strange, but instructive, to remember that there have been
critics so destitute of the historical faculty as to allege that “the whole episode about
David’s preparations is a fiction of the chronist’s” (Gramberg), because the Books
of Samuel and Kings are silent on the subject.
WHEDON, " 5. Young and tender — A youth of probably less than twenty years.
See on 1 Kings 3:7.
Exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory — Literally, the house to be builded to
Jehovah is to be made great to an exceeding extent, for a name and for an ornament
to all the lands. David had a most exalted and worthy conception of the grandeur
and importance of the temple to be builded. Not only was it to be a most magnificent
structure, but it was to magnify Jehovah’s name and praise among the nations. Thus
the monarch of Israel breathed the spirit of later prophecies, which foreshadowed
the spiritual glory of the Christian temple, and according to which “the mountain of
the Lord’s house should be established in the top of the mountains, and exalted
above the hills; and all nations flow unto it.” Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1.
PARKER, ""David prepared abundantly before his death."— 1 Chronicles 22:5.
David wanted to do something more than prepare, he wanted actually to build the
temple.—God tells us where we must stop.—He mortifies ambition, and yet gratifies
it.—He will not give us the highest honour of all, yet he will put upon us an honour
which contributes to the success of other men.—Some hearts would have been
discouraged by what the Lord said unto David; and their discouragement might
have expressed itself in some degree of resentment, for they would have said, If we
cannot do all, we will do nothing; if we cannot build, we will not prepare; if we
cannot have the honour of putting up the temple, we certainly will not assist any
other man to erect it.—This would have been peevishness, selfishness, the veriest
meanness of soul.—David, on the other hand, consented to the Lord"s arrangement,
and did all that lay in his power to facilitate the progress of his son.—We should
work up to the very moment of our death.—Our last breath should, if possible, help
some other man to pray better, or work more, or suffer with a firmer constancy.—
Let no man suppose that the world stands still because he dies.—God has always a
temple to build, and he will always raise up the builder of it, and yet it pleases him
in his condescension to receive our assistance in preparation.—Some men will only
18

take an interest in what they can themselves enjoy; they care nothing for posterity,
but rather speak mockingly of it; the prophetic soul does live in the future, does
populate the earth with posterity, and does take an interest in the ages that are yet to
dawn.—We do things better to-day by casting our minds forward to the riper
periods of civilisation; by foreseeing that the glory of the Lord shall make glad the
whole earth, men can work to-day in the twilight with stronger courage and more
ardent enthusiasm.—Thus the future may be made to help the present; thus
posterity may take part in the affairs of to-day.
PULPIT, "Solomon… is young and tender. It is impossible to fix the exact age of
Solomon as marked by these words. In a "fragment" of Eupolemus he is put down
at twelve years of age. Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 1 Chronicles 8:7, § 8) as vaguely
supposes he was fourteen at the time that he took the throne. He was the second son
of Bathsheba, and can scarcely have exceeded the last-men-tioned age by mere than
three or four years. This same language, "young and tender," is repeated in 1
Chronicles 29:1. The reign of Solomon lasted forty years (1 Kings 11:42; 2
Chronicles 9:30). He is called old (1 Kings 11:4) when his strange wives "turned
away his heart after other gods." We are not told his age at the time of his death.
There are, in fact, no sufficient data for fixing to the year, or indeed within the
liberal margin of several years, the age now designated as young and tender.
6 Then he called for his son Solomon and charged
him to build a house for the Lord, the God of
Israel.
CLARKE, "Solomon - is young and tender - He is as yet without complete
knowledge and due experience; and it is necessary that I should make as much
preparation for the work as I possibly can; especially as the house is to be exceedingly
magnificent.
19

GILL, "Then he called for Solomon his son,.... To be brought before him:
and charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel; which charge
was given a little before his death, after he had made great preparations for this work, as
appears from 1Ch_22:5.
HENRY, "Though Solomon was young and tender, he was capable of receiving
instructions, which his father accordingly gave him, concerning the work for which he
was designed. When David came to the throne he had many things to do, for the
foundations were all out of course; but Solomon had only one thing in charge, and that
was to build a house for the Lord God of Israel, 1Ch_22:6. Now,
JAMISON, "1Ch_22:6-9. He instructs Solomon.
Then he called for Solomon ... and charged him — The earnestness and
solemnity of this address creates an impression that it was given a little before the old
king’s decease. He unfolded his great and long cherished plan, enjoined the building of
God’s house as a sacred duty on him as his son and successor, and described the
resources that were at command for carrying on the work. The vast amount of personal
property he had accumulated in the precious metals [1Ch_22:14] must have been spoil
taken from the people he had conquered, and the cities he had sacked.
K&D 6-10lomon commissioned to build the temple. - 1Ch_22:6. Before his death
(1Ch_22:5) David called his son Solomon, in order to commit to him the building of the
temple, and to press it strongly upon him, 1Ch_22:7-10. With this design, he informs
him that it had been his intention to build a temple to the Lord, but the Lord had not
permitted him to carry out this resolve, but had committed it to his son. The Keri ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬
(1Ch_22:7) is, notwithstanding the general worthlessness of the corrections in the Keri,
probably to be preferred here to the Keth. ‫נ‬ ְ‫,בּ‬ for ‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ might have easily arisen by the
copyist's eye having wandered to ‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ‫ֹה‬‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫,ל‬ 1Ch_22:6. David's addressing him as ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ is
very fitting, nay, even necessary, and not contrary to the following ‫י‬ִ‫ֲנ‬‫א‬. ‫י‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫ם‬ ִ‫,ע‬ it was
with my heart, i.e., I had intended, occurs indeed very often in the Chronicle, e.g., 1Ch_
28:2; 2Ch_1:11; 2Ch_6:7., 1Ch_9:1; 1Ch_24:4; 1Ch_29:10, but is also found in other
books where the sense demands it, e.g., Jos_14:7; 1Ki_8:17., 1Ch_10:2. In ‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ְ‫ַי‬‫ו‬,
There came to me the word of Jahve (1Ch_22:8), it is implied that the divine word was
given to him as a command. The reason which David gives why the Lord did not allow
him to build the temple is not stated in 1 Chron 17 (2 Sam 7), to which David here refers;
instead of the reason, only the promise is there communicated, that the Lord would first
build him a house, and enduringly establish his throne. This promise does not exclude
the reason stated here and in 1Ch_28:3, but rather implies it. As the temple was only to
be built when God had enduringly established the throne of David, David could not
20

