Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 8:12-21
Here, I. Solomon encourages the priests, who came out of the temple from their ministration, much astonished at the dark cloud that overshadowed them. The disciples of Christ feared when they entered into the cloud, though it was a bright cloud (Luk 9:34), so did the priests when they found themselves wrapped in a thick cloud. To silence their fears, 1. He reminds them of that which they could not but know, that this was a token of God's presence (Kg1 8:12): The Lord said he would dwell in the thick darkness. It is so far from being a token of his displeasure that it is an indication of his favour; for he had said, I will appear in a cloud, Lev 16:2. Note, Nothing is more effectual to reconc…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 8:14
the king turned his face about--From the temple, where he had been watching the movement of the mystic cloud, and while the people were standing, partly as the attitude of devotion, partly out of respect to royalty, the king gave a fervent expression of praise to God for the fulfilment of His promise (Sa2 7:6-16).
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 8:21
Wherein is the covenant of the Lord - As it is said, Kg1 8:9, that there was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone, consequently these are called the Covenant, i.e., a sign of the covenant; as our Lord calls the cup the new covenant in his blood, that is, the sign of the new covenant: for This is my body implies, This is the sign or emblem of my body.
John Gill on 1 Kings 8:21
And I have set there a place for the ark,.... The most holy place:
wherein is the covenant of the Lord; the two tables of stone, on which were the covenant of the Lord, as the Targum:
which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt; as in 1 Kings 8:9.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 8:1-21
This solemn transaction consisted of three parts, and the chapter arranges itself in three sections accordingly: viz., (a) the conveyance of the ark and the tabernacle, together with its vessels, into the temple, with the words spoken by Solomon on the occasion (vv. 1-21); (b) Solomon's dedicatory prayer (vv. 22-53); (c) the blessing of the congregation, and the offering of sacrifice and observance of a feast (Kg1 8:54-66). - The parallel account to this in 2 Chron 5:2-7:10, in addition to certain minor alterations of words and constructions, introduced for the most part merely for the sake of elucidation, contains here and there, and more especially towards the end, a few deviations of grea…
