1 Kings 8:63

And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord,.... Part of which belonged to the offerer, and with those Solomon feasted the people all the days of the feast of the dedication, if not of tabernacles also; for the number was exceeding large, as follows: 22,000 oxen, and 120,000 sheep; which, as suggested, might be the number for all the fourteen days; nor need it seem incredible, since, as Josephus (b) says, at a passover celebrated in the times of Cestius the Roman governor, at the evening of the passover, in two hours time 256,500 lambs were slain; however, this was a very munificent sacrifice of Solomon's, in which he greatly exceeded the Heathens, whose highest number of sacrifices were hecatombs, or by hundreds, but his by thousands: so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord; devoted it to divine and religious worship by these sacrifices: hence in imitation of this sprung the dedication of temples with the Heathens; the first of which among the Romans was that in the capitol at Rome (c) by Romulus; the rites and ceremonies used therein by them may be read in Cicero, Livy, Tacitus, and others (d). (b) De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 3.((c) Vid. Liv. Hist. Decad. 1. l. 1. p. s. & l. 2. p. 33. (d) Vid. Hospinian. de Templis, l. 4. c. 2. p. 451. & Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 14.

1 Kings 8:63. And Solomon offered — By the hands of the priests, two and twenty thousand oxen, &c. — Not all in one day, but in seven, or, it may be, in the fourteen days mentioned 1 Kings 8:65 . So the king and all Israel dedicated the house of the Lord — Began to set it apart for the work and services of God by these sacrifices and holy exercises.

(63) And Solomon offered. —The number here given, enormous as it is, can hardly be supposed due to any error in the text; for it is exactly reproduced in the Chronicles and by Josephus. Much explanation of it has been wasted through misunderstanding of the real difficulty involved. It is comparatively easy to conceive how such a mass of victims could be brought as offerings or consumed, when we consider the vastness of the assembled multitude from the whole of the great dominions of Solomon, dwelling in or encamped about the city. Even at the Passovers of the last days of Jerusalem the multitude of worshippers seems to have been numbered by hundreds of thousands. The real difficulty is to conceive how, even through the fourteen days of the festival, and over the whole of the hallowed portion of the court, the victims could have been offered. But it is not unlikely that on such an occasion it might be deemed sufficient actually to sacrifice only certain representative victims of each hecatomb, and simply to dedicate the rest to the Lord, leaving them to be killed and eaten elsewhere.

This profusion of sacrifices, good as expressing the natural desire of all to offer at such a time, may perhaps have involved something of the idea, so frequent in heathen sacrifice, and so emphatically condemned by the prophets, that the Lord would be “pleased with thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil”—something also of that display of the magnificence of the king and his people, even in the very act of homage to God, which the history throughout seems to imply. If so, in these ideas lurked the evils which hereafter were to overthrow the prosperity of Israel, and make the Temple a heap of stones.

62–66 . The great sacrifice and festival ( 2 Chronicles 7:4-11 ) 63 . And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings ] It is ordered in the Law ( Leviticus 7:15 ) that the greatest part of such peace offerings shall be eaten at the time of the offering. The fat and certain internal portions of the victim are to be consumed in the fire on the altar, but all else is to go for food. This explains in part the enormous number of animals mentioned in this verse. Not only among the Jews, but among all ancient nations, sacrifices were feasts, sometimes on a very large scale. Homer supplies abundant instances. The dedication of the Temple was an event for which all who could come were sure to assemble, and for the support of such an enormous crowd for fourteen days (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:8-9 ) the supply here mentioned need not be thought excessive. Great multitudes can assemble in Eastern climates, where the shelter of a roof at night is not a necessity, with less preparation, except for actual food, than is required in western lands. Josephus says “all the Hebrews feasted with their wives and children, moreover also the king celebrated the feast which is called the feast of Tabernacles grandly and magnificently before the Temple, feasting together with all the people.” two and twenty thousand oxen ] Contrary to his custom Josephus gives here a smaller number than that in the Hebrew text.

He says twelve thousand oxen, but keeps the same number, one hundred and twenty thousand, for the sheep. Though it be said that the king offered this large sacrifice, we need not suppose that any great part of the offering was performed by him personally or in his presence. The next verse shows that provision was made for offering sacrifices in other places than on the brazen altar, viz. on temporary altars set up for the occasion.

These numbers have been thought incredible, but they are not impossible. At least 100, 000, or 120, 000 men 1 Kings 8:65 were assembled; and as they all offered sacrifice with the king 1 Kings 8:62 , the number of victims must have been enormous. Part of the flesh of so many victims would be eaten; but much of the meat may have been privately burned Leviticus 19:6 , the object of the sacrifice being the glory of God, and not the convenience of the people. Profusion was a usual feature of the sacrifices of antiquity.

Solomon offered a sacrifice, by the hands of the priests. A hundred and twenty thousand sheep; not all in one day, but in the seven, or, it may be, in the fourteen days, mentioned 1 Kings 8:65 . So, i.e. by these sacrifices and holy exercises. Dedicated the house of the Lord, i.e. began to set it apart for the work and service of God.

63. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord—The dedication was not a ceremony ordained by the law, but it was done in accordance with the sentiments of reverence naturally associated with edifices appropriated to divine worship. [See on [302]2Ch 7:5.]

Verse 63. - And Solomon offered a sacrifice [Solomon is mentioned as chief donor, and as the executive. But others shared in the gift] of peace offerings [ Leviticus 7:11 sqq. This was especially the sacrifice of praise - it is called "the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings," ib . vers. 13, 15. See Bahr, Symb. 2:368 sqq. In the peace offering, the fat was burnt on the altar, but the flesh was eaten (ver. 15; cf. Deuteronomy 12:7 ), so that this form of offering was, in every way, adapted to a festival. The idea that "ox after ox, to the number of 22,000, and sheep after sheep, to the number of 120,000, were consumed ," sc . by fire (Stanley), is expressly excluded], which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. [it is very possible that these numbers have been altered in course of transcription, as is the case with numbers elsewhere, but there is no ground for suspecting exaggeration or mistake. For, in the first place, the Chronicles and all the Versions agree with the text, and, secondly, the numbers, compared with what we know of the sacrifices offered on other occasions, are not unduly large, nor were they such that (as has been alleged) it would be impossible to offer them within the time specified. If, at an ordinary Passover a quarter of a million of lambs could be sacrificed within the space of two or three hours (Jos., Bell.