The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh. Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house. The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
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1 Kings 8:62-64 sits inside this longer paragraph.
The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh. Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house. The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
Parallel Translations
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The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh.
Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house.
The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
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And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
Show all 3 translations
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And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings; because the brazen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings.
Cross-references (20)
- Ezra 6:16-17 (vv62–63) The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God…
- 2 Samuel 6:17-19 (v62) They brought in Yahweh’s ark, and set it in its place, in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt…
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 (v64) Then he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
- 2 Chronicles 7:4-10 (v62) Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before Yahweh. King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle…
- 2 Chronicles 15:11 (v63) They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the plunder which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.
Show all 19 cross-references
- Nehemiah 12:27 (v63) At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the…
- Leviticus 3:1-17 (v63) “ ‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without…
- Numbers 7:10-11 (v63) The princes gave offerings for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed. The princes gave their offerings before the…
- Numbers 7:84-88 (v63) This was the dedication offering of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve…
- 1 Chronicles 29:21 (v63) They sacrificed sacrifices to Yahweh, and offered burnt offerings to Yahweh, on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one…
- 2 Chronicles 2:4 (v63) Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him incense of sweet spices, for…
- 2 Chronicles 7:5 (v63) King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people…
- 2 Chronicles 7:7 (v64) Moreover Solomon made the middle of the court that was before Yahweh’s house holy; for there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of…
- 2 Chronicles 29:32-35 (v63) The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were for…
- 2 Chronicles 30:24 (v63) For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the…
- 2 Chronicles 35:7-9 (v63) Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were…
- Ezekiel 45:17 (v63) It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new…
- Micah 6:7 (v63) Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The…
- John 10:22 (v63) It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
19 distinct cross-references across this passage (20 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v63 Before the oracle where the Ark was.
Before the oracle where the Ark was.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv62–64 1Ki 8:62 And the king, and all Israel with…
1Ki 8:62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
Ver. 62. Offered sacrifice before the Lord.] Peace offerings especially; for these were never omitted. "In everything give thanks."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv63–64 Solomon offered a sacrifice, by the hands of the…
Solomon offered a sacrifice, by the hands of the priests.
A hundred and twenty thousand sheep; not all in one day, but in the seven, or, it may be, in the fourteen days, mentioned 1Ki 8:65. So, i.e. by these sacrifices and holy exercises.
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Dedicated the house of the Lord, i.e. began to set it apart for the work and service of God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v62 We read before that Judah and Israel were eating…
We read before that Judah and Israel were eating and drinking, and very cheerful under their own vines and fig-trees; here we have them so in God's courts. Now they found Solomon's words true concerning Wisdom's ways, that they are ways of pleasantness.
I. They had abundant joy and satisfaction while they attended at God's house, for there, 1. Solomon offered a great sacrifice, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, enough to have drained the country of cattle if it had not been a very fruitful land. The heathen thought themselves very generous when they offered sacrifices by hundreds (hecatombs they called them), but Solomon out-did them: he offered them by thousands. When Moses dedicated his altar, the peace-offerings were twenty-four bullocks, and of rams, goats, and lambs, 180 (Num 7:88); then the people were poor, but now that they had increased in wealth more was expected from them. Where God sows plentifully he must reap accordingly. All these sacrifices could not be offered in one day, but in the several days of the feast. Thirty oxen a day served Solomon's table, but thousands shall go to God's altar. Few are thus minded, to spend more on their souls than on their bodies. The flesh of the peace-offerings, which belonged to the offerer, it is likely, Solomon treated the people with. Christ fed those who attended him. The brazen altar was not large enough to receive all these sacrifices, so that, to serve the present occasion, they were forced to offer many of them in the middle of the court, (Kg1 8:64), some think on altars, altars of earth or stone, erected for the purpose and taken down when the solemnity was over, others think on the bare ground. Those that will be generous in serving God need not stint themselves for want of room and occasion to be so. 2. He kept a feast, the feast of tabernacles, as it should seem, after the feast of dedication, and both together lasted fourteen days (Kg1 8:65), yet they said not, Behold, what a weariness is this!
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II. They carried this joy and satisfaction with them to their own houses. When they were dismissed they blessed the king (Kg1 8:66), applauded him, admired him, and returned him the thanks of the congregation, and then went to their tents joyful and glad of heart, all easy and pleased. God's goodness was the matter of their joy, so it should be of ours at all times. They rejoiced in God's blessing both on the royal family and on the kingdom; thus should we go home rejoicing from holy ordinances, and go on our way rejoicing for God's goodness to our Lord Jesus (of whom David his servant was a type, in the advancement and establishment of his throne, pursuant to the covenant of redemption), and to all believers, his spiritual Israel, in their sanctification and consolation, pursuant to the covenant of grace. If we rejoice not herein always it is our own fault.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv62–63 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and…
And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him,.... Partaking of the parts of the peace offerings which belonged to him, and were offered by way of thanksgiving on the occasion, together with whatsoever he might as a liberal prince provide for this entertainment:
for it was for a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt; consisting of a number of people, gathered together from Hamath, which was on the northern border of the land of Israel, to the river of Egypt; either the Nile, or Rhinoculura, a branch of it, which lay on the southern border of the land: and this was kept
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before the Lord; as in his presence, with thankfulness to him, and with a view to his glory:
seven days and seven days, even fourteen days; seven days for the dedication of the house, and seven days for the feast of tabernacles, as the Targum; which agrees with Ch2 7:9, the feast of dedication was first, and began perhaps on the seventh day of the month, as the feast of tabernacles did on the fifteenth: within this time, namely, on the tenth, was a fast day, the day of atonement; which was either observed between the two feasts, or was omitted, which is not likely; or they did not eat and drink until the evening of that day. The Septuagint version, according to the Vatican copy, reads "seven days" only once; see Ch2 7:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv63–64 Offered - Not all in one day, but in…
