_the palace_] Hebrew _bīrāh_, a late word in Hebrew, perhaps derived from Assyrian _bīrtu_. Ordinarily it denoted a palace or fortress (compare Nehemiah i. 1; Esther i. 2), and is applied to the Temple only here and verse 19. In Nehemiah ii. 8 (compare Ryle _in loco_) the building which afterwards became the Tower of Antonia (ἡ παρεμβολή, _the castle_, Acts xxi. 37, xxii. 24) which overlooked the Temple is called _the castle_ (bīrāh) _which appertaineth to the house_. In Nehemiah i. 1 Shushan is described as a _bīrāh_, probably as being a fortress as well as a royal city. See G. A. Smith, _Jerusalem_, II. 347. The Temple is frequently called _hēykāl_ (_palace_, _great house_) in the Old Testament, but the normal appellation is simply _kabbayith_ (_the house_) or such a phrase as _the house of the Lord_, or again _qǒdshěkhā_ (_Thy sanctuary_). ²Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the _things of_ gold, and the silver for the _things of_ silver, and the brass for the _things of_ brass, the iron for the _things of_ iron, and wood for the _things of_ wood; onyx¹ stones, and _stones_ to be set, stones for inlaid work, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. ¹ Or, _beryl_. =2.= _onyx_] or, as margin, _beryl_. Compare Genesis ii. 12 (margin _beryl_). _stones for inlaid work_] Compare Isaiah liv. 11, _I will lay thy stones with fair colours_ (the same word is used in Hebrew). ³Moreover also, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, seeing that I have a treasure of mine own of gold and silver, I give it unto the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house; =3.= _I give it_] not all his private fortune, but the splendid offering announced in verses 4, 5. David then challenges the leaders to display a like generosity (verse 5). _even three thousand talents of gold_, etc.] i.e. about £20,000,000 or £10,000,000 (light standard). The amount is impossibly vast, and may be compared with the exaggeration noted in xxii. 14. ⁴even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal: =4.= _gold of Ophir_] _Ophir_ is probably to be identified with some part of the south-east coast of Arabia; see note on 2 Chronicles viii. 18. The reference here is no doubt an anachronism, for it is clear that Israelite tradition regarded this trade with Ophir as an innovation of Solomon’s reign (see 2 Chronicles viii. 18, ix. 10 = 1 Kings ix. 28, x. 11). _to overlay_] compare 2 Chronicles iii. 4‒8. _the houses_] i.e. the porch, the greater house, and the most holy house; 2 Chronicles iii. 4, 5, 8.