1 Kings 8:66

On the eighth day he sent the people away [ i.e; on the eighth day of the second feast, the "three and twentieth day of the month" ( ib ; 1 Kings 8:10 ). The first impression is that the eighth day of the period of fourteen days is meant, but the context, to say nothing of the Chronicles, contradicts this. The feast of dedication began on the eighth day of the month Ethanim ( 1 Kings 8:2 ), and lasted until the fourteenth. The feast of tabernacles began on the fifteenth and lasted till the twenty-first. On the evening of the twenty-second, the "day of restraint", he dismissed the people, who would depart to their homes next morning]: and they blessed [ i.e; felicitated, saluted (on taking leave). Cf. Proverbs 27:14 ; 2 Kings 4:29 ; 1 Samuel 25:6 , 1 Samuel 25:14 . Marg. thanked . See note on 1 Samuel 25:14 ] the king, and went unto their tents [ i.e; homes—an archaic expression, dating from the times of the desert wanderings. Joshua 22:4 ; 7:8 ; 2 Samuel 20:1 ; l Kings 2 Samuel 12:16 ] joyful and glad of heart for an the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant [the real founder of the temple. Solomon had but carried out his ideas and had entered into his labours], and for Israel his people.

HOMILETICS