Offered - Not all in one day, but in the seven, or it may be in the fourteen days, mentioned ver. 65.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv63–64 Verse 63. Two and twenty thousand oxen] This was…
Verse 63. Two and twenty thousand oxen] This was the whole amount of the victims that had been offered during the fourteen days; i.e., the seven days of the dedication, and the seven days of the feast of tabernacles. In what way could they dispose of the blood of so many victims?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv63–64 1Ki 8:63. And Solomon offered — By the hands…
1Ki 8:63. And Solomon offered — By the hands of the priests, two and twenty thousand oxen, &c. — Not all in one day, but in seven, or, it may be, in the fourteen days mentioned 1Ki 8:65. So the king and all Israel dedicated the house of the Lord — Began to set it apart for the work and services of God by these sacrifices and holy exercises.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv63–64 These numbers have been thought incredible, but they are…
These numbers have been thought incredible, but they are not impossible. At least 100, 000, or 120, 000 men 1Ki 8:65 were assembled; and as they all offered sacrifice with the king 1Ki 8:62, the number of victims must have been enormous. Part of the flesh of so many victims would be eaten; but much of the meat may have been privately burned Lev 19:6, the object of the sacrifice being the glory of God, and not the convenience of the people. Profusion was a usual feature of the sacrifices of antiquity.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv63–64 Sheep, and other small beasts, during the seven days,…
Sheep, and other small beasts, during the seven days, without counting the oblations of individuals. The law had not prescribed any particular rites for the dedication of places. But common sense dictated that sacred things should be distinguished from such as were common. Moses and David had set a pattern, which was followed by the Jews after the captivity, and by the Machabees, Exodus xl. 9., 1 Kings vi. 17., 1 Esdras iii. 10., and 1 Machabees iv. 56. (Calmet) --- The festival of the dedication was observed by our Saviour, John x. 22. (Haydock) --- Even private houses received a sort of dedication, Deuteronomy xx. 5. The pagans observed the like practice, with regard to statues and temples, lands and public places, Daniel iii. 1. Among the Romans, such ceremonies were performed by a general or consul, with his head covered, reciting some ancient prayers, at the suggestion of the pontiff, before a fire and an assembly of the people, called on purpose, while some person played upon the flute. (Cicero, pro Domo. Alex. Genial. vi. 14.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv62–64 HIS SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERING. (Kg1 8:62-64)
HIS SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERING. (Kg1 8:62-64)
the king, and all Israel . . . offered sacrifice before the Lord--This was a burnt offering with its accompaniments, and being the first laid on the altar of the temple, was, as in the analogous case of the tabernacle, consumed by miraculous fire from heaven (see Ch2 7:1). On remarkable occasions, the heathens sacrificed hecatombs (a hundred animals), and even chiliombs (a thousand animals), but the public sacrifices offered by Solomon on this occasion surpassed all the other oblations on record, without taking into account those presented by private individuals, which, doubtless, amounted to a large additional number. The large proportion of the sacrifices were peace offerings, which afforded the people an opportunity of festive enjoyment.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv62–64 62. The king, and all Israel with him, offered…
62. The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice — They did it by the hand of their priests, whose sole prerogative it was to perform that sacred service. According to 2Ch_7:1, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv63–64 62–66. The great sacrifice and festival (2Ch_7:4-11)
62–66. The great sacrifice and festival (2Ch_7:4-11)
63. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings] It is ordered in the Law (Lev_7:15) that the greatest part of such peace offerings shall be eaten at the time of the offering. The fat and certain internal portions of the victim are to be consumed in the fire on the altar, but all else is to go for food. This explains in part the enormous number of animals mentioned in this verse. Not only among the Jews, but among all ancient nations, sacrifices were feasts, sometimes on a very large scale. Homer supplies abundant instances. The dedication of the Temple was an event for which all who could come were sure to assemble, and for the support of such an enormous crowd for fourteen days (cf. 2Ch_7:8-9) the supply here mentioned need not be thought excessive. Great multitudes can assemble in Eastern climates, where the shelter of a roof at night is not a necessity, with less preparation, except for actual food, than is required in western lands. Josephus says “all the Hebrews feasted with their wives and children, moreover also the king celebrated the feast which is called the feast of Tabernacles grandly and magnificently before the Temple, feasting together with all the people.”
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two and twenty thousand oxen] Contrary to his custom Josephus gives here a smaller number than that in the Hebrew text. He says twelve thousand oxen, but keeps the same number, one hundred and twenty thousand, for the sheep. Though it be said that the king offered this large sacrifice, we need not suppose that any great part of the offering was performed by him personally or in his presence. The next verse shows that provision was made for offering sacrifices in other places than on the brazen altar, viz. on temporary altars set up for the occasion.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v63 (63) And Solomon offered.—The number here given, enormous as…
(63) And Solomon offered.—The number here given, enormous as it is, can hardly be supposed due to any error in the text; for it is exactly reproduced in the Chronicles and by Josephus. Much explanation of it has been wasted through misunderstanding of the real difficulty involved. It is comparatively easy to conceive how such a mass of victims could be brought as offerings or consumed, when we consider the vastness of the assembled multitude from the whole of the great dominions of Solomon, dwelling in or encamped about the city. Even at the Passovers of the last days of Jerusalem the multitude of worshippers seems to have been numbered by hundreds of thousands. The real difficulty is to conceive how, even through the fourteen days of the festival, and over the whole of the hallowed portion of the court, the victims could have been offered. But it is not unlikely that on such an occasion it might be deemed sufficient actually to sacrifice only certain representative victims of each hecatomb, and simply to dedicate the rest to the Lord, leaving them to be killed and eaten elsewhere.
This profusion of sacrifices, good as expressing the natural desire of all to offer at such a time, may perhaps have involved something of the idea, so frequent in heathen sacrifice, and so emphatically condemned by the prophets, that the Lord would be “pleased with thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil”—something also of that display of the magnificence of the king and his people, even in the very act of homage to God, which the history throughout seems to imply. If so, in these ideas lurked the evils which hereafter were to overthrow the prosperity of Israel, and make the Temple a heap of stones.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv62–64 SECTION IV The Festal Sacrifices.
SECTION IV The Festal Sacrifices.
The ceremonial of dedication was followed, as would naturally be the case, by sacrifices on a scale of unusual grandeur. Apart from their religious use and significance, the sacrifices testified to the devotion of the giver who on this of all days must not appear before the Lord empty, and they also afforded materials for the great and prolonged feast by which this auspicious event in the history of Israel must be commemorated.