execute this work, for he still had to conduct wars - wars, too, of the Lord - for the
establishment of his kingdom, as Solomon also states it in his embassy to Hiram. Wars
and bloodshed, however, are unavoidable and necessary in this earth for the
establishment of the kingdom of God in opposition to its enemies, but are not consonant
with its nature, as it was to receive a visible embodiment and expression in the temple.
For the kingdom of God is in its essence a kingdom of peace; and battle, or war, or
struggle, are only means for the restoration of peace, the reconciliation of mankind with
God after the conquest of sin and all that is hostile to God in this world. See on 2Sa_7:11.
David, therefore, the man of war, is not to build the temple, but (1Ch_22:9.) his son; and
to him the Lord will give peace from all his enemies, so that he shall be ‫ה‬ ָ‫נוּח‬ ְ‫מ‬ ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫,א‬ a man
of rest, and shall rightly bear the name Shelomo (Solomon), i.e., Friederich (rich in
peace, Eng. Frederick), for God would give to Israel in his days, i.e., in his reign, peace
and rest (‫ט‬ ֶ‫ק‬ ֶ‫.)שׁ‬ The participle ‫ד‬ָ‫ל‬ ‫נ‬ after ‫ֵה‬‫נּ‬ ִ‫ה‬ has the signification of the future, shall be
born; cf. 1Ki_13:2. ‫ה‬ ָ‫נוּח‬ ְ‫מ‬ ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫,א‬ not a man who procures peace (Jer_51:59), but one who
enjoys peace, as the following ‫ל‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ת‬ ‫יח‬ִ‫ֲנ‬‫ה‬ַ‫ו‬ shows. As to the name ‫ֹה‬‫מ‬ ְ‫,שׁ‬ see on 2Sa_
12:24. Into 1Ch_22:10 David compresses the promise contained in 1Ch_17:12 and 1Ch_
17:13.
ELLICOTT, " (6) Then he called.—And he called Solomon. When? After
completing his preparations, and shortly before his death (1 Chronicles 22:5).
(Comp. 1 Kings 2:1-9, especially 1 Chronicles 22:3-4, of which we seem to hear
echoes in the present speech.) Upon grounds of internal evidence we may pronounce
this dying address of David to be an ideal composition, put into the king’s mouth by
the unknown author whose work the chronicler follows: or rather, perhaps, by the
chronicler himself, whose style is evident throughout. (Comp. the addresses
attributed to David in 1 Chronicles 28)
For the Lord God of Israel.—There ought to be a comma after “Lord.” Literally the
phrase would run, For Jehovah, the God of Israel. Thus the stress lies on the
national aspect of the Deity, for whom Solomon was to undertake this national
work.
WHEDON, "6-16. David’s charge to Solomon, here recorded, belongs to the same
period as that of 1 Kings 2:1-10. One passage supplements the other, and the
contrast between them is very noticeable. The writer of Kings was concerned more
particularly with the political history of David, and records the aged king’s counsel
to his son in reference to dangerous political enemies; the chronicler omits all that,
and records only the charge of David respecting the building of the temple.
21

GUZIK "B. David’s exhortation to his son Solomon.
1. (1 Chronicles 22:6-10) David’s testimony of the call to build the temple.
Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the LORD
God of Israel. And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to
build a house to the name of the LORD my God; but the word of the LORD came to
me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not
build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My
sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give
him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give
peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name, and
he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom over Israel forever.’”
a. And charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel: This was not a
suggestion or an idea offered to Solomon. It was a sacred charge for him to fulfill.
David knew that he could not fulfill this last great work of his life himself; he could
only do it through Solomon after David went to his reward. There was a sense in
which if Solomon failed, David failed also.
i. Specifically, David wanted to build a house to the name of the LORD my God.
“That the temple was to be built ‘for the Name of the LORD’ means more than his
reputation or honor but ultimately for his Person.” (Payne)
b. You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house
for My name: This explaination was not previously recorded, either in 2 Samuel or
in 1 Chronicles. Here we find one of the reasons why God did not want David to
build the temple, and why He chose Solomon instead. God wanted a man of rest and
peace to build a house unto Him.
i. It wasn’t that David’s wars were wrong or ungodly, or that the blood he shed was
unrighteous. It was that God wanted His house built from the context of peace and
rest and victory; He wanted it to be built after and from the victory, not from the
midst of struggle.
ii. “Principally for mystical signification, to teach us that the church (whereof the
temple was a manifest and a illustrious type) should be built by Christ, the Prince of
peace, Isaiah 9:6; and that it should be gathered and built up, not by might or
power, or by force of arms, but by God’s Spirit, Zechariah 4:6, and by the preaching
22

of the gospel of peace.” (Poole)
MACLAREN, "DAVID’S PROHIBITED DESIRE AND PERMITTED SERVICE
1 Chronicles 22:6 - 1 Chronicles 22:16.
This passage falls into three parts. In 1 Chronicles 22:6 - 1 Chronicles 22:10 the old
king tells of the divine prohibition which checked his longing to build the Temple; in
1 Chronicles 22:11 - 1 Chronicles 22:13 he encourages his more fortunate successor,
and points him to the only source of strength for his happy task; in 1 Chronicles
22:14 - 1 Chronicles 22:16 he enumerates the preparations which he had made, the
possession of which laid stringent obligations on Solomon.
I. There is a tone of wistfulness in David’s voice as he tells how his heart’s desire had
been prohibited. The account is substantially the same as we have in 2 Samuel 7:4 -
2 Samuel 7:16, but it adds as the reason for the prohibition David’s warlike career.
We may note the earnestness and the motive of the king’s desire to build the Temple.
‘It was in my heart’; that implies earnest longing and fixed purpose. He had
brooded over the wish till it filled his mind, and was consolidated into a settled
resolve. Many a musing, solitary moment had fed the fire before it burned its way
out in the words addressed to Nathan. So should our whole souls be occupied with
our parts in God’s service, and so should our desires be strongly set towards
carrying out what in solitary meditation we have felt borne in on us as our duty.
The moving spring of David’s design is beautifully suggested in the simple words
‘unto the name of the Lord my God.’ David’s religion was eminently a personal
bond between him and God. We may almost say that he was the first to give
utterance to that cry of the devout heart, ‘My God,’ and to translate the generalities
of the name ‘the God of Israel’ into the individual appropriation expressed by the
former designation. It occurs in many of the psalms attributed to him, and may
fairly be regarded as a characteristic of his ardent and individualising devotion. The
sense of a close, personal relation to God naturally prompted the impulse to build
His house. We must claim our own portion in the universal blessings shrined in His
23

