1Furthermore King David said to all the assembly: My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and tender; and the work is great, because the temple is not for man but for Jehovah God. 2Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, antimony and of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and alabaster stones in abundance. 3Moreover, because of my determination regarding the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary, from my own possessions of gold and silver: 4three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; 5the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate his hand this day unto Jehovah? 6Then the heads of the fathers, chiefs of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the officers over the king's business, offered free-will offerings. 7They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. 8And those with whom precious stones were found, gave them to the treasury of the house of Jehovah, into the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9And the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they had offered willingly unto Jehovah; and King David also rejoiced with great joy. 10And David blessed Jehovah before the eyes of all the assembly, and David said: Blessed are You, Jehovah the God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. 11Yours, O Jehovah, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and You are exalted as head over all. 12Both riches and honor come from before You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. 13Now therefore, our God, we are giving thanks to You and praising Your glorious name. 14But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things are from You, and out of Your own hand we have given to You. 15For we are strangers and sojourners before You, as were all our fathers; our days on earth are as a shadow, and there is no hope. 16O Jehovah our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is out of Your hand, and is all Your own. 17I know also, my God, that You examine the heart and take pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people who are found here, to offer willingly to You. 18O Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their heart toward You. 19And give my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision. 20And David said to all the assembly, Now bless Jehovah your God. So all the assembly blessed Jehovah the God of their fathers, and bowed down and prostrated themselves before Jehovah and the king. 21And they slaughtered sacrifices unto Jehovah and offered burnt offerings unto Jehovah on the next day: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22And they ate and drank before Jehovah with great gladness that day. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him before Jehovah as the prince, and Zadok as priest. 23And Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. 24All the rulers and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, set themselves under the hand of King Solomon. 25Thus Jehovah highly magnified Solomon in the eyes of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. 26Thus David the son of Jesse had reigned over all Israel. 27And the days that he reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. 28And he died in a good old age, satisfied with days, riches and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29Now the acts of King David, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer; 30of all his reign and his might, and the events that happened to him, to Israel, and to all the kingdoms of the lands.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 DAVID CAUSES THE PRINCES AND PEOPLE TO OFFER FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD. (
1Cr 29:1-9)
Solomon . . . is yet young and tender--Though Solomon was very young when he was raised to the sovereign power, his kingdom escaped the woe pronounced (
Ec 10:16). Mere childhood in a prince is not always a misfortune to a nation, as there are instances of the government being wisely administered during a minority. Solomon himself is a most illustrious proof that a young prince may prove a great blessing; for when he was but a mere child, with respect to his age, no nation was happier. His father, however, made this address before Solomon was endowed with the divine gift of wisdom, and David's reference to his son's extreme youth, in connection with the great national undertaking he had been divinely appointed to execute, was to apologize to this assembly of the estates--or, rather, to assign the reason of his elaborate preparations for the work.
3 Moreover . . . I have of mine own proper good, &c.--In addition to the immense amount of gold and silver treasure which David had already bequeathed for various uses in the service of the temple, he now made an additional contribution destined to a specific purpose--that of overlaying the walls of the house. This voluntary gift was from the private fortune of the royal donor, and had been selected with the greatest care. The gold was "the gold of Ophir," then esteemed the purest and finest in the world (
Job 22:24;
Job 28:16;
Is 13:12). The amount was three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of refined silver.
5 who then is willing to consecrate his service--Hebrew, "fill his hand"; that is, make an offering (
Ex 32:29;
Lv 8:33;
1R 13:33). The meaning is, that whoever would contribute voluntarily, as he had done, would be offering a freewill offering to the Lord. It was a sacrifice which every one of them could make, and in presenting which the offerer himself would be the priest. David, in asking freewill offerings for the temple, imitated the conduct of Moses in reference to the tabernacle (
Ex 25:1-
Ex 25:8).
6 Then the chief of the fathers--or heads of the fathers (
1Cr 24:31;
1Cr 27:1).
princes of the tribes-- (
1Cr 27:16-22).
rulers of the king's work--those who had charge of the royal demesnes and other possessions (
1Cr 27:25-31).
offered willingly--Influenced by the persuasive address and example of the king, they acted according to their several abilities, and their united contributions amounted to the gross sum--of gold 5,000 talents and 10,000 drams; and of silver, 10,000 talents, besides brass and iron.