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And the king, and an Israel with him Another indication (see on ver. 2) that practically the whole Israelitish nation (i.e., its males) assembled to witness this great function (ver. 65. But see on 1Ki_16:17). The words also prove that the sacrifices mentioned presently were offered by the people as well as by the king, offered sacrifice before the Lord. (See note on 1Ki_9:25)
Vers. 62-66.
The Feast on the Sacrifices.
In this prodigious number of sacrifices in round numbers 150, 000 victims 3, 000 oxen and 18, 000 sheep forevery day of the festival (Keil); five oxen and twenty-five sheep forevery minute of each day (Thenius) in this wholesale slaughter, which converted the court of the priests into one great shambles, and almost choked the sewers of the temple with blood, one feature is liable to be overlooked (note on ver. 64), namely, that all these sacrifices were "peace offerings," with the exception, of course, of the usual burnt offerings. In all these and king and princes and people alike brought their thousands all was first given to God, but the bulk was given back by God to the sacrificers. With the exception of the fat, etc., burnt on the altar, and the blood (which was the life), poured out at its base, and the customary portion of the priests, (Lev_7:14, 21 1Co_9:13) all the rest was carried home by the offerer to provide a feast for him and his family. The peace offering was thus a social festival (die feierliche und formliche Mahlzeit (Bahr, see his Symbolik, 2:368 sqq.) And the same remark applies to the still greater number a quarter of a million of paschal lambs offered year by year in later times. The blood was sprinkled as a memorial before God, but the lamb was roasted entire to provide a supper for the household. (Deu_16:1-7) In all these sacrifices God graciously entertained those who offered them with their own oblations which He had first given them at His own table. And herein we have an illustration of God"s gracious way of dealing with our gifts and offerings. He accepts them at our hands, but gives them back for our use and enjoyment. We present our sacrifice, and He spreads banquet for our souls. It is a curious circumstance, and one that shows how entirely this principle has been overlooked, that "sacrifice," which properly means "something made sacred," "consecrated," has come to be a synonym for "loss," "privation." But this a true sacrifice can never be. There is no such thing as giving at a loss to the Lord of all. He insists on paying us back a hundred fold. All our offerings are in this sense peace offerings. He sends us away laden with our own gifts, "joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness of the Lord" (ver. 66). Let us now see how this holds good.
I OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. This is the one veritable sacrifice of the world. Of all others it may be said, "Of thine own have we given thee." He alone "offered him self". (Heb_9:14) "With his own blood" (ver. 12). Behold how this oblation comes back to us charged with blessing. "Once offered to bear the sins of many" (ver. 28); "Having obtained eternal redemption for us" (ver. 12). "By the obedience of one many are made righteous". (Rom_5:19) Compare Heb_2:9, 10 12:2 Php_2:6-11; and especially Joh_10:11, Joh_10:17, and 6:51.
II OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR BODIES. (Rom_12:1) If in separating the body from common uses and yielding our bodies instruments of righteousness to God, (Rom_6:13) we seem to suffer inconvenience, privation, etc., it is not really, so. This sacrifice brings "joy and gladness of heart." Not unseldom are we conscious of the present gain. "Virtue is its own reward." The "testimony of the conscience" is no slight recompense. How great, for example, is the guerdon of purity!
"So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity That when a soul is found sincerely so A thousand liveried angels lacquey her, Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, And in clear dream and solemn vision Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear," etc.
There is a story told of George Herbert which shows how little sacrifices become great feasts. On his way to a musical gathering, he stopped by the way to help a poor waggoner out of the ruts. Arriving late and bespattered with mud, he was commiserated for the loss and inconvenience he had sustained. But he would not allow that it was loss. "The remembrance," he said, "will bring music into the heart at midnight.
III OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR ALMS. True, they are loss when given to serve self, or for the praise of men. "Verily I say unto you, they have (i.e., er haust, ajpecousin) their reward". (Mat_6:2) Such givers get what they bargained for; they receive "their good things". (Luk_16:25) But then there was no oblation to God. A Scottish laird having put a crown piece by mistake into the plate, asked for it back again. On being told that he might put what he chose in, but take nothing out, he said, "Well, well, I suppose I"ll get credit for it in heaven." "Na, na," was the just reply, "ye"ll only get credit for the penny." But if the alms be hue offerings to God, then they have both a present and an eternal reward. Present, in hearing the widow"s heart sing for joy, and in the blessing of him that was ready to perish"; (Job_29:13) eternal, in that "God is not unrighteous to forget," etc., (Heb_6:10) and that a "cup of cold water only" shall in no wise lose its reward. (Mat_10:42) Such gifts are the truest and safest investments. (Pro_19:17)
"We lose what on ourselves we spend, We have as treasure without end Whatever Lord, to Thee we lend.
There is on record an admirable prayer of Thomas Sutton, the pious founder of the Charterhouse, "O Lord, Thou hast given me a large estate, give me a large heart." We cannot lose what we give away.
IV OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR OBLATIONS. We use "oblations" here in the liturgical sense of the word, i.e., of the oblations of bread and wine in the Holy Communion. For these were anciently, and should be still, solemnly offered to God, as our thank offerings, as a sort of first fruits of His creatures. And now consider how they are given back to us. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (koinwnia, the joint participation in) of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1Co_10:16) We have presented to the Divine Majesty bread and wine, and He gives us in return the body and blood of our Lord (ib., 11:24, 25).
V OF THE SACRIFICE OF WORLDLY PROSPECTS, etc. Men often speak of the sacrifices they have had to make for the sake of their religion. And time was when great sacrifices were demanded; these are sometimes demanded still. But they involve no loss, no real and abiding injury. On the contrary, they are actually, and in the long run, a gain. "There is no man that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel"s, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life". (Mar_10:29, 30) On which Bengel beautifully remarks that nature gives us each but one father and one mother, but the Church gives us many. (Cf. Rom_16:18) "What shall I do," said Amaziah, "for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?.... And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this". (2Ch_25:9) Who had made more sacrifices than St. Paul? And yet who was it wrote of "having nothing, yet possessing all things?". (2Co_6:10) The man who had such loved and loving friends as Romans 16. proves him to have had, cannot be called poor. Well might he write, "I have all and abound". (Php_4:18)
The sacrifices he had made procured him a continual feast. It is the same with all our sacrifices. The Great King cannot receive gifts, but he must return them "according to his royal bounty". (1Ki_10:13) The Greatest Giver in the world will never be outdone in generosity by king Solomon. (A beautiful illustration of the leading thought of this homily will be found in one of Mrs. Gatty"s "Parables from Nature," called "The Circle of Blessing," 2nd series, 6th ed., pp. 5 sqq.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v62 1Ki_8:62-66; 1Ki_9:25
THE TEMPLE SACRIFICES
1Ki_8:62-66; 1Ki_9:25
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"I have chosen this house to Myself for a house of sacrifice."
