Ver. 1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year, &c.] Not in the four hundred and ninetieth year, as Beda reckoneth, much less four hundred and ninety-second, as Josephus, or five hundred and eighty-eighth, as Sulpitius. Were come out of the land of Egypt.] And so began to be a commonwealth, which since the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, they could never be again, but remain a dejected and despised people. In the fourth year of Solomon’s reign.] For so long he was settling the kingdom, and making preparation for the work. His father had left vast sums of gold and silver, even a hundred thousand talents of gold, which is, say interpreters, one thousand and two hundred millions of our money, and a thousand thousand talents of silver, which amount to as much—viz., to a thousand and two hundred millions of gold, besides abundance of brass, wood, stones, and other materials. (1 Chronicles 22:14) Yet all this served not in any comparison for the perfecting of this most stately and costly structure, the world’s wonderment, the house of the most high God, (1 Chronicles 2:5) and a type of the Church triumphant in heaven, as the tabernacle had been of the Church militant upon earth. In the month Zif.] Which was the April moon, the second month of the sacred year. (Exodus 12:2) It signifieth brightness; because the creatures begin then to be in their flourish. The Chaldee calleth it mensem aparitionis florum, the month of the displaying of flowers. Which is the second month] For Abib, signifying the spring, was the first. (Exodus 12:2 13:4) On the second day of this second month he began to build. (2 Chronicles 3:2) Not on the sixth, as Calvisius saith, or on the eighth, as Capellus, or on the ninth and twentieth, as Scaliger. He began to build.] Heb., He built: but this house was not built in a day. Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur. Good beginnings are well interpreted in heaven, so they be well prosecuted. The place of this house is noted to be Mount Moriah. (2 Chronicles 3:1) Plato and Aristotle observe that temples are most fitly built on mountains; ut eminus sint conspicua, that they may be seen afar off. Plat., lib. vii. De Leg. Arist., lib. vi. Polit.
Ver. 2. And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord.] For his settled habitation among the children of Israel. And forasmuch as the Lord their God was above all gods, (2 Chronicles 2:5) a great God, a mighty and a terrible, (Deuteronomy 10:17) therefore Solomon set up this most glorious and sumptuous edifice that ever was in the world, in honour of the divine Majesty, and for a type of Christ, “in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9) The length thereof was threescore cubits.] Twice so long and large every way as was the tabernacle; (Exodus 26) as the temple in Ezekiel, (Ezekiel 40:41-49) setting forth gospel times, is described as much bigger than all the old Jerusalem: and a new Jerusalem bigger than all the land of Canaan.
Ver. 3. And the porch before the temple.] At the east end of it: for the most holy place, toward which they prayed, stood westward: that God’s people might not be like the heathen, who worshipped toward the east, as Cicero and Vitruvius testify. See Ezekiel 8:16. And ten cubits was the breadth thereof.] The height of it far exceeded that of the temple: for it was one hundred and twenty cubits high, (2 Chronicles 3:4) and so was as a tower to the rest of the house.
Ver. 4. And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.] Or, Broad within and narrow without. Or, Skewed and closed, that is, glazed, as R. Jehudah interpreteth it. Bright the temple was, as being full of windows so Christ came “a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on him should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46) The first thing the Spirit doth in a sanctified soul, is to beat out new windows there, and to diffuse a marvellous light. (Acts 26:19) Prospectui accommodas clausus. -Jun.
Ver. 5. He built chambers round about.] Against all the parts of the temple, but only the entrance, which was at the east end. Of these chambers, or galleries, there were three stories, five cubits high, for the use of the priests that served at the altar.
Ver. 6. The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, &c.] Each one of these lofts, as they were above other, so they were larger than other. To show, saith one, the several degrees and places appointed by God in his Church, -apostles, evangelists, doctors, pastors, and elders, &c.
Ver. 7. Was built of stone.] Tam artificiose non tantum sine deformi cicatrice vulneris, sed et sine subtilissimae suturae notis, ut imponerent oculo spectatoris…quasi tota moles in tantam magnitudinem ex unico ingenti lapide tam magnifice consurgeret: i.e., so artificially were the stones of the temple polished and cemented together, as if the whole fabric had been but one entire stone. Made ready before it was brought thither;] Hewn and hammered in the mount, not so taken out of quarry, -so God had ordered it, -that there needed no tool of iron to fit them, as Procopius and Glycas imagined, because it followeth, So that there was neither hammer nor axe, &c.] In the house indeed no tool was heard, no noise was made, to show that there should be no contentions in the Church militant, and that there shall be no afflictions or sufferings in the Church triumphant. Haec vita est officina in qua lapides templi aeterni scalpantur ac dedolentur, ut recists aut resectis depravatae naturae vitiis, caelesti aedifico perficiendo cum honore ac decore adhiberi et aptari possint: Here the saints are hewed and squared by God’s word, (Hosea 6:5) and by his strokes, (Isaiah 27:9) that they may be fitted for the heavenly temple.