7:1 Cumque complesset Salomon fundens preces, ignis descendit de caelo, et devoravit holocausta et victimas : et majestas Domini implevit domum.
And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and the majesty of the Lord filled the house.
A.M. 3001.
7:2 Nec poterant sacerdotes ingredi templum Domini, eo quod implesset majestas Domini templum Domini.
*H Neither could the priests enter into the temple of the Lord, because the majesty of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord.
Ver. 2. Majesty; the cloud. For some time the priests were obliged to keep at a distance. They afterwards offered up many victims. C.
7:3 Sed et omnes filii Israel videbant descendentem ignem, et gloriam Domini super domum : et corruentes proni in terram super pavimentum stratum lapide, adoraverunt, et laudaverunt Dominum, quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus.
*H Moreover all the children of Israel saw the fire coming down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house: and falling down with their faces to the ground, upon the stone pavement, they adored and praised the Lord: because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever.
Ver. 3. Glory. The same word was before rendered majesty. H.
7:4 Rex autem et omnis populus immolabant victimas coram Domino.
*H And the king and all the people sacrificed victims before the Lord.
Ver. 4. Victims, by the hands of the priests: or they slew them themselves, and presented the blood and fat to be placed on the altar by the priests.
7:5 Mactavit igitur rex Salomon hostias, boum viginti duo millia, arietum centum viginti millia : et dedicavit domum Dei rex, et universus populus.
*H And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand rams: and the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
Ver. 5. Rams, including sheep and goats. — People, each in their proper sphere. The priests had the chief part, as the ministers of religion. The solemnity continued for a week, and many altars were erected in the court. C.
* Footnote * 3_Kings 8 : 63
And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to 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 temple of the Lord.
7:6 Sacerdotes autem stabant in officiis suis, et Levitae in organis carminum Domini, quae fecit David rex ad laudandum Dominum : Quoniam in aeternum misericordia ejus, hymnos David canentes per manus suas : porro sacerdotes canebant tubis ante eos, cunctusque Israel stabat.
*H And the priests stood in their offices: and the Levites with the instruments of music of the Lord, which king David made to praise the Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever, singing the hymns of David by their ministry: and the priests sounded with trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
Ver. 6. Which music, or Psalms, (carminum) David had composed. H. — Because. This was the chorus of the 135th Psalm, which was sung on this occasion by some, while others played on their musical instruments. C. — Lit. "singing by their hands." Prot. "when David praised by their ministry." H. — As the temple was chosen by God for the place of prayer, so special forms of blessing, &c. are more agreeable to him. W.
7:7 Sanctificavit quoque Salomon medium atrii ante templum Domini : obtulerat enim ibi holocausta et adipes pacificorum : quia altare aeneum quod fecerat, non poterat sustinere holocausta et sacrificia et adipes.
Solomon also sanctified the middle of the court before the temple of the Lord: for he offered there the holocausts, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar, which he had made, could not hold the holocausts and the sacrifices and the fat:
7:8 Fecit ergo Salomon solemnitatem in tempore illo septem diebus, et omnis Israel cum eo, ecclesia magna valde, ab introitu Emath usque ad torrentem Aegypti.
And Solomon kept the solemnity at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Emath to the torrent of Egypt.
7:9 Fecitque die octavo collectam, eo quod dedicasset altare septem diebus, et solemnitatem celebrasset diebus septem.
*H And he made on the eighth day a solemn assembly, because he had kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and had celebrated the solemnity seven days.
Ver. 9. Solemnity of tabernacles, (M.) which ensued after the dedication was ended.
7:10 Igitur in die vigesimo tertio mensis septimi, dimisit populos ad tabernacula sua, laetantes atque gaudentes super bono quod fecerat Dominus Davidi, et Salomoni, et Israeli populo suo.
*H So on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent away the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad for the good that the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to all Israel his people.
Ver. 10. Day. He had given them leave to depart, the day before. 3 K. viii. 66.
7:11 Complevitque Salomon domum Domini, et domum regis, et omnia quae disposuerat in corde suo ut faceret in domo Domini, et in domo sua, et prosperatus est.
And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered.
* Footnote * 3_Kings 9 : 1
And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he desired and was pleased to do,
7:12 Apparuit autem ei Dominus nocte, et ait : Audivi orationem tuam, et elegi locum istum mihi in domum sacrificii.
And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
7:13 Si clausero caelum, et pluvia non fluxerit, et mandavero et praecepero locustae ut devoret terram, et misero pestilentiam in populum meum :
If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders, and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people:
7:14 conversus autem populus meus, super quos invocatum est nomen meum, deprecatus me fuerit, et exquisierit faciem meam, et egerit poenitentiam a viis suis pessimis : et ego exaudiam de caelo, et propitius ero peccatis eorum, et sanabo terram eorum.
*H And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.
Ver. 14. Face, to appease me, that I may look down upon them in mercy. C.
7:15 Oculi quoque mei erunt aperti, et aures meae erectae ad orationem ejus, qui in loco isto oraverit.
My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place.
7:16 Elegi enim, et sanctificavi locum istum, ut sit nomen meum ibi in sempiternum, et permaneant oculi mei et cor meum ibi cunctis diebus.
For I have chosen, and have sanctified this place, that my name may be there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain there perpetually.
7:17 Tu quoque si ambulaveris coram me, sicut ambulaverit David pater tuus, et feceris juxta omnia quae praecepi tibi, et justitias meas judiciaque servaveris :
And as for thee, if thou walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and keep my justices and my judgments:
7:18 suscitabo thronum regni tui, sicut pollicitus sum David patri tuo, dicens : Non auferetur de stirpe tua vir qui sit princeps in Israel.
I will raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to David thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man of thy stock to be ruler in Israel.
7:19 Si autem aversi fueritis, et dereliqueritis justitias meas, et praecepta mea quae proposui vobis, et abeuntes servieritis diis alienis, et adoraveritis eos,
But if you turn away, and forsake my justices, and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve strange gods, and adore them,
7:20 evellam vos de terra mea quam dedi vobis : et domum hanc, quam sanctificavi nomini meo, projiciam a facie mea, et tradam eam in parabolam, et in exemplum cunctis populis.
I will pluck you up by the root out of my land which I have given you: and this house which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from before my face, and will make it a byword, and an example among all nations.
7:21 Et domus ista erit in proverbium universis transeuntibus, et dicent stupentes : Quare fecit Dominus sic terrae huic, et domui huic ?
And this house shall be for a proverb to all that pass by, and they shall be astonished and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?
7:22 Respondebuntque : Quia dereliquerunt Dominum Deum patrum suorum, qui eduxit eos de terra Aegypti, et apprehenderunt deos alienos, et adoraverunt eos, et coluerunt : idcirco venerunt super eos universa haec mala.
And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore all these evils are come upon them.