Thus all the work that Sulayman1 did for the House of YAHWEH2 was finished. Sulayman brought in the things that Dawud3 his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the House of God4.
2Then Sulayman assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of Bani-Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of YAHWEH out of the city of Dawud, which is Al-Quds5. 3And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4All the elders of Israel came: and the Levites took up the ark; 5and they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; the Levitical priests brought these up. 6King Sulayman and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. 7The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of YAHWEH to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the karubin6. 8For the karubin spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the karubin covered the ark and its poles above. 9The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside: and there it is to this day. 10There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Musa7 put there at Horeb, when YAHWEH made a covenant with Bani-Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11It happened, when the priests had come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their divisions; 12also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and lyres and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets;) 13it happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking YAHWEH; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised YAHWEH, saying,
“For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever;”
that then the House was filled with a cloud, even the House of YAHWEH, 14so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of YAHWEH filled the House of God.
- 6:1 Sulayman, this Arabic name and the name Solomon are both derived from the Hebrew name Shlomo which means “peace.” ↩︎
- 6:1 YAHWEH, God’s personal Name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15: ‘God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”’ ↩︎
- 6:1 Dawud, this Arabic name is derived from David (Hebrew) and means “Beloved.” ↩︎
- 6:1 God, English translation of elohim. Elohim (Hebrew) is related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 6:2 Al-Quds, meaning “the Holy (City).” The Hebrew text reads Zion, a synonym for Jerusalem. It originally referred to Mount Zion, one of the hills of Jerusalem. ↩︎
- 6:7 karubin, an Arabic word based on the plural Hebrew word cherubim, describing a class of angels first mentioned in Genesis 3:24 as living creatures guarding the way to the Garden of Eden after the expulsion of Adam and Hawa. ↩︎
- 6:10 Musa, this Arabic name is derived from the Hebrew name Moses meaning “to pull out” or “draw out” (of water); referring to the biblical story where he was rescued from the Nile River by Firaun’s daughter. ↩︎