Commentaria in II Paralipomenon
Chapter 6
Solomon blesses the people, and gives thanks to God that he has fulfilled in him the promises made to David concerning the building of the temple, and beseeches him to hear the prayers of those who pray in the temple.
1. Then Solomon said: The Lord hath promised that he would dwell in a cloud: 2. but I have built a house to his name, that he might dwell there for ever. 3. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of Israel (for all the multitude stood attentive), and said: 4. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath fulfilled in deed what he spoke to David my father, saying: 5. From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, to have a house built in it to my name; neither did I choose any other man to be ruler over my people Israel, 6. but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name may be there, and I have chosen David, to set him over my people Israel. 7. And when David my father had it in his mind to build a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel, 8. the Lord said to him: Because this hath been thy will, to build a house to my name, thou hast done well indeed to have such a will: 9. but thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come forth from thy loins, he shall build the house to my name. 10. The Lord therefore hath fulfilled his word which he spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord spoke: and I have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel. 11. And I have set in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel. 12. Then he stood before the altar of the Lord, over against all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands. 13. For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the midst of the temple, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: and then kneeling down upon his knees before all the multitude of Israel, and spreading his palms towards heaven, 14. he said: O Lord the God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven or on earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart: 15. who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that thou hadst promised him: and what thou didst promise with thy mouth, thou hast fulfilled in deed, as the present time also proveth. 16. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, fulfil to thy servant my father David all that thou hast promised, saying: There shall not fail thee a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. 17. And now, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which thou hast spoken to thy servant David. 18. Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less this house which I have built? 19. But it was made only that thou mayest have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, and hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee; 20. that thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night, upon the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be called upon, 21. and that thou mayest hear the prayer which thy servant prayeth in it: and mayest hear the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in this place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and be merciful. 22. If any man sin against his neighbour, and come prepared to swear against him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house: 23. thou wilt hear from heaven, and wilt judge thy servants, so as to render to the wicked his way upon his own head, and to avenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice. 24. If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies (for they will sin against thee) and being converted shall do penance, and shall call upon thy name, and shall pray in this place, 25. thou wilt hear from heaven, and be merciful to the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back into the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers. 26. If, the heaven being shut up, the rain fall not by reason of the sins of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, when thou shalt afflict them, 27. hear from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of thy servants and of thy people Israel, and teach them the good way by which they may walk: and give rain to the land which thou hast given to thy people to possess. 28. If a famine arise in the land, and pestilence, blasting, and mildew, and locusts, and caterpillars, and enemies, having wasted the countries, besiege the gates of the city, and every plague and infirmity press upon them: 29. if any of thy people Israel shall pray, knowing his own plague and infirmity, and shall spread forth his hands in this house, 30. thou wilt hear from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and be merciful, and render to every one according to his ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men): 31. that they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that they live upon the face of the land which thou gavest to our fathers. 32. The stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, if he shall come from a far country, for thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, and shall adore in this place, 33. thou wilt hear from heaven, thy most firm dwelling place, and wilt do all that that stranger shall call upon thee for, that all the people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee as thy people Israel: and may know that thy name is invoked upon this house which I have built. 34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way in which thou shalt send them, they shall adore thee towards the way in which this city is, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name: 35. thou wilt hear from heaven their prayers, and their supplication, and wilt avenge them. 36. But if they sin against thee (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies, and they carry them away captives into a land far off, or certainly near at hand, 37. and being converted in their heart, in the land to which they were led captive, they do penance, and pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt unjustly; 38. and return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they were led, they shall adore thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house which I have built to thy name: 39. thou wilt hear from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling place, their prayers, and wilt do judgment, and forgive thy people, though sinners: 40. for thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and thy ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in good things. 42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
I explained this chapter in 3 Kings VIII. Verse 13. Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, in the manner of a high platform, on which, sitting and teaching, or kneeling and praying, he might be heard by all the people standing around. Whence he adds: In the midst of the temple—that is, in the midst of the court of the people, as I said in chapter IV, 9. Verse 28. Blasting and mildew—are faults of crops, when they contract, like brass and gold, rust and as it were jaundice and a jaundiced colour, so that they wither and shrivel. Verse 41. Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place—that in this temple, which thou didst command me to make, thou mayest rest with us and among us, and dwell continually. The resting place of God is therefore the temple; for there he himself is worshipped with prayers, vows, sacrifices, etc. Thou and the ark of thy strength—for in the ark God was wont to show his power and strength, when at its presence he divided the Jordan, threw down the walls of Jericho, and overcame the Chanaanites, the Philistines, and the other enemies of Israel. Let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation—that they may be plainly and fully sound and safe, that they may be able to save the laity also. He understands salvation both bodily and, rather, spiritual, namely justice and holiness. For he alludes to Psalm CXXXI, 9: “Let thy priests be clothed with justice,” that is, may so abound in justice and holiness that they seem encompassed and girt about on every side with it as with a garment. Verse 42. Turn not away the face of thy anointed—that is, of me, who have been made a christ by thee, that is, anointed.
God sets fire from heaven to Solomon’s victims, and reveals to him that he has heard his prayers, that he may hear those who pray in the temple in any need.