Synopsis of the Chapter
David exhorts the assembled Princes of the kingdom as well as Solomon to keep God's laws exactly: then, in verse 11, he gives Solomon the plan of the temple and of all its parts and vessels, which he had received from God from heaven.
Verse 1: With the Eunuchs ¶
Verse 1. WITH THE EUNUCHS — Eunuchs of old presided over the royal court, and especially over the women's quarters; hence all officers of the court or palatines are called eunuchs, as I explained on Genesis 37:36.
Verse 2: The Footstool of Our God ¶
Verse 2. AND THE FOOTSTOOL OF OUR GOD — So the Ark of the Covenant is called, because the Cherubim standing above the Ark, with their wings joined, provided as it were a seat for God, so that the Ark below was like the footstool of His feet, as I explained on Exodus 25.
Verse 4: From Judah He Chose the Princes ¶
Verse 4. FOR FROM JUDAH HE CHOSE THE PRINCES — The Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint have the singular, 'prince'; but 'prince' means princes succeeding one another in continuous succession, according to Genesis 49:10: 'The scepter shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a leader from his thigh, until He comes who is to be sent' — namely the Messiah, or Christ, who was to be born from Judah and David.
Verse 9: Solomon My Son, Know God ¶
Verse 9. AND YOU, SOLOMON MY SON, KNOW GOD — 'Know,' that is, acknowledge Him, so that you may firmly believe, and frequently reflect upon and esteem the immense majesty, power, justice, and goodness of God; so that this knowledge and frequent reflection and meditation may impel you to worship, fear, and love Him continually.
Verse 11: The House of the Mercy-Seat ¶
Verse 11. THE HOUSE OF THE MERCY-SEAT — that is, the Holy of Holies; for in it was the propitiatory (mercy-seat) above the Ark, from which God graciously bestowed oracles upon the High Priest and benefits upon the people.
Verse 12: The Treasuries of the Holy Things ¶
Verse 12. THE TREASURIES OF THE HOLY THINGS — He means the treasuries, or repositories, in which the money offered to God and sanctified, that is, consecrated, was kept.
Verse 13: The Divisions of the Priests and Levites ¶
Verse 13. AND THE DIVISIONS OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES — So he calls the 24 classes into which the priests and Levites were divided, about which he spoke in chapters 23 and 24.
Verse 17: Golden Lions and Silver Lions ¶
Verse 17. GOLDEN LIONS, ETC., AND SILVER LIONS — No mention is made of these lions and small lions in the description of the temple, 3 Kings chapters 7 and 8; therefore it is uncertain in what place and for what purpose they were placed. Moreover, the Septuagint, Vatablus, Pagninus, and Abulensis, reading caphor instead of Kephir (that is, a small lion), translate it as 'bowls' or 'cups.'
Verse 18: The Altar of Incense and the Chariot of the Cherubim ¶
Verse 18. AND FOR THE ALTAR ON WHICH INCENSE IS BURNED (namely the altar of incense, which was in the Holy Place facing the Holy of Holies), HE GAVE THE PUREST GOLD, THAT (the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Royal Latin have: 'and that') FROM IT MIGHT BE MADE THE LIKENESS OF THE CHARIOT OF THE CHERUBIM SPREADING THEIR WINGS AND COVERING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD. — One may ask: What was this 'chariot of the Cherubim' and what was its nature? Was it the same as the Mosaic and Solomonic Cherubim that are described in 3 Kings chapters 7 and 8? Our Jerome Prado, on chapter 1 of Ezekiel, page 35, thinks they were the same. For he says that Solomon made a quadriga (four-horse chariot) from the pair of Cherubim that Moses had made, because he added two other Cherubim to Moses' two; and so from a pair he made a quadriga. For he added a cart with wheels on which the Ark would be placed. So says Prado.
But I say that this chariot was entirely different, and these Cherubim were different from the two that Moses made and the two others that Solomon added to them, in 3 Kings chapters 7 and 8. This is clear, first, because those were beside the Ark in the Holy of Holies; but these were made in the Holy Place above the altar of incense, as is stated here.
Second, because here Scripture says Solomon made them 'in the likeness'; therefore they were not the same, but similar to the Cherubim of the Ark.
Third, because the Cherubim that Solomon added to the Mosaic ones did not form a chariot, nor a single unit; rather, they were entirely separate from them. For the Mosaic ones, placed above the Ark, faced each other and embraced one another with wings spread out like arms; but the Solomonic ones were placed at the side of the Ark, so as to veil and cover it together with the Mosaic Cherubim: and each of them was on the same side, spreading their wings along the entire length of the Holy of Holies, so that one Cherub touched the southern wall with its outermost wing, while the other touched the northern wall of the Holy of Holies with its outermost wing. Therefore they could not form a chariot, but only one side of a chariot or carriage.
Fourth, concerning the cart with wheels on which the Ark was supposed to stand, which Prado asserts — Scripture says nothing anywhere about this. I have discussed at length what the Cherubim signify both literally and mystically in my comments on Exodus chapter 25, Ezekiel chapter 1, and Apocalypse chapter 4.
I say therefore that Cherubim were fashioned not only around the Ark, but also on the altar of incense, and that these are the ones discussed here. They were similar to the Cherubim of the Ark. For just as those covered the Ark with their wings spread out and joined, so these covered the altar of incense with their wings spread out and joined, as if providing a seat or throne for God, so that God, sitting upon them, might seem to receive the smoke of incense that was burned to Him on the altar.
It is called a 'chariot' — in Hebrew merkabah — that is, a carriage, not because there were four Cherubim; for there were only two, each facing the other, with their two wings spread out and joined with the wings of the other placed opposite, forming a square or quadrilateral, and thus as it were a 'chariot,' that is, a square carriage. So says Abulensis.
The meaning therefore is: David gave 'the purest gold' so that from it might be fashioned the altar of incense, and upon it a chariot of Cherubim, similar to the chariot of the Cherubim covering the Ark of the Covenant that Moses had made. This sense is required by the Hebrew, which instead of 'that,' has 'and that.'
Verse 19: Written by the Hand of the Lord ¶
Verse 19. ALL THESE THINGS, HE SAID, CAME TO ME WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF THE LORD, THAT I MIGHT UNDERSTAND ALL THE WORKS OF THE PATTERN. — God therefore described the entire plan of the temple on a tablet and delivered it through the hand of an Angel to David, so that he might hand it on to Solomon, who would build the temple according to it. God had delivered a similar plan of the Tabernacle to Moses, Exodus chapter 25, verse 40: 'Look,' He said, 'and make it according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain (Sinai).' For He calls 'the pattern' or paradigma (as the Septuagint translate it) the idea, or design of the tabernacle-temple, both as a model and in written and verbal form, so that with written letters and words He would explain the design itself, which otherwise, being obscure and complex, could scarcely have been understood by David from mere visual inspection alone. Therefore, so that both he and Solomon might understand it, God explained it in words, writing in express letters: thus you shall make the Holy Place, thus the Holy of Holies, thus the court, thus each altar, thus the lampstand, thus the table of the showbread — and of such material, such form, and such height. And this is what David says here: 'They came to me written by the hand of the Lord, that I might understand all the works of the pattern.' So says Abulensis.