2 Chronicles 5:13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of theLord filled the house of God.
2 Chron. 5:11–14 The Chronicler inserts a lengthy sentence (vv. 11b–13) into his source (1 Kings 8:10) to describe a highly festive scene, suggesting that the cloud of God’s glory (see Ex. 13:21–22) that filled the temple came in response to the Levites’ and priests’ worship. The Chronicler’s own generation should draw a similar lesson, that God will surely be present when his people offer praise and thanksgiving. The appearance of the cloud and the inability of the priests even to stand to minister in God’s presence signified that God in his majesty was taking up residence in his temple. There is an evident parallel here, and in 2 Chron. 7:3, with the appearance of the glory cloud in the tabernacle and over the tent of meeting (cf.Ex. 40:34–35). The visible manifestation of God’s glory and presence was known in later Judaism as the “Shekinah,” and it provides the background to John’s comment about the incarnate Son: “we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). The praise of 2 Chron. 5:13b appears again in 20:21b. God’s steadfast love (Hb. hesed) in particular denotes his covenant commitment to David (1 Chron. 17:13), which has finally resulted in this temple.