Midrash su II Samuele 7:5

... Teach us, our master, from when does the mitzvah of the Channukah lamp begin? Our rabbis taught – from when the sun sets until the majority of people are gone from the marketplace. And where are they to be lit? If one lives on an upper floor with a window facing the public domain, light there. If it is a time of danger, light within your house [and it is forbidden to do work by its light. R’ Asi said] it is forbidden to see by its light. Why do we light Channukah lamps? When the Hasmonean High Priest defeated the Greeks, as it says “For I bend Judah for Me like a bow; I filled [the hand of] Ephraim, and I will arouse your children, O Zion, upon your children, O Javan; and I will make you as the sword of a mighty man,” (Zechariah 9:13) they entered the Holy Temple. They found there eight iron stakes, fixed them in the ground and lit lamps upon them. Why do we read the Hallel psalms of praise? Because it is written “The Lord is God, and He gave us light.” (Tehillim 118:27) Why don’t we read it on Purim? It is written “…to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish the entire host of every people and province that oppress them…” (Esther 8:11) and we don’t read it except to mark the fall of a kingdom and the kingdom of Ahasuerus still stood. But when the Holy One destroyed the kingdom of Greece they began to sing hymns and praises and to say that in the past we were servants to Pharoah, servants to Greece and now we are servants to the Holy One “Praise, you servants of the Lord…” (Tehillim 113:1) How many channukot (dedications) were there? There were seven. The dedication of heaven and earth, as it says “Now the heavens and the earth were completed…” (Bereshit 2:1) What dedication was there then? “And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth.” (Bereshit 1:17) The dedication of the wall, as it says “And in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nechemiah 12:27) The dedication of those who came up from the exile, as it says “And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God…” (Ezra 6:17) The dedication of the priests, which we light for. The dedication of the world to come, as it says “And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will search Jerusalem with candles…” (Tzephaniah 1:12) The dedication of the princes “This was the dedication offering of the altar…” (Bamidbar 7:84) The dedication of the Sanctuary, which this is speaking of “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.” (Tehillim 30:1) Another explanation. There are seven channukot. The dedication of the creation of the world, as it is written “Now the heavens and the earth were completed…” (Bereshit 2:1) Completion is the language of dedication, as is written “All the work of the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting was completed…” (Shemot 39:32) The dedication of Moshe, as it is written “And it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the Mishkan…” (Bamidbar 7:1) The dedication of the House, as it is written “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.” (Tehillim 30:1) The dedication of the Second Temple [as it says “And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God…” (Ezra 6:17) and the dedication of the wall] as it says “And in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nechemiah 12:27) The current one of the House of Hasmonean. The dedication of the world to come, because even that has lights, as it is written “And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold as the light of the seven days…” (Isaiah 30:26)

... Another explanation. “And all the work that king Solomon had wrought in the house of the Lord was finished.” (Melachim I 7:51) What does ‘all the work’ mean? It was built by itself, rising and floating up – thus it does not say when the house was built, but rather “And the house, when it was in building…” (Melachim I 6:7) “…was built of stone finished at the quarry (masa)…” (ibid.) What does ‘finished at the quarry’ (masa nivne) mean? R’ Brechia said: the stone picked itself up (nosah atzma), rose up and was built by itself. This is what Shlomo said in his song “I have surely built You a house to dwell in…” (Melachim I 8:13) He says ‘I have surely built’, meaning ‘I built a building and the stones rose up and flew into place themselves’. If you are shocked that the Holy One would do such a thing for a single righteous person, “And a stone was brought and placed on the mouth of the pit…” (Daniel 6:18) And where did they get a rock in Bavel? Our Rabbis said that it rolled all the way from the land of Israel and came in an instant. So if the Holy One did such a thing for flesh and blood, are you surprised that He would do so for the building of a house to the Holy One?

R. Samuel the son of Nahman said: Prior to the erection of the Temple, the world rested on a foundation of two pillars, but after it was built the world became firmly established and He stood in His dwelling place. How do we know this? (That is what the Holy One, blessed be He, told Gad the prophet when He said: Go and tell My servant David: “Thus saith the Lord: Shalt thou build for Me a house for Me to dwell in?” [II Sam. 7:5]. However, following that it is written: Nevertheless, Thou shalt not build the house, but thy son that shalt come out of thy loins, he shall build the house for My name [I Kings 8:19]. But if you should build it, then, as it is said:)¹⁶Etz Joseph suggests that this text is out of place. I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant it, that they may dwell in their own place (II Sam. 7:10). “I will plant them” is not written in this verse, but rather plant it, indicating that the world would then be firmly established.