1 Chronicles 22

Then David said, "This is where the house of the LORD God will stand, and this is where the altar for Israel's burnt offerings will be."

1Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

Note"This is where" points to the spot David has just bought and marked out at the end of the previous chapter, a threshing floor on a hill outside Jerusalem. "The house of the LORD" is the temple, the permanent building meant to replace the portable tent that had housed Israel's worship until then. A burnt offering was a sacrifice in which the whole animal was burned on the altar rather than any part of it being eaten.

2David gave orders to gather the foreigners living in the land of Israel. From them he appointed stonecutters to cut and shape blocks of stone for building the house of God.

2And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

NoteThese "foreigners" were non-Israelites settled long-term in Israel, mostly descendants of the region's earlier populations. Kings routinely drafted such residents into forced labor gangs for state building projects; the word does not mean visitors or travelers.

3David got ready a large amount of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways, and to make the fittings that would hold the parts together. He also got more bronze than anyone could weigh.

3And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;

NoteThe King James "brass" means bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, brass as we know it was not made in this period. "Without weight" is an idiom for a quantity too large to bother measuring.

4He also got more cedar logs than anyone could count, because the people of Sidon and Tyre had brought David a great many cedar logs.

4Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

NoteSidon and Tyre were wealthy trading cities on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel, in what is now Lebanon. The cedar forests of their mountains produced the most prized building timber in the ancient Near East: tall, straight, fragrant, and resistant to rot and insects. Importing it was a mark of royal expense.

5David said, "My son Solomon is young and has not learned much yet, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be very grand, famous and glorious in every land. So I will get things ready for it now." So David made huge preparations before he died.

5And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

6Then David sent for his son Solomon and gave him orders to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.

6Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.

7David said to Solomon, "My son, I myself had planned to build a house for the name of the LORD my God.

7And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:

Note"A house for the name of the LORD" is a standard Hebrew way of speaking. Putting a name on a building meant declaring whose it was and who could be met there, the temple was the place where the LORD's name was set, not a house he was thought to live in like a person.

8But this word came to me from the LORD: 'You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought great wars. You are not to build a house for my name, because you have spilled so much blood on the ground where I could see it.

8But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Note"Blood on the ground" is a legal image: in Hebrew thought, spilled blood soaked into the earth remained visible and unanswered until it was dealt with. The point is not that David's wars were crimes, but that a man whose hands were that heavily involved in killing was not the one to build this particular building.

9Look, a son will be born to you, and he will be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all the enemies around him. His name will be Solomon, and I will give Israel peace and quiet while he rules.

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 Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

NoteThe Hebrew name Shelomoh (Solomon) sounds like shalom, the word for peace and wholeness. The sentence is a play on words that only works in Hebrew: he will be called Peaceful, and there will be peace.

10He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will make the throne of his kingdom over Israel last forever.'

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.

Note"He will be my son, and I will be his father" was the formal language used across the ancient Near East for the relationship between a god and a reigning king. It is adoption wording marking the king's official status, not a statement about his birth.

11Now, my son, may the LORD be with you. May you succeed and build the house of the LORD your God, just as he said you would.

11Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.

12Above all, may the LORD give you wisdom and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel, so that you keep the law of the LORD your God.

12Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.

Note"The law of the LORD" here means the body of commands and instructions attributed to Moses, the material now found in the first five books of the Bible.

13Then you will succeed, if you are careful to obey the rules and decisions the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid, and do not lose heart.

13Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

Note"Statutes and judgments" are two kinds of legal material: fixed standing rules, and case decisions of the kind a judge hands down. Together the pair is a way of saying "the whole law."

14Now look: with great effort I have gotten ready for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, and more bronze and iron than can be weighed, because there is so much of it. I have also gotten ready timber and stone, and you can add more.

14Now, behold, in my trouble 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.

NoteA talent was a weight of roughly 75 pounds (about 34 kilograms). The figures given here (100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 of silver) would come to thousands of tons, far more precious metal than any ancient kingdom possessed. Numbers on this scale in Hebrew writing work as a picture of overwhelming abundance rather than as an accountant's tally.

15You also have many workers with you: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in every kind of work.

15Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

16There is more gold, silver, bronze, and iron than anyone can count. So get up and start working, and may the LORD be with you."

16Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.

17David also ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said,

17David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

NoteThe "leaders" are the heads of the tribes and the senior officials of David's administration, the men whose cooperation any large state project required.

18"Is not the LORD your God with you? Has he not given you rest on every side? For he has handed the people who lived in this land over to me, and the land has been brought under the control of the LORD and his people.

18Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.

Note"Rest on every side" is a set phrase meaning freedom from war and from raiding neighbors: not relaxation, but security within settled borders.

19Now set your heart and soul on seeking the LORD your God. Get up and build the holy place of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy objects of God can be brought into the house that will be built for the name of the LORD."

19Now set your heart and your soul to seek 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.

NoteThe ark of the covenant was a gold-covered wooden chest, carried on poles, holding the stone tablets of the agreement made at Sinai; it was the most sacred object in Israel's worship and had been kept in a tent since the nation entered the land. The "holy objects" are the equipment used in worship, basins, lamps, shovels, dishes and the like. "Covenant" means a binding agreement, sworn between two parties with obligations on both sides.