Some verses in this chapter have parallels in the books of Samuel and Kings, but the context is not the same. Here David is in communication with the Lord about the building of the Temple, elsewhere Solomon is reminiscing about his father’s desire to build the Temple.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד זֶה הוּא בֵּית יְהוָה הָאֱלֹהִים וְזֶה־מִּזְבֵּחַ לְעֹלָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ 22:1
1Chr. 22:1 So David said, “This is it, the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar for the burnt offering for Israel.”
I imagine we must presume that this verse follows from 1Chr. 21:28.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד לִכְנוֹס אֶת־הַגֵּרִים אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּעֲמֵד חֹצְבִים לַחְצוֹב אַבְנֵי גָזִית לִבְנוֹת בֵּית 22:2
הָאֱלֹהִים׃
1Chr. 22:2 And David commanded to gather the strangers who were in the land of Israel, and he set masons to make hewn stones to build the house of God.
וּבַרְזֶל לָרֹב לַמִּסְמְרִים לְדַלְתוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים וְלַמְחַבְּרוֹת הֵכִין דָּוִיד וּנְחֹשֶׁת לָרֹב אֵין מִשְׁקָל׃ 22:3
1Chr. 22:3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, for the couplings, and brass was in such abundance to not be weighable.
וַעֲצֵי אֲרָזִים לְאֵין מִסְפָּר כִּי הֵבִיאוּ הַצִּידֹנִים וְהַצֹּרִים עֲצֵי אֲרָזִים לָרֹב לְדָוִיד׃ 22:4
1Chr. 22:4 And cedar trees were without number, for the Zidonians and the Tyrians brought cedar trees in abundance to David.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד שְׁלֹמֹה בְנִי נַעַר וָרָךְ וְהַבַּיִת לִבְנוֹת לַיהוָה לְהַגְדִּיל לְמַעְלָה לְשֵׁם וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת 22:5
לְכָל־הָאֲרָצוֹת אָכִינָה נָּא לוֹ וַיָּכֶן דָּוִיד לָרֹב לִפְנֵי מוֹתוֹ׃
1Chr. 22:5 And David thought, “Solomon, my son, is young and tender, yet the house to be built for the Lord must be of the highest magnificence, for fame and for glory in all the lands. I will prepare now for him.” So David prepared in abundance before his death.
וַיִּקְרָא לִשְׁלֹמֹה בְנוֹ וַיְצַוֵּהוּ לִבְנוֹת בַּיִת לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ 22:6
1Chr. 22:6 And he called for Solomon, his son, and he charged him to build the house for the Lord, God of Israel.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד לִשְׁלֹמֹה (בְּנֹו) [בְּנִי] אֲנִי הָיָה עִם־לְבָבִי לִבְנֹות בַּיִת לְשֵׁם יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי׃ 22:7
1Chr. 22:7 And David said to Solomon, his son, “I was with my heart to build the house for the name of the Lord, my God.”
I wish I could be privy to the thinking of the ancient sages. Often marveling at how they claim to recognize minute errors, real and imagined, in the Hebrew, I have usually assumed their overzealous flagging of questionable Hebrew spelling. Here is a case in point. The word in the parentheses is translated as his son. The word in the brackets is translated as my son. In the latter case the word would be included in the quotation. Two verses before this, David thinks, “,,,, my son, ....”. In the verse preceding this one, David calls for Solomon, “his son.” Now what is the correct interpretation in this verse? As you may know, I am inclined to not flag a word as an error unless it is obvious. There is nothing obvious about the “error” in this verse. And this verse is not a repetition of anything that came previously in either of the books of Samuel or of Kings. So in my usual naive (but brazen) fashion, I don’t accept that this word is in error.
וַיְהִי עָלַי דְּבַר־יְהוָה לֵאמֹר דָּם לָרֹב שָׁפַכְתָּ וּמִלְחָמוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת עָשִׂיתָ לֹא־תִבְנֶה בַיִת לִשְׁמִי כִּי דָּמִים 22:8
רַבִּים שָׁפַכְתָּ אַרְצָה לְפָנָי׃
1Chr. 22:8 “But the word of the Lord had been upon me saying, ‘You have spilled blood in abundance and have made great wars. You shall not build the house for My name, because you have spilled too much blood to the earth before Me.’
הִנֵּה־בֵן נוֹלָד לָךְ הוּא יִהְיֶה אִישׁ מְנוּחָה וַהֲנִחוֹתִי לוֹ מִכָּל־אוֹיְבָיו מִסָּבִיב כִּי שְׁלֹמֹה יִהְיֶה שְׁמוֹ 22:9
וְשָׁלוֹם וָשֶׁקֶט אֶתֵּן עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיָמָיו׃
1Chr. 22:9 ‘Behold, a son is to be born to you; he will be a man of rest, as I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, that Solomon will be his name, and I shall bestow peace and quiet upon Israel during his days.’
