1 Chronicles 22:7

And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) My son.—So some MSS., the Hebrew margin, and LXX., Vulg., Targ. rightly. The Hebrew text reads, “His son,” which is probably an oversight, due to “Solomon his son” in 1Chronicles 22:6.

As for me, it was in my mind.—Literally, I—it became with (near or in) my heart, i.e., it came into my mind, was my intention. The phrase is common in 2 Chronicles, but rare in the older books. (Comp. 1Kings 8:17; 1Kings 10:2; and also Joshua 14:7.) It recurs in 1Chronicles 28:2 exactly as here.

Unto the name of the Lord.—Comp. 1Kings 8:29 : “My name shall be there,” i.e., My real presence. The statement of this and the following verses refers to what is told in 1Chronicles 17:1-14.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:6-16 David gives Solomon the reason why he should build the temple. Because God named him. Nothing is more powerful to engage us in any service for God, than to know that we are appointed thereto. Because he would have leisure and opportunity to do it. He should have peace and quietness. Where God gives rest, he expects work. Because God had promised to establish his kingdom. God's gracious promises should quicken and strengthen our religious service. David delivered to Solomon an account of the vast preparations he had made for this building; not from pride and vain-glory, but to encourage Solomon to engage cheerfully in the great work. He must not think, by building the temple, to purchase a dispensation to sin; on the contrary, his doing that would not be accepted, if he did not take heed to fulfil the statutes of the Lord. In our spiritual work, as well as in our spiritual warfare, we have need of courage and resolution.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Young and tender - The exact age of Solomon at this time is uncertain; but it cannot have been more than 24 or 25. It may have been as little as 14 or 15. Compare the 1 Kings 2:2 note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ch 22:6-19. He Instructs Solomon.

6. Then he called for Solomon … and charged him—The earnestness and solemnity of this address creates an impression that it was given a little before the old king's decease. He unfolded his great and long cherished plan, enjoined the building of God's house as a sacred duty on him as his son and successor, and described the resources that were at command for carrying on the work. The vast amount of personal property he had accumulated in the precious metals [1Ch 22:14] must have been spoil taken from the people he had conquered, and the cities he had sacked.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And David said to Solomon,.... When brought into his presence:

my son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God; he was disposed and inclined to it, and was once determined upon it, see 2 Samuel 7:2.

Geneva Study Bible

And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6–16. David’s Charge to Solomon

7. said to Solomon, My son] R.V. said to Solomon his son (so C’thîb); A.V. follows the K’rî.

unto the name] Cp. Deuteronomy 12:5; 2 Samuel 7:13.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - (Comp. 1 Chronicles 17:1, 2; 2 Samuel 7:2, 3.) For my son, the Chethiv shows "his son," the Keri substituting "my." 1 Chronicles 22:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Solomon commissioned to build the temple. - 1 Chronicles 22:6. Before his death (1 Chronicles 22:5) David called his son Solomon, in order to commit to him the building of the temple, and to press it strongly upon him, 1 Chronicles 22:7-10. With this design, he informs him that it had been his intention to build a temple to the Lord, but the Lord had not permitted him to carry out this resolve, but had committed it to his son. The Keri בּני (1 Chronicles 22:7) is, notwithstanding the general worthlessness of the corrections in the Keri, probably to be preferred here to the Keth. בּנו, for בּנו might have easily arisen by the copyist's eye having wandered to בּנו לשׁלמה, 1 Chronicles 22:6. David's addressing him as בּני is very fitting, nay, even necessary, and not contrary to the following אני. לבבי עם, it was with my heart, i.e., I had intended, occurs indeed very often in the Chronicle, e.g., 1 Chronicles 28:2; 2 Chronicles 1:11; 2 Chronicles 6:7., 1 Chronicles 9:1; 1 Chronicles 24:4; 1 Chronicles 29:10, but is also found in other books where the sense demands it, e.g., Joshua 14:7; 1 Kings 8:17., 1 Chronicles 10:2. In עלי ויהי, There came to me the word of Jahve (1 Chronicles 22:8), it is implied that the divine word was given to him as a command. The reason which David gives why the Lord did not allow him to build the temple is not stated in 1 Chronicles 17 (2 Samuel 7), to which David here refers; instead of the reason, only the promise is there communicated, that the Lord would first build him a house, and enduringly establish his throne. This promise does not exclude the reason stated here and in 1 Chronicles 28:3, but rather implies it. As the temple was only to be built when God had enduringly established the throne of David, David could not execute this work, for he still had to conduct wars - wars, too, of the Lord - for the establishment of his kingdom, as Solomon also states it in his embassy to Hiram. Wars and bloodshed, however, are unavoidable and necessary in this earth for the establishment of the kingdom of God in opposition to its enemies, but are not consonant with its nature, as it was to receive a visible embodiment and expression in the temple. For the kingdom of God is in its essence a kingdom of peace; and battle, or war, or struggle, are only means for the restoration of peace, the reconciliation of mankind with God after the conquest of sin and all that is hostile to God in this world. See on 2 Samuel 7:11. David, therefore, the man of war, is not to build the temple, but (1 Chronicles 22:9.) his son; and to him the Lord will give peace from all his enemies, so that he shall be מנוּחה אישׁ, a man of rest, and shall rightly bear the name Shelomo (Solomon), i.e., Friederich (rich in peace, Eng. Frederick), for God would give to Israel in his days, i.e., in his reign, peace and rest (שׁקט). The participle נולד after הנּה has the signification of the future, shall be born; cf. 1 Kings 13:2. מנוּחה אישׁ, not a man who procures peace (Jeremiah 51:59), but one who enjoys peace, as the following לו והניחותי shows. As to the name שׁלמה, see on 2 Samuel 12:24. Into 1 Chronicles 22:10 David compresses the promise contained in 1 Chronicles 17:12 and 1 Chronicles 17:13.