2 Chronicles 6:1–7:3

6:2–11 Praising God for his gracious twofold promise to David—of a son who would reign and the temple the son would build—has been an emphasis of the Chronicler. While this text mostly matches 1 Kings 8:14–21, the Chronicler has already used words similar to these (cf. comments on 1 Chron. 17:1–15; 22:6–10; 28:2–10). One modification of Kings is the expansion (shown in italics) in verses 5–6: “I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.” For the Chronicler, the dual choice of David and of Jerusalem as the temple site is important: Jerusalem continues as the center for worship.¹

With all of the emphasis on the Davidic promises now being fulfilled because “I [Solomon] have risen in the place of David . . . and I have built the house for the name of the Lord,” the blessing significantly ends by referring to the ark “set” in its place. The promises made to David as king are an expression of the ongoing covenant “made with the people of Israel.”

6:12–17 Solomon turns back to God as he prays, kneeling with outstretched hands, a posture known from contemporary inscriptions (cf. 1 Kings 8:54). Mention of the “platform” is unique to Chronicles, although the Hebrew details suggest the term may have been included in the text of Kings used by the writer.²

Solomon’s prayer for continuity of the Davidic dynasty opens with the basis upon which he can ask: the Lord, unlike other gods, is utterly reliable; he keeps covenant and kept his word to David. Petition is not a matter of “I would like . . .” or “this would make my life more pleasant” but flows from the already known words and deeds of God. A quick reading may see the petition “let your word be confirmed” as relating solely to dynastic continuity; the overall repeated phrasing, however, includes inseparably the matter of “walk[ing] before you with all their heart. . . . in [God’s] law [like David]” (2 Chron. 6:14, 16). The petition is for continuity of a dynasty that lives according to God’s covenantal laws (cf. 1 Chron. 28:7–9).

6:18–21 How can man speak of God as being transcendent and yet present in some special way? The Chronicler has already raised the question in 2:6; there the temple was to be a place for offering sacrifices. Here he adds focus by asking how God can not only “dwell on the earth” (as in 1 Kings 8:27) but even dwell “with man [ʼadam] on the earth”: humans are his creation and clearly occupy specific space, with evident boundaries, but God cannot be contained by space, even by the “highest heaven” (made by God and called to praise him; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 148:4). Nevertheless, he has promised to “set [his] name” in the temple (cf. a similar juxtaposition in Deut. 10:14–15, where the limitless God “set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring”).

Given God’s prior action, it is appropriate to ask that God would always pay attention to the prayers of king and people as they look to his “house,” thereby signifying that they are praying to him and not to another god. Just as subjects of an earthly king come to the king’s “house” (palace) with their petitions, so the people look to the King of kings in his “house” (temple). Yet the place where God “hears” (with the implied response) is not the temple but “heaven, your dwelling place.” The imagery can be compared to David’s imagery of the ark as God’s “footstool” (1 Chron. 28:2; Ps. 132:7).

Significantly, the first response sought from God is for him to “forgive.” Prayer begins with praise and thanksgiving, which leads to recognition of humanity’s basic need. In the OT, “forgive” (Hb. salakh) is used only with God as the subject; Nehemiah bases his plea on the history of God’s dealing with his people, which shows that “you are a God ready to forgive” (Neh. 9:17). God’s forgiveness involves the removal of sin, the restoration of full relationship with God, and consequent blessings, illustrated in the prayer that follows.³

The general supplication in 2 Chronicles 6:18–21 introduces key words and phrases that reverberate in the specific petitions:⁴

1. “prayer” (tefillah): verses 19 (2x), 20, 29, 35, 39, 40
2. “plea” (tekhinnah, supplication, for favor): verses 19, 29, 35, 39
3. God to “hear, listen” (shamaʻ): verses 19, 20, 21 (3x), 23, 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 39
   1. “from/in heaven”: verses 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 39
4. God’s “eyes open”: verses 20, 40
5. “(this) house”: verses 18, 20, 22, 24, 29, 32, 33, 34, 38
6. “(this) place”: verses 20 (2x), 21 (2x), 26, 40
7. “your people Israel”: verses 21, 24, 25, 27, 29, 33; “your people”: vv. 27, 34, 39; also “foreigner, who is not of your people Israel”: verse 32
8. “forgive”: verses 21, 25, 27, 30, 39

6:22–39 Seven specific petitions describe situations that are not right, each a cry for God to act. By following 1 Kings 8:31–50a with very little change in 2 Chronicles 6:22–39, the Chronicler affirms for his hearers several themes:

(1) Prayer is directed to God, who hears and forgives. The temple is a physical focus, for God has chosen to put his name there, but it is from heaven that he responds. The common structure for each petition is like a drumbeat of this theme:

1. “If/when . . .” (something that is wrong; vv. 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36)
2. “and (if/when) they pray” (or another action or attitude, always related to the temple; vv. 22, 24, 26, 29, 32, 34, 37–38)
3. “then hear from/in heaven” and act to restore (vv. 23, 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 39)

(2) Prayer is to be made by anyone in all kinds of situations, expressed most comprehensively in the middle petition (vv. 28–31) with a sixfold kol (“all, every, each”): “whatever plague, whatever sickness . . . , whatever prayer, whatever plea . . . by any man⁵ or by all your people Israel.” What could be seen as sweeping generalizations (“everything and everyone”) is balanced by individuality as each person (ʼish) “knows” his own “affliction and sorrow [or “pain”; added by the Chronicler]” and makes his own prayer. The petition is for God to respond to each person (ʼish), for he alone “knows” each person’s “heart.”

