1Ki 8:1
8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the
    heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the
    children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that
    they might {a} bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD
    out of the city of David, which [is] Zion.

    (a) For David brought it from Obed-edom, and placed it in
        the tabernacle which he made for it in 2Sa 6:17.

1Ki 8:2
8:2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king
    Solomon at the feast in the month {b} Ethanim, which [is]
    the seventh month.

    (b) Containing part of September and part of October, in
        which they held three solemn feasts, Nu 29:1.

1Ki 8:6
8:6 And the {c} priests brought in the ark of the covenant of
    the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to
    the most holy [place, even] under the wings of the
    cherubims.

    (c) That is, the Kohathites, Nu 4:5.

1Ki 8:8
8:8 And they {d} drew out the staves, that the ends of the
    staves were seen out in the holy [place] before the oracle,
    and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this
    day.

    (d) They drew them out only far enough to be seen, for they
        could not pull them out completely, Ex 25:15.

1Ki 8:9
8:9 [There was] nothing in the ark {e} save the two tables of
    stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a
    covenant] with the children of Israel, when they came out of
    the land of Egypt.

    (e) For it is likely that the enemy when they had the ark in
        their hands took away the rod of Aaron and the pot of
        manna.

1Ki 8:13
8:13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled
     place for thee to abide in for {f} ever.

     (f) He spoke according to the tenor of God's promise which
         was on the condition that they served him correctly.

1Ki 8:21
8:21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein [is] the
     {g} covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers,
     when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

     (g) The two tables in which the articles of the covenant
         were written.

1Ki 8:23
8:23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, [there is] no God like
     thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest
     covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee
     with {h} all their heart:

     (h) Truthfully and without hypocrisy.

1Ki 8:27
8:27 {i} But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the
     heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much
     less this house that I have builded?

     (i) He is ravished with the admiration of God's mercies,
         who being incomprehensible and Lord over all will
         become familiar with men.

1Ki 8:31
8:31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, {k} and an oath
     be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come
     before thine altar in this house:

     (k) That is, the judge or neighbours.

1Ki 8:32
8:32 Then hear thou in heaven, and {l} do, and judge thy
     servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his
     head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according
     to his righteousness.

     (l) That is, make it known.

1Ki 8:33
8:33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy,
     because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again
     to thee, and {m} confess thy name, and pray, and make
     supplication unto thee in this house:

     (m) Acknowledge your just judgment and praise you.

1Ki 8:35
8:35 When heaven is {n} shut up, and there is no rain, because
     they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this
     place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when
     thou afflictest them:

     (n) So that there is a drought to destroy the fruit of the
         land.

1Ki 8:38
8:38 What prayer and supplication soever be [made] by any man,
     [or] by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man
     the plague of his own {o} heart, and spread forth his hands
     toward this house:

     (o) For such are most suitable to receive God's mercies.

1Ki 8:41
8:41 Moreover concerning a {p} stranger, that [is] not of thy
     people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy
     name's sake;

     (p) He means such as should be turned from their idolatry
         to serve the true God.

1Ki 8:43
8:43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to
     all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people
     of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as [do] thy
     people Israel; and that they may know that this house,
     which I have builded, is called by thy {q} name.

     (q) That this is the true religion with which you will be
         worshipped.

1Ki 8:47
8:47 [Yet] if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither
     they were carried captives, and repent, and make
     supplication unto thee {r} in the land of them that carried
     them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done
     perversely, we have committed wickedness;

     (r) Though the temple was the chief place of prayer, yet he
         does not exclude them who being forced by necessity to
         call upon him in other places.

1Ki 8:48
8:48 And [so] return unto thee with all their heart, and with
     all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led
     them away captive, and pray unto thee toward {s} their
     land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which
     thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy
     name:

     (s) As Daniel did in Da 6:10.

1Ki 8:50
8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and
     all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed
     against thee, and give them compassion before them who
     carried them captive, that they may {t} have compassion on
     them:

     (t) He understood by faith, that God of enemies would make
         friends with them who converted to him.

1Ki 8:54
8:54 And it was [so], that when Solomon had made an {u} end of
     praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he
     arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on
     his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

     (u) Solomon is a figure of Christ, who continually is the
         mediator between God and his Church.

1Ki 8:58
8:58 That he may {x} incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all
     his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes,
     and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

     (x) He concludes that man of himself is enemy to God, and
         that all obedience to his law proceeds from his mercy.

1Ki 8:63
8:63 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 {y} house of the LORD.

     (y) Before the oracle where the ark was.

1Ki 8:65
8:65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with
     him, a great congregation, from the entering in of {z}
     Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God,
     {a} seven days and seven days, [even] fourteen days.

     (z) That is, from North to South: meaning all the country.
     (a) Seven days for the dedication, and seven for the feast.