²And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. ³And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight;
2. the strangers] Compare 2 Chronicles ii. 17; viii. 7–9. Hewing of stone was regarded as task-work unfit for free men. This verse is simply an anticipation of the preparations recorded in Solomon’s reign: see 2 Chronicles ii. 1, 17.
wrought stones] All the stone used for the building of the Temple was previously cut to the right size; compare 1 Kings vi. 7.
⁴and cedar trees without number: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David.
4. Zidonians and they of Tyre] Compare 1 Kings v. 1–6 (15–20, Hebrew).
⁵And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
⁶Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
5. exceeding magnifical] The Temple took seven years in building, and it was richly overlaid with gold, but its proportions were small, viz., about 90 ft. × 45 ft. × 30 ft. These small proportions, are not surprising, for the Temple itself required only to be big enough to hold its furniture. The courts, however, were of large extent, that they might afford room for worshippers at the times of the great feasts.
Note the archaic magnifical = splendid, stately (magnificent). It is found of course in the Authorized Version (1611), and also in the Geneva Bible (1560); compare Starkey, England, ii. i. 176 (1538), “Gudly cytes and townys wyth magnyfycal and gudly housys.”
⁷And David said to Solomon his son[¹], As for me, it was in my heart to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God.