Chapter 5 of Divrei HaYamim II is a transitional chapter: the work of building is complete, and now arrives the stage in which the House becomes the House of Hashem - bringing up the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem into the Holy of Holies. We will examine the sequence of verses, the explanations of the Malbim, Radak, and the commentary attributed to Rashi, and the midrashic teachings of Chazal associated with this passage: why Shlomo stored away the silver and gold of David, how the poles of the Ark were seen before the Dvir, and what was placed inside the Ark.
וַתִּשְׁלַם כָּל־הַמְּלָאכָה אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה שְׁלֹמֹה לְבֵית יְהֹוָה, וַיָּבֵא שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת־קָדְשֵׁי דָּוִיד אָבִיו וְאֶת־הַכֶּסֶף וְאֶת־הַזָּהָב וְאֶת־כָּל־הַכֵּלִים נָתַן בְּאֹצְרוֹת בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים׃ - Thus all the work that Shlomo performed for the House of Hashem was completed; and Shlomo brought the consecrated things of his father David, and the silver, the gold, and all the vessels he placed in the treasuries of the House of God.
Shlomo completes and finishes the work, and then brings the consecrated items of his father David - the silver, the gold, and all the vessels - and places them in the treasuries of the House of God. The commentary attributed to Rashi explains according to the peshat: this refers to what remained from all that his father had donated and prepared, as we saw earlier that King David prepared silver, gold, and copper - all that was left over, Shlomo brought into the treasuries of the House of God. The Malbim likewise explains according to the peshat, that whatever remained was brought to the treasuries.
It is worth emphasizing "according to the peshat," because Chazal offer a Midrash here. Chazal expound that Shlomo knew the Temple would ultimately be destroyed, and he did not want idolaters to say: "Mighty is our deity, who exacted vengeance from this Temple that was built from the spoils and plunder David took from its idol temples." For we have seen that David took Ittai the Gittite with him, and it is written of him that he was a gentile whose role was to nullify the idols - since an idol nullified by a gentile is permitted to an Israelite, whereas if an Israelite nullifies it, the nullification is ineffective. Only when a gentile nullified the idol did it become a mere piece of gold or a mere piece of wood, no longer bearing the designation of an idol, with no prohibition against benefiting from it. King David took from their temples of idolatry, where vast amounts of silver and gold lay, and thus they might come and say: "Do you see, the Temple was destroyed! Did he think he could plunder our idol and it would not take revenge? Behold, it has taken revenge on him." Shlomo did not want to leave room for such slander, and therefore he did not use any of the silver David took from the pagan temples. Certainly this was halachically permissible, yet to prevent them from having any pretext, Shlomo chose not to do so.
The Midrash provides another explanation: Shlomo said, "There was a famine in the days of my father David for three years, year after year, and he should have spent these consecrated funds to sustain the poor of Israel." There is a Midrash that expounds on the verse "You shall not build My house" - "for you have shed much blood," and when did he shed much blood? One explanation in Chazal is that this occurred during the three years of famine: they came to David and said, "Give us the gold you prepared for the Beit HaMikdash so that we may buy food and not die." He replied, "It is forbidden; this gold was designated for the Beit HaMikdash. I have consecrated it; how can I give it for human benefit?" But he erred in this, for pikuach nefesh certainly took precedence here, and he should have given them the silver and gold; those who perished are the "much blood" David shed. Such is one opinion in the Midrash. We have previously mentioned other explanations, but in any case, this connects to our Midrash: since there was an indictment against David that this silver and gold was reserved for the Beit HaMikdash instead of sustaining human lives, there was a blemish and taint upon the gold, and Shlomo therefore did not want the Beit HaMikdash built with it, so there would be no ground for heavenly accusation, so to speak.
