under his successors. All these preparations and dispositions had reference to the firm establishment of the public worship of the Lord, in which Israel, as the people and congregation of Jahve, might show its faithfulness to the covenant, so as to become partakers of the divine protection, and the blessing which was promised. To build the temple-this desire the Lord had not indeed granted the fulfilment of to David, but He had given him the promise that his son should carry out that work. The grey-haired king accordingly made preparations, after the site of the house of God which should be built had been pointed out to him, such as would facilitate the execution of the work by his successor. Of these preparations our chapter treats, and in it we have an account how David provided the necessary labour and materials for the building of the temple (1Ch 22:2-5), committed the execution of the work in a solemn way to his son Solomon (1Ch 22:6-16), and called upon the chiefs of the people to give him their support in the work (1Ch 22:17-19).
Verse 2
1Ch 22:2Workmen and materials for the building of the temple. - 1Ch 22:2. In order to procure the necessary workmen, David commanded that the strangers in the land of Israel should be gathered together, and, as we learn from 2Ch 2:16, also numbered. הגּרים, the strangers, are the descendants of the Canaanites whom the Israelites had not destroyed when they took possession of the land, but had reduced to bondage (2Ch 8:7-9; 1Ki 9:20-22). This number was so considerable, that Solomon was able to employ 150,000 of them as labourers and stone-cutters (1Ki 5:15.; 2Ch 2:16.). These strangers David appointed to be stone-cutters, to hew squared stones, גזית אבני (see on 1Ki 5:18).
Verse 3
Iron and brass he prepared in abundance: the iron for the nails of the doors, i.e., for the folding-doors of the gates, i.e., partly for the pivots (Zapfen) on which the folding-doors turned, partly to strengthen the boards of which doors were made; as also for the מחבּרות, literally, things to connect, i.e., properly iron cramps.
Verse 4
The Tyrians sent him cedar trees or beams in abundance, probably in exchange for grain, wine, and fruit of various sorts, which the Phoenicians obtained from the Israelites; cf. Movers, Phönizier, iii. 1, S. 88ff. Sidonians and Tyrians are named to denote the Phoenicians generally, as in Ezr 3:7. When Solomon began to build the temple, he made a regular treaty with Hiram king of Tyre about the delivery of the necessary cedar wood, 1Ki 5:15.
