דברי הימים ב, פרק א׳, פסוק ב׳

Solomon begins his reign by organizing a massive public gathering, summoning the nation's leadership to a major spiritual event. He addresses the assembly, though the exact words of his command are not explicitly recorded. The primary approach among commentators is that the missing dialogue is easily understood from the context: Solomon was instructing everyone present to accompany him to the great high place in Gibeon, the location of the copper altar crafted by Moses. Omitting the exact words of a speaker when the immediate actions of the people make the command obvious is a recognized style in the biblical narrative [רד״ק].

Although the address was framed as speaking to the entire nation of Israel, it was not directed at every individual citizen. Instead, the focus was strictly on the leadership and government officials [רש״י, מצודת דוד]. This ruling class was made up of military officers, state officials, and local leaders [ביאור שטיינזלץ], who served as the heads of the fathers' houses.

The order in which these leaders are presented reveals a deliberate break from the standard chain of command. Under normal circumstances, a king delivers his orders to the highest-ranking officials, such as the senior tribal leaders, who then pass the instructions down to the field commanders, like the captains of thousands and hundreds. In this instance, however, Solomon addresses the lower-ranking captains before turning to the senior leadership. Because this assembly was specifically organized to honor God, Solomon chose to bypass the traditional hierarchy. He spoke directly to the junior officers first, without using intermediaries, and only afterward called upon the senior leadership to join the gathering [מלבי״ם].