name before we are moved to deeds of loving sacrifice. We must feel that Christ
‘loved me, and gave Himself for me,’ before we are melted into answering surrender.
The reason for the frustrating of David’s desire, as here given, is his career as a
warrior king. Not only was it incongruous that hands which had been reddened with
blood should rear the Temple, but the fact that his reign had been largely occupied
with fighting for the existence of the kingdom showed that the time for engaging in
such a work, which would task the national resources, had not yet come. We may
draw two valuable lessons from the prohibition. One is that it indicates the true
character of the kingdom of God as a kingdom of peace, which is to be furthered,
not by force, but in peace and gentleness. The other is that various epochs and men
have different kinds of duties in relation to Christ’s cause, some being called on to
fight, and others to build, and that the one set of tasks may be as sacred and as
necessary for the rearing of the Temple as the other. Militant epochs are not usually
times for building. The men who have to do destructive work are not usually blessed
with the opportunity or the power to carry out constructive work. Controversy has
its sphere, but it is mostly preliminary to true ‘edification.’ In the broadest view all
the activity of the Church on earth is militant, and we have to wait for the coming of
the true ‘Prince of peace’ to build up the true Temple in the land of peace, whence
all foes have been cast out for ever. To serve God in God’s way, and to give up our
cherished plans, is not easy; but David sets us an example of simple-hearted,
cheerful acquiescence in a Providence that thwarted darling designs. There is often
much self-will in what looks like enthusiastic perseverance in some form of service.
II. The charge to Solomon breathes no envy of his privilege, but earnest desire that
he may be worthy of the honour which falls to him. Petitions and exhortations are
closely blended in it, and, though the work which Solomon is called to do is of an
external sort, the qualifications laid down for it are spiritual and moral. However
‘secular’ our work in connection with God’s service may be, it will not be rightly
done unless the highest motives are brought to bear on it, and it is performed as
worship. The basis of all successful work is God’s presence with us, so David prays
for that to be granted to Solomon as the beginning of all his fitness for his task.
Next, David recalls to his son God’s promise concerning him, that it may hearten
him to undertake and to carry on the great work. A conviction that our service is
appointed for us by God is essential for vigorous and successful Christian work. We
24

must have, in some way or other, heard Him ‘speak concerning us,’ if we are to fling
ourselves with energy into it.
The petitions in 1 Chronicles 22:12 seem to stretch beyond the necessities of the case,
in so far as building the Temple is concerned. Wisdom and understanding, and a
clear consciousness of the duty enjoined on him by God in reference to Israel, were
surely more than that work required. But the qualifications for God’s service,
however the manner of service may be concerned with ‘the outward business of the
house of God,’ are always these which David asked for Solomon. The highest result
of true ‘wisdom and understanding’ given by God is keeping God’s law; and
keeping it is the one condition on which we shall obtain and retain that presence of
God with us which David prayed for Solomon, and without which they labour in
vain that build. A life conformed to God’s will is the absolutely indispensable
condition of all prosperity in direct Christian effort. The noblest exercise of our
wisdom and understanding is to obey every word that we hear proceeding out of the
mouth of God.
III. There is something very pathetic in the old king’s enumeration of the treasures
which, by the economies of a lifetime, he had amassed. The amount stated is
enormous, and probably there is some clerical error in the numbers specified. Be
that as it may, the sum was very large. It represented many an act of self-denial,
many a resolute shearing off of superfluities and what might seem necessaries. It
was the visible token of long years of fixed attention to one object. And that devotion
was all the more noble because the result of it was never to be seen by the man who
exercised it.
Therein David is but a very conspicuous example of a law which runs through all
our work for God. None of us are privileged to perform completed tasks. ‘One
soweth and another reapeth.’ We have to be content to do partial work, and to leave
its completion to our successors. There is but one Builder of whom it can be said that
His hands ‘have laid the foundation of this house; His hands shall also finish it.’ He
who is the ‘Alpha and Omega,’ and He alone, begins and completes the work in
which He has neither sharers nor predecessors nor successors. The rest of us do our
little bit of the great work which lasts on through the ages, and, having inherited
unfinished tasks, transmit them to those who come after us. It is privilege enough
for any Christian to lay foundations on which coming days may build. We are like
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the workers on some great cathedral, which was begun long before the present
generation of masons were born, and will not be finished until long after they have
dropped trowel and mallet from their dead hands. Enough for us if we can lay one
course of stones in that great structure. The greater our aims, the less share has each
man in their attainment. But the division of labour is the multiplication of joy, and
all who have shared in the toil will be united in the final triumph. It would be poor
work that was capable of being begun and perfected in a lifetime. The labourer that
dug and levelled the track and the engineer that drives the locomotive over it are
partners. Solomon could not have built the Temple unless, through long, apparently
idle, years, David had been patiently gathering together the wealth which he
bequeathed. So, if our work is but preparatory for that of those who come after, let
us not think it of slight importance, and let us be sure that all who have had any
portion in the toil shall share in the victory, that ‘he that soweth and he that reapeth
may rejoice together.’
7 David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my
heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord
my God.
GILL, "And David said to Solomon,.... When brought into his presence:
my son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the
Lord my God; he was disposed and inclined to it, and was once determined upon it, see
2Sa_7:2.
HENRY, "I. David tells him why he did not do it himself. It was in his mind to do it
(1Ch_22:7), but God forbade him, because he had shed much blood, 1Ch_22:8. Some
think this refers to the blood of Uriah, which fastened such a reproach upon him as
rendered him unworthy the honour of building the temple: but that honour was
forbidden him before he had shed that blood; therefore it must be meant, as it is here
explained, of the blood he shed in his wars (for he had been a man of war from his
26

