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1 And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.

2 Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

3 But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.

4 Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel:

5 And of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

6 And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

7 Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.

8 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.

9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

10 Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.

11 Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,

12 And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:

13 Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord.

14 He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:

15 Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick.

16 And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver:

17 Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver:

18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

19 All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.

20 And 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, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

21 And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they shall be with thee for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment.

<html><b>And David assembled all the leaders of Israel</b> These are the leaders, the leaders of the tribes, as it is written (above 27:16): “And over the tribes of Israel, the leader of the Reubenites was…” <b>and the leaders of the divisions</b> These are the twelve divisions of the king, as above (27:1): “And the Children of Israel to their number, etc.” <b>and the leaders of the thousands</b> as above. <b>and the leaders of the hundreds</b> their officers. <b>and the officers over all the property and the livestock of the king</b> those whom he mentions above (27:25-31): “And over the treasuries of the king… and over the vineyards… and over the olive trees… and the livestock”; and the officers who were in charge of the cattle, and of the camels, and of the flocks, for every species of domestic animal is called מִקְנֶה, as it is written (Ecc. 2:7): “I also had much livestock (מִקְנֶה) consisting of cattle and flocks.”</html>

<html><b>all Israel</b> the stranger like the native. <b>and in the ears of our God</b> Before our God, similar to (Deut. 29:9): “You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God.” Also, (II Kings 23:3): “And the king stood on his place, etc. before the Lord.” <b>observe and seek all the commandments of the Lord your God</b> He said this to all Israel together, but to Solomon he said it before all Israel [as in the following verse].</html>

<html><b>and worship Him with a whole heart</b> Heb. בְּלֵב שָׁלֵם. It is not stated בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם, which would mean two hearts, but בְּלֵב שָׁלֵם, that you shall have but one heart for our Father Who is in heaven. And so did the liturgical poet set down (in the Kedushah of Musaph of the first day of Rosh Hashanah): “You have two hearts like one for the One.” Similar to this, [we find in] (I Kings 8:61): “Let your heart [therefore] be whole (שָׁלֵם) with the Lord our God.” It is not written שְׁלֵמִים but שָׁלֵם: your two hearts will be one whole heart. And so it is explained (Gen. 18:5): “… and refresh your heart (לִבְּכֶם), afterwards you may pass on.” This teaches us that the angels have only one heart, and also in the future it will be so, as it is written: (Ps. 48:14): “Give heed (לִבְּכֶם lit., your heart) to its walls.” <b>for the Lord seeks all hearts</b> Here it is appropriate to say לְבָבוֹת ; the Lord seeks all hearts, whether good or bad. <b>and He understands the thoughts of every creation</b> In <i>Genesis Rabbah</i> (9:3), we learned: “Before a creature is created, the Holy One, blessed be He, understands what the person is destined to think.” <b>if you seek Him, He will be found to you</b> Therefore, I say, (v. 8): “and seek all the commandments of the Lord.” <b>He will abandon you forever</b> Heb. יַזְנִיחֲךָ. It is not written here: He will forsake you (יַעַזָבְךָ), but He will abandon you (יַזְנִיחֲך), which is [a] harsher [term] like (Isa. 19: 6): “And they will abandon (הֶאֶזְנִיחוּ) the rivers”; (Lam 2:7): “The Lord abandoned (זָנַַח) His altar.”</html>

<html><b>for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the Sanctuary</b> not to build it for Him to dwell therein, for the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain Him, but for the Sanctuary, for the requirement of the Ark, which is called מִקְדָּשׁ, as it is written (Num. 10:21): “And the Kehathites, the bearers of the מִקְדָּשׁ traveled,” and that is the Ark. He did not choose you because you are more praiseworthy than other men, but for His sake and for the sake of His mercies; therefore be strong and do it.</html>

<html><b>the pattern of the porch</b> Its length, its width, and its height as is written in I Kings (6:3): “And the porch before the Temple of the House, etc.” <b>and its treasuries</b> the place where the treasuries of the hallowed objects were deposited.</html>

