1 Kings 8:2

2 And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, ^[a] the month of Ethanim. ^[b]

1 Kings 8:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:2

And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King
Solomon at the feast
Not of tabernacles, as the Targum on ( 2 Chronicles 5:3 ) and so Jarchi; though that was in the same month next mentioned, and began on the fifteenth of it, and held seven days; wherefore this must be the feast of the dedication of the temple, and which was kept before that; since both lasted fourteen days, and the people were dismissed on the twenty third of the month; now not only the above principal persons convened, but a vast number of the common people came to see the solemnity of removing the ark, and of dedicating the temple, and to attend the feast of it, and the more, since in a few days was the time for all the males in Israel to appear there:

in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month;
it was, as the Targum says, originally the first month; but upon the children of Israel coming out of Egypt in Ab or Nisan, that became the first month, and this was the seventh from that; and is the same with Tisri, which answers to part of September, and part of October, here called Ethanim; which some render the month of the ancients, others of strong ones; either because of the many feasts that were in it, as some say; or because it was the time of ingathering all the increase and fruits of the earth, which strengthen and support man's life; or rather of "never failing", i.e. waters, showers falling in this month, and the rivers full of water ^F12; so September is "septimus imber", according to Isidore ^F13, and the three following months are alike derived; this, by the Egyptians, was called Theuth, and was with them the first month in the year ^F14; so Porphyry says ^F15, with the Egyptians the beginning of the year was not Aquarius, as with the Romans, but Cancer; and so the month of September was the first with the Ethiopians ^F16, and with most people ^F17; though with the Chinese about the middle of Aquarius ^F18. Now, though the temple was finished in the eighth month, ( 1 Kings 6:38 ) , it was not dedicated until the seventh in the following year; it required time to finish the utensils and vessels, and put them in their proper place, and for the drying of the walls

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Vid. Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. p. 130, 131.
F13 Origin. l. 5. c. 33.
F14 Lactant. de Fals. Felig. l. 1. c. 6.
F15 De Antro Nymph. prope finem.
F16 Ludolf. Lexic. Ethiopic. p. 65. & Hist. Ethiop. l. 3. c. 6.
F17 Julian. Opera, par. 1. orat. 4. p. 290, 291.
F18 Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 1. p. 22.

1 Kings 8:2 In-Context

1 At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

2 And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,

4 and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. So the priests and Levites carried them up.

5 There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths or Shelters); similarly in verse 65; see Leviticus 23:33–36.
• [b]. Ethanim was the seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of September and October.