It’s interesting that the Lord presumably uses the words “... I shall bestow peace and quiet upon Israel.” In reality there was much distress throughout Israel during most of Solomon’s reign because of his odious taxes, as we have read in 1Kings Chapter 12 following Solomon’s death. I presume that the phrase peace and quiet must have meant no war.
הוּא־יִבְנֶה בַיִת לִשְׁמִי וְהוּא יִהְיֶה־לִּי לְבֵן וַאֲנִי־לוֹ לְאָב וַהֲכִינוֹתִי כִּסֵּא מַלְכוּתוֹ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל 22:10
עַד־עוֹלָם׃
1Chr. 22:10 ‘He shall build the house for My name, and he shall be for a son to Me and I for a Father to him, and I shall establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’”
עַתָּה בְנִי יְהִי יְהוָה עִמָּךְ וְהִצְלַחְתָּ וּבָנִיתָ בֵּית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר עָלֶיךָ׃ 22:11
1Chr. 22:11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you that you may prosper and build the house of the Lord, your God, as He has spoken concerning you.”
אַךְ יִתֶּן־לְּךָ יְהוָה שֵׂכֶל וּבִינָה וִיצַוְּךָ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלִשְׁמוֹר אֶת־תּוֹרַת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ׃ 22:12
1Chr. 22:12 “Indeed, may the Lord give you understanding and insight, as He charges you concerning Israel and keeping the law of the Lord, your God.”
אָז תַּצְלִיחַ אִם־תִּשְׁמוֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת־הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶׁה 22:13
עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ אַל־תִּירָא וְאַל־תֵּחָת׃
1Chr. 22:13 “Then you will prosper if you pay attention to observing the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous. You must not be afraid or dismayed.”
וְהִנֵּה בְעָנְיִי הֲכִינוֹתִי לְבֵית־יְהוָה זָהָב כִּכָּרִים מֵאָה־אֶלֶף וְכֶסֶף אֶלֶף אֲלָפִים כִּכָּרִים וְלַנְּחֹשֶׁת 22:14
וְלַבַּרְזֶל אֵין מִשְׁקָל כִּי לָרֹב הָיָה וְעֵצִים וַאֲבָנִים הֲכִינוֹתִי וַעֲלֵיהֶם תּוֹסִיף׃
1Chr. 22:14 “And behold, with my affliction, I have prepared for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand of gold talents and a thousand thousand talents of silver, and for the brass and iron there is no weight, for it is too abundant, and I have prepared timbers and stones. Then you can add in addition to them.”
וְעִמְּךָ לָרֹב עֹשֵׂי מְלָאכָה חֹצְבִים וְחָרָשֵׁי אֶבֶן וָעֵץ וְכָל־חָכָם בְּכָל־מְלָאכָה׃ 22:15
1Chr. 22:15 “And work men will be with you in abundance, masons, and craftsmen of stone and wood, and all skilled in every manner of work.”
לַזָּהָב לַכֶּסֶף וְלַנְּחֹשֶׁת וְלַבַּרְזֶל אֵין מִסְפָּר קוּם וַעֲשֵׂה וִיהִי יְהוָה עִמָּךְ׃ 22:16
1Chr. 22:16 “For the gold, silver, and brass, and the iron there is no number. Arise and accomplish, as the Lord is with you.”
וַיְצַו דָּוִיד לְכָל־שָׂרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַעְזֹר לִשְׁלֹמֹה בְנוֹ׃ 22:17
1Chr. 22:17 And David gave command to all the princes of Israel to provide support to Solomon, his son.
הֲלֹא יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם עִמָּכֶם וְהֵנִיחַ לָכֶם מִסָּבִיב כִּי נָתַן בְּיָדִי אֵת יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ וְנִכְבְּשָׁה הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי 22:18
יְהוָה וְלִפְנֵי עַמּוֹ׃
1Chr. 22:18 “Is not the Lord, your God, with you, and will give rest you from every direction? For He has delivered into my hand the inhabitants of the land before the Lord and before His people.”
עַתָּה תְּנוּ לְבַבְכֶם וְנַפְשְׁכֶם לִדְרוֹשׁ לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְקוּמוּ וּבְנוּ אֶת־מִקְדַּשׁ יְהוָה הָאֱלֹהִים לְהָבִיא 22:19
אֶת־אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָה וּכְלֵי קֹדֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִים לַבַּיִת הַנִּבְנֶה לְשֵׁם־יְהוָה׃
1Chr. 22:19 “Now dedicate your heart and your soul to seek for the Lord, your God, and arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God to the house that will be built for the name of the Lord.”
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