The commentary attributed to Rashi brings a wonderful proof for this: notice that among all the items David consecrated, as written earlier, it is never mentioned that "with them Shlomo made such-and-such" - there is no mention of what Shlomo made from what David consecrated, except for the copper. Only there is it written that from Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took an abundance of copper, and with it Shlomo made the copper Sea, the pillars, and the copper vessels. Regarding the silver and gold, it is never stated what Shlomo made from them. From this we learn, as Chazal expound, that he did not use the silver and gold at all, but used only the copper. Apparently, the copper was not taken from idol temples, or there was no grievance concerning it regarding what was withheld from those people, or perhaps it was acquired later. Whatever the case, regarding the copper we see that he did use it, whereas regarding the silver and gold it does not state what he made from them - an indication that he did not use them at all. Therefore, note that here the verse does not mention copper, but only "the silver and the gold" - these he brought into the treasuries of the House of God, for he stored only them away and made no use of them, whereas from the copper, he made the vessels.
Even so, the commentary attributed to Rashi notes that according to the peshat, one can explain that copper is not mentioned because copper is insignificant next to silver and gold. Silver and gold are of great value, whereas copper is small change by comparison, so the verse does not mention it - as the saying goes, "one who has two hundred includes a hundred."
אָז יַקְהֵיל שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת־זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת־כָּל־רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת נְשִׂיאֵי הָאָבוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלִָם לְהַעֲלוֹת אֶת־אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהֹוָה מֵעִיר דָּוִיד הִיא צִיּוֹן׃ - Then Shlomo assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chieftains of the ancestral houses of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem from the City of David, which is Zion.
The commentary attributed to Rashi notes a distinction here between whom David assembled and whom Solomon assembled: David also gathered the young men, as it is written, "And David assembled all Israel," whereas Solomon acted with wisdom and assembled the elders rather than the young men. And the purpose, as the Malbim explains, was to sanctify the House through the Sanhedrin, and also for the honor of the Ark - for the Ark is honored by having great and distinguished men accompany it.
וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ כָּל־אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל בֶּחָג הוּא הַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִעִי׃ וַיָּבֹאוּ כֹּל זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּשְׂאוּ הַלְוִיִּם אֶת־הָאָרוֹן׃ - "And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the festival, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites carried the Ark."
The seventh month is the month of Tishrei, and the festival is the festival of Sukkot. The Radak asks: In the Book of Kings it says, "and the priests carried the Ark," yet here it says, "and the Levites carried [the Ark]"? He explains that in truth the priests carried it, and why were they called Levites? Because the priests are also Levites. Every priest is from the tribe of Levi, even though not everyone from the tribe of Levi is a priest, since the tribe of Levi was divided into Levites and priests. Do not wonder at this, for Chazal enumerate twenty-four places where the priests are called Levites, such as "and the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok."
And what is written later, "the Levitical priests" (ha-Kohanim ha-Levi'im), means the priests and the Levites, and so it is also written in Kings: "and the priests and the Levites brought them up" - the priests carried the Ark and the Levites carried the Tent of Meeting. Thus, here "the Levites" refers to the priests, and "the Levitical priests" refers to the priests together with the Levites. The Malbim adds: Chazal say that in several instances the priests carried the Ark, and one of them was when they brought it into the Holy of Holies - and here, after all, the text is discussing bringing it into the Holy of Holies. Therefore, he explains that ordinarily the Levites carried the Ark, but the actual entrance into the Holy of Holies was performed by the priests. What our verse says, "and the Levites carried the Ark," refers to the initial stage, whereas the entrance into the Holy of Holies was done not by the Levites, but by the priests.
וַיַּעֲלוּ אֶת־הָאָרוֹן וְאֶת־אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְאֶת־כָּל־כְּלֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל הֶעֱלוּ אֹתָם הַכֹּהֲנִים הַלְוִיִּם׃ - "And they brought up the Ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up."
