1 Kings 5:3

5:3 “You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord ¹  his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies. ² 

1 Kings 5:1

Solomon Gathers Building Materials for the Temple

5:1 (5:15) ³  King Hiram of Tyre ⁴  sent messengers ⁵  to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place. (Hiram had always been an ally of David.)

1 Kings 17:4-6

17:4 Drink from the stream; I have already told ⁶  the ravens to bring you food ⁷  there.” 17:5 So he did ⁸  as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 17:6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.

1 Kings 1:3-6

1:3 So they looked through all Israel ⁹  for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 1:4 The young woman was very beautiful; she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her. ¹⁰ 

1:5 Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith, ¹¹  was promoting himself, ¹²  boasting, ¹³  “I will be king!” He managed to acquire ¹⁴  chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. ¹⁵  1:6 (Now his father had never corrected ¹⁶  him ¹⁷  by saying, “Why do you do such things?” He was also very handsome and had been born right after Absalom. ¹⁸ )

Acts 7:47-49

7:47 But Solomon built a house ¹⁹  for him. 7:48 Yet the Most High ²⁰  does not live in houses made by human hands, ²¹  as the prophet says,

7:49 ‘Heaven is my throne,

and earth is the footstool for my feet.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is my resting place? ²² 

¹ tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

² tn Heb “because of the battles which surrounded him until the Lord placed them under the soles of his feet.”

³ sn The verse numbers in the English Bible differ from those in the Hebrew text (BHS) here; 5:1-18 in the English Bible corresponds to 5:15-32 in the Hebrew text. See the note at 4:21.

⁴ map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁵ tn Heb “his servants.”

⁶ tn Heb “commanded.”

⁷ tn Heb “to provide for you.”

⁸ tn Heb “So he went and did.”

⁹ tn Heb “through all the territory of Israel.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “did not know her.”

¹¹ tn Heb “son of Haggith,” but since this formula usually designates the father (who in this case was David), the translation specifies that David was Adonijah’s father.

¹² tn Heb “lifting himself up.”

¹³ tn Heb “saying.”

¹⁴ tn Or “he acquired for himself.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”

¹⁶ tn Or “disciplined.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “did not correct him from his days.” The phrase “from his days” means “from his earliest days,” or “ever in his life.” See GKC 382 §119.w, n. 2.

¹⁸ tn Heb “and she gave birth to him after Absalom.” This does not imply they had the same mother; Absalom’s mother was Maacah, not Haggith (2 Sam 3:4).

¹⁹ sn See 1 Kgs 8:1-21.

²⁰ sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).

²¹ sn The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mark 14:58; Acts 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, 24. It suggests “man-made” or “impermanent.” The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1 Chr 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).

²² sn What kind…resting place? The rhetorical questions suggest mere human beings cannot build a house to contain God.