Matthew Henry on 1 Chronicles 29:1-9
We may here observe,
I. How handsomely David spoke to the great men of Israel, to engage them to contribute towards the building of the temple. It is our duty to provoke one another to love and to good works, not only to do good ourselves, but to draw in others to do good too as much as we can. There were many very rich men in Israel; they were all to share in the benefit of the temple, and of those peaceable days which were to befriend the building of it; and therefore, though David would not impose on them, as a tax, what they should give towards it, he would recommend the present as a fair occasion for a free-will offering, because what is done in works of piety and charity should be done…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Chronicles 29:3
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; Isa 13:12). The amount was three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of refined silver.
Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 29:2
And marble stones - אבני שיש abney shayish, which the Vulgate translates marmor Parium, Parian marble. Paros was one of the Cyclade islands, and produced the whitest and finest marble, that of which most of the finest works of antiquity have been made. That the word shaish means marble is probable from the Chaldee, which has אבני מרמורייה abney marmoraiyah, marble stones. Josephus says that the temple was built of large blocks of white marble, beautifully polished, so as to produce a most splendid appearance. - Jos., De Bell. Jud., lib. v., c. 5, s. 2.
John Gill on 1 Chronicles 29:3
Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God,.... Had a good will to it, and was earnestly desirous of having it built, and that in a grand manner:
I have of my own proper good; which he had treasured up for his own use:
of gold and silver, even that I have given to the house of my God; to build or ornament it, or make vessels for it:
over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house; for the building of the temple, which is made mention of in the preceding chapter.