7 drams--rather, darics, a Persian coin, with which the Jews from the time of the captivity became familiar, and which was afterwards extensively circulated in the countries of Western Asia. It is estimated as equal in value to 25s. of British currency.
of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron--In Scripture, iron is always referred to as an article of comparatively low value, and of greater abundance and cheaper than bronze [NAPIER].
8 and they with whom precious stones were found--rather, "whatever was found along with it of precious stones they gave" [BERTHEAU]. These gifts were deposited in the hands of Jehiel, whose family was charged with the treasures of the house of the Lord (
1Cr 26:21).
10 HIS THANKSGIVING. (1Ch. 29:10-25)
Wherefore David blessed the Lord--This beautiful thanksgiving prayer was the effusion overflowing with gratitude and delight at seeing the warm and widespread interest that was now taken in forwarding the favorite project of his life. Its piety is displayed in the fervor of devotional feeling--in the ascription of all worldly wealth and greatness to God as the giver, in tracing the general readiness in contributing to the influence of His grace, in praying for the continuance of this happy disposition among the people, and in solemnly and earnestly commending the young king and his kingdom to the care and blessing of God.
16 all this store that we have prepared--It may be useful to exhibit a tabular view of the treasure laid up and contributions stated by the historian as already made towards the erection of the proposed temple. Omitting the brass and iron, and precious stones, which, though specified partly (
1Cr 29:7), are represented in other portions as "without weight" (
1Cr 22:3,
1Cr 22:14), we shall give in this table only the amount of gold and silver; and taking the talent of gold as worth Ł5475 (the talent being 125 pounds in weight), the value of the gold will be about 73s. per ounce. The talent of silver is given at Ł342 3s. 9d., or 4s. 41/2d. per ounce. The total amount of the contributions will be:
Sum accumulated, and in public treasury (
1Cr 22:14):
Gold Ł547,500,000
Silver 342,187,500
Contributed by David from his private resources [
1Cr 29:4]:
Gold 16,425,000
Silver 2,395,312
Contributed by the assembled rulers [
1Cr 29:7]:
Gold 28,000,000
Silver 3,421,875
A grand total of approximately Ł939,929,687
Though it has been the common practice of Eastern monarchs to hoard vast sums for the accomplishment of any contemplated project, this amount so far exceeds not only every Oriental collection on record, but even the bounds of probability, that it is very generally allowed that either there is a corruption of the text in
1Cr 22:14, or that the reckoning of the historian was by the Babylonian, which was only a half, or the Syrian, which was only a fifth part, of the Hebrew talent. This would bring the Scripture account more into accordance with the statements of JOSEPHUS, as well as within the range of credibility.
20 all the congregation . . . worshipped the Lord, and the king--Though the external attitude might be the same, the sentiments of which it was expressive were very different in the two cases--of divine worship in the one, of civil homage in the other.
21 they sacrificed . . . And did eat and drink--After the business of the assembly was over, the people, under the exciting influence of the occasion, still remained, and next day engaged in the performance of solemn rites, and afterwards feasted on the remainder of the sacrifices.
22 before the Lord--either in the immediate vicinity of the ark, or, perhaps, rather in a religious and devout spirit, as partaking of a sacrificial meal.
made Solomon . . . king the second time--in reference to the first time, which was done precipitately on Adonijah's conspiracy (
1R 1:35).
they . . . anointed . . . Zadok--The statement implies that his appointment met the popular approval. His elevation as sole high priest was on the disgrace of Abiathar, one of Adonijah's accomplices.
23 Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord--As king of Israel, he was the Lord's vicegerent.
24 submitted themselves--Hebrew, "put their hands under Solomon," according to the custom still practised in the East of putting a hand under the king's extended hand and kissing the back of it (
2R 10:15).
26 HIS REIGN AND DEATH. (
1Cr 29:26-30)
Thus David . . . reigned--(See
1R 2:11).