The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 60

In David's day aleo, when the ark we.s brought from the house of Obetl-edom to the city of David, the work_of car~ncr the eacre~ sym~ol was performed by the priests nod Levites (1 Chron. xvi. 1-lu). Now, when it required to be removed to its perm1ment resting-place on Mount Moriah, the same religious officers were deputed to the honour- able service of uplifting e.nd bearing it along. The city of David, tho original Jebueite fortress (2 Sam. v. 7), lay upon Mount Zion, on the opposite side of the 'l'yroproan valley from that on which the temple stood, the distance being probably about three quarters of a mile. While one detachment of priests and Levites proceeded to Mount Zion in search of the ark, it is probable that another went to Gibeon for the old Mosaic taber- nacle which still stood in that ancient city, upon which Solomon had offered sacrifice in the beginning of his reip;n (1 Chron. i. 3), and which it was now desirable to fetch into one place with the ark. Th~ two companies, it may be Imagined, arranged to meet at the temple gate-the one with the ark of the covenant, to be established in the holy of holies between the cherubim; the other with the sanctuary or tabernacle of the congregation, w:ith its sacred vessels, to be laid up in one or other of the already mentioned side chambers of the house. 2. The offering of sacrifice before the ark in the temple court. Before the sacred chest passed out of sight and into its sunless retreat within the veil, this ceremony presided over by the sovereign, was carried through by another company of priests, and in presence of "all the congregation of Israel." The sheep and oxen laid upon the altar could not be told for multitude. The First Book of Kings and Josephus mention that the king sacrificed twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. In any case, the offering was munificent, and corresponded to the magnificence of the occasion. The monarch probably felt that Jehovah's grace to himself and his people demanded generous acknowledgment. Cf. David's offerings on bringing the ark to Mount Zion (2 Sam. vi. 6, 18) and Josiah's on a similar occasion (eh. x.x.xv. 7). 3. The pl,a,cing of the ark in the holy of holies. While the blood of the sacrificial victims was flowing in the outer court, the priests at e. given signal once more uplifted the symbol of Jehovah's presence, and, advancrng with it towards the dwelling, passed in through the holy place, entering the inner shrine and reverently setting it between the wings of the colossal cherubim there erected. So immense were these figures that their wings overshadowed both the ark and its staves, It is probable that the staves were in the long side of the ark (Josephus,' .Ant.,' iii. 6. 5), and that this ran from north to south of the holy of holies. .As, moreover, the staves were designed to be inseparable from the ark (Exod. xxv. 15), they were not removed, but merely drawn out, perhaps two in each direction; or they were so long (Revised Version), i.e. extended so far in each direction, that their ends might be seen by one standing in the doorway or immediately in front of the oracle, but not by one who stood without or at a distance in the holy place. Thus located, the ark remained in its shrine until the temple was destroyed. The phrase," unto this day" (cf. eh. ix. 21; xii. 19; 2 Kings viii 22), need only signify that the Chronicler used a manuscript composed before the destruction of Jerusalem, and deemed it unnecessary to alter words which were accurate enough from the standpoint of the original writer. Whether the ark was at any time bome before the Israelitish armies to battle, as in the days of Samuel (1 Sam. iv. 4), cannot be determined; but it seems to have been removed from its place in the days of Manasseh, as it underwent a kind of second consecration at the hands of Josiah, who, in the eighteenth year of hie reign, replaced it in the temple ·with imposing ceremonies (see eh. xxxv. 3). In Solomon's time the ark contained nothing uut the two tables of stone, which Moses put therein at Horeb. '!'here is no reason to suppose it ever contained aught else, the golden pot and .Aaron's rod (Heb. ix. 4) having been originally appointed to be laid up before the Lord (Exod. xvi. 33), and before the testimony (Numb. xvi. 10), not necessarily inside the ark. 4. The giving of thanks before the altar. On emerging from the holy place into the court, the priests united with the rest of their brethren, antl the Levites who were singers, in raising an anthem of praise to Jehovah who had enabled them to carry forward their work to a successful termina• tion. 'l'h; whole body of the priesthood were present, the divisional arrangements made by David (1 Chron. xxiv. 3), by which they waited in turns, h~ving been sus• pended. and the entire force consecrated for the occasion. 'fhe Levites, marshalled according to their families, the Asaphites ou tbe right, the Hemanitcs in the centre; the Jcduthites on the left, each with their sons and brethren, were arrayed in byssus, 011. v. 1-14.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 61