(3) Prayer is to be made by “all your people Israel” (v. 29; cf. vv. 24, 26, 34, 39), but as elsewhere in Chronicles, there is openness. The twofold use of ʼadam in verses 29–30 (“man,” “mankind”) could refer narrowly to any person in Israel, but the phrase “children of mankind” (cf. Ps. 33:13) and the book’s first word, “Adam” (1 Chron. 1:1), point to a more general intention. The sixth petition is clear in welcoming the “foreigner” with a desire that “all the peoples of the earth” might know the Lord (2 Chron. 6:32–33).

(4) The desire in the prayer is for people to live in “the land” that God gave to “their/our fathers” (vv. 25, 31, 38) as an “inheritance” (v. 27) and thus gave also to the current generation, “them” (v. 25, added for emphasis by the Chronicler).

(5) Life in the land with blessing, however, cannot be separated from being taught God’s ways (v. 27). In verse 31, the Chronicler emphasizes the petition for people to “fear you” by adding “and walk in your ways”; it was failure to do so that had led to the disasters (similarly vv. 37–38).

The final petition (vv. 36–39) is rephrased slightly in order to be relevant for the Chronicler’s hearers. No more is there any need to pray that the exiles (“captives”) might receive “compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive” (1 Kings 8:50b), for the Persians have already enabled the exiles to return. Similarly, after a brief mention of an “enemy” who carried them “captive” (2 Chron. 6:36), other references in Kings to “enemies” or “captors” are changed to the abstract “captivity” (vv. 37, 38). No longer are people who continue in the “land of their captivity” held there against their will, but it is still relevant to pray that they too would “repent”⁶ and “pray toward their land . . . , the city . . . , and the house” (v. 38). No matter where people are located, they are to pray toward the temple in Jerusalem and to look to God to “maintain their cause and forgive” them.

6:40–42 In place of 1 Kings 8:50b–53, which appeals to God on the basis of the exodus and so was relevant for captives under the Babylonians, the Chronicler, with a repeated “now,” provides fitting concluding pleas that provide a summary and also echo Psalm 132:8–10 (and possibly Isa. 55:3).

Solomon first recapitulates the general petition of 2 Chronicles 6:19–21, again asking that God’s “eyes may be open” (6:20) and his “ears attentive” (cf. “listen, hear”; 6:19, 20, 21 [3x], etc.) to the prayers connected with “this place” (6:20 [2x], 21 [2x]). That God answers Solomon’s prayer will be affirmed with the same combination of phrases when the Lord appears to him (7:15).

The second “and now” is a major change from Kings. Instead of the exodus and Moses, the appeal is to the ark as a sign of God’s royal presence and to the Davidic covenant. The Chronicler’s adaptation of Psalm 132 is appropriate for this occasion on which the ark is placed in the temple with praise and when the continuation of the Davidic covenant is evident in Solomon’s reign (so taking up themes of 2 Chron. 5:1–6:17). For the Chronicler’s hearers, however, this becomes a prayer in which the postexilic community is encouraged to join with heartfelt hope (in the same way as Psalm 132 itself is included in the book of Psalms). With the ark’s having disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem, and with no Davidic king on the throne, the plea for the Chronicler is that God would again “go to your resting place” (cf. 1 Chron. 28:2) and would remember the covenant with David.

In Kings the ark is not mentioned after its being put in place (1 Kings 8:6–9), but in Chronicles the ark is important as a symbol of God’s kingship and covenantal presence. (Later it is a reason for Pharaoh’s daughter not to live in the city [2 Chron. 8:11] and is important in Josiah’s reform [35:3].) Without the ark, the second temple remains a place for prayer, but the time is yet to come when God would take up his residence again.

The lines that speak of “your anointed one” and “David” are in reverse order of Psalm 132:10 (where “your anointed one” is likely a later king) and appear to echo Psalm 132:1, “Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured,” and possibly Isaiah 55:3 (the only other instance of khasde dawid, “steadfast love for David”). In the psalm, the opening lines tell how David labored until the ark was finally brought to Jerusalem, while the latter part of the psalm is a plea for God to continue to remember his covenant with David. This dual aspect, David’s faithfulness and God’s covenant, has led to some debate over the understanding of Chronicles’ “steadfast love for David”: is it God’s love for David (objective genitive) or David’s love for God (subjective genitive)? Various factors point to the basis for hope being God’s “steadfast love,” including (a) the changes in 2 Chronicles 6:42 that turn attention to God’s relationship with “your anointed one . . . David” (and not a subsequent king); (b) the earlier emphasis on God’s keeping his promise to David (e.g., 6:16–17); and (c) the repeated praise in the surrounding narrative (5:13; 7:3, 6).⁷ Here is expressed a plea, based on God’s past actions, for there again to be “an anointed one.”

Throughout the narrative the Chronicler has brought together priestly involvement in sacrifices, Levitical praise, and participation of “all Israel.” Accordingly, the ark installation has involved priests and Levites and has included focus on the people’s prayer; the psalm quote appropriately brings together “your priests” and “your saints [“faithful ones”].” The temple dedication context is reflected in the prayer, “Let your saints rejoice [samakh] in your goodness [tob]” (6:41b), which will be fulfilled as later “the people” return home, “joyful [a form of samakh] and glad [tob] of heart for the prosperity [tobah, “goodness”] that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people” (7:10).