They brought up the Ark from Zion, as we remember that King David had brought the Ark to Zion, and the Tent of Meeting they brought up from Gibeon, where the tent had been, as written in Kings. The Tent of Meeting was stored away in the treasuries of the House of God along with the sacred items dedicated by David, but the Ark was brought to its place in the Inner Sanctuary (Dvir) of the House. This is what Chazal say regarding "acacia wood standing" - that the Tabernacle was never destroyed, but rather hidden away. Why? Because those who labored upon it were holy: Moshe Rabbeinu, Bezalel ben Uri ben Hur - great and holy men were there, and therefore it endures forever. The handiwork of the righteous is never destroyed. By contrast, the Beit HaMikdash was built by craftsmen from Lebanon, and in the Second Temple they also made use of non-Jewish craftsmen; therefore, neither of them had eternal physical endurance.
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וְכָל־עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל הַנּוֹעָדִים עָלָיו לִפְנֵי הָאָרוֹן מְזַבְּחִים צֹאן וּבָקָר אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יִסָּפְרוּ וְלֹא יִמָּנוּ מֵרֹב׃ - "And King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had assembled with him were before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude."
וַיָּבִיאוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים אֶת־אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהֹוָה אֶל־מְקוֹמוֹ אֶל־דְּבִיר הַבַּיִת אֶל־קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים אֶל־תַּחַת כַּנְפֵי הַכְּרוּבִים׃ - "And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place, to the Inner Sanctuary of the House, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim."
Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel walked before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude, all in order to accompany the Ark with great honor and bring it to the Holy of Holies. And what is meant by "under the wings of the cherubim"? These are the cherubim that Solomon fashioned - which were already standing there, and the Ark was brought beneath them; these were the cherubim standing by the western wall of the Holy of Holies. The Malbim notes that verses 6 through 10 were transcribed from the Book of Kings, where he explained them, and we too will mention part of that here.
וַיִּהְיוּ הַכְּרוּבִים פֹּרְשִׂים כְּנָפַיִם עַל־מְקוֹם הָאָרוֹן וַיְכַסּוּ הַכְּרוּבִים עַל־הָאָרוֹן וְעַל־בַּדָּיו מִלְמָעְלָה׃ - "For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the Ark, and the cherubim covered the Ark and its staves from above."
Metzudat David explains that the cherubim were originally crafted so that their wings would spread over the spot where the Ark was to stand, and when the Ark was brought inside, it was immediately sheltered under their wings. "And over its staves from above" - the staves were the poles used to carry the Ark, and the cherubim covered them as well.
וַיַּאֲרִיכוּ הַבַּדִּים וַיֵּרָאוּ רָאשֵׁי הַבַּדִּים מִן־הָאָרוֹן עַל־פְּנֵי הַדְּבִיר וְלֹא יֵרָאוּ הַחוּצָה וַיְהִי־שָׁם עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ - "The staves were long, so that the ends of the staves could be seen from the Ark in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside; and it has remained there to this day."
Radak notes: If this verse refers to the staves that were attached to the Ark from the very beginning, it is quite astonishing. Let us understand the difficulty: Scripture states, "the ends of the staves could be seen from the Ark in front of the inner sanctuary," meaning at the doorway of the Devir - that the staves extended outward. Yet the length of the staves could not have exceeded ten amot, since the Holy of Holies in Moshe's Mishkan was ten amot by ten amot, whereas the Holy of Holies built by Shlomo was twenty amot by twenty amot - double the length, or four times the total area. How, then, could staves measuring ten amot protrude outward? Furthermore, the Ark was positioned inside, and the Torah never states that the staves protruded beyond the Parochet.
One possibility: they may have fashioned new, longer staves for the Ark so that they would be visible before the inner sanctuary. While the original staves were indeed short, there were now different ones. The word baddim refers to wooden poles - akin to a tree branch, or the baddim (branches) of myrtle; it does not mean fabric or cloth. This also explains the word "vaya'arichu" as a transitive verb - not that they lengthened on their own, but that people made them longer: formerly they were ten amot, and now they made staves of twenty amot or more.