- 2Ch_7:12
"Gifts and sacrifices, that cannot, as touching the conscience make the worshipper perfect, being only carnal ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation."
- Heb_9:9-10
THE whole sacrificial system with which our thoughts of Judaism are perhaps erroneously, and much too exclusively identified, furnishes us with many problems.
Whether it was originally of Divine origin, or whether it was only an instinctive expression, now of the gratitude, and now of the guilt and fear, of the human heart, we are not told. Nor is the basal idea on which it was founded ever explained to us. Were the ideas of "atonement" or propitiation (Kippurim) really connected with those of substitution and vicarious punishment? Or was the main conception that of self-sacrifice, which was certainly most prominent in the burnt offerings? Doubtless the views alike of priests and worshippers were to a great extent indefinite. We are not told what led Cain and Abel to present their sacrifices to God; nor did Moses-if he were its founder-furnish any theories to explain the elaborate system laid down in the book of Leviticus. The large majority of the Jews probably sacrificed simply because to do so had become a part of their religious observances, and because in doing so they believed themselves to be obeying a Divine command. Others, doubtless, had as many divergent theories as Christians have when they attempt to explain the Atonement. The "substitution" theory of the "sin offering" finds little or no support from the Old Testament; not only is it never stated, but there is not a single clear allusion to it. It is emphatically asserted by later Jewish authorities, such as Rashi, Aben Ezra, Moses ben-Nachman, and Maimonides, and is enshrined in the Jewish liturgy. Yet Dr. Edersheim writes: "The common idea that the burning, either of part or the whole of the sacrifice, pointed to its destruction, and symbolized the wrath of God and the punishment due to sin, does not seem to accord with the statements of scripture." Sacrifices were of two kinds, bloody (Zebach), or unbloody (minchah, korban). The latter were oblations. Such were the cakes of shewbread, the meal and drink offerings, the first sheaf at Passover, the two loaves at Pentecost. In almost every instance the minchah accompanied the offering of a sacrificial victim. The two general rules about all victims for sacrifice were,
(1) that they should be without blemish and without spot, as types of perfectness; and
(2) that every sacrifice should be salted with salt, as an antiseptic, and therefore a type of incorruption. {Mar_9:49}
Sacrificial victims could only be chosen from oxen, sheep, goats, turtle doves; and young pigeons-the latter being the offering of the poor who could not afford the costlier victims. Sacrifices were also divided generally
(1) into free, or obligatory;
(2) public, or private; and
(3) most holy or less holy,
of which the latter were slain at the north and the former at the east side of the altar. The offerer, according to the Rabbis, had to do five things-to lay on hands, slay, skin, dissect, and wash the inwards. The priest had also to do five things at the altar itself-to catch the blood, sprinkle it, light the fire, bring up the pieces, and complete the sacrifices. Sacrifices are chiefly dwelt upon in the Priestly Code; but nowhere in the Old Testament is their significance formally explained, nor for many centuries was the Levitic ritual much regarded. {See Jdg_6:19-21 1Sa_2:13, 1Ki_19:21 2Ki_5:17}
The sacrifices commanded in the Pentateuch fall under four heads.
(1) The burnt offering (Olah, Kalil), which typified complete self-dedication, and which even the heathen might offer;
(2) the sin offering (Chattath), which made atonement for the offender;
(3) the trespass offering (Asham), which atones for some special offence, whether doubtful or certain, committed through ignorance; and
(4) the thank offering, eucharistic peace offering (Shelem), or "offering of completion," which followed the other sacrifices, and of which the flesh was eaten by the priest and the worshippers.
The oldest practice seems only to have known of burnt offerings and thank offerings, and the former seem only to have been offered at great sacrificial feasts. Even in Deuteronomy a common phrase for sacrifices is "eating before the Lord," which is almost ignored in the Priestly Code. Of the sin offering, which in that code has acquired such enormous importance, there is scarcely a trace-unless Hos_4:8 be one, which is doubtful-before Ezekiel, in whom the Asham and Chattath occur in place of the old pecuniary fines. {2Ki_12:16} Originally sacrifice was a glad meal, and even in the oldest part of the code {Leviticus 18-26} sacrifices are comprised under the Olam and Zebach. The turning-point of the history of the Sacrificial system is Josiahs reformation, of which the Priestly Code is the matured result.
It is easy to see that sacrifices in general were eucharistic, dedicatory, and expiatory.
The eucharistic sacrifices (the meal and peace offerings) and the burnt offerings, which indicated the entire sacrifice of self, were the offerings of those who were in communion with God. They were recognitions of His absolute supremacy. The sin and trespass offerings were intended to recover a lost communion with God and thus the sacrifices were, or ultimately came to be, the expression of the great ideas of thanksgiving, of self-dedication, and of propitiation. But the Israelites, "while they seem always to have retained the idea of propitiation and of eucharistic offering, constantly ignored the self-dedication, which is the link between the two, and which the regular burnt offering should have impressed upon them as their daily thought and duty." Had they kept this in view they would have been saved from the superstitions and degeneracies which made their use of the sacrificial system a curse and not a blessing. The expiatory conception, which was probably the latest of the three, expelled the others, and was perverted into the notion that God was a God of wrath, whose fury could be averted by gifts and His favor won by bribes. There was this truth in the notion of propitiation-that God hates, and is alienated by, and will punish, sin; and yet that in His mercy He has provided an Atonement for us. But in trying to imagine how the sacrifice affected God, the Israelites lost sight of the truth that this is an inexplicable mystery, and that all which we can know is the effect which it can produce on the souls of man. If they had interpreted the sacrifices as a whole to mean this only - that man is guilty and that God is merciful; and that though mans guilt separates him from God, reunion with him can be gained by confession, penitence, and self-sacrifice, by virtue of an Atonement which he had revealed and would accept-then the effect of them would have been spiritually wholesome and ennobling. But when they came to think that sacrifices were presents to God, which might be put in the place of amendment and moral obedience, and that the punishment due to their offences might be thus mechanically diverted upon the heads of innocent victims, then the sacrificial system was rendered not only nugatory but pernicious. Nor have Christians been exempt from a similar corruption of the doctrine of the Atonement. In treating it as vicarious and expiatory they have forgotten that it is unavailing unless it be also representative. In looking upon it as the atonement for sin they have overlooked that there can be no such atonement unless it be accompanied by redemption from sin. They have tacitly and practically acted on the notion, which in the days of St. Paul some even avowed, that "we may continue in sin that grace may abound." But in the great work of redemption the will of man cannot be otiose. He must himself die with Christ. As Christ was sacrificed for him, he, too, must offer his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. "Without the sin offering of the Cross," says Bishop Barry, "our burnt offering (of self-dedication) would be impossible; so also without the burnt offering the sin offering will, to us, be unavailing."
