1 Chronicles 29:2

2 Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and slabs of marble—all in abundance.

1 Chronicles 29:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 29:2

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God,
&c.] According to the utmost of his ability for the building and decorating of it:

the gold
for the things to be made of gold; as the candlesticks, shewbread tables

and the silver for [things] of silver;
as for basins

and the brass for [things] of brass;
as the brasen altar, brasen laver,

and iron for [things] of iron;
for nails, hinges

and wood for [things] of wood;
for rafters, ceilings, floors

onyx stones;
the Targum, stones of beryl: and stones to be set; other precious stones to be set in gold and silver:

glistering stones;
the Targum, emeralds; the word is used for stibium, or black lead, with which women painted their eyes; and so may signify black stones, like black lead; as white marble is after mentioned, perhaps black is here meant, or such stones Solomon paved the ways with leading to Jerusalem ^F25: but as such stones are not very glistering, there seems to be no reason for such an epithet; unless the stone "phengites" should be meant, which was a clear bright stone, and served for looking glasses. Domitian the Roman emperor, when under suspicion of being murdered by persons he had offended, garnished the porticos of his palace with this stone, which was of such brightness, that by the images formed in it he could see what was behind him ^F26; and so Lucian speaks ^F1 of Astarte having a splendid stone about her, called (lucniv) , which in the night gave much light to the temple, but shone weakly in the day time, and looked like fire:

and of divers colours;
that is, stones of various colours, as jaspers, amethysts Kimchi interprets it of embroidered clothes, and garments of needlework, and in these precious stones were sometimes inserted:

and all manner of precious stones;
as pearls, diamonds it is hard to say what all these precious stones were for; Jarchi and Kimchi think they were to decorate the walls overlaid with gold, in which they were set; it is certain they were for garnishing and beautifying the house, see ( 2 Chronicles 3:6 )

and marble stones in abundance;
for pillars, tables, and pavement, as Jarchi; this was Parian marble, according to the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; the whitest of marble ^F2, found the island of Paros, and which agrees with the word here used.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Joseph. Antiqu. l. 8. c. 7. sect. 4.
F26 Sueton. Vit. Domitian. c. 14. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 22. Isidor. Origin. l. 16. c. 4.
F1 De Dea Syria.
F2 "----Pario marmore purius." Horat. Carmin. l. 1. ode 19.

1 Chronicles 29:2 In-Context

1 Then King David said to the whole assembly, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great because this palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

2 Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and slabs of marble—all in abundance.

3 Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give for it my personal treasures of gold and silver, over and above all that I have provided for this holy temple:

4 three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,

5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who is willing to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”