2 Chronicles 7:5

And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen.—Literally, the sacrifice of the oxen twenty and two thousand. Kings, “the sacrifice of the peace offerings which he sacrificed to Jehovah, oxen twenty and two thousand.” The italicised words seem to have fallen out of our text. The numbers are the same in both accounts.

The people.—Kings has the old name, sons of Israel, and house of Jehovah for house of God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:1-22 God's answer to Solomon's prayer. - God gave a gracious answer to Solomon's prayer. The mercies of God to sinners are made known in a manner well suited to impress all who receive them, with his majesty and holiness. The people worshipped and praised God. When he manifests himself as a consuming Fire to sinners, his people can rejoice in him as their Light. Nay, they had reason to say, that God was good in this. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, but the sacrifice in our stead, for which we should be very thankful. And whoever beholds with true faith, the Saviour agonizing and dying for man's sin, will, by that view, find his godly sorrow enlarged, his hatred of sin increased, his soul made more watchful, and his life more holy. Solomon prosperously effected all he designed, for adorning both God's house and his own. Those who begin with the service of God, are likely to go on successfully in their own affairs. It was Solomon's praise, that what he undertook, he went through with; it was by the grace of God that he prospered in it. Let us then stand in awe, and sin not. Let us fear the Lord's displeasure, hope in his mercy, and walk in his commandments.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The fire came down from heaven - As in the time of Moses on the dedication of the tabernacle Leviticus 9:24 The fact is omitted from the narrative of Kings; but omission is not contradiction.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5, 6. so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God—The ceremonial of dedication consisted principally in the introduction of the ark into the temple, and in the sacrificial offerings that were made on a scale of magnitude suitable to the extraordinary occasion. All present, the king, the people, and the priests, took part according to their respective stations in the performance of the solemn service. The duty, of course, devolved chiefly on the priests, and hence in proceeding to describe their several departments of work, the historian says, generally, "the priests waited on their offices." While great numbers would be occupied with the preparation and offering of the victims, others sounded with their trumpets, and the different bands of the Levites praised the Lord with vocal and instrumental music, by the hundred thirty-sixth Psalm, the oft-recurring chorus of which is, "for His mercy endureth for ever."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then the king and all the people,.... Of these two verses; see Gill on 1 Kings 8:62; see Gill on 1 Kings 8:63.

Geneva Study Bible

And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4–10 (= 1 Kings 8:62-66). The Great Feast of Dedication

5. twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep] These high numbers appear also in 1 Kings.

2 Chronicles 7:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The sacrifices and the festival. After fire from heaven had devoured the sacrifices, and Solomon had praised the Lord for the fulfilment of His word, and sought for the congregation the further bestowal of the divine blessing (1 Kings 8:54-61), the dedication of the temple was concluded by a great thank-offering, of which we have in 2 Chronicles 7:5, 2 Chronicles 7:6 an account which completely agrees with 1 Kings 8:62-63. - In 2 Chronicles 7:6 the author of the Chr. again makes express mention of the singing and playing of the Levites when these offerings were presented. In the performance of this sacrificial act the priests stood על־משׁמרותם, in their stations; but that does not signify separated according to their divisions (Berth.), but in officiis suis (Vulg.), i.e., ordines suos et functiones suas a Davide 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles 1 Chronicles 24:7. institutas servarunt (Ramb.); see on Numbers 8:26. The Levites with the instruments of song of Jahve, which David had made, i.e., with the instruments invented and appointed by David for song to the praise of the Lord. בּידם דויד בּהלּל, not hymnos David canentes per manus suas (Vulg.), taking דויד הלּל for the praising appointed by David, which by the hands of the Levites, i.e., was performed by the hands of the Levites (Berth.), but literally: when David sang praise by their hand (i.e., their service). This clause seems to be added to the relative clause, "which king David had made," for nearer definition, and to signify that the Levites used the same instruments which David had introduced when he praised God by the playing of the Levites. The form מחצצרים as in 1 Chronicles 15:24.