1Ch 29:1-9 | KD | STEP | Contributions of the collected princes for the building of the temple . - David then turns to the assembled princes to press upon them the furthering of the building of the temple. After referring to the youth of his son, and to the greatness of the work to be accomplished ( ), he mentions what materials he has prepared for the building of the temple ( ); then further states what he has resolved to give in addition from his private resources ( ); and finally, after this introduction, calls upon those present to make a voluntary collection for this great work ( ). The words, “as only one hath God chosen him,” form a parenthesis, which is to be translated as a relative sentence for “my son, whom alone God hath chosen.” ורך נער as in 1Ch 22:5. The work is great, because not for man the palace, scil. is intended, i.e., shall be built, but for Jahve God. הבּירה, the citadel, the palace; a later word, generally used of the residence of the Persian king ( , ; ; ), only in of the citadel by the temple; here transferred to the temple as the glorious palace of Jahve, the God-king of Israel. With , cf. 1Ch 22:14. וגו לזּהב הזּהב, the gold for the golden, etc., i.e., for the vessels and ornaments of gold, cf. 1Ch 28:14. וּמלּוּאים שׁהם אבני as in ; , precious stones for the ephod and choshen. שׁהם, probably beryl. מּלּוּאים אבני, stones of filling, that is, precious stones which are put in settings. פּוּך אבני, stones of pigment, i.e., ornament, conjecturally precious stones which, from their black colour, were in appearance like פּוּך, stibium , a common eye pigment (see 2Ki 9:30). רקמה אבני, stones of variegated colour, i.e., with veins of different colours. יקרה אבן, precious stones, according to , for ornamenting the walls. שׁישׁ אבני, white marble stones.

‏ 1 Chronicles 29:1-9

1Ch 29:1-2 Contributions of the collected princes for the building of the temple. - David then turns to the assembled princes to press upon them the furthering of the building of the temple. After referring to the youth of his son, and to the greatness of the work to be accomplished (1Ch 29:1), he mentions what materials he has prepared for the building of the temple (1Ch 29:2); then further states what he has resolved to give in addition from his private resources (1Ch 29:4); and finally, after this introduction, calls upon those present to make a voluntary collection for this great work (1Ch 29:5). The words, “as only one hath God chosen him,” form a parenthesis, which is to be translated as a relative sentence for “my son, whom alone God hath chosen.” ורך נער as in 1Ch 22:5. The work is great, because not for man the palace, scil. is intended, i.e., shall be built, but for Jahve God. הבּירה, the citadel, the palace; a later word, generally used of the residence of the Persian king (Est 1:2, Est 1:5; Est 2:3; Neh 1:1), only in Neh 2:8 of the citadel by the temple; here transferred to the temple as the glorious palace of Jahve, the God-king of Israel. With 1Ch 29:2, cf. 1Ch 22:14. וגו לזּהב הזּהב, the gold for the golden, etc., i.e., for the vessels and ornaments of gold, cf. 1Ch 28:14. וּמלּוּאים שׁהם אבני as in Exo 25:7; Exo 35:9, precious stones for the ephod and choshen. שׁהם, probably beryl. מּלּוּאים אבני, stones of filling, that is, precious stones which are put in settings. פּוּך אבני, stones of pigment, i.e., ornament, conjecturally precious stones which, from their black colour, were in appearance like פּוּך, stibium, a common eye pigment (see 2Ki 9:30). רקמה אבני, stones of variegated colour, i.e., with veins of different colours. יקרה אבן, precious stones, according to 2Ch 3:6, for ornamenting the walls. שׁישׁ אבני, white marble stones. 1Ch 29:3 “And moreover, because I have pleasure in the house of my God, there is to me a treasure of gold and silver; it have I appointed for the house of my God over and above all that...” הכינותי with כּל without the relative, cf. 1Ch 15:12. 1Ch 29:4

Gold 3000 talents, i.e., about 13 1/2, or, reckoning according to the royal shekel, 6 3/4 millions of pounds; 7000 talents of silver, circa 2 1/2 or 1 1/4 millions of pounds: see on 1Ch 22:14. Gold of Ophir, i.e., the finest, best gold, corresponding to the pure silver. לטוּח, to overlay the inner walls of the houses with gold and silver leaf. הבּתים as in 1Ch 28:11, the different buildings of the temple. The walls of the holy place and of the most holy, of the porch and of the upper chambers, were overlaid with gold (cf. 2Ch 3:4-6, 2Ch 3:8-9), and probably only the inner walls of the side buildings. 1Ch 29:5 לזּהב לזּהב, for every golden thing, etc., cf. 1Ch 29:2. וּלכל־מלאכה, and in general for every work to be wrought by the hands of the artificer. וּמי, who then is willing (uw expressing it as the consequence). To fill one’s hand to the Lord, means to provide oneself with something which one brings to the Lord; see on Exo 32:29. The infinitive מלּאות occurs also in Exo 31:5 and Dan 9:4, and along with מלּא, 2Ch 13:9. 1Ch 29:6-8

The princes follow the example, and willingly respond to David’s call. האבות שׂרי = האבות ראשׁי, 1Ch 24:31; 1Ch 27:1, etc. הם מלאכת ולשׂרי, and as regards the princes of the work of the king. The למּלך וּמקנה רכוּשׁ שׂרי, 1Ch 28:1, the officials enumerated in 1Ch 27:25-31 are meant; on ל see on 1Ch 28:21. They gave 5000 talents of gold (22 1/2 or 11 1/2 millions of pounds), and 1000 darics = 11 1/2 millions of pounds. אדרכּון, with א prosth. here and in Ezr 8:27, and דּרכּמון, Ezr 2:69; Neh 7:70., does not correspond to the Greek δραχμή, Arab. dirhem, but to the Greek δαρεικός, as the Syrian translation derîkônā', Ezr 8:27, shows; a Persian gold coin worth about 22s. 6d. See the description of these coins, of which several specimens still exist, in Cavedoni bibl. Numismatik, übers. von A. Werlhof, S. 84ff.; J. Brandis, das Münz-Mass und Gewishtssystem in Vorderasien (1866), S. 244; and my bibl. Archäol. §127, 3. “Our historian uses the words used in his time to designate the current gold coins, without intending to assume that there were darics in use in the time of David, to state in a way intelligible to his readers the amount of the sum contributed by the princes” (Bertheau). This perfectly correct remark does not, however, explain why the author of the Chronicle has stated the contribution in gold and that in silver in different values, in talents and in darics, since the second cannot be an explanation of the first, the two sums being different. Probably the sum in darics is the amount which they contributed in gold pieces received as coins; the talents, on the other hand, probably represent the weight of the vessels and other articles of gold which they brought as offerings for the building. The amount contributed in silver is not large when compared with that in gold: 10,000 talents = £3,500,000, or one half that amount. The contribution in copper also, 18,000 talents, is not very large. Besides these, those who had stones, i.e., precious stones, also brought them. אתּו הנּמצא, that was found with him, for: that which he (each one) had of stones they gave. The sing. אתּו is to be taken distributively, and is consequently carried on in the plural, נתנוּ; cf. Ew. §319, a. אבנים is accus. of subordination. יד על נתן, to give over for administration (Ew. §282, b). יחיאל, the Levite family of this name which had the oversight of the treasures of the house of God (1Ch 26:21.). 1Ch 29:9

The people and the king rejoiced over this willingness to give. שׁלם בּלב, as in 1Ch 28:9.