2 Chronicles 5:2

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) The chief of the fathers.—Rather, the chiefs of the clans (father-houses). Vulg., “capita familiarum;” LXX., τοὺς ἠγουμένους πατριῶν.

Elders . . . heads.—Or, sheikhs . . . ameers.

Zion.—Syr. and Arab., Hebron.

In the feast which was in the seventh month.—Heb., in the feast; that (is) the seventh month. The words “in the month of Ethanim” (Kings) have been accidentally omitted before the expression rendered “in the feast.” The Authorised version suggests another mode of emending the text. (Comp. Nehemiah 8:14.) Syr., “in the month of the fruits (’ebbô) of the feast of Tabernacles; that is the seventh month.” The LXX. had the present faulty Hebrew.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:1-10 The ark was a type of Christ, and, as such, a token of the presence of God. That gracious promise, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, does, in effect, bring the ark into our religious assemblies, if we by faith and prayer plead that promise; and this we should be most earnest for. When Christ is formed in a soul, the law written in the heart, the ark of the covenant settled there, so that it becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost, there is true satisfaction in that soul.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This chapter contains one important addition only to the narrative of Kings (see the marginal references); namely, the account of the circumstances under which the manifestation of the Divine Presence took place 2 Chronicles 5:11-13.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ch 5:2-13. Bringing Up of the Ark of the Covenant.

2, 3. Then Solomon assembled … in the feast which was in the seventh month—The feast of the dedication of the temple was on the eighth day of that month. This is related, word for word, the same as in 1Ki 8:1-10.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of this and the following verses, See Poole "1 Kings 8:1", &c.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

See Chapter Introduction

Geneva Study Bible

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the {a} city of David, which is Zion.

(a) Read 2Sa 6:12.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2–10 (= 1 Kings 8:1-9). The Ark brought into the Sanctuary

This section is taken almost verbatim from 1 Kings.

2. Then Solomon assembled] The same verb in the Hebrew as in 1 Chronicles 15:3 (see note there) and in 1 Chronicles 28:1.

the chief of the fathers] R.V. the princes of the fathers’ houses.

the city of David] See 1 Chronicles 11:5, note on the castle of Zion.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - Comparing the language of this and the following verse with that used on the occasion of David's bringing up of the ark to Zion, found in 2 Samuel 6:1; 1 Chronicles 13. and 15, some have thought that a considerable difference of tone is perceptible, and that indication is given of the intention, or at any rate a feeling, even if more or less unconscious, on the part of Solomon, that times were ripe for a demonstration, that should partake less of the enthusiasm of the mass, so far as his own summons might be concerned, and more of the form and dignity of the chief and representative men of the nation. This view can hardly be pressed. The very word "wherefore" in ver. 3 goes far to discredit it. And any difference that may be apparent in the language is far more probably and easily attributable to the old cause of the narrower, though intenser, interest of the writer of Chronicles. 2 Chronicles 5:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The first part of the celebration was the transfer of the ark from Mount Zion to the temple (2 Chronicles 5:2-14), and in connection with this we have the words in which Solomon celebrates the entry of the Lord into the new temple (2 Chronicles 6:1-11). This section has been already commented on in the remarks on 1 Kings 8:1-21, and we have here, consequently, only to set down briefly those discrepancies between our account and that other, which have any influence upon the meaning. - In 2 Chronicles 5:3 the name of the month, האתנים בּירח (1 Kings 8:2), with which the supplementary clause, "that is the seventh month," is there connected, is omitted, so that we must either change החדשׁ into בּחרשׁ, or supply the name of the month; for the festival is not the seventh month, but was held in that month.