youth), which, though shed very justly and honourably in the service of God and Israel,
yet made him unfit to be employed in this service, or rather less fit than another that had
never been called to such bloody work. God, by assigning this as the reason of laying
David aside from this work, showed how precious human life is to him, and intended a
type of him who should build the gospel temple, not by destroying men's lives, but by
saving them, Luk_9:56.
ELLICOTT, " (7) My son.—So some MSS., the Hebrew margin, and LXX., Vulg.,
Targ. rightly. The Hebrew text reads, “His son,” which is probably an oversight, due
to “Solomon his son” in 1 Chronicles 22:6.
As for me, it was in my mind.—Literally, I—it became with (near or in) my heart,
i.e., it came into my mind, was my intention. The phrase is common in 2 Chronicles,
but rare in the older books. (Comp. 1 Kings 8:17; 1 Kings 10:2; and also Joshua
14:7.) It recurs in 1 Chronicles 28:2 exactly as here.
Unto the name of the Lord.—Comp. 1 Kings 8:29 : “My name shall be there,” i.e.,
My real presence. The statement of this and the following verses refers to what is
told in 1 Chronicles 17:1-14.
WHEDON, "7. It was in my mind to build — See at 1 Chronicles Samuel 1
Chronicles 7:1-17, and 1 Chronicles 17:1-15.
SBC 7-8, "A fine and delicate sense of the becoming hindered David from building the
Temple. A voice within him had whispered, "No: however right and praiseworthy the
idea, you are hardly the man to carry it out. Your hands are too stained with blood."
When the Divine word came, simply interdicting, it awoke in him at once a Divine
perception of the reason and reasonableness of it; and the God-taught, God-chastened
spirit within him made him see at once why the work of enshrining the ark, the ark of
the holy and awful presence, must not be his.
I. Consider the remarkable self-restraint displayed by David. He who had lived much in
camps and on the battlefield, whose will was law through the length and breadth of the
land—he could stay himself from prosecuting his darling scheme with the thought of
incongruity.
II. (1) The self-restraint of David reveals the intense reality which God was to him, as
well as the impression which he had of the character of God. How pure and lofty would
be his conception of the almighty Ruler when it struck him as altogether inappropriate
and inconsistent that a shrine should be built for Him by one who had been engaged,
however patriotically and for the interests of his country, in shedding much human
blood. (2) The picture indicates that, although a man of war from his youth, David had
never been proud of fighting. He had had dreams perhaps in his father’s fields of quite
27

another sort of career for himself, and could see something far more attractive and
desirable; it was not his ideal life; but it was what his lot had rendered inevitable for him
and incumbent on him; it was what he had to do, and he did it. (3) Then, once more,
observe revealed here the remarkable preservation of David’s higher sensibilities.
Neither the tumult and strife of years of warfare, nor the elation of successes gained by
bow and spear, had prevailed to coarsen him, to render him gross and dull of soul. He
emerges from it all, on the contrary, sensitive enough to answer readily to the whispered
suggestions of seemliness, to be restrained and turned back upon the threshold of a
coveted enterprise by a sense of the becoming. (4) Although precluded from doing what
he had purposed and wished to do, he did not, as is the case with many, make that an
excuse for doing nothing; did not, therefore, sulkily fold his hands, and decline to see
what there was that he might do. (5) Then see how his true thought and noble aim
survived him, and survived him to be ultimately realised. The Temple grew and rose at
last in all its wonderful splendour, though he was not there to behold it.
S. A. Tipple, Echoes of Spoken Words, p. 251.
8 But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You
have shed much blood and have fought many
wars. You are not to build a house for my Name,
because you have shed much blood on the earth in
my sight.
BARNES, "The word of the Lord came to me ... - Not by Nathan 1Ch_17:4-15,
but on some other occasion 1Ch_28:3. On the bloody character of David’s wars, see
2Sa_8:2, 2Sa_8:5; 2Sa_10:18; 2Sa_12:31; and 1Ki_11:16.
CLARKE, "hou hast shed blood abundantly - Heathens, Jews, and Christians,
have all agreed that soldiers of any kind should have nothing to do with Divine offices.
Shedding of human blood but ill comports with the benevolence of God or the spirit of
the Gospel.
Aeneas, overpowered by his enemies, while fighting for his parents, his family, and his
28

country, finding farther resistance hopeless, endeavors to carry off his aged father, his
wife, young son, and his household gods; but as he was just come from slaughter, he
would not even handle these objects of superstition, but confided them to his father,
whom he took on his shoulders, and carried out of the burning of Troy.
Tu, genitor, cape sacra manu, patriosque penates:
Me bello tanto digressum, et caede recenti,
Attrectare nefas; donec me flumine vivo Abluero.
Aen. ii., ver. 717.
“Our country gods, our relics, and the bands,
Hold you, my father, in your guiltless hands:
In me ‘tis impious holy things to bear,
Red as I am with slaughter, new from war;
Till, in some living stream, I cleanse the guilt
Of dire debate, and blood in battle spilt.”
Dryden.
See the note at the end of 2Sa_7:25 (note).
GILL, "But the word of the Lord came to me,.... The word of prophecy, as the
Targum, by the mouth of Nathan the prophet:
saying; as follows, which though not expressed in the book of Samuel before referred
to, is here recorded by divine inspiration:
thou hast shed blood abundantly; Kimchi thinks this refers to the blood of Uriah,
and those gallant men that were slain with him, and to the priests slain by the order of
Saul, which David was the occasion of, or accidental cause of, 1Sa_22:22 and to many
good men among the Gentiles; though it was the intention of the Lord to consume the
wicked among them, that they might not prevail over Israel:
and hast made great wars: with the Philistines, Moabites, &c.
thou shall not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much
blood upon the earth in my sight; an intimation this, that the church of God, of
which this house was a type, was to be built by Christ, the Prince of peace, and to be
supported and maintained not by force of arms, and by spilling of blood, as the religion
of Mahomet, but by the preaching of the Gospel of peace.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 22:8. Thou hast shed blood, &c.; thou shalt not build a
house unto my name — Not that wars are simply unlawful, but to teach us that the
church (whereof the temple was an illustrious type) should be built by Christ, the
Prince of peace, Isaiah 9:6, and that it should be gathered and built up, not by might
or power, but by God’s Spirit, Zechariah 4:6, and by the preaching the gospel of
29

