I Chronicles 29:16 · Bible study
1 Chronicles 29:16 Commentary: All This Store Is Yours
Hebrew · 7 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
David's prayer acknowledges that every gift we offer to God was already His. A study on stewardship and divine ownership.
Research Summary
- Meaning: David acknowledges that all the offerings for the temple come from God’s hand and belong wholly to Him.
- Key words: “Store” (הָמוֹן, abundance), “hand” (יָד, power/provision), “prepared” (כּוּן, established).
- Main debate: None on interpretation; the enormous amounts lead to textual questions about the talent standard.
- Theological theme: Divine ownership and human stewardship; giving as returning what is already God’s.
- Best use: A foundational text for sermons on humility in giving and a theology of possessions.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Yahweh our God, all this store that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own.
KJV King James Version 1769
O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
O Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name cometh of thy hand, and is all thine own.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
`O Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build to Thee a house, for Thy holy name, is out of Thy hand, and of Thee is the whole.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house to thy holy name, is of thy hand, and is all thine own.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name, is from thy hand, and all things are thine.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Oh Jehová Dios nuestro, toda esta abundancia que hemos aprestado para edificar casa á tu santo nombre, de tu mano es, y todo es tuyo.
Ó SENHOR Deus nosso, toda esta abundância que preparamos para edificar casa a teu santo nome, de tua mão é, e tudo é teu.
Éternel, notre Dieu, c’ est de ta main que viennent toutes ces richesses que nous avons préparées pour te bâtir une maison, à toi, à ton saint nom, et c’ est à toi que tout appartient.
HERR, unser Gott, aller dieser Haufe, den wir zugerichtet haben, dir ein Haus zu bauen, deinem heiligen Namen, ist von deiner Hand gekommen, und ist alles dein.
HEERE, onze God, al deze menigte, die wij bereid hebben om U een huis te bouwen, den Naam Uwer heiligheid, dat is van Uw hand, en het is alles Uw.
O Eterno, Dio nostro, tutta quest’abbondanza di cose che abbiam preparata per edificare una casa a te, al tuo santo nome, viene dalla tua mano, e tutta ti appartiene.
O Panie, Boże nasz! ten wszystek dostatek któryśmy zgotowali tobie na budowanie domu imieniowi twemu świętemu, z ręki twojej jest, i twoje jest wszystko.
Господи Боже наш! все это множество, которое приготовили мы для построения дома Тебе, святому имени Твоему, от руки Твоей оно, и все Твое.
耶和華─我們的 神啊， 我們預備 這 許多 材料，要為你 的聖 名 建造 殿宇，都是 從你而來，都是 屬你的。
O Lord our God, all this store, which we have made ready for the building of a house for your holy name, comes from your hand and is yours.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Chronicles 29:16
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse is a radical confession of God’s sole ownership. Gill notes that David repeats the statement so that “God might have all the glory of all they had and did.” Matthew Henry calls it an acknowledgment of God in all things, while Wesley applies it to spiritual life: every good thought, desire, and work is from grace. The shared point is unmistakable: human giving is always a return of what first came from God. None of it originates with us. The abundance David and his people gathered for the temple, gold, silver, bronze, did not belong to them; it was God’s from the start.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: David declares that all the materials gathered for the temple come from God's hand and belong entirely to Him.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| God’s ownership of all wealth | All traditions read this verse as teaching that everything belongs to God and comes from Him. | Some traditions apply this to tithing as a baseline; others emphasize freewill giving beyond any minimum. |
| Human preparation and God’s sovereignty | God enables the preparation, David credits God for the ability to gather resources. | The emphasis varies: some highlight human responsibility to prepare; others stress that even the desire to give is God’s work. |
| The temple as focus | The verse directly concerns building the physical temple for God’s name. | Traditions differ on whether the principle transfers to church buildings, to all acts of worship, or to all of life. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse sits in David’s closing prayer as he hands the temple project to Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:10, 19). David had spent years accumulating materials: gold, silver, bronze, iron, and precious stones. The sums are staggering, Gill cites estimates of over 59,000 tons of gold. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown raise the total to nearly a billion pounds in modern value, though they note the text may use a different talent standard. David himself had given generously from his private treasury, and the leaders followed (1 Chronicles 29:4, 7).
The prayer opens with blessing (v.10), moves to a doxology of God’s rule (v.11, 12), and then to humility: “who am I… that we should be able to offer so willingly?” (v.14). Verse 15 describes Israel as strangers and sojourners on earth, no permanent possession. Against that backdrop, verse 16 lands with force: all this store, prepared so carefully, comes from God’s hand. The Hebrew word yad (hand) carries the sense of power and provision; everything they have is God’s own work.
