-2
3Ga 7 =
the 6 cieli ngs ; 3 th E ar
ched
7 Be S Ai and Bo FE ard s wh ere . the OL - wit;
is far
VI. |
the Houſe was covered, which was made of other Wood, which was more pliable than Cedar, and would: better endure bowing and bending ) with Cedars.
10 And then he built chambers againſt all the houſe 3,
five cubits high c : and they reſted 4 on the houſe
with timber of cedar e. :
6 Which Interpreters underſtand of thoſe Chambers deſcribed wer. 5, 6. But why ſhould that be repeated again,and that ſo darkly and confuſedly, after he had particularly and exa&tly treated of them ? ( unleſs to give an account of the height of each Chamber, or Story, which before was not done. ) And the Hebrew words may be truly and properly rendred thus, He built a roof, ( to wit, a flat and plain Roof, called Yatziah, becauſe of the cxat reſem- blance it hath with the Floor of an Houſe) over all the houſe, accord- ing to the manner of all the I/raeliriſh Buildings, which were flat at the top ; of which, ſee Deut. 22; 8. Joſh. 2:6. 2 Sam. 11:2. The inner Roof was arched, wer. 9. that it might be more beautiful and glorious to behold ; but the outward Roof was flat. c Above the Walls of the Temple ; which was neceſſary, that it might be a little higher than the arched Roof, which ir was deſigned to cover and ſecure, 4d Heb. it refed, to wit, the Roof : for the Hebrew Verb is of the ſinguiar Number. e Which reſted upon the top of the Wall, as the Chambers, wv. 5+ reſted upon the ſides of the Wall. Bur all this I ſubmit to the Learned and Judicious.
ix © And che word of the LORD came unto So-
lomon f, ſaying, ] | f Either by ſome Prophet, or rather in a Viſion or Dream, as it did before. k : ; i 12 Concerning this houſe which thou art in building g, | * Chap. * jf thou wilt walk in my ſtatutes, and execute my 39.4 judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk | in them, then will I perform my word with thee, | *2Sam. * which I ſpake unto David thy father. 7- 13. g God ſpeaks thus, partly ro encourage him to proceed in his 1 Chron, Work ; and partly,to purge out that Pride and Vain glory, ( which 22.10, God, the ſearcher of hearts, ſaw either then did, oc would ariſe in Solomon's Mind, as being the Author and Builder of fo glorious a Work : ) and that Preſumption and Security which was very likely to grow, and God foreſaw would grow both in Solcmon,and in the People ; as if God was now 1n a manner engaged to continue his Preſence with them,and in his own Temple ; and that they had now no great reaſon to fear God s departure from them, though they ſhould provoke him- Therefore he exprefſeth the Condition upon which his Promiſe and Favour is ſuſpended : and by aſſuring him thereof in caſe of Obedience, he plainly intimates the contrary, upon his Diſobedience- ; 13 AndI will * dwell among the children of Iſrael,
and will not forſake my people lfrael.
14 So Solomon built the houſe, and finiſhed it.
15 And he built the walls of the houſe within with | Or,fr9m boards of cedar,|| both the floor þ of the houſe,and the the flor of jalls of the cieling i, and he covered them k on the in
«aged ſide with wood /, and covered the floor of the houſe »;
walls, &C. with planks of fir.
and ſo h Or rather, from the floor, as it is in the Hebrew : for the floor it
wer. 16, ſelf was not covered with Cedar, but with fir, as it here follows. i Or rather, as it is the Hebrew, unto the walls of the cieling, or of the roof ; i. e. unto the top of the Wall, which was even with the Roof : for the Root it ſelf was not of Stone, bur Wood. Or unto the walls of the cieling ; i. e. unto the Cieling itſelf ; which perform- ing the office of a Wall, may well be called by that name. For the name of a wall is not appropriated to Stone or Brick, becauſe we read of a brazen wall, Jer: 15: 20. and a wall of iron, Ezek: 4: 'Þ And that wall inte which Saul ſmote his javelin, 1 Sam. 19: 10. ſeems ' more probably to be underſtood of Wood, than of Stone ; eſpeci- ally, conſidering that it was the Room where the King uſed ro dine. So by this Periphraſis, from the floor of the houſe, unto the walls of the cicling, he deſigns all the fide-walls of rhe houſe. & To wit, the ſide-walls of the Houſe,now mentioned. / 7. e. With other kind of Wood, even with Fir ; as appears from 2 Chron: 3: 35. wherewith the Floor is here ſaid to be covered. » This is here ſpoken only concerning the Floor, becauſe there was nothing. bur Planks of E Ir; whereas there was both Cedar and Fir in the tides of the Houſe, the Fir being either put above, or upon the Cedar ; or, intermixed with, or put between the Boards or Ribs of Cedar: as may be ga- thered from the ſaid Parallel place, 2 Chron. 3: 5.
16 And he built twenty cubits on the ſides of the houſe » both the floor and the walls » with boards of cedar : he even built them for it within, ever for the
+ Heb. Oracle, ever for the + moſt holy place p.
Bolineſs of ,® #6: The moſt holy Place,which contained in the length of the holineſ; Houſe twenty Cubits, by comparing this with wer. 2, and wer. 17. " which may be faid to be o7 the ſides of the houſe, becauſe this part took off 20 Cubits in length from each fide of the Houſe, and was alto 20 Cubits from ſide to fide, ſo it was 20 Cubits every way ; or on the ſides, ( i« e. on all the ſides, as indeed it was ) of the houſe, or of that houſe ; to wit, The moſt holy place,as it here follows, Or, from the ſides of the houſe ; i. e. from one lide to the other. And ſo this is meant only of the Partition-Wall, which was between the holy and the moſt holy Place. o Or rather, as wer: 15. from the flooy to the wall, or ceiling, or roof. So it is not neceſlary, at leaſt by virtue of theſe words,to underſtand this,as they generally do, That the Flaor it {elf was built with Cedar ; but only all the ſides of it from the bottom 20 Cubits upward. IF it be ſaid, that the whole Houſe,and conſequently the moſt holy Place, was 3o Cubits high, wer. 2. it may be replied, either, That that is true only of the greater Houſe or the holy Place,which is called the houſe, wer: 17. and that the leſ- ſer,or that moſt holy Placegyas but 20 Cubits high,as divers think; or that the ren cubits at the top, were covered with ſome other Wood or thing ; or were left open, that it might thereby receive both Light from the Candleſticks,and Smoke from the Altar of In- cenſe, þ 7. e. That it might be the Oracle, or, the met holy place.