The Ark Brought to the Temple: The ark of God, the great symbol of the LORD’s presence with the people and the receptacle for the tablets of the law (Exod. 25:10–22; Deut. 10:1–5; Josh. 3–6), had hitherto remained in a tent sanctuary somewhere in the old city of David (2 Sam. 6:16–17; 7:2; 1 Kgs. 3:15)—except for the brief trip described in 2 Samuel 15:24–29. First Kings 8:1–21 recounts the circumstances of its relocation and Solomon’s speech about the significance of the event.

8:1–2 It is interesting, in view of the discussion in §10 about the temple’s delayed completion, just how vague the dating in verses 1–2 is when compared with the precision of 6:1, 37–38. We are, in fact, given no indication of how many years have elapsed between 6:38 and 8:1. We are told only that when the ark was …