Another explanation offered by Radak: these were the very same staves that were on the Ark from the beginning, measuring ten amot. Prior to bringing the Ark into the Devir, the staves were centered evenly - projecting equally to the front and to the back. It had to be this way, since four men carried it; how could they carry it steadily unless the Ark was positioned precisely in the middle of the poles? However, now that the Ark had arrived at its permanent resting place, there was no longer any need for equal length front and back. The staves were therefore drawn forward through the rings, extending further toward the front, allowing them to project toward the entrance of the Devir. Radak explains the reason: on Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol entered to offer the incense between the staves, and to prevent him from turning aside to the right or to the left, he walked straight in between them. If the staves were at their standard length, he might wander within the Holy of Holies; but with the staves extending all the way to the entrance, he was channeled between them, led directly to the exact spot he needed to reach.
Yet Radak still asks: since the staves were only ten amot long and the width of the Devir was twenty amot, how could they be seen at the entrance? The Ark stood in the center, and extending ten amot forward from the center would still not reach the doorway. He answers: it is possible that they did not position the Ark adjacent to the western wall, but placed it further forward into the room, while the cherubim spread their wings over the Ark and its staves - for the wingspan covered twenty amot in width just as it did in length. In other words, the Ark may not have stood dead center beneath the cherubim, but closer to the entrance, so that when the staves were pulled forward, they could project toward the doorway.
Chazal resolve the apparent contradiction in the verse: on the one hand, "the ends of the staves could be seen," yet on the other hand, "they could not be seen from the outside." How so? They pressed outward against the Parochet, creating two visible bulges like the breasts of a woman, as it is written: "He shall lie between my breasts." The staves pushed against the curtain so that two distinct mounds were apparent from outside. Radak, however, explains that according to the plain peshat, there is no need for this midrashic interpretation: Scripture simply means that they could be seen from within the Devir, but outside the walls of the Devir they were not visible. Thus there is no contradiction at all: they were visible in front of the inner sanctuary, but did not extend outside.
Regarding the statement of Chazal that "the place of the Ark was not of the measurable dimensions, and they stood by a miracle," Radak wonders what necessitated such an interpretation according to the peshat. After all, Scripture states that the cherubim spread their wings, with their wings over the Ark and the Ark positioned beneath them. If so, what purpose would there be in positioning cherubim over an Ark that occupies no physical space? The great cherubim stood with their backs to the western wall of the Holy of Holies, facing east toward the entrance, overshadowing the Ark - but if the Ark took up no space, why spread their wings over it? Chazal taught that there were ten amot of empty space from the Ark to each wall, meaning it took up no room whatsoever. Radak remarks: this is not explicitly stated in the text, nor does it appear evident from the verses.
Yet note a crucial point that Radak himself emphasizes in conclusion: "Those who made this statement knew what they said, for their understanding was far broader than ours." Even if we cannot identify an explicit source in the text, it may simply be that we have not uncovered it, and another scholar will analyze the text more deeply and find the biblical allusion. Furthermore, one must realize that many teachings of Chazal were received through an unbroken oral tradition (kabbalah), and they were far closer in time than we are to the era when the Ark was present. Although the Second Temple no longer had the Ark, certain details were preserved through tradition, while others fall into the category of "the secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him" - revealed to them from Heaven, much like the teachings revealed to the holy Ari by Eliyahu HaNavi. Therefore, in all these matters, even when we do not fully grasp them or wonder what compelled the interpretation of a miracle, since Chazal transmitted it to us, we accept it as the words of the living God; not a single word, not even a single letter in the Talmud is anything less than absolute truth. This is our tradition. If a textual proof is not yet obvious to us, a future generation will discover it, or Eliyahu will come from Heaven and reveal it to us, but our received tradition stands firm as the truth.