Many of the crudities, and even horrors, which, alike in Jewish and Christian times, have been mixed up with the idea of bloody sacrifices, would have been removed if more attention had been paid to the prominence and real significance of blood in the entire ritual. As taught by some revivalists the doctrine of the blood adds the most revolting touches to theories which assimilate God to Moloch; hut the true significance of the phrase and of the symbol elevates the entire doctrine of sacrifice into a purer and more spiritual atmosphere.
The central significance of the whole doctrine lies in the ancient opinion that "the blood" of the sacrifice was "its life." This was why an expiatory power was ascribed to the blood. There was certainly no transfer of guilt to the animal, for its blood remained clean and cleansing. Nor was the animal supposed to undergo the transgressors punishment; first, because this is nowhere stated, and next, because had that been the case, fine flour would certainly not have been permitted (as it was) as a sin offering. {Lev_5:11-13} Moreover, no willful offence, no offense "with uplifted hand," i.e., with evil premeditation, could be atoned for either by sin or trespass offerings; -though certainly so wide a latitude was given to the notion of sin as an involuntary error as to tend to break down the notion of moral responsibility. The sin offering was further offered for some purely accidental and ceremonial offences, which could not involve any real consciousness of guilt. The "blood of the covenant" {Exo_24:4-8} was not of the sin offering, but of peace and burnt offerings; and though, as Canon Cook says, we read of blood in paganism as a propitiation to a hostile demon, "we seem to seek in vain for an instance in which the blood, as a natural symbol for the soul, was offered as an atoning sacrifice." "The atoning virtue of the blood lies not in its material substance, but in the life of which it is the vehicle," says Bishop Westcott. "The blood always includes the thought of the life preserved and active beyond death. It is not simply the price by which the redeemed were purchased, but the power by which they were quickened so as to be capable of belonging to God." "To drink the blood of Christ," says Clement of Alexandria, "is to partake of the Lords incorruption."
Besides the points to which we have alluded, there is a further difficulty created by the singular silence respecting sin offerings of any kind, except in that part of the Old Testament which has recently acquired the name of the Priestly Code.
The word Chattath, in the sense of sin offering, occurs in Exodus 29, 30, and many times in Leviticus and Numbers, and six times in Ezekiel. Otherwise in the Old Testament it is barely mentioned, except in the post-exilic Books of Chronicles {2Ch_29:24} and Ezra. {Ezr_8:25} It is not mentioned in any other historic book; nor in any prophet except Ezekiel. Again as we have seen, the Day of Atonement leaves not a trace in any of the earlier historic records of Scripture, and is found only in the authorities above mentioned. Through all the rest of Scripture the scapegoat is unmentioned, and Azazel is ignored. Dr. Kalisch goes so far as to say that there is conclusive evidence to prove that the Day of Atonement was instituted considerably more than a thousand years after the death of Moses and Aaron. For even in Ezekiel, who wrote B.C. 574, there is no Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month, but on the first and seventh of the first month (Abib, Nisan). He thinks it utterly impossible that, had it existed in his time, Ezekiel could have blotted out the holiest day of the year, and substituted two of his own arbitrary choice. The rites, moreover, which he describes differ wholly from those laid down in Leviticus. Even in Nehemiah there is no notice of the day of Atonement, though a day was observed on the twenty-fourth of the month. Hence this learned writer infers that even in B.C. 440 the Great Day of Atonement was not yet recognized, and that the pagan element of sending the scapegoat to Azazel, the demon of the wilderness, proves the late date of the ceremony.
It is interesting to observe how utterly the sacrificial priestly system, in the abuses which not only became involved in it, but seemed to be almost inseparable from it, is condemned by the loftier spiritual intuition which belongs to phases of revelation higher than the external and the typical.
Thus in the Old Testament no series of inspired utterances is more interesting, more eloquent, more impassioned and ennobling, than those which insist upon the utter nullity of all sacrifices in themselves, and their absolute insignificance in comparison with the lightest element of the moral law. On this subject the Prophets and the Psalmists use language so sweeping and exceptionless as almost to repudiate the desirability of sacrifices altogether. They speak of them with a depreciation akin to scorn. It may be doubted whether they had the Mosaic system with all its details, as we know it, before them. They do not enter into those final elaborations which it assumed, and not one of them so much as alludes to any service which resembles the powerfully symbolic ceremonial of the Great Day of Atonement. But they speak of the ceremonial law in such fragments and aspects of it as were known to them. They deal with it as priests practiced it, and as priests taught-if they ever taught anything-respecting it. They speak of it as it presented itself to the minds of the people around them, with whom it had become rather a substitute for moral efforts and an obstacle in the path of righteousness, than an aid to true religion. And this is what they say:-
"Hath the Lord as great delight in sacrifice," asks the indignant SAMUEL, "as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." {1Sa_15:22}
"I hate, I despise your feasts," says Jehovah by Amos, "and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Yea, though ye offer Me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Turn thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." {Amo_5:21-23}
"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord," asks MICAH, "and bow myself before the most high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" {Mic_6:6-8}
HOSEA again in a message of Jehovah, twice quoted on different occasions by our Lord, says: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." {Hos_6:6} ISAIAH also, in the word of the Lord, gives burning expression to the same conviction: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of lambs, arid the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hands, to trample My courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, -I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a cumbrance unto Me; I am weary to bear them Wash you, make you clean!" {Isa_1:11-16}
The language of JEREMIAHS message is even more startling: "I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice." And again-in the version of the LXX, given in the margin of the Revised Version for the unintelligible rendering of the Authorized Version-he asks: "Why hath the-beloved wrought abomination in My house? Shall vows and holy flesh take away from thee thy wickedness, or shalt thou escape by these?" {Jer_7:22, Jer_11:15} Jeremiah, is, in fact the most anti-ritualistic of the prophets. So far from having hid and saved the Ark, he regarded it as entirely obsolete. {Jer_3:16} He cares only for the spiritual covenant written on the heart, and very little, if at all, for Temple services and Levitic scrupulosities. {Jer_7:4-15; Jer_31:31-34} THE PSALMISTS are no less clear and emphatic in putting sacrifices nowhere in comparison with righteousness:-"I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; Nor for thy burnt offerings which are continually before Me. I will take no bullock out of thine house, Nor he-goats out of thy folds."
"Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; And pay thy vows unto the Most High." {Psa_50:8-14}
And again:-
"For Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it Thee: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." {Psa_51:16-17}
And again:-
"Sacrifice and offering Thou hast no delight in; Mine ears hast thou opened: Burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required." {Psa_40:6}
And again:-
"To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." {Pro_21:3}
And again:-
"I will praise the name of God with a song, And magnify it with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord rather than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs." {Psa_69:30-31}
Surely the most careless and conventional reader cannot fail to see that there is a wide difference between the standpoint of the prophets, which is so purely spiritual, and that of the writers and redactors of the Priestly Code, whose whole interest centered in the sacrificial and ceremonial observances. Nor is the intrinsic nullity of the sacrificial system less distinctly pointed out in the New Testament. The better-instructed Jews, enlightened by Christs teaching, could give emphatic testimony to the immeasurable superiority of the moral to the ceremonial. The candid scribe, hearing from Christs lips the two great commandments, answers, "Of a truth, Master, Thou hast well said that He is one; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with all the heart and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And our Lord quoted Hosea with the emphatic commendation, "Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." {Mat_9:13} And on another occasion: "But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." {Mat_12:7}
The presenting of our bodies, says St. Paul, as a living sacrifice is our reasonable service; and St. Peter calls all Christians a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice. {1Pe_2:5}
It is impossible, says the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins; and he speaks of the priests daily offering the same sacrifice, the which can never take away sins." {Heb_10:4; Heb_10:11} And again:-"To do good and to distribute forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." {Heb_13:16}
The wisest fathers of Jewish thought in the post-exilic epoch held the same views. Thus the son of Sirach says: "He that keepeth the law bringeth offerings enough." (Ecclus. 35:1-15) And Philo, echoing an opinion common among the best heathen moralists from Socrates to Marcus Aurelius, writes, "The mind, when without blemish, is itself the most holy sacrifice, being entirely and in all respects pleasing to God."
And what is very remarkable, modern Judaism now emphasizes its belief that "neither sacrifice nor a Levitical system belong to the essence of the Old Testament," Such was the view of the ancient Essenes, no less than of Maimonides or Abarbanel. Modern Rabbis even go so far as to argue that the whole system of Levitical sacrifice was an alien element, introduced into Judaism from without, tolerated indeed by Moses, but only as a concession to the immaturity of his people and their hardness of heart.
Such, too, was the opinion of the ancient Fathers of the author of the Epistle of Barnabas, of Justin Martyr, Origen, Tertullian, Jerome, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, Cyril, and Theodoret, who are followed by such Roman Catholic theologians as Petavius and Bellarmine.
This at any rate is certain-that the Judaic system is not only abrogated, but rendered impossible. Whatever were its functions, God has stamped with absolute disapproval any attempt to continue them. They are utterly annulled and obliterated forever.
"I am come to repeal the sacrifices." Such is the aypatyov 807^0 ascribed to Christ; "and unless ye desist from sacrificing, the wrath of God will not desist from you." The argument of St. Paul in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, show us why this was inevitable; and they were but following the initiative of Christ and the teaching of His Spirit. It is a mistake to imagine that our Lord merely repudiated the inane pettinesses of Pharisaic formalism. He went much further. There is not the slightest trace that He personally observed the requirements of the ceremonial law. It is certain that He broke them when he touched the leper and the dead youths bier. The law insisted on the centralization of worship, but Jesus said, "The day cometh, and now is, when neither in Jerusalem, nor yet in this mountain, shall men worship the Father. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The law insisted, with extreme emphasis, on the burdensome distinctions between clean and unclean meats. Jesus said that it is not that which cometh from without, but that which cometh from within which defileth a man, and this He said "making all meats clean." {Mar_7:19} St. Paul, when the types of Mosaism had been forever fulfilled in Christ, and the antitype had thus become obsolete and pernicious, went further still. Taking circumcision, the most ancient and most distinctive rite of the Old Dispensation, he called it "concision" or mere mutilation, and said thrice over, "Circumcision, is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but a new creature"; "but faith working by love," "but the keeping of the commandment of God." The whole system of Judaism was local, was external, was minute, was inferior, was transient, was a concession to infirmity, was a yoke of bondage: the whole system of Christianity is universal, is spiritual, is simple, is un-sacrificial, is un-sacerdotal, is perfect freedom. Judaism was a religion of a temple, of sacrifices, of a sacrificial priesthood: Christianity is a religion in which the Spirit of God
"Doth prefer before all temples the upright heart and pure."
It is a religion in which there is no more sacrifice for sin, because the one perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, has been consummated for ever. It is a religion in which there is no altar but the Cross; in which there is no priest but Christ, except so far as every Christian is by metaphor a priest to offer up spiritual sacrifices which alone are acceptable to God.
The Temple of Solomon lasted only four centuries, and they were for the most part years of dishonor, disgrace, and decadence. Solomon was scarcely in his grave before it was plundered by Shishak. During its four centuries of existence it was again stripped of its precious possessions at least six times, sometimes by foreign oppressors, sometimes by distressed kings. It was despoiled of its treasure by Asa, by Jehoash of Judah, by Jehoash of Israel, by Ahaz, by Hezekiah, and lastly by Nebuchadnezzar. After such plunderings it must have completely lost its pristine splendor. But the plunder of its treasures was nothing to the pollutions of its sanctity. They began as early as the reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah. Ahaz gave it a Syrian altar, Manasseh stained it with impurities, and Ezekiel in its secret chambers surveyed "the dark idolatries of alienated Judah."