peace. David therefore was less fit for that service, than one who had not been called
to such bloody work. Likewise, by setting him aside for this reason, God showed
how precious human life is to him.
ELLICOTT, " (8) But the word of the Lord came to me (upon me).—Literally, And
a word of Jehovah became upon me. There is a partial correspondence between this
“word of the Lord” and that which Nathan is represented as delivering (1
Chronicles 17:4-14). There, however, David is promised success in war, without any
hint that warfare, as such, would unfit him for the sacred task which he longed to
undertake. And in 1 Kings 5:3, Solomon implies that David’s wars left him no
leisure for the work.
Thou hast shed blood.—The emphatic word is “blood.” Literally, Blood in
abundance hast thou shed, and great wars hast thou made.
Because thou hast shed much blood.—Better. for torrents of blood (plural) hast thou
shed earthward before me. The author of this narrative may well have remembered
Genesis 9:5-6, and the denunciations of the prophets against men of blood. (Comp.
especially Amos 1:3; Amos 1:13; Amos 2:1, with David’s treatment of the conquered
Ammonites, 1 Chronicles 20:3. And see also Hosea’s denunciation of vengeance
upon the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel: Hosea 1:4; Hosea 7:7). Or the
verse may express the interpretation which David’s own conscience put upon the
oracle forbidding him to build the Temple.
WHEDON, " 8. The word of the Lord came to me — Probably by Nathan, but not
at the time referred to in 1 Chronicles 17:3, and 2 Samuel 7:4. At that time Jehovah
opened to David’s prophetic eye that Messianic future which ever after was his joy
and song; but at another time he sent Nathan again to explain to him the reason, as
here given, why he should not build the temple of Jehovah.
Because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight — The wars of
David were not carried on against God’s will. In many cases they were expressly
ordered by Jehovah, and often called the “wars of the Lord.” In order to the
establishment of Israel in Canaan wars and bloodshed were unavoidable.
Nevertheless, the bloodshed and barbarity of war were not in harmony with the
profound symbolism of peace, sabbatic quiet, and thoughtful repose, which were to
be embodied in the house of Jehovah. Hence David’s unfitness to build the temple.
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Comp. 1 Kings 5:3.
PARKER, ""And David said to Song of Solomon , My Song of Solomon , as for me,
it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God: but the
word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly and hast
made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast
shed much blood upon the earth in my sight."— 1 Chronicles 22:7, 1 Chronicles
22:8.
How the word of the Lord came to David we do not know. He says the word of
Jehovah came upon him.—Possibly he may only be putting into words his own
spiritual impressions on a review of his sanguinary career.—We are not to
understand that the words were delivered articulately to David, as he listened to a
voice from heaven; they may have been so delivered, or an impression may have
been wrought upon his mind that these words alone can correctly represent.—In
what way soever the communication was made to David, the communication itself is
of singular moral value.—Say that the Lord delivered the message immediately in
audible words, we have then the doctrine that God will not permit men of blood to
end their career as if they had been guiltless of bloodshedding.—He will make a
distinction between them and the work to the execution of which they aspire. Say
that David uttered these words out of the depths of his own consciousness, then we
have the doctrine that there is a moral fitness of things: that hands stained with
blood should not be put forth in the erection of a house of prayer.—There are
innumerable difficulties connected with the whole situation, for we have been given
to understand that the Lord himself commanded certain of the wars to be
undertaken; but what know we of God"s idea of undertaking a war? There may be
a war within a war; it may be that God scrutinizes even the motives of warriors, and
notes when the warrior degenerates into a mere murderer, or when the warrior
begins to thirst for the blood which he has once tasted.—Into these mysteries we
cannot enter; it is enough for us to know that God will separate his temple, his house
of prayer, from every hand that is destructive of human life, from all that is
sanguinary, and from all that is personally or nationally ambitious.—The house of
God is to be the house of peace, the sanctuary of rest, a Sabbatic building, calm with
the tranquillity of heaven, unstained by the vices and attachments of earth.—David
submits to this view of the case with a modesty which is truly pious.—Not one word
of reproach does he utter against God.—If David could have found an excuse in
having received the commandment of God to execute certain wars he would have
31

remembered the giving of that commission, and would have reminded God that as a
soldier he was not acting in his own name, but in the name of heaven.—As David
quoted no such precedent or authority we may safely conclude that there was
something unrecorded in the history which would explain God"s condemnation of
David"s sanguinary conduct.—It is not incumbent upon annotators and theologians
to whitewash Old Testament saints; God himself has permitted their lives to be
traced in his book with graphic and even revolting clearness, and nowhere are Old
Testament saints so sharply rebuked as in the Old Testament itself.
PULPIT, "Because thou hast shed much blood. This is repeated very distinctly
below (1 Chronicles 28:3), and appears there again as acknowledged by the lip of
David himself. It seems remarkable that no previous statement of this objection, nor
even allusion to it, is found. Further, there seems no very opportune place for it in
either our 1 Chronicles 17:1-15 or in 2 Samuel 7:1-17. Yet, if it seem impossible to
resist the impression that it must have found expression on the occasion referred to
in those two passages, we may fit it in best between 2 Samuel 7:10 and 2 Samuel 7:11
of the former reference, and between 2 Samuel 7:11 and 2 Samuel 7:12 of the latter.
So far, however, as our Hebrew text goes, this is the first place in which the
statement is made.
9 But you will have a son who will be a man of
peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his
enemies on every side. His name will be
Solomon,[a] and I will grant Israel peace and
quiet during his reign.
BARNES, "For the names of Solomon, compare 2Sa_12:24 note. The former name
prevailed, probably on account of this prophecy, which attached to the name the
32

