1 Kings 8:2

1 Kings 8:2. All the men of Israel assembled—in the month Ethanim— To celebrate the dedication of his new temple with greater magnificence, Solomon chose to defer it till the next year, which was the Jubilee, their ninth, according to Archbishop Usher, which opened the fourth millenary of the world: at which solemnity there used to be always a vast concourse of people from all parts of the kingdom. The ceremony began on the eighth day of the seventh month of the sacred year, which was the first of the civil year, answering to the latter end of our October, and lasted seven days; at the end of which began the feast of tabernacles. The ceremony opened with a pompous procession, in which the priests carried the ark from the tabernacle which David had erected for it, to the temple, and deposited it in the most holy place, between the two golden cherubims which Solomon had caused to be made by Hiram, to be a kind of covering to the ark. The king himself, accompanied by all his chief officers and the elders of Israel, marched before the ark: these were followed by a great number of priests and Levites, who sung some canticles proper to the occasion, and played upon various instruments. Next to the ark followed another number of singers and players, with other priests bearing the golden candlesticks, altar of incense, and other sacred utensils of the sanctuary, which had been brought from Gibeon, where they and the tabernacle had been deposited till that time. While the priests were placing the ark in the Holy of Holies, the air rung with the sound of a hundred and twenty trumpets, and with the voices of the Levites, who sang the praises of God, repeating these words at proper stanzas: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;—and his mercy endureth for ever: it was then that God seemed to come down in a visible manner, to take possession, as it were, of his new temple, by filling it with a glorious cloud, as he had formerly done the tabernacle; insomuch that the priests could not stand to offer up the sacrifices which they had prepared upon that occasion. See Exodus 40:34. 2 Chronicles 5:0; 2 Chronicles 5:0 throughout, and Universal History.