D<\/span>avid assembles the leaders of Israel for Solomon\u2019s coronation (1 Chronicles 28\u201329; cf. 29:22), and, even more importantly, to encourage them to contribute skill, energy, and material to the temple, King Yahweh\u2019s fortress. Judged by terminology used elsewhere in the Old Testament, his descriptions of the temple are eccentric.<\/p>\n Initially, he describes his own desire to build the temple as a \u201chouse of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the footstool of our God\u201d (28:2). The sanctuary is associated with rest (menuchah<\/em>, cf. noach<\/em>) elsewhere, most notably in Deuteronomy 12. But the phrase \u201chouse of rest\u201d is unique. It highlights the political setting of Israel (rest on every side), Yahweh\u2019s enthronement (He rests on His throne in His house), the achievement of admittedly pre-eschatological Sabbath. <\/p>\n If we had only verse 2 to go by, we would think that the ark was alone in the temple. As David continues, it becomes clear that there are other things in the temple, but it is pre-eminently a resting place for the ark\u2014the ark that has been wandering from place to place since Hophni and Phinehas took it out to the battle of Aphek (1 Samuel 4). It has been in Aphek, Philistia, the house of Abinadab, the house of Obed-edom, finally in Jerusalem in the tent. With the temple, it gets a permanent home. <\/p>\n The description, \u201chouse of rest for the ark of the covenant\u201d suggests that the temple is basically an extension of the Davidic ark-shrine, the tent that he built to house the ark after David brought it into Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 16:1). The temple exists for the sake of this one piece of furniture; all the other structures and furnishings are oriented to serving the throne of Yahweh. The temple is a throne room, the divine equivalent to Solomon\u2019s \u201chall of the throne\u201d (cf. 1 Kings 7:7).<\/p>\n The description of the ark is equally eccentric: \u201cthe ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the footstool of our God.\u201d The latter phrase is the oddity. There is some question about how to take the waw<\/em> (\u201cand\u201d) between \u201cark\u201d and \u201cfootstool.\u201d Are these two objects, or is this an epexegetical waw<\/em>, translatable as \u201ceven\u201d? The preposition \u201cfor\u201d (le<\/em>) is repeated\u2014\u201cfor the ark . . . and for<\/em> the footstool,\u201d which implies that the two objects are distinguishable. More generally, the ark apparatus as a whole is best understood as Yahweh\u2019s throne. David\u2019s phrase distinguishes the coffer-ark and the kapporet<\/em> or covering, which would be the footstool. Yahweh is enthroned above the cherubim, but He rests with His feet on the footstool of the ark-cover.<\/p>\n When David describes the tabnit<\/em> (plan, blueprint, pattern) for the temple, his terminology is again unusual. It is called the \u201ctabnit<\/em> of the ulam<\/em>,\u201d which has associated houses, treasures, upper rooms, inner rooms, and a \u201chouse for the ark-cover (kapporet)\u201d<\/em> (28:11). In Kings, ulam<\/em> isn\u2019t the name for the temple as a whole, nor for the main interior. That space is designated as the heykal<\/em>, the \u201cpalace.\u201d (Elsewhere in 1 Chronicles, \u201ctemple\u201d translates biyrah<\/em>, perhaps a Persian loan-word meaning \u201ccitadel\u201d or \u201cfortress.\u201d) The ulam<\/em> is an open area in front of the palace, usually translated as \u201cporch\u201d (1 Kings 6:3). In 28:11, the temple is named by reference to this entryway, and even the \u201chouse of the kapporet<\/em>\u201d is seen as an area associated with the porch. It\u2019s like naming the city of Jerusalem by using the names of one of its gates. <\/p>\n That the inner sanctuary (apparently) is described as the \u201chouse of the kapporet<\/em>\u201d again highlights the connection between David\u2019s ark-shrine and the temple. The temple is not described as the place where Yahweh\u2019s sets His name, nor the house for all<\/em> of Yahweh\u2019s furnishings. It is described by reference to the central item of furniture, the item that was placed in David\u2019s tent. And the accent is on the ark-cover as much as on the ark itself.<\/p>\n Finally, David hands over the plans for the \u201cchariot\u201d (28:18; Heb. merkabah<\/em>), explained as \u201cthe cherubim, that spread out (parash<\/em>) their wings and covered (sakak<\/em>) the ark of the covenant of Yahweh.\u201d In Kings, the only chariot-like structures were the water basins in the court (1 Kings 7:33). The description in 1 Chronicles 28:18 resembles the description of the golden cherubim in Exodus 25:18-20, part of the description of the kapporet<\/em>. These cherubim \u201cspread\u201d (parash<\/em>) wings to \u201ccover\u201d (sakak<\/em>) the kapporet<\/em>. The fact that David\u2019s plan designates the weight of gold for the chariot strengthens the link. <\/p>\n But: Why would David need to make the golden cherubim on the cover of the ark? Hadn\u2019t Bezalel already made them? David refers instead to the two free-standing cherubim that were added to the assembly in the Most Holy Place. 2 Chronicles 3:10\u201313 describes them, and indicates that they were \u201coverlaid\u201d with gold. These cherubim are new to the temple, and it is apparently these cherubim that turn the \u201cark\u201d into a \u201cchariot.\u201d The two new cherubim mobilize the Lord\u2019s throne-and-footstool.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" David assembles the leaders of Israel for Solomon\u2019s coronation (1 Chronicles 28\u201329; cf. 29:22), and, even more importantly, to encourage them to contribute skill, energy, and material to the temple, King Yahweh\u2019s fortress. Judged by terminology used elsewhere in the Old Testament, his descriptions of the temple are eccentric. Initially, he describes his own desire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-chronicles"],"yoast_head":"\n