promise of a blessing.
CLARKE, "His name shall be Solomon - ‫שלמה‬ Shelomoh, from ‫שלם‬ shalam, he
was peaceable; and therefore, says the Lord, alluding to the name, I will give Peace, ‫שלום‬
Shalom, in his days.
GILL, "Behold, a son shall be born to thee,.... For this was said to David before
the birth of Solomon, see 2Sa_7:12.
who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies
round about: and so should be at leisure for such a work, and his people enjoy great
prosperity and riches, and so be capable of contributing largely and liberally to it:
for his name shall be Solomon; which signifies peace, and is one of the six persons
that had their names given them before they were born, as the Jews observe (q):
and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days; and so a proper time
to begin and carry on such a work; of the fulfilment of this prophecy, see 1Ki_4:24.
HENRY, "II. He gives him the reason why he imposed this task upon him. 1. Because
God had designed him for it, nominated him as the man that should do it: A son shall be
born to thee, that shall be called Solomon, and he shall build a house for my name, 1Ch_
22:9, 1Ch_22:10. Nothing is more powerful to engage us to any service for God, and
encourage us in it, than to know that hereunto we are appointed. 2. Because he would
have leisure and opportunity to do it. He should be a man of rest, and therefore should
not have his time, or thoughts, or wealth, diverted from this business. He should have
rest from his enemies abroad (none of them should invade or threaten him, or give him
provocation), and he should have peace and quietness at home; and therefore let him
build the house. Note, Where God gives rest he expects work. 3. Because God had
promised to establish his kingdom. Let this encourage him to honour God, that God had
honour in store for him; let him build up God's house, and God will build up his throne.
Note, God's gracious promises should quicken and invigorate our religious service.
ELLICOTT, " (9) Shall be born.—Is about to be born (participle).
Who shall be.—He (emphatic) shall become a man of rest, opposed to “a man of
war,” such as was David (2 Samuel 17:8; 1 Chronicles 28:3). The phrase is further
explained by what follows.
And I will give him rest from all his enemies round about—i.e., the surrounding
33

peoples, who are his natural foes, seeing that they were brought under the yoke by
his father, will acquiesce in his dominion. The same words are used, in a somewhat
different sense. about David (2 Samuel 7:1); and in 1 Kings 5:4 Solomon applies
them to himself. (Comp. also Proverbs 16:7.)
Solomon.—The emphatic word. (See 2 Samuel 12:24.) The Hebrew is Shĕlômô; for
which the LXX. gives Sălômôn; Syriac, Shĕleimûn; Arabic, Suleimân (same as
“Solyman the Magnificent”). The original form of the word had the final n which we
see in the cognate languages. The Assyrian Shalman (in Shalmaneser) and the
Moabite Salamanu seem to be identical. The Vulg. has Pacificus (peace-maker).
(Comp. the Greek Irenæeus, the German Friederich, our “Frederick,” peaceful.)
Sŏlŏmon is the New Testament spelling.
It would seem that the original name of Solomon was Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:25), but
posterity, looking back with fond regret to the palmy days of his reign, remembered
him only as Shelomoh, “The Peaceful.” (See on 1 Chronicles 20:5.)
And I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.—Literally, and peace
and quietness will I put upon Israel, &c. His name will be a Divine augury of the
character of his reign.
Quietness (shèqet).—Only here; but compare the cognate verb (Judges 5:31 : “had
rest”).
WHEDON, "9. His name shall be Solomon — See note on 2 Samuel 12:24-25.
PARKER, ""Behold a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest."— 1
Chronicles 22:9.
This is a beautiful expression, as signifying a departure from the ordinary law of
heredity, and as indicating the speciality of divine creation.—It would be quite
proper to recognise a law of evolution in the succession of families, and indeed it is
impossible to deny the operation of such a law, yet, curiously. again and again, with
quite remarkable repetition, God undertakes, so to say, to start a new family point,
or a new-family line.—The time comes when the warrior departs, and the man of
peace enters into the household genealogy.—Singularly enough, the genealogy is still
one, yet there are specialities about it which seem to proclaim the directing
providence of God in certain singular actions, which detach themselves from the
common run of events, and create new eras in family history.—This is a forecast
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which is full of moral instruction; for example, it shows how God knows every man
who is coming into the world, what his character will be, what function he will have
to discharge, and what will be the effect of his ministry upon his day and
generation.—Solomon could not have come before David, because the day in which
David lived was marked by characteristics which he alone could adequately and
usefully handle.—By-and-by we shall see that history could not have been inverted
even in its smallest details without injury having been done to the indwelling spirit
of progress.—We wish that certain persons were living now, or that certain men now
living had lived long ago to have exerted a happy influence upon a remote age: here
we speak in our ignorance: the Christian believes that every event is ordered from
above, that every man is born at the right time, is permitted to live for a proper
period if he be obedient to providence, and that the mission of every man is
assigned, limited, and accentuated: all we have to do is to say, "Lord, what wilt thou
have me do?" and to obey what we honestly believe to be the voice from heaven.—
The prophecy was delivered to David after Solomon"s birth, and yet it is delivered
as if it were yet to be fulfilled. Again we are reminded, that we must make ourselves
familiar with the Biblical usage of words.—We have often affirmed the doctrine that
we can only understand parts of the Bible by living in the spirit of the whole
Bible.—The Bible is more than a book of grammar; we have said, and we repeat,
that the Bible is not a piece of literature, but is a divine Revelation , and a divine
revelation which must be judged by standards and tests peculiar to itself.—The
name of David"s successor was to be "Solomon." That is the emphatic word. The
very word is indicative of peace.—The name was the character.—Yet mark carefully
how God does not allow Solomon to be the fount and origin of peace, but rather how
Solomon represents the then idea of the divine administration of affairs,—"I will
give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days."—So the Lord still keeps
everything within his own power and uses even the highest men as his agents and
instruments.—The Lord does not only give peace, he gives unrest, tumult; he is a
man of war, he is a God of battles; his banner is often stained with blood.—We
should read history incorrectly if we looked only at its religious side, expressive of
contentment, dependence, and thankfulness, and regarded that side alone as under
the care of God.—The Lord is in every battlefield; in a sense which will be explained
when we are able to receive the explanation; the Lord is the author of war, and
without tumult he could not have brought in peace: without David he could not have
brought in Solomon to rule over his people Israel.
PULPIT, "Shall be born. This is not the necessary translation of the verb. The form
‫ָד‬‫ל‬‫נוֹ‬ does not express here future time. Solomon was already born when the word of
35