The Malbim explains that initially, the cherubim spread their wings toward the place of the Aron. As mentioned, these were the cherubim fashioned by Shlomo, not the cherubim made by Moshe that were fixed upon the Kaporet above the Aron. The cherubim made by Shlomo were large, extending their wings toward one another, and when the Aron was brought inside, they tilted their wings over it like a canopy, sheltering the Aron and its carrying-poles from above - and this occurred miraculously, for their wings were originally stretched out to the right and left, and now they spread their wings and sheltered the Aron. Another miracle was that the poles lengthened until they were visible from the Sanctuary before the Dvir - and with this, the Malbim resolves the Radak's dilemma: how was it possible for poles measuring ten cubits to protrude outward? Through a miracle.
And yet another miracle: the poles extended toward the entrance of the Dvir, and within the opening space, they pressed outward from the Kaporet like two breasts. The poles are analogous to the spinal cord emerging from the brain, as is well known. The Malbim explains that the Kodesh HaKodashim corresponds to the soul, which aligns with the brain from which springs of life flow to the entire body. The poles are like the spinal cord through which divine bounty passes from the level of the brain - the elevated realm of the Kodesh HaKodashim - to the corresponding area called the Heichal. Therefore, they are also likened to breasts, for breasts wherever mentioned in scripture - such as "her breasts will satisfy you" and similar expressions - symbolize a source of bounty. Here too, the source of bounty emanated from there, and the poles functioned like breasts channeling abundance into the entire body, and from there the bounty spreads to the entire nation.
אֵין בָּאָרוֹן רַק שְׁנֵי הַלֻּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר־נָתַן מֹשֶׁה בְּחֹרֵב אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת יְהֹוָה עִם־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּצֵאתָם מִמִּצְרָיִם׃ - There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets that Moshe placed there at Chorev, when Hashem made a covenant with the Children of Israel upon their coming out of Egypt.
The Malbim does not comment on this verse here, but he offers a magnificent explanation elsewhere, and so as not to withhold good from those to whom it is due, it is cited here. According to the plain meaning of the text, there was nothing in the Aron except the two Tablets: neither the broken fragments of the first tablets nor a Sefer Torah. It states explicitly: "There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets that Moshe placed." Why? Because the Sefer Torah was placed in the treasuries of the House of Hashem along with the Tent of Meeting and the sacred vessels. The Radak notes that this is evident from the words of Chilkiyahu the Kohen Gadol: "I have found a scroll of the Torah in the House of Hashem" - he does not say "inside the Ark," but rather "in the House of Hashem." We see from this that it was not kept where we might assume, inside the Aron, but was rather stored away in the House of Hashem.
Chazal, however, expounded this differently. The Sages state that in the Aron were also the broken fragments of the first tablets according to Rabbi Yehudah, or that a Sefer Torah was placed there according to Rabbi Meir. There is an ongoing Talmudic discussion as to whether there was an external ledge for the Sefer Torah or if it rested inside the Aron itself, and the Gemara analyzes how there was sufficient space, detailing how the interior of the Aron was divided to accommodate both the Tablets and the Sefer Torah. But from where did they derive something that seemingly contradicts the plain meaning of the verse? What could be clearer than "There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets," yet Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Meir each maintain that something else was present! They deduce this from the formulation "There is nothing... except" (ein... rak): ein is an exclusion, and rak is an exclusion, and the rule is that an exclusion following an exclusion serves only to include. Since two exclusionary terms appear here, the verse comes to include something additional that was indeed present.
Yet this too is astonishing, for when someone says, "There is nothing in the ark except...," the plain sense is that this is all that is there. The principle that "an exclusion following an exclusion serves only to include" is difficult to grasp rationally. If someone asks a question and the response is "No, no" - the meaning is an absolute "no," not a "yes." How, then, does an exclusion after an exclusion indicate that something else was present?
