22 matching verse commentaries
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Introduction. (b. c. 1015.) 1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. 2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have David setting and Solomon at the same time rising. I. The conclusion of David's reign with his life. 1. The charge he gives to Solomon upon his death-bed, in general, to serve God (ver. 1-4), in particular, concerning Joab, Barzillai, and Shimei, ver. 5-9. 2. His death and burial, and the years of his reign, ver. 10, 11....
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Solomon's reign looked bloody in the foregoing chapter, but the necessary acts of justice must not be called cruelty; in this chapter it appears with another face. We must not think the worse of God's mercy to his subjects for his judgments on rebels. We have here, I. Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter, ver. 1. II. A general view of his...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
An instance of the wisdom God granted to Solomon we had in the close of the foregoing chapter. In this we have an account of his wealth and prosperity, the other branch of the promise there made him. We have here, I. The magnificence of his court, his ministers of state (ver. 1-6), and the purveyors of his household (ver. 7-19), and their office,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The great work which Solomon was raised up to do was the building of the temple; his wealth and wisdom were given him to qualify him for that. In this, especially, he was to be a type of Christ, for "he shall build the temple of the Lord," Zech. vi. 12. In this chapter we have an account of the preparations he made for that and his other...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Great and long preparation had been making for the building of the temple, and here, at length, comes an account of the building of it; a noble piece of work it was, one of the wonders of the world, and taking in its spiritual significancy, one of the glories of the church. Here is, I. The time when it was built (ver. 1), and how long it was in...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
As, in the story of David, one chapter of wars and victories follows another, so, in the story of Solomon, one chapter concerning his buildings follows another. In this chapter we have, I. His fitting up several buildings for himself and his own use, ver. 1-12. II. His furnishing the temple which he had built for God, 1. With two pillars, ver....
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The building and furniture of the temple were very glorious, but the dedication of it exceeds in glory as much as prayer and praise, the work of saints, exceed the casting of metal and the graving of stones, the work of the craftsman. The temple was designed for the keeping up of the correspondence between God and his people; and here we have an...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have, I. The answer which God, in a vision, gave to Solomon's prayer, and the terms he settled with him, ver. 1-9. II. The interchanging of grateful kindnesses between Solomon and Hiram, ver. 10-14. III. His workmen and buildings, ver. 15-24. IV. His devotion, ver. 25. V. His trading navy, ver. 26-28. God's Answer to Solomon....
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Still Solomon looks great, and every thing in this chapter adds to his magnificence. We read nothing indeed of his charity, of no hospitals he built, or alms-houses; he made his kingdom so rich that it did not need them; yet, no question, many poor were relieved from the abundance of his table. A church he had built, never to be equalled; schools...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This chapter begins with as melancholy a "but" as almost any we find in all the Bible. Hitherto we have read nothing of Solomon but what was great and good; but the lustre both of his goodness and of his greatness is here sullied and eclipsed, and his sun sets under a cloud. I. The glory of his piety is stained by his departure from God and his...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The glory of the kingdom of Israel was in its height and perfection in Solomon; it was long in coming to it, but it soon declined, and began to sink and wither in the very next reign, as we find in this chapter, where we have the kingdom divided, and thereby weakened and made little in comparison with what it had been. Here is, I. Rehoboam's...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left Jeroboam attending his altar at Beth-el, and there we find him in the beginning of this, when he received a testimony from God against his idolatry and apostasy. This was sent to him by a prophet, a man of God that lived in Judah, who is the principal subject of the story of this chapter, where we are...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The kingdom being divided into that of Judah and that of Israel, we must henceforward, in these books of Kings, expect and attend their separate history, the succession of their kings, and the affairs of their kingdoms, accounted for distinctly. In this chapter we have, I. The prophecy of the destruction of Jeroboam's house, ver. 7-16. The...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have an abstract of the history, I. Of two of the kings of Judah, Abijam, the days of whose reign were few and evil (ver. 1-8), and Asa, who reigned well and long, ver. 9-24. II. Of two of the kings of Israel, Nadab the son of Jeroboam, and Baasha the destroyer of Jeroboam's house, ver. 25-34. Abijam's Reign. (b. c. 958.) 1 Now...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This chapter relates wholly to the kingdom of Israel, and the revolutions of that kingdom—many in a little time. The utter ruin of Jeroboam's family, after it had been twenty-four years a royal family, we read of in the foregoing chapter. In this chapter we have, I. The ruin of Baasha's family, after it had been but twenty-six years a royal...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
So sad was the character both of the princes and people of Israel, as described in the foregoing chapter, that one might have expected God would cast off a people that had so cast him off; but, as an evidence to the contrary, never was Israel so blessed with a good prophet as when it was so plagued with a bad king. Never was king so bold to sin as...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
We left the prophet Elijah wrapt up in obscurity. It does not appear that either the increase of the provision or the raising of the child had caused him to be taken notice of at Zarephath, for then Ahab would have discovered him; he would rather do good than be known to do it. But in this chapter his appearance was as public as before his...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
We left Elijah at the entrance of Jezreel, still appearing publicly, and all the people's eyes upon him. In this chapter we have him again absconding, and driven into obscurity, at a time when he could ill be spared; but we are to look upon it as a punishment to Israel for the insincerity and inconstancy of their reformation. When people will not...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This chapter is the history of a war between Ben-hadad king of Syria and Ahab king of Israel, in which Ahab was, once and again, victorious. We read nothing of Elijah or Elishain all this story; Jezebel's rage, it is probable, had abated, and the persecution of the prophets began to cool, which gleam of peace Elijah improved. He appeared not at...