2 Chronicles 6:1
in 2 Chronicles 6Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then spake Solomon, Jehovah hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
KJV
Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe Lord hath said that he would dwell - Solomon, seeing the cloud descend and fill the house, immediately took for granted that the Lord had accepted the place, and was now present. What occurred now was precisely the same with what took place when Moses reared the tabernacle in the wilderness; see Exo 40:34, Exo 40:35: A cloud covered the tent - and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent - because the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
This site's exposition
would dwell in the thick darkness
on 2 Chronicles 6:1-3
Solomon's declaration that the Lord would dwell in the thick darkness answers the cloud that had just filled the house at the end of chapter five, and Chronicles keeps this sentence nearly word for word from 1 Kings 8:12-13, already argued there. The king then turns from the altar to bless the whole congregation standing before him, a priestly gesture the earlier exposition already sets beside Aaron's blessing at Numbers 6:24-26. Chronicles adds nothing new in these three verses; it is retelling the scene Kings gave first and moving toward the material only this book carries.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), but let this house be the residence of that darkness; for it is in the upper world that he dwells in light, such as no eye can approach. He did it in compliance with the choice God had been pleased to make of Jerusalem, to be the city in which he would record his name (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
He makes a solemn prayer to God that he would please graciously to accept and answer all the prayers that should be made in, or towards, that house,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
He regarded it himself, and directed the people also to regard it, as an undoubted sign and welcome pledge of the divine presence and acceptance of the building reared to His honor and worship.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Compare Kings (marginal references). Compare Kings (marginal references).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Then Solomon said Since the House is full of smoke, I now know that the Shechinah is resting in the thick darkness therein, for so is His wont, as it is written (Exod.:18): “and Moses drew near to the thick darkness wherein God appeared.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָ֖ז | ʾaz | then | H227 → | 141 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹ֑ה | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אָמַ֔ר | ʾamar | he has said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לִשְׁכּ֖וֹן | lishkon | to dwell | H7931 → | |
| בָּעֲרָפֶֽל׃ | baarafel | in <the> thick darkness | H6205 → |
אָ֖זthen
ʾazH227 →141 times
אָמַ֣רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
שְׁלֹמֹ֑הSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אָמַ֔רhe has said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
לִשְׁכּ֖וֹןto dwell
lishkonH7931 →
בָּעֲרָפֶֽל׃in <the> thick darkness
baarafelH6205 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 97:2Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
it leads to
- Psalms 89:14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
- Exodus 19:9
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in…
- Proverbs 16:12
Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
- Psalms 89:14
Through
Leviticus 16:2And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he…
it leads to
- Exodus 30:10
Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar…
- 1 Kings 8:10–12
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD
- Hebrews 10:19–20
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
- Exodus 30:10
Through
Exodus 20:21And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:12
Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
- Psalms 97:2
Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
- 1 Kings 8:12
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.