<html><b>that he had by the spirit</b> As Samuel the Seer showed him, as it is written (above 9:22): “… whom David and Samuel established permanently.” Our Rabbis said (<i>Zeb.</i> 54b) (I Sam. 19:22): “… and he asked and said, ‘Where are Samuel and David?’ And one said, ‘Behold at Naioth in Ramah.’” They were engaged in the building of the world. That refers to the Temple. And he taught him at that time what a faithful student cannot learn in many years. (<i>Mid. Sam.</i> 22:4) <b>round about, of the treasuries of the House of God and of the treasuries of the hallowed things</b> but he does not explain which of the hallowed things that David and the chiefs of the fathers’ houses hallowed [he is referring to]; and at that time they were appointed over it until they would build the Temple, but these treasuries were always in existence as long as the Temple existed.</html>

<html><b>And of the divisions of the priests and the Levites</b> for he divided them into twentyfour watches, as above; all this he gave over to him. <b>and of all the vessels of the service of the House of the Lord</b> the weight of what and how much each vessel is, as is explained.</html>

<html><b>Of gold, in weight for gold, for all the vessels of every service</b> and so for all silver vessels by weight.</html>

<html><b>and their lamps of gold</b> the weight of each lamp. <b>of the weight of each candelabrum</b> for he made ten candelabra. <b>in the service of every candelabrum</b> and the weight of the service vessels of the candelabrum, its tongs and its charcoal pans, and also the weight.</html>

<html><b>for the tables of the showbread</b> upon which to arrange the showbread. [He instructed him] about the weight of each table, for he made ten golden tables in the Heichal and the weight of the silver for the tables in the forecourt, upon which they would flay the sacrifices, and the weight of the forks and the basins.</html>

<html><b>and for the basins of gold in weight</b> Heb. כְּפוֹרֵי כְּפוֹרֵי. [They] are service vessels with which to wipe the blood from the vessels, and an example is in the first (sic) chapter of <i>Baba Mezia</i> (24a): “The man who wiped (דְּכָפַר) his hands with his neighbor’s cloak,” and every [expression of] כַּפָּרָה is an expression of wiping and purification.</html>

<html><b>refined gold</b> - Heb. זָהָב מְזֻקָּק, like refined silver (כֶּסֶף מְזֻקָּק). <b>and for the pattern of the chariot</b> They are the cherubim upon which the Shechinah “rides.” <b>which spread out [their wings] and covered</b> Heb. לְפרְשִׂים. i.e., which were spreading and covering over the Ark, as is stated (Ex. 25: 20): “The cherubim shall spread their wings, etc.”</html>

<html><b>All was in writing</b> The meaning is: He arranged everything in writing for him: the sum of every weight of every vessel, from Samuel the Seer. <b>all the works of the pattern</b> He endowed me with the wisdom and the understanding of the pattern of the House, e.g., the pattern of the length, the width, and the height, and Samuel derived everything from the Torah with the holy spirit, as we learned (<i>Middoth</i> 2:1): “The Temple Mount was five hundred cubits by five hundred cubits.” He expounded (Ex. 27:18): “The length of the forecourt was one hundred cubits; the free width: fifty by fifty.” Fifty times fifty are twentyfive hundred cubits. It appears to me that he cut them into five strips to be five hundred by five hundred cubits. This was set down in the final liturgical poem for the Sabbath of Hanukkah, which commences: “Manasseh, etc.” Samuel derived all this with the holy spirit and taught it to David.</html>

<html><b>Be strong and of good courage</b> in order that your kingdom endure as the Holy One, blessed be He, has promised you, (verse 7): “… and I shall prepare his kingdom to eternity if he strengthens himself to perform My commandments, etc.”</html>

<html><b>And behold the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of, etc.</b> That is to say: I arranged and set everything up, and I prepared for you the divisions and the laborers, and you have not to delay it but to build the House immediately. <b>and the leaders</b> who are appointed over the laborers and their officers. <b>and all the people for all your words</b> to perform your command.</html>