And in the days when Judaism most prized itself on ritual faithfulness, the Lord of the Temple was insulted in the Temple of the Lord, and its courts were turned by greedy priests and Sadducees into a cowshed, and a dovecot, and a fair, and a usurers mart, and a robbers den.
From the first the centralization of worship in the Temple must have been accompanied by the danger of dissociating religious life from its daily social environments. The "multitudes who lived in remote country places would no longer be able to join in forms of worship which had been carried on at local shrines. Judaism, as the prophets so often complain, tended to become too much a matter of officialism and function, of rubric and technique, which always tend to substitute external service for true devotion, and to leave the shell of religion without its soul."
Even when it had been purified by Josiahs reformation, the Temple proved to be a source of danger and false security. It was regarded as a sort of Palladium. The formalists began to talk and act as though it furnished a mechanical protection, and gave them license to transgress the moral law. Jeremiah had sternly to warn his countrymen against this trust in an idle formalism. "Amend your ways and your doings," he said. "Behold, ye trust in lying words which cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye have not known, and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?"
The Temple of Solomon was defaced and destroyed and polluted by the Babylonians, but not until it had been polluted by the Jews themselves with the blood of prophets, by idolatries, by chambers of unclean imagery. It was rebuilt by a poor band of disheartened exiles to be again polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes, and ultimately to become the headquarters of a narrow, arrogant, and intriguing Pharisaism. It was rebuilt once more by Herod, the brutal Idumean usurper, and its splendor inspired such passionate enthusiasm that when it was wrapped in flames by Titus, it witnessed the carnage of thousands of maddened and despairing combatants.
"As mid the cedar courts and gates of gold
The trampled ranks in miry carnage rolled
To save their Temple every hand essayed,
And with cold fingers graspd the feeble blade;
Through their torn veins reviving fury ran
And lifes last anger warmd the dying man."
Yet that last Temple had been defiled by a worse crime than the other two. It had witnessed the priestly idols and the priestly machinations which ended in the murder of the Son of God. From the Temple sprang little or nothing of spiritual importance. Intended to teach the supremacy of righteousness, it became the stronghold of mere ritual. For the development of true holiness, as apart from ceremonial scrupulosity, its official protectors rendered it valueless.
We are not surprised that Christianity knows no temple but the hearts of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth; and that the characteristic of the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband, is:-
"And I saw no temple therein." {Rev_21:22}
Abundantly was the menace fulfilled in which Jehovah warned Solomon after the Feast of Dedication that if Israel swerved into immorality and idolatry, that house should be an awful warning-that its blessing should be exchanged into a curse, and that every one who passed by it should be astonished and should hiss.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v62 1Ki_8:65. Hamath is the Grecian Epiphaneia, the principal city…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_8:65. Hamath is the Grecian Epiphaneia, the principal city of Upper Syria, on the Orontes, the Northern frontier of Palestine (Num_13:2; Num_34:8). The river of Egypt is here, not the Nile, but the el Arish—the Southern boundary of the land of Israel (Num_34:5; Jos_15:4; Jos_15:47).—W. H. J.
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HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_8:62-66
SACRIFICE THE TEST OF GRATITUDE
The Temple, the dwelling-place of Jehovah, the pride of the Jews, the marvel of the ages, was now completed; and its solemn dedication was attended with overwhelming manifestations of the divine presence and glory. Its actual consecration is now crowned with an act of sacrifice on a scale of unexampled magnitude and grandeur. Monarch and people cheerfully unite in offering the vast holocaust. As the whole empire shared in the religious benefits of the occasion, so it was fitting it should share in its religious duties. Observe—
I. That a grateful heart prompts to acts of sacrifice. Bowed under a sense of the Divine condescension and beneficence, the people burst forth in praising Jehovah, “For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever” (2Ch_7:3). It is when the heart is touched and melted with gratitude that it is most prolific in generous sacrifices, in holy resolves, and in initiating noble enterprises. The origin of many a stately building, of many a princely charitable endowment, and of many a sacrifice which, though small as the widow’s two mites, has, like hers, been the most acceptable to heaven, may be traced to the tender impulse of a holy and grateful heart. While Jacob was impressed with the goodness of a manifested God, he vowed a vow and set up a pillar (Gen_28:16-22). When Isaiah felt the cleansing touch of the Seraphim, and saw the ineffable glory of Jehovah, the difficulties of his mission vanished, and his grateful and enraptured spirit eagerly cried, “Here am I; send me!” (Isa_6:1-8.) In a similar way, many a brave and successful missionary pioneer has offered his all upon the altar. The heart that is incapable of gratitude is incapable of anything truly great.
II. That sacrifice should be proportioned to the magnitude and character of the benefits conferred (1Ki_8:62-64).
1. It should be equal to the occasion. The opening of the temple was the greatest event in the history of the Israelitish nation. It was the fulfilment of a promise of many years’ standing; the crowning act of a graduated series of laborious preparations. The liberality with which the people offered their gifts, the enthusiasm with which they laboured in its erection, and the readiness with which they gathered to celebrate its dedication, indicate the supreme importance in which it stood in the national estimation. And now the sacrifices they are called to offer must bear some adequate proportion to the greatness of the occasion. Alas! how few gifts to the church of God, now-a-days, are worthy of the name of sacrifice? Men—Christian men so-called—will spend hundreds of pounds in a pleasure trip, a fancy ball, a luxurious banquet, or a bit of jewellery, and yet insult the church of Christ by grudgingly offering a paltry piece of silver! There is neither poetical nor any other kind of justice in conduct like this. It is shockingly below the occasion. All sense of honour, of obligation, of gratitude, is utterly quenched.
2. It should be proportioned to ability. God had bestowed on Solomon great commercial prosperity, great wealth, great intellectual powers, great religious privileges, and he strives on this occasion to offer a becoming return to the Great Giver of all good. The Lord estimates the sacrifices of the rich, not by what is given, but by what is left. It was a frequent saying of Gonsalvo de Cordova, the great Spanish captain, “Never stint your hand: there is no mode of enjoying one’s property like giving it away.” It is expected by every law of right and justice that the wealthy should offer to God’s cause in accordance with their means; that the intellectually gifted should devote their best powers to promote His glory; and that those who are specially endowed with spiritual influence should use it diligently for the good of humanity. God does not expect impossibilities. “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not” (2Co_8:12).
