The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 5

2 Chronicles 5: the ark brought in and the cloud fills the house

General context

All the work Solomon made for the house is finished, and he brings in what David had dedicated, silver, gold and instruments, into the treasures of the house of God. He assembles the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes and the chief of the fathers to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant out of the city of David, which is Zion, and all the men of Israel gather at the feast in the seventh month. The Levites take up the ark, and priests and Levites bring up the ark, the tabernacle of the congregation and its holy vessels. King and congregation sacrifice sheep and oxen beyond counting. The priests carry the ark into the oracle, the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubims, which cover the ark and its staves; the staves are drawn out so their ends can be seen from before the oracle but not outside, and the narrator adds that there it is unto this day. Nothing is in the ark except the two tables Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with Israel after Egypt. As the priests come out of the holy place, all of them sanctified and not serving by course, the Levite singers of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun stand in white linen at the east end of the altar with cymbals, psalteries and harps, and a hundred and twenty priests sound trumpets. When trumpeters and singers make one sound praising the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever, the house is filled with a cloud, and the priests cannot stand to minister because the glory of the Lord has filled the house of God.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 5:1, 2 Chronicles 5:2, 2 Chronicles 5:3, 2 Chronicles 5:4, 2 Chronicles 5:5, 2 Chronicles 5:6, 2 Chronicles 5:7, 2 Chronicles 5:8, 2 Chronicles 5:9, 2 Chronicles 5:10, 2 Chronicles 5:11, 2 Chronicles 5:12, 2 Chronicles 5:13, 2 Chronicles 5:14

2 Chronicles 5 (KJV)

¹Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

³Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.

⁴And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.

⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

⁶Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:

⁸For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

⁹And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.

¹⁰There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

¹¹And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:

¹²Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)

¹³It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;

¹⁴So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

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Historical context

The sequence is stated: the work is finished, the assembly gathers at the feast of the seventh month, and only then is the ark brought in. The feast is not named beyond its month. Two groups carry: the narrator says the Levites took up the ark, that priests and Levites brought up the tabernacle and vessels, and that the priests brought the ark into the most holy place; the chapter assigns each stage without comment on the division. The ark comes from the city of David, which the text equates with Zion. Its contents are limited by the narrator to the two tables, which he ties to Moses at Horeb and to the covenant made when Israel came out of Egypt. The remark that the staves are there unto this day is the narrator's own time marker, looking back from a later vantage. The singers are identified by three families, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, and the trumpeters are counted at a hundred and twenty priests. The chapter says the priests were all sanctified and did not then wait by course, distinguishing this occasion from ordinary rotation. What David had dedicated is referred to but not itemised beyond silver, gold and instruments. God does not speak in this chapter; the cloud and the glory are reported by the narrator alone.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 5:1, 2 Chronicles 5:3, 2 Chronicles 5:4, 2 Chronicles 5:5, 2 Chronicles 5:7, 2 Chronicles 5:2, 2 Chronicles 5:10, 2 Chronicles 5:9, 2 Chronicles 5:12, 2 Chronicles 5:11, 2 Chronicles 5:14

Literary context

The chapter moves from objects to the ark to the presence: first the dedicated silver and gold go into the treasuries, then the ark goes into the oracle, then the cloud fills the whole house. The assembly is described by piling up groups, elders, heads of tribes, chief of the fathers, all the men of Israel, all the congregation, so that the ark's procession involves everyone. The narrator interrupts himself with a long parenthesis about the priests and singers before the sentence that began with when the priests were come out is completed, delaying the cloud until the music has been fully described. The praise line, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever, is sung here and returns twice in the dedication of the next chapter, once from the people and once in the account of David's instruments. The chapter closes with the ordered ministry it has just set out being stopped: priests who could not stand to minister. The two time markers, Horeb at the exodus and unto this day, stretch the scene backward and forward around the moment when singers and trumpeters make one sound.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 5:1, 2 Chronicles 5:7, 2 Chronicles 5:13, 2 Chronicles 5:2, 2 Chronicles 5:6, 2 Chronicles 5:11, 2 Chronicles 7:3, 2 Chronicles 7:6, 2 Chronicles 5:14, 2 Chronicles 5:10, 2 Chronicles 5:9

Key moments

The work finished (2 Chronicles 5:1). Solomon completes the work and brings David's dedicated silver, gold and instruments into the treasuries.
Israel assembled for the ark (2 Chronicles 5:2). Solomon gathers the elders and heads of tribes to bring the ark up from the city of David.
The ark under the cherubims (2 Chronicles 5:7). The priests carry the ark into the most holy place beneath the cherubims' wings.
Only the two tables (2 Chronicles 5:10). The narrator says the ark holds nothing but the tables Moses placed there at Horeb.
Singers and trumpets (2 Chronicles 5:12). Levite singers in white linen and a hundred and twenty priests with trumpets stand at the altar.
One sound and the cloud (2 Chronicles 5:13). As the musicians praise the Lord with one sound, a cloud fills the house.
Priests cannot stand (2 Chronicles 5:14). The glory of the Lord fills the house so that the priests cannot minister.

For reflection

The ark holds nothing but the two tables Moses put there at Horeb, yet when the singers make one sound the house fills with a cloud and the priests cannot stand. What is a reader meant to notice in the gap between so plain a container and so overwhelming a response?

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