The Malbim explains that this principle is rooted in the precise grammar of the Holy Tongue. In his words: "It is explained in my linguistic principles that nowhere in Tanach does the word rak appear after a negation." Only someone before whom all the pathways of Tanach are clearly laid out could make such a statement! Following a negation, the word used is always ki im: "This is none other than (ein zeh ki im) the house of God," "You shall not go out from this place unless (lo tetzu mizeh ki im) your youngest brother comes." Thus, according to the grammatical rules of the Holy Tongue, the verse should have stated, Ein ba'aron ki im shenei haluchot ("There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets"). Because the text instead uses rak, there is an anomaly in the phrasing, an unusual expression found nowhere else in Tanach. Had it written ki im, one would conclude: two tablets and nothing else whatsoever. But since it writes ein ba'aron rak shenei haluchot, it implies that something else was present as well.
How can we understand this logically? The Malbim provides a wonderful illustration: If one says of Reuven, "Reuven is not wise" - it implies that he is foolish. But if one says, "Reuven is not unwise" - it implies that he is wise. Thus, a negation following a negation results in an affirmation. Here too, "There was not in the Ark only two tablets" implies that it was not the case that there were only two tablets in the Ark; there were additional items. For had the verse intended to state strictly that only two tablets were present, it would have phrased it: Ein ba'aron ki im shenei haluchot.
Nevertheless, the plain sense of the wording implies that there were only two tablets, from which we learn that whatever else was there was inherently connected to the tablets. That is, since the verse says "There was nothing in the Ark only two tablets" - the literal impression is that nothing else was present, while on the other hand the phrasing implies that something else was indeed there. Consequently, whatever was added must be considered, in some sense, part of what was originally there. What, then, could it be? Since the verse emphasizes "only the tablets," the addition must be of the same nature as the tablets - namely, the broken pieces of the first tablets. The second opinion holds that it was a Sefer Torah, which is likewise of the same category as the two stone tablets, both being Torah from Heaven. Each opinion includes an item of the same nature as the tablets. For had the verse intended to include an entirely separate kind of object, it would have stated so explicitly, which would allow one to include something completely different. But since this is derived from a verse whose simple meaning suggests nothing else was present, yet contains an inclusion, whatever was there is considered as if it were not a distinct entity, but rather of the very same kind as the primary contents. Therefore, it must be of the category of the tablets: either the broken tablets or a Sefer Torah - "the words of a wise man's mouth find favor."
וַיְהִי בְּצֵאת הַכֹּהֲנִים מִן־הַקֹּדֶשׁ כִּי כָּל־הַכֹּהֲנִים הַנִּמְצְאִים הִתְקַדָּשׁוּ אֵין לִשְׁמוֹר לְמַחְלְקוֹת׃ - And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place - for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to the divisions...
The commentary attributed to Rashi explains that, in truth, the phrase "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place" ought to have been joined directly to what is stated in verse 14: "So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God." This is the natural continuation, and indeed this is what we find in Melachim (Kings): "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD." However, Scripture pauses here to explain the status of the priests - to inform you which priests are being spoken of - and therefore it makes an interruption to clarify this.
And this is what is meant by "For all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves, without observing the courses": There were, after all, twenty-four priestly divisions and twenty-four Levite divisions, but here they did not serve according to their divisions; each did not work according to his designated shift. As the Malbim explains: they did not observe the shifts of service according to the division of the watches (mishmarot), but rather all of them sanctified themselves for the service. And what was the reason? The Radak explains: because on that day, which was the day of the dedication of the Temple, the sacrifices were abundant and the congregation was vast, and therefore everyone joined in the service - they needed many working hands to offer all the sacrifices.
וְהַלְוִיִּם הַמְשֹׁרְרִים לְכֻלָּם לְאָסָף לְהֵימָן לִידֻתוּן וְלִבְנֵיהֶם וְלַאֲחֵיהֶם מְלֻבָּשִׁים בּוּץ בִּמְצִלְתַּיִם וּבִנְבָלִים וְכִנֹּרוֹת עֹמְדִים מִזְרָח לַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְעִמָּהֶם כֹּהֲנִים לְמֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים מַחְצְרִים בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת׃ - "Also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets."
