1 Kings 8:10-11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 8:1-11

The temple, though richly beautified, yet while it was without the ark was like a body without a soul, or a candlestick without a candle, or (to speak more properly) a house without an inhabitant. All the cost and pains bestowed on this stately structure are lost if God do not accept them; and, unless he please to own it as the place where he will record his name, it is after all but a ruinous heap. When therefore all the work is ended (1 Kgs. 7:51), the one thing needful is yet behind, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 8:10

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place ,.... The most holy place, having set up the ark of the Lord there, who were all sanctified that were there, and did not wait by course as at other times, see 2 Chronicles 5:11 , where in 2 Chronicles 5:12 it is said, that at this time, the Levites, who were singers of the families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, arrayed in fine linen, with their musical instruments in their hands, stood at the east end of the altar of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 8:11

So that the priests could not stand to minister, because of the cloud ,.... Either through the darkness it first caused, or through the light that broke out of it, which was dazzling to them, or through the terror it struck their minds with; they could neither minister in the holy place, by offering incense there; and as for the most holy place, none but the high priest could minister there, and that on one day only; nor in the court of the priests, at the altar of burnt offerings: for... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 8:10

When the priests were come out - That is, after having carried the ark into the holy of holies, before any sacred service had yet commenced. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 8:11

The glory of the Lord had filled the house - The cloud, the symbol of the Divine glory and presence, appears to have filled not only the holy of holies, but the whole temple, court and all, and to have become evident to the people; and by this Solomon knew that God had honored the place with his presence, and taken it for his habitation in reference to the people of Israel. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 8:8-11

The Dedication of the Temple and its Teaching. The eighth day of the seventh month of the year 1004 B.C or, according to some, B.C. 1000, was one of the brightest days of Jewish history— "a day in golden letters to be set Among the high tides of the calendar;" for on that day the holy and beautiful house, which had been seven and a half years in building, for which preparations had been made for a much longer period ( 1 Chronicles 22:5 ), and on which a force of some one hundred... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 8:10

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out [Rather, as the priests came out ] of the holy place [It has been supposed that "the holy" ( הַקֹּדֶשׁ ) is here put for the most holy place, as in Ezekiel 41:23 . But this is not by any means the necessary interpretation. The cloud may obviously have filled the entire building only as the priests left it. It would seem, however, from Ezekiel 41:11 as if the priests, having left the oracle , were about to min later in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 8:10-11

The Presence of the Lord in the House of the Lord. The Shechinah, which is here referred to, was a most brilliant and glorious light, usually concealed by a cloud; a fit emblem, therefore, of Jehovah, the God of light and of glory, who is retied from His creatures. As the visible symbol of the Divine presence, "the pillar of cloud and fire," had gone before Israel in the wilderness, proving their guide and defence. Suddenly and mysteriously it appeared in the new temple of Solomon, at the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 8:10-11

The Glory cloud. Never did Solomon appear so much "in all his glory" as on this memorial day of the dedication of the temple. The solemnities of the service, the procession of the sacred ark from the city of David into its resting place, the robed priests, the rapturous multitude, the unnumbered sacrifices, the music and the songs, must have formed altogether a marvellous spectacle. But of all the incidents of the day none could be compared with that of the sudden appearance of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 8:11

So that the priests could not stand to rainwater because of the cloud [They were overpowered by the manifestation, precisely as Moses had been before ( Exodus 40:35 ). It was at the moment when the singers and trumpeters, standing at the east end of the altar, began their service of praise—and the reappearance of the priests may well have been the signal for them to begin ( 2 Chronicles 5:13 )—that "the house was filled with a cloud." Possibly the priests were about to burn incense.... read more

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