Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for I Chronicles 22:8

וַיְהִ֨י עָלַ֤י דְּבַר־יְהוָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר דָּ֤ם לָרֹב֙ שָׁפַ֔כְתָּ וּמִלְחָמ֥וֹת גְּדֹל֖וֹת עָשִׂ֑יתָ לֹֽא־תִבְנֶ֥ה בַ֙יִת֙ לִשְׁמִ֔י כִּ֚י דָּמִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים שָׁפַ֥כְתָּ אַ֖רְצָה לְפָנָֽי׃

But the word of the LORD came to me, saying: Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars; thou shalt not build a house unto My name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in My sight.

Radak on I Chronicles

And when he said, "You have shed blood abundantly" – for there was innocent blood among the blood that he shed, like the blood of Uriya, and this happened before. Also regarding the blood of the priests, he was the reason, as he said, "I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house" (I Shmuel 22:22). Also among the blood of the nations that he shed, it is possible that there were good and pious people among them. Nevertheless, he was not punished for them because his intention was to destroy the wicked that they not attack Israel and to save himself when he was in the land of the Philistines, and therefore he spared no man or woman. But since he was involved in abundant bloodshed, God barred him from building a Temple, which is for peace and atonement of sin and the crown of prayer, as He forbade the waving of iron over the altar and in the Temple. Since iron is used for the production of tools of death, it should not be used for the production of tools of peace.
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