Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 7:1

"Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house." — 2 Chronicles 7:1 (ASV)

When Solomon had made an end of praying. — (1 Kings 8:54, “And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying unto Jehovah all this prayer and supplication.”) From this point the divergence between the two accounts begins. There is no objective ground for supposing that the chronicler invented the facts here recorded. He must have found them in one of his sources, although we have no means of determining whether or not they were related in the original narrative followed by the author of Kings. It is unwarranted to imagine that the chronicler was more inclined to miracles than the older writer. (Compare 1 Kings 8:10; 1 Kings 18:38.) His greater interest in all that concerned the worship of the Temple is enough to account for the present and similar additions to the older narrative.

The fire came down from heaven. — Compare Leviticus 9:22-24, from which passage it appears likely that the fire descended after Solomon had blessed the people. (Compare also 1 Chronicles 21:26; 2 Kings 1:10; 2 Kings 1:12; 2 Kings 1:14.)

And the sacrifices. — The offerings presented when the ark entered the Temple (2 Chronicles 5:6).

And the glory of the Lord filled the house. — This statement is not a mere duplicate of 2 Chronicles 5:13–14. See the next verse. The “glory of the Lord” is apparently a manifestation quite distinct from the “fire.”