Commentaria in III Regum
4. AND THE PRIESTS CARRIED THE ARK OF THE LORD,—as they had carried the same in the time of David into Sion, 2 Kings 6, but the pomp of Solomon was greater than that of David.
AND THE TABERNACLE OF THE COVENANT, namely that made by Moses, for this is properly called “of the covenant.” So Josephus, Ribera, Abulensis, Serarius, Villalpandus, Sanchez and others, although Salianus and Emmanuel Sa understand the tabernacle which David had made for the ark of the covenant in Sion. For the tabernacle of Moses was not in Sion, but in Gabaon. But there is no doubt that it was translated by Solomon from Gabaon to Sion, and thence into the temple. Add that both tabernacles, as well that of Moses as that of David, were translated by Solomon into the temple, just as all the other sacred vessels made by Moses, especially the altars, were translated into the temple, that is, into the loft of the temple, and that by prudent counsel, namely that the worship of God should not be celebrated elsewhere than in the temple, and thus the danger of superstition and idolatry be avoided, says Cajetan.
6. AND THEY BROUGHT IN THE ARK INTO THE ORACLE OF THE TEMPLE, (that is) INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES UNDER THE WINGS OF THE CHERUBIMS,—which Solomon had made new, ten cubits high, that they might veil with their wings and cover the ark, which was only a cubit and a half high.
9. NOW THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE IN THE ARK BUT THE TWO TABLES OF STONE.—On this matter I have said enough on Hebrews 9.
10. A CLOUD FILLED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.—For in a cloud God represented and at the same time veiled himself and his glory. For the darkness of the Deity is a veil, as also a sacrament. For it signifies that it is invisible and inaccessible to men.
11. AND THE PRIESTS COULD NOT STAND AND MINISTER BY REASON OF THE CLOUD,—both out of reverence for the divine majesty showing itself through the cloud; and because this cloud, being more sensible, offended the eyes of the priests, and dulled and blunted their sight. So Cajetan.
FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD HAD FILLED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.—He calls the cloud “the glory of the Lord,” because it was the sign and symbol of the glory of the Lord, as I said; and therefore it was bright and shining. So Cajetan. This cloud, he says, is called both cloud, and darkness, and glory of the Lord. From these names it is gathered that it was a cloud after the manner of a bright darkness, and by reason of the light is called the glory, or rather honour, of the Lord; by reason of its form it is called darkness; by reason of its matter, a cloud: for they were like vapours of a cloudy darkness with splendour, and therefore sensibly offended the eyes of the priests ministering at the altar.
12. THE LORD SAID THAT HE WOULD DWELL IN A CLOUD.—He said this in Leviticus 16:13, where God commands the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies only with incense, and that for this purpose, that the vapour and cloud of the incense may cover the propitiatory, and God sitting upon it; lest if the priest see him he should be struck lifeless and die by the brightness and terror of the Godhead. He said the same in Psalm 103:3: “Who makest the clouds thy chariot.” And Psalm 17:10, “darkness under his feet.” And verse 12: “He made darkness his covert.” Hence God spoke to Moses and the Hebrews through darkness.
13. A MOST FIRM THRONE FOR THEE.—The Hebrew: a direction to thy throne. The office of the temple, says Cajetan, is manifested to be not to furnish God a dwelling, but to afford men a direction of their minds to the eternal divine throne which is in the heavens: for the temple was made to direct men to God, who created heaven and earth, and rules the universe.
22. AND SOLOMON STOOD BEFORE THE ALTAR (of holocausts. He stood therefore between the altar and the people, poured round on three sides. It is added in 2 Paralipomenon 6:13 that he stood on a brazen platform, placed there for the person of the king, that he might be seen by all the people) IN THE SIGHT (in Hebrew, over against the whole) OF THE ASSEMBLY OF ISRAEL,—having his face toward the altar and the sanctuary to the West (in which quarter also were the priests and Levites); the people were in the three other quarters, East, South and North. For so he began to do what he taught others should be done in this prayer that follows, namely that with face turned toward the temple prayers should be poured out to God.
Moreover Solomon poured out this prayer as king of Israel, and therefore wore a diadem on his head. Whence the Chaldee, Canticle chapter 3, verse 11, having understood by the litter of Solomon his temple, for what our version, the Septuagint and the Hebrews have: Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, etc., translates thus: When king Solomon came to make the dedication of the house of the sanctuary, he went out before in strength, and so says: Go forth and see, ye inhabitants of the provinces of the land of Israel and people of Sion, the diadem and crown with which the house of Israel crowned king Solomon on the day of the dedication of the sanctuary; and he rejoiced in the joy of the feast of tabernacles, which king Solomon kept at that time for 14 days. And chapter 4, verse 1, it adds: And on that day king Solomon offered a thousand holocausts, and his offering was received with good pleasure before the Lord; a voice burst from heaven and said: How beautiful is the assembly of Israel, and how beautiful are the princes of the congregation and the wise men dwelling in council: because they ever enlighten the people of the house of Israel, etc. Let kings and princes here see the wondrous piety of Solomon, by which the king himself, as priest and pontiff, dedicates and consecrates to God the temple built by himself; and prays that God would hear the prayers of those praying in it, and blesses the whole people, and is therefore heard by God, and is honoured with a miraculous darkness and with fire falling from heaven upon the victims. Let princes imitate him, and they will likewise be blessed by God.
AND SPREAD FORTH HIS HANDS TOWARD HEAVEN,—and bent his knees, as is said in 2 Paralipomenon 6:13, that by this gesture he might testify his reverence and devotion toward God and God’s temple; and might stir up the people by his example to the same. The first Christians imitated Solomon, praying with bent knees and hands raised to heaven, the various causes of which ceremony I recounted from the Fathers on 1 Timothy.
FOR IF HEAVEN, AND THE HEAVENS OF HEAVENS (that is, the highest, vastest and most capacious heaven) CANNOT CONTAIN THEE, HOW MUCH LESS THIS HOUSE WHICH I HAVE BUILT,—will it contain thee. For God is immense, and therefore is everywhere, and fills all things, and extends beyond all things through immense empty spaces, and therefore can create in them a thousand and infinite millions of new worlds. The philosophers said the same, whence Aratus:
“Jove is whatever you see; all things are full of Jove.”
And Aeschylus in Clement of Alexandria, book 5 of the Stromata:
“Jove is the ether, is the earth, and the heaven, and all things Jove, and whatever is above.”
And Orpheus in the same place:
“To the ends of the Ocean his right hand is stretched out on every side, and under his feet the earth lies subject.”
29. MY NAME SHALL BE THERE,—as if to say: In my house I shall be present: there I shall be worshipped, there I shall answer, there I shall hear prayers, work wonders, and show my glory. Hence again: “My name shall be there,” that is, it shall be called from my name “the temple of the Lord,” according to that: “My house shall be called the house of prayer,” Matthew chapter 21, verse 13.