TEXT [Commentary]

7. Solomon praises the LORD (8:12-21)

12 Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. 13 Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever![*]”

14 Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: 15 “Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, 16 ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

17 Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 18 But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, 19 but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

20 “And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

NOTES

8:12 a thick cloud of darkness. See note on 8:10.

8:13 live forever! The NLT mg makes reference to the longer Greek text connected with this verse (which in Codex Vaticanus [the Old Greek] is located later in the chapter, in 8:53a [following the versification of Rahlfs 1935], the entirety of 8:12-13 being omitted in the Old Greek). More to the point, at 8:53a in the Greek text, there seems to be a garbled allusion to the “Book of Jashar” (cf. Josh 10:13 and 2 Sam 1:18), which a number of scholars have suggested was also in the original Kings text (cf. Cogan 2001:281). Of further interest to scholars trying to reconstruct the original, the Greek text found in 8:53a also includes a longer half line or stich to go with the brief statement found in the MT of 8:12 about Yahweh living in “a thick cloud of darkness”; the fuller Greek text reads, “The Lord made known the sun in heaven/ but he said he would dwell in deep darkness.” The RSV (but not the NRSV) included this half line in its translation of 8:12, and, as Cogan (2001:281) notes, a number of scholars have argued for its authenticity. But as Cogan himself further points out, the loss of this stich in the MT would then be hard to explain.

8:16 I have never chosen a city. . . . But I have chosen David. This is a very succinct summary of the classic Davidic covenant chapter—2 Sam 7 (cf. “The ‘Lamp’ of David” under “Major Themes” in the Introduction). The traditional text where Yahweh says he will choose a single location “to honor my name” is found in Deut 12.

8:18 Your intention is good. See note on 5:3.

8:21 a place there for the Ark. See the discussion in the commentary on 8:1-11.

COMMENTARY [Text]

If, as suggested in the commentary on 8:1-11, the “Ark Narrative” finds its culmination in the first part of the present chapter of 1 Kings, then we find here a similar situation in regard to the promises mentioned in 2 Samuel 7, the great Davidic covenant chapter. What Yahweh in essence told David at that time is succinctly summarized here in 8:18b-19a. David had good intentions to want to build a house for God, but it would be his son who would carry out the task. God saw to it that his people first found a home in Israel before a home was found for him. Such are the priorities of the Scriptures, both here and elsewhere: first a place for God’s people and their leadership, then a place for God himself (cf. Hag 1:3-11; though their house building was intended to precede his, God did not expect the returned exiles to take some 18 years to start rebuilding his Temple!). Whether it be merely a historical reminiscence, or (as I expect) a hint at something theologically paradigmatic, what a wonderful pattern of priorities for God and for God’s people! Our God is indeed a “jealous God” (see Exod 20:5-6; 34:14), and he certainly will not tolerate divided loyalties from his people (as the negative example of Solomon and his many foreign wives will illustrate). But he is also a compassionate, patient God, not seeking immediate glory for himself via earthly symbols of power and authority. (The fact that, of all things, it was the cross that became the symbol par excellence of Christianity puts to rest most contrary arguments.)

In this section we see Solomon praising Yahweh. We cannot help but note that the prevailing issue throughout many of the preexilic passages of the Hebrew Bible is not so much how to worship, but whom to worship. Yahweh, and Yahweh alone, must be our first priority—no other gods before him! Where and how to worship him are important issues (especially by the time of King Josiah in the late seventh century BC), but the main concern must be Yahweh and Yahweh alone. To Yahweh must our prayers be directed, wherever we find ourselves—whether or not we are near this Temple or any possible successor. (With respect to the second Temple, Jesus said, “The Scriptures [Isa 56:7] declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations’” [Mark 11:17]). It is Yahweh’s “promise” and the fulfillment of that promise which is properly the focus of chapter 8. Whatever Solomon had accomplished (for a discussion of the ancient Near Eastern parallels to such an “accomplishment,” see the commentary on 8:54-66), it really represented Yahweh’s accomplishment of his gracious promises.