1 Kings 8:63

“And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, etc.] Part of which belonged to the offerer, and with those Solomon feasted the people all the days of the feast of the dedication, if not of tabernacles also; for the number was exceeding large, as follows: 22,000 oxen, and 120,000 sheep; which, as suggested, might be the number for all the fourteen days; nor need it seem incredible, since, as Josephus f158 says, at a passover celebrated in the times of Cestius the Roman governor, at the evening of the passover, in two hours time 256,500 lambs were slain; however, this was a very munificent sacrifice of Solomon’s, in which he greatly exceeded the Heathens,…”

“So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord--The dedication was not a ceremony ordained by the law, but it was done in accordance with the sentiments of reverence naturally associated with edifices appropriated to divine worship. [See on Ch2 7:5.]”

“These numbers have been thought incredible, but they are not impossible. At least 100, 000, or 120, 000 men 1 Kings 8:65 were assembled; and as they all offered sacrifice with the king 1 Kings 8:62, the number of victims must have been enormous. Part of the flesh of so many victims would be eaten; but much of the meat may have been privately burned Leviticus 19:6, the object of the sacrifice being the glory of God, and not the convenience of the people. Profusion was a usual feature of the sacrifices of antiquity. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Offered - Not all in one day, but in the seven, or it may be in the fourteen days, mentioned Kg1 8:65. 3 Kings (1 Kings) 8:64”

“a sacrifice: Lev. 3:1-17; Ch1 29:21; Ch2 15:11, Ch2 29:32-35, Ch2 30:24, Ch2 35:7-9; Ezr 6:16, Ezr 6:17; Eze 45:17; Mic 6:7 two and twenty: We are not to suppose that all these victims were sacrificed in one day, or on one altar; for this was the whole amount of those that had been offered during the fourteen days which the feast of dedication and the feast of tabernacles lasted; and there appears to have been an altar erected in the middle of the court, which was set apart for that purpose, in consequence of the great altar of burnt offering being not sufficient for the multitude of sacrifices then offered. dedicated: Num 7:10, Num 7:11, Num 7:84-88; Ch2 2:4, Ch2 7:5; Ezr 6:16, Ezr 6:17;…”