the Lord came to David. On the other hand, we may suppose special emphasis to
belong to the clause, His name shall be Solomon. The name designates the man of
peace, and the clause is an announcement, probably intended to throw further into
the shade the alternative name Jedidiah, which also had been divinely given (2
Samuel 12:24, 2 Samuel 12:25).
10 He is the one who will build a house for my
Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father.
And I will establish the throne of his kingdom
over Israel forever.’
GILL, "He shall build an house for my name,.... For the worship of God, and for
his honour and glory:
and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; see 2Sa_7:13 and which is
applied to Christ, Heb_1:5.
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever; that is, for a
long time in his posterity; and which will have its fulfilment in Christ, his antitype, in the
utmost sense of the expression, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his
throne for ever and ever, Luk_1:32.
ELLICOTT, "(10) He shall build an house.—Comp. 1 Chronicles 17; parts of 1
Chronicles 22:11-13 are here repeated. (See the Notes there.)
PULPIT, "The substance of this verse is found also in Nathan's language (1
Chronicles 17:12, 1 Chronicles 17:13; 2 Samuel 7:13, 2 Samuel 7:14).
36

11 “Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may
you have success and build the house of the Lord
your God, as he said you would.
GILL, "Now, my son, the Lord be with thee, &c. Or "shall be with thee" (r), as
some; and if it be as a prayer, it was no doubt a prayer of faith; the Targum is,"may the
Word of the Lord be thine help:"
and prosper thee; may success attend thee:
and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee; foretold he
should, and therefore would assist him to do it, which was an encouragement to go
about it.
K&D, "After David had so committed to his son Solomon the building of the temple,
as task reserved and destined for him by the divine counsel, he wishes him, in 1Ch_
22:11, the help of the Lord to carry out the work. ָ‫תּ‬ ְ‫ח‬ַ‫ל‬ ְ‫צ‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫,ו‬ ut prospere agas et felici
successu utaris (J. M. Mich.), cf. Jos_1:8. ‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫בּ‬ ִ‫דּ‬ of a command from on high; cf.
‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬ .f, 1Ch_22:8. Above all, however, he wishes (1Ch_22:12) him right understanding
and insight from God (‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ַ‫וּב‬ ‫ל‬ֶ‫כ‬ ֵ‫,שׂ‬ so connected in 2Ch_2:11 also), and that God may
establish him over Israel, i.e., furnish him with might and wisdom to rule over the
people Israel; cf. 2Sa_7:11. ‫ר‬ ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫,ו‬ “to observe” = and mayest thou observe the law of
Jahve; not thou must keep (Berth.), for ‫ר‬ ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫ו‬ is to be regarded as a continuation of the
verb. finit.; cf. Ew. §351, c, S. 840.
ELLICOTT, " (11) The Lord be with thee.—See 1 Chronicles 9:20. (1 Samuel 3:19;
2 Kings 18:7 : “The Lord was with him.”) The phrase is the origin of the familiar
liturgical formula, “The Lord be with you.”
And prosper thou, and build the house.—Not a command, but a wish, i.e., mayest
37

thou prosper and build. The verb “prosper” (literally, carry through, make succeed)
is used transitively in 2 Chronicles 7:11 and Genesis 24:40.
As he hath said of (upon) thee.—This phrase (dibbèr ‘al) is specially used of Divine
threats and promises. (See Genesis 18:19; Isaiah 37:22; and comp. 1 Chronicles 22:8,
above: “And the word of the Lord became upon me.”)
GUZIK, "2. (1 Chronicles 22:11-13) David warns Solomon to stay faithful to God
and His word.
“Now, my son, may the LORD be with you; and may you prosper, and build the
house of the LORD your God, as He has said to you. Only may the LORD give you
wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may
keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will prosper, if you take care to
fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the LORD charged Moses concerning
Israel. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
a. May the LORD be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the
LORD your God: The Chronicler emphasized David’s legacy and Solomon’s
mission to build the temple. This would become by far Solomon’s greatest
accomplishment.
b. That you may keep the law of the LORD your God: David knew that Solomon
could not be strong or courageous without obedient fellowship with God. In this
place of obedient fellowship, Solomon would prosper in all that he did.
c. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed: Solomon could take
courage and reject fear because God promised David that as long as his sons walked
in obedience, they would keep the throne of Israel (1 Kings 2:1-4).
i. This is an amazing promise. No matter what the Assyrians or the Egyptians or the
Babylonians did, as long as David’s sons were obedient and followed God with their
heart and with all their soul, God would establish their kingdom. He would take
care of the rest.
12 May the Lord give you discretion and
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understanding when he puts you in command
over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the
Lord your God.
GILL, "Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding,.... To manage and
conduct an affair of such importance, as well as to govern the people, as follows:
and give thee charge concerning Israel; or, when he gives, commits the charge
of them to thee, sets thee king over them:
that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God; have wisdom and
understanding to do that, and make that the rule of all thine actions, private and public,
in thine own house, in the house of God, and in all things relative to that, and in the
government of the nation.
HENRY, "VII. He prays for him: The Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and
give thee charge concerning Israel, 1Ch_22:12. Whatever charge we have, if we see God
giving us the charge and calling us to it, we may hope he will give us wisdom for the
discharge of it. Perhaps Solomon had an eye to this prayer of his father for him, in the
prayer he offered for himself: Lord, give me a wise and understanding heart. He
concludes (1Ch_22:16), Up, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee. Hope of God's
presence must not slacken our endeavours. Though the Lord be with us, we must rise
and be doing, and, if we do this, we have reason to believe he is and will be with us.
Work out your salvation, and God will work in you.
ELLICOTT, " (12) Only the Lord give thee wisdom.—Better, at least may the Lord
give, &c.; restricting the wish to one supremely important point. (For Solomon’s
wisdom, comp. 1 Kings 3:9-15.)
And give thee charge concerning Israel.—Rather, and appoint thee over Israel (2
Samuel 7:11). Solomon had been indicated as David’s successor, and David intended
it so; yet his wish and prayer for the Divine ratification of this Divine appointment
was by no means superfluous, unless Solomon were exempt from human liability to
err.
That thou mayest keep.—Rather, and mayest thou keep (the infinitive construct): a
39

