1 Chronicles 22:1

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XXII.

(1) Then.—And.

This is the house.—Better, This is a house of Jehovah, the (true) God, and this (is) an altar of burnt offering for Israel. The verse resumes the narrative suspended at 1Chronicles 21:28. The place of the apparition is called “a house of God,” as in Genesis 28:17. Obviously, we have here the goal of the entire narrative of the census, and the pestilence, which the chronicler would probably have omitted, as he has omitted that of the famine (2 Samuel 21), were it not for the fact that it shows how the site of the Temple was determined.

Benson Commentary

1 Chronicles 22:1. Then David said — Through the instinct and direction of God’s Spirit, by which as he is said to have had the pattern of the house, porch, altar, &c., (1 Chronicles 28:11-19,) so doubtless he was instructed as to the place where the house should be built. This is the house, &c. — This is the place appointed by God for the building of his temple and altar.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:1-5 On occasion of the terrible judgment inflicted on Israel for the sin of David, God pointed out the place where he would have the temple built; upon which, David was excited to make preparations for the great work. David must not build, but he would do all he could; he prepared abundantly before his death. What our hands find to do for God, and our souls, and those round us, let us do it with all our might, before our death; for after death there is no device nor working. And when the Lord refuses to employ us in those services which we desired, we must not be discouraged or idle, but do what we can, though in a humbler sphere.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This is the house of the Lord God - The double miracle - that of the angelic appearance and that of the fire from heaven - had convinced David that here he had found the destined site of that "house" which it had been told him that his son should build 1 Chronicles 22:10. Hence, this public announcement.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 22

1Ch 22:1-5. David Prepares for Building the Temple.

1. David said, This is the home of the Lord God—By the miraculous sign of fire from heaven, and perhaps other intimations, David understood it to be the will of God that the national place of worship should be fixed there, and he forthwith proceeded to make preparations for the erection of the temple on that spot.David prepareth for the building of the temple, 1 Chronicles 22:1-5: instructeth Solomon in God’s promises and his duty, 1 Chronicles 22:6-16. He chargeth the princes to assist his son, 1 Chronicles 22:17-19.

Then David said; partly by his observation of this gracious and glorious appearance of God, and his command to erect an altar, and his acceptance of a sacrifice offered in this place; and partly by the instinct and direction of God’s’ Spirit, by which, as he is said to have had the pattern of the house, porch, altar, &c., 1 Chronicles 28:11,12,19; so doubtless he was also instructed as to the place where the house should be built. This is the house of the Lord God; this is the place appointed by God for the building of his temple and altar.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then David said,.... Within himself, or to some principal persons about him:

this is the house of the Lord God; the place where the temple was to be built, hinted at in Deuteronomy 12:5 and elsewhere; the meaning is, here, or in "this" place, shall be the house of God, so Noldius (o), for as yet there were none; but it was now made known to David that here it should be built, and so the words in 2 Chronicles 3:1 should be rendered:

then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, which was shown to David his father, which he prepared in the place of David, that which he bought in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite: and this is the altar for the burnt offering for Israel; not which he had built here; but this is the place where one should be built for the people of Israel to bring their offerings to, and to be here offered for them by the priests: this he said by a divine impulse upon his mind, or which he concluded from the acceptance of his sacrifice here, signified by fire that came down from heaven and consumed it; and this being in the threshingfloor of the Jebusites, might prefigure the church of God to be built up among the Gentiles.

(o) Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 352. No. 1257.

Geneva Study Bible

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

(a) That is, the place in which he will be worshipped.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. Then] The word refers back to 1 Chronicles 21:28, At that time.

David said] The king acts in conformity with the law contained in Deuteronomy 12:5-6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - This verse evidently belongs to the close of the last' chapter, and should have had its place there. It indicates a deep sense of relief that now visited David's mind. We can imagine how he had pondered often and long the "place where" of the "exceeding magnificent" house which it was in his heart to build for the Lord. The place was now found, and the more unexpected and "dreadful" (Genesis 28:17) the method by which it was arrived at, the more convincing and satisfactory, at all events in some points of view. The extraordinary and impressive designating of this spot was in itself a signal for an active commencement of the work, and made at the same time such commencement practicable. Solomon and many others would afterwards often think, often speak, of the "threshing-finer of Ornan the Jebusite" as the place "which was shown to David his father," and which "David had prepared" (2 Chronicles 3:1). Here, then, he builds "the altar of burnt offering," as, on the neighbouring "hill of Zion," he had reared the "tabernacle for the ark." 1 Chronicles 22:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

With this chapter commences the second section of the history of David's kingship, viz., the account of the preparations, dispositions, and arrangements which he made in the last years of his reign for the establishment of his kingdom in the future under his successors. All these preparations and dispositions had reference to the firm establishment of the public worship of the Lord, in which Israel, as the people and congregation of Jahve, might show its faithfulness to the covenant, so as to become partakers of the divine protection, and the blessing which was promised. To build the temple-this desire the Lord had not indeed granted the fulfilment of to David, but He had given him the promise that his son should carry out that work. The grey-haired king accordingly made preparations, after the site of the house of God which should be built had been pointed out to him, such as would facilitate the execution of the work by his successor. Of these preparations our chapter treats, and in it we have an account how David provided the necessary labour and materials for the building of the temple (1 Chronicles 22:2-5), committed the execution of the work in a solemn way to his son Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:6-16), and called upon the chiefs of the people to give him their support in the work (1 Chronicles 22:17-19).