The Changing Role of God
In a prior post I argued that the essential purpose of the Israelites’ desert sanctuary, whose design and construction occupy so much of the last half of the book of Exodus, was to create a place from which God would communicate through Moses to the people Israel.
See here: https://www.charleslightner.com/parashat-terumah-5784/
Or Here: https://medium.com/@chucklightner/the-essential-parashat-terumah-d6455208a19d
The text of Parashat Terumah (Exodus 25:1–27:19), when stripped of all the detail: of the accounts of materials, dimensions, quantities, specifications, and relationships; conveys that message clearly.
The Haftarah for Parashat Terumah
The parallel reading from the Prophetic books for the week of Parashat Terumah comes from 1 Kings 5 and 6, which deal with Solomon’s construction of the First Temple.
There we find that Solomon began the construction of the First Temple “in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 6:1)
The Haftarah ends with the account of the completion of the Temple structure. When the structure was completed—before the walls were paneled, the floor finished, the inner sanctuary was constructed, etc.—the text tells us: (1 Kings 6:11–13)
“Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, “With regard to this House you are building—if you follow My laws and observe My rules, and faithfully keep My commandments, I will fulfill for you the promise that I gave to your father David: I will abide among the children of Israel, and I will never forsake My people Israel.”
[Note: The NJPS translation used here places a colon after “your father David.” The NRSV in contrast places a period there. The text itself, of course, was not punctuated, so all punctuation is, in a sense, interpretation. And in this case, the punctuation decision creates an important distinction.]
It took seven years to complete the Temple. Solomon then took an additional thirteen years to build his own palace as well as one for his wife, who was the daughter of Pharoah. The text of 1 Kings contains an account of the finishing of the Temple and its implements in a level of detail that is similar to that found in the Exodus account of the mishkan.
That account raises a number of interesting questions. Why is the Temple smaller than the desert sanctuary, while Solomon’s own house had the same external dimensions as the mishkan, for example? Why wait for the completion of the palace before dedicating the Temple? But those are questions for another time.
What Drew My Attention
The portion of the account of Solomon’s Temple that has drawn my attention, though, is from a couple of chapters further on in the text. I am struck by the contrast between the function of the mishkan in the desert and the apparent role of God in the First Temple.
When all of the work was finished, Solomon brought the elders and the priests together and had the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of the Law, brought into the Temple. He then declared that this new “House” would henceforth be the dwelling place of God, in Solomon’s words, or of God’s name, as Solomon quotes God in 1 Kings 8:16. We find repeatedly in Deuteronomy references to the place in which God’s name will dwell or be established. That distinction is also a matter for another time.
Solomon’s Assertion
Then, in 8:20–22, Solomon says,
“And the Lord has fulfilled the promise that He made: I have succeeded my father David and have ascended the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built the House for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel; and I have set a place there for the Ark, containing the covenant which the Lord made with our fathers….”
And in 8:25 Solomon continues:
“And now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the further promise that you made to Your servant my father David: ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end, if only your descendants will look to their way and walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’”
What Promise Was Important to Solomon?
Look back at the text of 1 Kings 6:11–13. If the punctuation after “your father David” is understood to be a colon, as NJPS has it, the promise seems to be that God will abide among the children of Israel forever. But, in Chapter 8, that is not the promise that seems important to Solomon.
Solomon’s concern there is about the hereditary kingship. He wants to confirm that the kingship will remain in the Davidic line, in his line. He does not ask that God confirm that the conditions of the promise have been met. While the language used is polite יֵאָ֤מֶן נָא֙, ye’amen na, it does not invite a response, it assumes agreement.
The punctuation choice of the NJPS is kind to Solomon. It does not make him appear to have a principally personal interest. But the text in Chapter 8 seems to support the NRSV punctuation. Solomon was clearly concerned that the promise of the hereditary kingship be affirmed.
We often talk about issues raised by biblical translation decisions. Critical religious teachings that survive to the current day have been based on faulty translations. In this case we can see how something as seemingly minor as the choice of punctuation can affect the understanding of a translation.
What Was God’s Role in Solomon’s Temple?
In the life of the Israelite people generally, the Temple was the place at which sacrifices were made, special days were observed, and God presence was understood, in some way, to abide. And, because it was the place in which God’s name was established, it was also a place at which a supplicant might approach God.
