2 Chronicles 6 Study Notes
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6:1-2 Solomon responded to the cloud by observing that the temple was an exalted place where the people could be reminded of God’s presence forever.
6:3-11 As the entire congregation rose to receive Solomon’s blessings, he repeated the familiar story that led up to this point so everyone would understand the grace of God. The Lord had made a promise and now he had fulfilled it. It was he who had chosen David; and it was he who had designated Solomon as the temple builder.
6:12-13 Solomon had planned this moment by having a platform erected and assuming a public, reverent stance to pray. This way the people could focus on him as he represented the people before the Lord.
6:14-17 Solomon thanked God that the first half of what the Lord had promised had taken place: the temple had been built, and the son of David was on the throne. Then he petitioned God to keep the second part of the promise: the perpetual dynasty of David’s descendants as long as they remain faithful.
6:18-20 Solomon recognized that God was not confined to the temple. This was distinct from the common view in the ancient Near East that all deities were restricted to a particular location, such as a temple or a geographical region. In Israel’s theology, the temple was a place where people could come to encounter the living God, but this living God was present everywhere.
pillel
| Hebrew pronunciation | [pil LAIL] |
| CSB translation | pray, intercede |
| Uses in 2 Chronicles | 14 |
| Uses in the OT | 84 |
| Focus passage | 2 Chronicles 6:19-21,24,26,32,34 |
This root does not occur in other languages as “pray.” The intensive means expect (Gn 48:11), help (Ezk 16:52), and intervene (Ps 106:30). It is intercede when occurring with a reflexive (1Sm 2:25). The reflexive normally means pray (Gn 20:7) and takes prepositions meaning “to” (Nm 11:2), “for” (Jb 42:8), “on behalf of” (Jr 42:2), or “about” (Is 37:21). Once it denotes confess (Is 45:14). Nine times it occurs with the related noun tepillah (prayer, 77x). Paliyl (3x) implies judicial assessment (Ex 21:22), conceding (Dt 32:31), or deserving punishment (Jb 31:11). Peliylah is a judgment or decision (Is 16:3). Peliyliy (Jb 31:28) suggests something deserving judicial punishment. Peliyliyyah (Is 28:7) is a court judgment. Pillel can mean interpose. The reflexive would involve interposing oneself in prayer, or interceding. Some authorities posit pillel and paliyl as homonyms, but 1Sm 2:25 seems evidence against that distinction.
6:21-39 There would be some needs for which the people would pray by directing themselves to the temple, and Solomon asked the Lord to listen and to respond.
6:22-23 The first scenario involved a man who had done some wrong and who needed to clear his name or to bring about the end of his punishment by taking an oath in the temple. Solomon did not ask that a guilty person would be set free, but that justice would be done.
6:24-25 The second scenario was one that is illustrated throughout the rest of 2 Chronicles. It involved the Israelites turning away from God and as a consequence being defeated before an enemy. Solomon asked that when the people came to their senses and prayed in the temple, God would forgive their sins and give them back the land they had lost.
6:26-27 The third scenario implied that a drought in the land had been caused by the Israelites’ turning away from the Lord. Again, Solomon’s prayer was that God would respond to sincere prayer in the temple by sending rain.
6:28-31 The fourth scenario included a number of disasters. Solomon petitioned God to listen to the prayers by people in the temple, but he stipulated that the prayers must be sincere because God knew the human heart. The temple was not a machine manufacturing forgiveness.
6:32-33 In the fifth scenario, Solomon made his request on behalf of every foreigner who might come to the temple to seek God. His prayer was that these foreigners would find their petitions answered, so Yahweh’s name would be glorified among those who lived far away. Many ancient people believed their gods were restrained by their location. The God who responded to people from far away was a God who set himself apart from the many false gods of the surrounding nations.
6:34-35 In the sixth scenario, Solomon asked God for strength in battle. Solomon was not asking God for a blanket support of military adventurism; instead, he sought the Lord’s help during those times when he would send them into war.
6:36-39 The seventh and last scenario would have been appropriate for the Chronicler and his contemporaries as they rebuilt the nation after the exile. The nation might be deported into a distant . . . country. This possibility had already been mentioned by Moses (Dt 28:33). Solomon asked that once the people repented and started to pray in the direction of the temple that the Lord would forgive them and bring them back to their own land.
6:40-42 Solomon concluded his prayer by asking God to take over the temple so the priests, the faithful people, and he—the anointed king—might rejoice in the nearness of God. He prayed that God would bless Israel for the sake of the promises to . . . David, which God did indeed do for Solomon and many generations of Judah’s kings (21:7; cp. 1Kg 11:11-13; 15:4; 2Kg 8:19; 19:34; 20:6).