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Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

[a] Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the City of David (that is, Zion).[b] All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival[c] in the month of Ethanim[d] (the seventh month). When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting,[e] and all the holy items in the tent.[f] Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.[g]

The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned[h] place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.[i] The poles were so long their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point.[j] They have remained there to this very day. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.[k] It was there that[l] the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 10 Once the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 11 The priests could not carry out their duties[m] because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple.[n]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:1 tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words at the beginning of ch. 8: “It so happened that when Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own house, after twenty years.”
  2. 1 Kings 8:1 tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to King Solomon [in] Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David (it is Zion).”
  3. 1 Kings 8:2 sn The festival. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
  4. 1 Kings 8:2 sn The month Ethanim. This would be September-October in modern reckoning.
  5. 1 Kings 8:4 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”sn The tent of meeting. See Exod 33:7-11.
  6. 1 Kings 8:4 tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the Lord…. The priests and the Levites carried them.”
  7. 1 Kings 8:5 tn Heb “And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel, those who had been gathered to him, [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle which could not be counted or numbered because of the abundance.”
  8. 1 Kings 8:6 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  9. 1 Kings 8:7 sn And its poles. These poles were used to carry the ark. See Exod 25:13-15.
  10. 1 Kings 8:8 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
  11. 1 Kings 8:9 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.
  12. 1 Kings 8:9 tn Heb “in Horeb where.”
  13. 1 Kings 8:11 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
  14. 1 Kings 8:11 tn Heb “the house of the Lord.”