David's Preparations for the Temple

"And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones." "Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical."

"But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name… Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest… for his name shall be Solomon [Shelomo], and I will give peace [shalom] and quietness unto Israel in his days."

"Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight." "Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee."

Why David could not build

1 Kings 5:3 says wars kept David too busy; Chronicles says the blood he shed disqualified him. Both point to Solomon as the builder.

Vast numbers

100,000 talents of gold is about 3,400 tonnes; a million talents of silver about 34,000 tonnes, far beyond any known ancient treasury. They may be hyperbole of glory; "in my trouble" (or "with great pains") stresses the effort. The NET Bible notes the scale. See the passage page.