(9) And in the eighth day--That is, on the twenty-second of the seventh month (Ethanim, or Tisri; 2Chronicles 5:3).

They made a solemn assembly.--Comp. Leviticus 23:36. Not mentioned in Kings (1Kings 8:66 says: "and on the eighth day he dismissed the people," i.e., after this final gathering).

For they kept the dedication of the altar seven days.--The seven days preceding the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, or the 8th to the 14th Ethanim, had been kept as an extraordinary festival on account of the inauguration of the Temple. After this festival, the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated in due course for seven days more.

This explains the obscure words of 1Kings 8:65, "(Solomon and all Israel) kept the feast . . . seven days and seven days, fourteen days," a brief expression which combines the two distinct celebrations. So Syriac, "seven days of the feast, and seven days of the inauguration of the house; these and these, their amount was fourteen days. And on the day of the full moon in the month of Tisri the king sent the people away."

Verse 9. - Solemn assembly. The word thus translated in the Authorized Version occurs (including both its but very slightly differing forms) eleven times. Five of these times the margin offers, probably unnecessarily, the optional rendering of "restraint." It may be that the root involves this idea, and certainly the word is especially used for the seventh or closing day of Passover, and eighth or closing day of Tabernacles; but other occasions of its use seem to negative this as an essential element in the signification or essential condition of the use of the word; e.g. "Proclaim a solemn assembly" (2 Kings 10:20); "Call a solemn assembly" (Joel 1:14; Joel 2:15).

7:1-22 God's answer to Solomon's prayer. - God gave a gracious answer to Solomon's prayer. The mercies of God to sinners are made known in a manner well suited to impress all who receive them, with his majesty and holiness. The people worshipped and praised God. When he manifests himself as a consuming Fire to sinners, his people can rejoice in him as their Light. Nay, they had reason to say, that God was good in this. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, but the sacrifice in our stead, for which we should be very thankful. And whoever beholds with true faith, the Saviour agonizing and dying for man's sin, will, by that view, find his godly sorrow enlarged, his hatred of sin increased, his soul made more watchful, and his life more holy. Solomon prosperously effected all he designed, for adorning both God's house and his own. Those who begin with the service of God, are likely to go on successfully in their own affairs. It was Solomon's praise, that what he undertook, he went through with; it was by the grace of God that he prospered in it. Let us then stand in awe, and sin not. Let us fear the Lord's displeasure, hope in his mercy, and walk in his commandments.Moreover, Solomon hallowed the middle of the court,.... From hence, to the end of 2 Chronicles 7:10 is the same with 1 Kings 8:64. See Gill on 1 Kings 8:64, 1 Kings 8:65, 1 Kings 8:66, only mention is made in 2 Chronicles 7:9 of the dedication of the altar, as if distinct from the dedication of the house, and hallowing the middle of the court, see Numbers 7:10 in imitation of which the Heathens dedicated their altars, in which they used ashes and water, as Pausanias (y) relates, and had also feasts, as here, at the dedication of their temples (z), in which they have been imitated by Christians; and many of our country feasts, as they are called, were first kept at the dedication of churches to such and such a saint.

(y) Eliac, 1. sive, l. 5. p. 312. (z) Plin. Ep. l. 4. Ephesians 1.