Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Chronicles · About this commentary
Will God Indeed Dwell with Men?
2 Chronicles 6:1-21
1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. · WEB
Solomon asks whether God can live in a building at all, and then asks him to watch it day and night.
The address opens on a paradox and does not resolve it. God said he would dwell in the thick darkness; but I have built you a house and home, a place for you to dwell in forever 2 Chronicles 6:1–2.
The blessing that follows is a history lesson in three sentences. For generations after the exodus God chose no city and chose no man; now he has chosen Jerusalem and chosen David 2 Chronicles 6:5–6. The long silence is presented as deliberate, not as neglect, and the choosing when it came was of a place and a person together.
Solomon then repeats his father's refusal in his father's hearing, so to speak, and preserves the compliment inside it. You did well that it was in your heart; nevertheless you shall not build the house 2 Chronicles 6:8–9. The intention was commended and the permission withheld, and the son who received the permission quotes both halves.
The posture is described with unusual care. A bronze platform in the middle of the court, five cubits square; the king stands on it, kneels, and spreads his hands toward heaven 2 Chronicles 6:13. He is raised where everyone can see him and on his knees, in front of the whole assembly. The most public position in the country is used to be seen praying.
The prayer begins by holding God to a promise, and quotes its condition rather than dropping it: there shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way 2 Chronicles 6:16. He does not ask for the guarantee without the terms.
Then the question the whole chapter is built around. But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain you; how much less this house which I have built! 2 Chronicles 6:18.
It is asked at the dedication, by the builder, about the building. And the answer he proceeds on is not that God will live there. It is that God will listen there — that his eyes may be open toward this house day and night, and that prayer directed toward the place will be heard 2 Chronicles 6:20.
So the house is redefined in the prayer that opens it. Not a dwelling, but an address. And the last word of the section states what is wanted from the listening: when you hear, forgive 2 Chronicles 6:21.
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