1 Kings 8:2

2. The feast in the month Ethanim Which was the feast of tabernacles. See at Leviticus 23:34-43. Ethanim, which Gesenius defines as “the month of flowing streams,” corresponded with our October. Solomon finished the temple in the eighth month, (1 Kings 6:38,) but waited till the seventh month of the next year for the dedication, that it might be coincident with the feast of tabernacles. It is probable, also, that while the temple itself was finished in the eighth month of Solomon’s eleventh year, (1 Kings 6:38,) the various vessels described in 1 Kings 7:23-50 were not completed till some time afterward, and the temple could not be dedicated till all these were finished. It is absurd, however, to suppose, as some do, that Solomon deferred the dedication of the temple for thirteen years after he had completed it. This feast was designed for a thanksgiving and rejoicing over the fruits of harvest, (Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:13,) and also for a commemoration of the time when Israel dwelt in booths, in the desert. Leviticus 23:43. It was therefore fitting to associate the dedication of the temple with this important feast, for the ark that had dwelt in a tabernacle, and been carried to and fro for five hundred years, was now to enter into its place of rest. Compare 1 Chronicles 28:2; 2 Chronicles 6:41. And so the holy house, begun in the month of flowers and finished in the month of garnered fruits, (see note on 1 Kings 6:38,) was appropriately consecrated in the month of thanksgiving.