Discovery Box2 Chronicles 6:1-22
Context6:1 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 6:2 O Lord, 1 I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 6:3 Then the king turned around 2 and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. 3 6:4 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled 4 what he promised 5 my father David. 6:5 He told David, 6 ‘Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. 7 Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. 6:6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, 8 and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 6:7 Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. 9 6:8 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. 10 6:9 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’ 11 6:10 The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel 6:11 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”
6:12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 6:13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet 12 long, seven and one-half feet 13 wide, and four and one-half feet 14 high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 6:14 and prayed: 15 “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty 16 to your servants who obey you with sincerity. 17 6:15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; 18 this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. 19 6:16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, 20 provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ 21 6:17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. 22
6:18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth! 23 Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 6:19 But respond favorably to 24 your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer 25 the desperate prayer 26 your servant is presenting to you. 27 6:20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. 28 May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. 29 6:21 Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. 30 Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive. 31
6:22 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, 32
[6:2] 1 tn The words “O
[6:3] 2 tn Heb “turned his face.”
[6:3] 3 tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”
[6:4] 4 tn The Hebrew text reads, “fulfilled by his hand,” but the phrase “by his hand” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[6:4] 5 tn The Hebrew text reads, “promised by his mouth,” but the phrase “by his mouth” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[6:5] 7 tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.” Here “name” is used by metonymy for the
[6:6] 8 tn Heb for my name to be there.” See also the note on the word “live” in v. 5.
[6:7] 9 tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the
[6:8] 10 tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”
[6:9] 11 tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”
[6:13] 12 tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
[6:13] 13 tn Heb “five cubits.”
[6:13] 14 tn Heb “three cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 4.5 feet (1.35 m).
[6:14] 16 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”
[6:14] 17 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
[6:15] 18 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
[6:15] 19 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
[6:16] 20 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
[6:16] 21 tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”
[6:17] 22 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
[6:18] 23 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”
[6:19] 25 tn Heb “by listening to.”
[6:19] 26 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
[6:19] 27 tn Heb “praying before you.”
[6:20] 28 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
[6:20] 29 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
[6:21] 30 tn Heb “listen to the requests of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
[6:21] 31 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
[6:22] 32 tn Heb “and if the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.”
