v. 3 Solomon tells Hiram that David wished to build a temple, but was
hindered from his design by war.
⁹behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon¹, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days:
¹ That is, _Peaceful_.
=9.= _I will give him rest_] Compare 1 Kings v. 4. The promise here made is of a period of peace sufficiently long for the work of Temple-building. Solomon’s reign was not wholly peaceful; compare 1 Kings xi. 14, 23, 26.
¹⁰he shall build an 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 for ever. ¹¹Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken concerning thee. ¹²Only the LORD give thee discretion and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel; that so thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
=10.= _for ever_] Compare 2 Samuel vii. 13‒16.
¹³Then shalt thou prosper, if thou observe to do the statutes and the judgements which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; fear not, neither be dismayed.
=13.= _be strong, and of good courage_] Compare Joshua i. 9.
¹⁴Now, behold, in my affliction¹ I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.
¹ Or, _low estate_.
=14.= _in my affliction_] LXX. κατὰ τὴν πτωχείαν μου, and so margin _in my low estate_. The exact meaning of the phrase is not quite certain. Does it refer to the comparative slenderness of David’s resources (_in my poverty_), or to the difficulties of the wars and rebellions which marked his reign, or does it cover both ideas? Render perhaps =in my straitened circumstances=. Some translate =by my strenuous labour= (compare xxix. 2), but there is insufficient evidence for rendering the Hebrew word by _labour_.
_an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver_] This sum is incredibly large. In 1 Kings x. 14 it is told in illustration of the riches of Solomon――a wealthier king than David――that he received in one year 666 talents of gold, but even at this rate David would have amassed only 26,640 talents in forty years, and further the sum assigned to Solomon as his yearly revenue is fantastically large, see note 2 Chronicles ix. 13. The passage illustrates the exaggeration which is so characteristic of midrashic style; compare xxix. 4, and the note on 2 Chronicles xvii. 14.
¹⁵Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all men that are cunning in any manner of work; ¹⁶of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number; arise and be doing, and the LORD be with thee. ¹⁷David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, _saying_,
=15, 16.= _any manner of work; of the gold ... there is no number_] Render =in every work of gold ... without number=; i.e. the two verses are to be read in close connection.
¹⁸Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath delivered the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.
=18.= _the inhabitants of the land_] Compare xi. 4, _the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land_. The remnant of the earlier inhabitants of Canaan is meant.
¹⁹Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.
=19.= _and the holy vessels of God_] Compare 1 Kings viii. 4.
CHAPTERS XXIII.‒XXIX. THE CONCLUSION OF DAVID’S REIGN.