favourite continuative construction with the chronicler.
PULPIT, "The father's prayer for the son, and in his hearing, will have often
recurred to the memory of Solomon, and may have been the germ of the son's own
prayer, which "pleased the Lord" (1 Kings 3:5-14; 2 Chronicles 1:7-12).
13 Then you will have success if you are careful to
observe the decrees and laws that the Lord gave
Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do
not be afraid or discouraged.
BARNES, "Be strong ... - David adopts the words of Moses to the Israelites
(compare the marginal references) and to Joshua.
GILL, "Then shall thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes,....
See 1Ki_2:2 where the same things are said as here: which shows that this was spoken by
David a little before his death.
HENRY, "IV. He charges them to keep God's commandments and to take heed to his
duty in every thing, 1Ch_22:13. He must not think by building the temple to purchase a
dispensation to sin; no, on the contrary, his doing that would not be accepted, nor
accounted of, if he did not take heed to fulfil the statutes which the Lord charged Moses
with, 1Ch_22:13. Though he was to be king of Israel, he must always remember that he
was a subject to the God of Israel.
V. He encourages him to go about this great work, and to go on in it (1Ch_22:13): “Be
strong, and of good courage, Though it is a vast undertaking, thou needest not fear
coming under the reproach of the foolish builder, who began to build and was not able to
finish it; it is God's work, and it shall come to perfection. Dread not, nor be dismayed.”
In our spiritual work, as well as in our spiritual warfare, we have need of courage and
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resolution.
K&D, "The condition of obtaining the result is the faithful observing of the
commands of the Lord. The speech is filled with reminiscences of the law, cf. Deu_7:11;
Deu_11:32; and for the exhortation to be strong and of good courage, cf. Deu_31:6; Jos_
1:7, Jos_1:9, etc.
ELLICOTT, " (13) Then shalt thou prosper.—The verse makes it quite clear that
obedience was an indispensable condition to the full realisation of the promise.
(Comp. 1 Chronicles 22:10 with the actual after-course of history.) Yet the word of
the Lord does not return unto Him void; and if the earthly dynasty of David came to
an end through disobedience, in due time was born an heir of David and Solomon,
who is at this day the Lord of a spiritual dominion which will endure throughout the
ages.
If thou takest heed to fulfil.—Literally, if thou keep to do the statutes and
judgments: language which is obviously a reminiscence of Deuteronomy. (Comp.
Deuteronomy 7:11; Deuteronomy 11:32.)
Be strong, and of good courage.—Or, Be stout and staunch! a frequent phrase in
Joshua (1 Chronicles 1:7, &c.).
Dread not, nor be dismayed.—So Deuteronomy 1:21; Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua
1:9.
Dismayed.—Broken, i.e., in spirit: metu fractus. (Comp. “Solomon my son is young
and timid,” 1 Chronicles 22:5.)
PARKER, ""Be strong and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed."— 1
Chronicles 22:13.
We have read that Solomon was young and tender, young and timid; it would seem
as if David, recognising the timidity of his Song of Solomon , specially charged him
to cultivate courage, bravery, fearlessness.—This was training up a child in the way
he should go.—We are too fond of training our strongest faculties, and thus we are
tempted to neglect the weaker side of our nature.—Find out the weak side of a
child"s character, and address yourselves assiduously to its cultivation.—We should
41

seek to fill the empty sack, not to overcrowd the full one.—Bring into play the
muscles that are most difficult to get at, and do not overtrain those which afford the
fairest prospect of immediate results.—Our most backward faculty must be
exercised.—When we complain of a weak memory, or a hesitant will, or a defective
imagination, we should address ourselves to the cultivation of that which is in
special need of culture. On the other hand, what man regards as of the nature of
defect and lack, God may account as a special excellence, and even a peculiar
qualification for a particular work.—God did not want a man to go to temple
building with the air of a warrior, with the port of a hero, with the aggressiveness of
one who was about to storm a fortress.—As Solomon advances to his sacred work
with a timid air, with a modesty which hides his strength, we may see the qualities
which God most appreciates.—Throughout the whole of human history God has
never hesitated to declare that a meek and a quiet spirit is in his sight of great
price.—Clothing himself with his eternity as with a vesture, and inhabiting infinity
as a dwelling-place, he declares that he will look to the man who is of a humble and
a contrite spirit, and who trembleth at his word.—When did the Lord select some
towering man to be his agent or instrument in critical periods of history?—Who has
not been amazed to see how God will take weak things with which to oppose things
that are mighty, and even things that are not, to bring to nought things that are?—
When the Son of man came upon the earth, the most conspicuous thing, in the
estimation of some observers, was his timidity, his meekness, his almost fear.—For a
time he ran away from the face of Prayer of Manasseh , and in protracted solitude
prepared himself for the few agonistic years of his ministry; he did not strive, nor
cry, nor cause his voice to be lifted up in the streets; he was womanly, gentle, tender,
patient, and he concealed his almightiness under his all-pitifulness.—No mistakes
are greater than those which are often made about strength.—We forget that
moderation is power.—We neglect to admit the full meaning of the doctrine that in
proportion as a man is really capable is he profoundly serene; if he were uncertain
of his strength he would be turbulent, agitated, impatient, and through his foolish
excitement we should discover his self-misgiving. Everywhere God"s servants are
called to fearlessness, to strength, to good courage.—Jesus Christ called men in this
direction; the Apostle Paul, speaking of every one who would be a faithful servant of
the Cross, says, "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
PULPIT, "The references to olden time, and the pointed reference to Moses, must be
regarded as emphatic. In 1 Chronicles 28:20 we find the additional words, "and do
it," inserted after the animated and intensely earnest exhortation, Be strong, and of
good courage. This inspiriting summons was no new one. It was probably already
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