And supplication is the subject of a long section of text beginning at 1 Kings 8:31 that is known as Solomon’s Prayer, which helps us understand the difference between the role of God in the desert versus God’s role 480 years later at the time of the First Temple.
Solomon’s prayer has seven parts, each of which addresses a specific situation in which people might petition God. In each case God is asked to hear the supplication and respond. These are the seven situations listed:
- When a man commits an offense against another … hear in heaven and take action … condemn the one who is wrong and reward the one who is right.
- Should Your people Israel be routed by an enemy because they have sinned against You … and then turn back and offer prayer … hear in heaven and pardon their sin … and restore them to the land of their fathers.
- If there is no rain because of sin … if the people repent and pray … hear in heaven and pardon.
- In cases of famine, disease, plague … when the people pray for help … hear in your heavenly abode and pardon and take action.
- If a foreigner who is not of your people … when he comes to pray toward this house, hear in your heavenly abode … and do all that the foreigner asks.
- When Your people take the field against their enemy … and they pray to the Lord … hear in heaven their prayer … and act in their cause.
- When they sin against you … and take it to heart and repent … and turn back to you … give heed in your heavenly abode … uphold their cause … and pardon Your people.
The language in each of these cases asks God to hear. The Hebrew in those requests is תִּשְׁמַ֣ע הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם tishma ha’shamayim, that is; may the heavens (God) hear, or as NJPS has it sometimes, hear in Your heavenly abode.
When the request for hearing is coupled with action, the word used for action is וְעָשִׂ֙יתָ֙ ve’asita, that is; and do, or act, or uphold, depending on the context.
And when forgiveness for transgression is requested, the word used is וְסָ֣לַחְתָּ֔, ve’salachta, which is straightforward. It means forgive.
There is nothing ambiguous about the language of Solomon’s prayer. He is asking that God listen, forgive, and act. Forgiveness for transgression is asked when the transgressor repents. Deliverance from difficulties such as famine and plague is requested when the difficulty is the result of sin. In each case God is asked to respond to a spoken request.
Solomon, conspicuously, does not ask God for information. It is God’s action that is requested, not God’s direction. And, in that way, the apparent function of the First Temple is quite different from that of the sanctuary in the desert.
God’s Response
God’s voice, except as quoted by Solomon, is not heard in the account of the construction and dedication of the Temple. God seems to be an observer.
But when it was all done, “the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time … God said to him …” (1 Kings 9:3–7)
“I have heard the prayer and the supplication that you have offered to Me. I consecrate this House that you have built, and I set My name there forever. My eyes and My heart shall ever be there.
As for you, if you (singular) walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you [and] keeping My laws and My rules, then I will establish your throne of kingship over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end.’
[But] if you (plural) and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments [and] the laws that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will sweep Israel off the land that I gave them; I will reject the House that I have consecrated to My name; and Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”
So, God reaffirms the promise made to David regarding the line of kingship on the condition that the kings, including Solomon, keep the commandments. But God then reminds Solomon, it seems, that the people—the you is in the plural there—must also keep the commandments and serve God alone. If they do not, they will lose the promised land and the Temple will be “rejected.”
Conclusions
I would point out four things here:
- It seems the NRSV punctuation is more appropriate than the NJPS. That is, in 1 Kings 6:11–13, I think there are two promises made: one regarding the Davidic line and a second regarding the relationship between God and the people of Israel.
- The promise that Solomon is concerned about is the promise that the kingship will remain in the Davidic line.
- Solomon’s Temple was not a place of communication from God to the people, as the desert sanctuary was. Rather it was a place of communication from the people to God.
- God’s role at the time of Solomon’s Temple, as depicted in Solomon’s Prayer, had changed. It was to hear and respond to the supplications of the people. The Temple was the place of God’s name, to which the people could turn, or return, when they needed help; when they had strayed off course or when things had gone badly for them. God had become a source of help and of forgiveness rather than of information.
The implication of the shift in function is that all of the instruction needed had already been provided. It had been given long before by God to Moses and from Moses to the people.
Now they needed a God who would listen, forgive, and respond.
In the desert God spoke. In the First Temple God listened.