III. That sacrifice is a privilege to be enjoyed (1Ki_8:65). It was here accompanied with great festivities. The feast of the dedication of the altar lasted for a week, over which period, probably, the offering of the enormous mass of sacrificial victims was extended. This, again, was succeeded by the Feast of the Tabernacles (2Ch_7:8-9), now celebrated with more than the usual festivities. The mere feasting occasioned by the vast number of victims was sufficient to mark the grandeur of the festival. Whatever we do for God should be done cheerfully and willingly, with all the relish of an enjoyable feast: not as if performing some irksome and unpleasant task, but as if enjoying a distinguished privilege. It is a triumph of Divine grace in man, and an evidence of a high state of personal sanctity, when it becomes a joy to make sacrifices. It is then that man most closely imitates the example of the great Sacrificial Victim who said, “Lo I come to do thy will, O God!” and who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.
IV. That sacrifice is often followed by the most joyous results (1Ki_8:66). The vast host of Israelites who had joined in the celebration was filled with joy and thankfulness. When the people were dismissed they blessed the king, and went away to their tents, glad and merry of heart, lightening the journey home with songs of joy, “for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David His servant, and for Israel His people.” Great sacrifices are often succeeded by great blessings. What we sow in tears, we reap in joy. The sacrifices of a few may contribute to the happiness of the many. The one sacrifice of the Son of God has filled earth and heaven with gladness.
LESSONS:—
1. We owe to God more than we can ever repay.
2. The most acceptable sacrifice to God is a grateful and obedient life.
3. We find our greatest happiness in our greatest sacrifices.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_8:62-66. The Temple Dedication.
1. A thanksgiving feast (1Ki_8:62-63).
2. A covenant feast (1Ki_8:65).
3. A feast of great gladness.
—For great benefits men should offer great thanksgivings, and indeed should prove their gratitude by promoting the true service of God, and by benevolence to the poor and needy.—Lange.
1Ki_8:62. A sublime spectacle.
1. A nation before the Lord consecrating a temple to His worship.
2. King and people mutually acknowledging sin.
3. King and people uniting in highest acts of devotion.
4. King and people rejoicing together.
1Ki_8:63. Sacrifices.
1. Were offered ever since the fall.
2. Were a perpetual memorial of Jehovah’s covenant with His people.
3. An acknowledgment of Divine mercies.
4. Necessary as an expiation for human sin.
1Ki_8:64. The Burnt Offering was so called because the victim was wholly consumed by fire upon the altar, and so, as it were, sent up to God on the wings of fire. This idea which is expressed in the account of Noah’s sacrifice, and which constantly recurs both in the Scriptures and in profane authors, is implied in the Hebrew word, which signifies to ascend. The sacrifice was a memorial of God’s covenant, and signified that the offerer belonged wholly to God, and that he dedicated himself soul and body to Him, and placed his life at His disposal. And every such sacrifice was a type of the perfect offering made by Christ, on behalf of the human race, of His human nature and will to the will of the Father. The Meat Offering always accompanied the burnt offering, for which it might be substituted by the poor. As the burnt offering signified the consecration of life to God, both that of the offerer himself and of his living property, so in the meat offering the produce of the land was presented before Jehovah, as being His gift. The Peace Offering was not an atoning sacrifice to make peace with God, but a joyful celebration of peace made through the covenant. In this part of the Mosaic ritual, more than in any other, we see Jehovah present in His house, inviting the worshipper to feast with Him. Peace offerings were presented either as a thanksgiving, or in fulfilment of a vow, or as a free-will offering of love and joy.
1Ki_8:66. When a man has rendered unto God what is of God, he can go forth to his daily labour with joy and gladness. To praise and thank God makes the heart glad and willing to work. A good king is the joy of his subjects. When we return to our eternal home, our joy shall never end; and our King Jesus will be the theme of everlasting praise.
—As the King concluded, the cloud which had rested over the Holy of Holies grew brighter and more dazzling; fire broke out and consumed all the sacrifices (2Ch_7:1); the priests stood without, awestruck by the insupportable splendour; the whole people fell on their faces, and worshipped and praised the Lord, “for He is good, for His mercy is for ever.” Which was the greater, the external magnificence or the moral sublimity of this scene? Was it the Temple, situated on its commanding eminence, with all its courts, the dazzling splendour of its materials, the innumerable multitudes, the priests in their gorgeous attire, the king, with all the insignia of royalty on his throne of burnished brass, the music, the radiant cloud filling the Temple, the sudden fire flashing upon the altar, the whole nation upon their knees? Was it not rather the religious grandeur of the hymns and of the prayer; the exalted and rational views of the Divine Nature; the union of a whole people in the adoration of one Great, Incomprehensible, Almighty, Everlasting Creator?—Dean Milman.
—“For all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant.” The heritage of the good.
1. Is transmitted to succeeding generations.
2. Bears constant testimony to the Divine faithfulness (comp. 1Ki_8:15).
3. Demands continued obedience on the part of its possessor.
4. Is an unspeakable boon to any nation.
5. Should be earnestly coveted and faithfully preserved.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv62, 64 all Israel with him ... all the people of…
all Israel with him ... all the people of Israel
These generalizations may refer either 1) to the people whom Solomon called to Jerusalem and who are listed in 1 Kings 8:1, or 2) to those who traveled to Jerusalem for the feast, not necessarily to every person who lived in Israel. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
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twenty-two thousand oxen
"22,000 oxen" (See: Numbers)
120,000 sheep
"one hundred twenty thousand sheep" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
king
Israel
sacrifice
fellowship offering
cow
ewe
dedicate
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v62 8:62-66 The closing sacrifices (see Deut 12:5-14) and the…
8:62-66 The closing sacrifices (see Deut 12:5-14) and the observance of the Festival of Shelters close the narrative frame that was opened with the sacrifices made when the Ark was installed in the Most Holy Place (1 Kgs 8:1-11; cp. 2 Chr 7:1-6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.