"Also the Levites who were the singers, all of them" - all of them came; the prefix lamed serves to describe the Levites belonging, as it were, to everyone, meaning that all the Levites arrived. For each watch of the twenty-four watches, whether of Asaph or of any of the other watches, there were 288 singers in total, and every single one of them arrived. And they stood to the east, because the platform (duchan) was to the east. And with them were the priests, for sounding the trumpets was performed by the priests, and there were no more than one hundred and twenty.
וַיְהִי כְאֶחָד לַמְחַצְּרִים וְלַמְשֹׁרְרִים לְהַשְׁמִיעַ קוֹל־אֶחָד לְהַלֵּל וּלְהֹדוֹת לַיהֹוָה וּכְהָרִים קוֹל בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת וּבִמְצִלְתַּיִם וּבִכְלֵי הַשִּׁיר וּבְהַלֵּל לַיהֹוָה כִּי טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ וְהַבַּיִת מָלֵא עָנָן בֵּית יְהֹוָה׃ - "It came even to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: 'For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever'; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD."
Metzudat David explains that "were as one" means they all played in complete unison, a single voice of praise, without one anticipating or preceding another - from which we can understand there were no disharmonies or off-key notes. But the Malbim explains that "without one preceding another" refers to the customary style of choirs, where a soloist begins and others respond - as is common in the singing of Bakashot and in Yemenite song, where one person recites a passage and the others answer him. Here, however, it was not done that way; rather, all played and sang together simultaneously in unison, and this is the meaning of "to make one sound to be heard." "And when they lifted up their voice" - when they raised their voice with the trumpets, they praised the LORD with the praise of "For He is good," which is the Great Hallel, "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever," which we recite before Baruch She'amar on Shabbat. And then, when the priests came out from the Holy of Holies and everyone raised their voice, the house was filled with a cloud - the cloud that customarily rested upon the House of the LORD.
וְלֹא־יָכְלוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים לַעֲמוֹד לְשָׁרֵת מִפְּנֵי הֶעָנָן כִּי־מָלֵא כְבוֹד־יְהֹוָה אֶת־בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים׃ - "So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God."
The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, meaning by reason of the darkness of the cloud - for when there is a cloud, one cannot see even a meter ahead, like heavy fog in which one cannot travel. And what is meant by "for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God"? Metzudat David explains that this is not an additional phenomenon, but rather the glory of the LORD is the very cloud mentioned previously, and it filled the house of God.
In this chapter, Solomon completed the work and stored away the silver and gold dedicated by David his father without making use of them - so that the nations would have no pretext to complain and there would be no accusation against the Temple - using only the copper. On the festival of Sukkot, he assembled the elders and heads of the tribes out of honor for the Ark and for the sanctification of the Temple in accordance with the Sanhedrin; they brought up the Ark from Zion and the Tent of Meeting from Giv'on. The Tent of Meeting was stored away in the treasuries, and the Ark was brought into the Holy of Holies beneath the wings of the cherubim fashioned by Solomon. There, miracles occurred: the cherubim spread their wings like a canopy over the Ark, and the staves lengthened until they were seen from the front of the Inner Sanctuary and protruded against the curtain like two breasts - an allegory for the spinal cord through which divine bounty flows down from the realm of the brain, the Holy of Holies, to the entire nation. From the phrase "There was nothing in the ark save the two tables," Chazal deduced that something else of the same nature as the tablets was also there - the broken pieces of the first tablets or a Sefer Torah. And on the day of the Temple's dedication, all the priests sanctified themselves without division of watches due to the abundance of sacrifices, and the Levite singers and the trumpet-blowing priests sounded with one voice in the praise of "For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever," until the cloud filled the house and the priests could not stand to minister - for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.