In the ancient Near East, monarchs often credited their gods for military victories or harvests. David goes further: he credits Yahweh not just for the wealth, but for the very act of giving it back. This is not a formula for fundraising; it is a theological confession about the nature of ownership. The cross-reference in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness”, echoes the same conviction.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note a minor Kethiv/Qere variant on the pronoun “it” (הוּא). Keil and Delitzsch observe that the Kethiv (written form) is neuter (הוּא), while the Qere (read form) corresponds to the full masculine form. The difference does not affect the meaning. No other significant variants are reported in the supplied commentaries.
Reception History
This verse has been a cornerstone in Christian teaching on stewardship from the patristic era through Reformation sermons. It is frequently paired with Psalm 24:1 to affirm the earth belongs to the Lord. In Jewish tradition, it underscores the sanctity of the temple and the principle that all material blessings come from God. Hymns of consecration and offering often echo its language of returning to God what is already His.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- All we have is from God’s hand. David traces the abundance back to its source, not human effort, but divine provision. Even the ability to gather and prepare comes from God (v.14).
- All we give is returning what is His. The phrase “and is all your own” completes the circle. There is no net loss to us. Giving is not parting with our stuff; it is restoring God’s stuff to Him.
- The heart behind giving is joy, not obligation. David speaks of a willing heart (v.17) and of seeing the people offer “with joy.” Confessing God’s ownership frees us from anxiety about giving.
Five-point outline
- God is the source of every resource, including the ability to prepare.
- Everything we “give” was already His, giving is a return, not a sacrifice.
- True generosity flows from humility, not from pressure or self-promotion.
- The context of sojourning (v.15) reminds us that we hold nothing permanently.
- David prays for a perfect heart in Solomon (v.19), the ultimate preparation is internal.
Illustration hooks
- A child who uses money given by a parent to buy the parent a birthday gift. The child brings joy, but the money was never really the child’s.
- A house-sitter who decorates the homeowner’s house with the homeowner’s own furniture, then thanks the owner for the privilege.
- A musician who plays a borrowed instrument and returns it with gratitude.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “If God owns everything, does it matter how much I give?”
- “Am I being ungrateful if I don’t feel like giving?”
- “How do I cultivate a willing heart when giving feels like a duty?”
Leading a Discussion
David’s prayer confronts our assumptions about ownership. In this verse, he names the great reversal: the gifts we bring to God were already His. This passage is not a guilt-trip; it is an invitation to freedom. Open your group by reading 1 Chronicles 29:10, 19 slowly, then focus on verse 16.
Discussion questions
- What does “all this store… comes from your hand” mean for how we view our money and possessions?
- How does David’s confession shape his identity, and his people’s identity, as sojourners (v.15)?
- Why do you think David repeats the idea of divine ownership twice in this short verse?
- Read Psalm 24:1. How does that verse connect to David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29?
- What attitudes toward giving does this passage challenge? (e.g., “I earned this,” “I’m sacrificing”)
- How can we “prepare” resources with the same humility and joy that David shows?
- What would change in your own giving if you believed completely that everything belongs to God?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Chronicles 29:14 | But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and we have given you of your own. |
| II Chronicles 31:10 | Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, “Since people began to bring the offerings into Yahweh’s house, we have eaten and had enough, and have plenty left over, for Yahweh has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.” |
| Psalms 24:1 | A Psalm by David. The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it. |
| Hosea 2:8 | For she didn’t know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. |
| Luke 19:16 | The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’ |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight a crucial recognition: the abundance prepared for building God's house does not originate from human effort or generosity. It comes from God's own hand and already belongs to Him. All that is offered to God was first His gift.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to the enormous quantity of gold and silver David and the people gave, citing specific estimates to stress the scale. His point is that by calling it "all this store" and then insisting it all comes from God's hand, David gives God the full glory for every bit of it.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB finds the reported treasure totals so enormous that they strain credibility. He believes either the text was corrupted in transmission or the historian used a smaller talent standard, such as the Babylonian or Syrian measure, which would bring the numbers into a believable range.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch draws attention to a textual detail in the Hebrew: the written form (Kethib) has a neuter pronoun, while the reading tradition (Keri) connects it to the multitude of riches. This reinforces that all the wealth prepared for the temple comes from God's hand alone.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange stresses that the temple plan was not David's own design but came through direct divine revelation. David received it as a writing from God's hand, guided by the Spirit, not from human invention or from the law of Moses alone
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry highlights that David's prayer demonstrates the true spirit
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley extends the principle of acknowledging God's ownership to the spiritual realm. Every good thought, desire, and good work comes from grace alone, not from ourselves. We must therefore refer them all back to God as entirely his.