And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,
The verse stands in the opening nine chapters of 2 Chronicles, which give the history of the undivided kingdom under Solomon in chronological order and run parallel to 1 Kings 1 to 11, describing his glorious rule. Within that history the emphasis is on the building and furnishing of the temple, the dedication prayer and sacrifices, and the divine answer to prayer, with six chapters given to the temple and its services and only three to other matters of the reign. Like the rest of Chronicles, the passage assumes knowledge of the earlier books and adds new and important facts omitted from Samuel and Kings, saying scarcely anything about the northern kingdom or about the sinful acts of David and Solomon, to meet the need felt after the exile for records of hereditary land and temple service.
The verse marks the close and completion of the twenty years in which Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house. The two houses are the temple, called the house of the Lord, and Solomon's own palace built near the temple, and what follows in chapter eight records further buildings, including many cities, and other events of his reign. The twenty years divide into seven and one-half years for the temple and thirteen years for the palace, placing the verse in the twenty-fifth year of Solomon's reign when he was at the height of his glory. The twenty years are also reckoned as seven years for building the temple followed by thirteen years for building his own house, making twenty years in all.
The account shows a religious purpose to set forth God's care for His people and His purpose to save them, with divine favor dependent on faithfulness to the covenant. The successful completion of such great building work requiring physical skill shows Solomon's early ability to carry forward great industrial enterprises, with physical powers developed by education after the divine plan and an industrial spirit learned from the schools of the prophets.
The verse stands in the opening nine chapters of 2 Chronicles, which give the history of the undivided kingdom under Solomon in chronological order and run parallel to 1 Kings 1 to 11, describing his glorious rule. Within that history the emphasis is on the building and furnishing of the temple, the dedication prayer and sacrifices, and the divine answer to prayer, with six chapters given to the temple and its services and only three to other matters of the reign. Like the rest of Chronicles, the passage assumes knowledge of the earlier books and adds new and important facts omitted from Samuel and Kings, saying scarcely anything about the northern kingdom or about the sinful acts of David and Solomon, to meet the need felt after the exile for records of hereditary land and temple service.
The verse marks the close and completion of the twenty years in which Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house. The two houses are the temple, called the house of the Lord, and Solomon's own palace built near the temple, and what follows in chapter eight records further buildings, including many cities, and other events of his reign. The twenty years divide into seven and one-half years for the temple and thirteen years for the palace, placing the verse in the twenty-fifth year of Solomon's reign when he was at the height of his glory. The twenty years are also reckoned as seven years for building the temple followed by thirteen years for building his own house, making twenty years in all.
The account shows a religious purpose to set forth God's care for His people and His purpose to save them, with divine favor dependent on faithfulness to the covenant. The successful completion of such great building work requiring physical skill shows Solomon's early ability to carry forward great industrial enterprises, with physical powers developed by education after the divine plan and an industrial spirit learned from the schools of the prophets.