the cups] Probably the same as the flagons (Revised Version) of Exodus xxv. 29 which were used for pouring out the drink offering.
¹⁸and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot, even the cherubim, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
18. the altar of incense] 2 Chronicles xxvi. 16; Exodus xxx. 1–10.
the chariot, even the cherubim] Compare Ezekiel i. 5–10, 15–17. The Cherubim were poetically conceived as the chariot of Jehovah. The phrase has its origin in the language of Psalms xviii. 10.
¹⁹All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing[¹] from the hand of the Lord, even all the works of this pattern.
[¹] Or, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even &c.
19. All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of the Lord, even all the works of this pattern] Compare verse 11, note. As in the case of Moses and the tabernacle (Exodus xxv. 9, 40), so David’s plans for the Temple are said to be of Divine origin.
²⁰And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, is with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord be finished.
20. Be strong] God’s help in the planning is a pledge of God’s help in the accomplishment. Compare verse 10, which finds its continuation at this point. The work was great, and Solomon young; xxii. 5.
be finished] The LXX. shows that a passage which was present in the Hebrew text of the second century has been later accidentally omitted from the Hebrew at this point. Add therefore Now behold the pattern of the porch of the temple and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper rooms thereof, and of the inner chambers thereof, and of the house of the mercy-seat, even the pattern of the house of the Lord. Torrey, Ezra Studies, pp. 73, 87.