Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - 1 Kings 8:22 - 8:22

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - 1 Kings 8:22 - 8:22


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Second Act of the feast of dedication: Solomon's dedicatory prayer (cf. 2 Chron 6:12-42). - 1Ki 8:22. “Then Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the assembly of Israel, and stretched out his hands towards heaven.” It is evident from 1Ki 8:54 that Solomon uttered the prayer which follows upon his knees. The Chronicles contain the same account as we have here, with this addition, that it is said to have taken place on a “scaffold,” or kind of pulpit (כִּיֹּור) specially erected for the purpose.

(Note: Böttcher is right in his assertion, that the opinion expressed by Thenius and Cappellus, that this passage in the Chronicles has been dropped out of our text through a copyist's oversight, is a very improbable one; although the reasons he assigns are for the most part untenable. The omission may be explained in a very simple manner, from the fact that the introduction of this circumstance had no bearing upon the design or contents of the dedicatory prayer.)

The altar, to the front of which Solomon went, was the altar of burnt-offering in the court, where the congregation was gathered together. The expression ישׂ כָּל־קְהַל נֶגֶד favours the idea that Solomon offered the prayer upon his knees with his face turned towards the congregation, and not with his back to the people and his face turned towards the temple, as Thenius supposes. - The substance of the prayer is closely connected with the prayer of Moses, especially with the blessings and curses therein (vid., Lev 26 and Deut 28). Commencing with the praise of God, who “keepeth covenant and truth” towards His servants, and has thus far performed to His servant David the promise that He gave him (1Ki 8:23, 1Ki 8:24), Solomon entreats the Lord still further to fulfil this promise of His (1Ki 8:25, 1Ki 8:26), and to keep His eyes constantly open over the temple, to hearken to the prayers of His people, and to avert the curse threatened against sinners from all who shall call upon Him in this temple (vv. 27-53).

1Ki 8:23-24

By granting the blessing promised to His people, the Lord has hitherto proved Himself to be the true and only God in heaven and on earth, who keepeth covenant and mercy with those who walk before Him with all their heart. This acknowledgment provides the requisite confidence for offering the prayer which is sure of an answer (Mat 21:22; Mar 11:24; Jam 1:6). For אל אֵין־כָּמֹוךָ, compare Exo 15:11 with Deu 4:39; 2Sa 7:22; 2Sa 22:32; Psa 86:8. “Who keepeth covenant and mercy,” verbatim the same as in Deu 7:9. The promise given to His servant David (2 Sam 7), the fulfilment of which the commencement now lay before their eyes (cf. 1Ki 8:20, 1Ki 8:21), was an emanation from the covenant faithfulness of God. “As it is this day,” as in 1Ki 3:6.

1Ki 8:25

The expression “and now” (וְעַתָּה) introduces the prayer for the further fulfilment of the promise, never to allow a successor upon the throne to be wanting to David, in the same conditional form in which David had uttered the hope in 1Ki 2:4, and in which the Lord had renewed the promise to Solomon during the building of the temple (1Ki 6:12-13). In עַל־כִּסֵּא יֹשֵׁב מִלְּפָנַי, instead of כִּסֵּא מֵעַל in 1Ki 2:4, the divine rejection is more distinctly indicated.

1Ki 8:26

1Ki 8:26 is not merely a repetition of the prayer in 1Ki 8:25, as Thenius supposes, but forms the introduction to the prayers which follow for the hearing of all the prayer presented before the Lord in the temple. The words, “let Thy words be verified, which Thou spakest unto Thy servant David,” contain something more than a prayer for the continual preservation of the descendants of David upon the throne, for the fulfilment of which Solomon prayed in 1Ki 8:25. They refer to the whole of the promise in 2Sa 7:12-16. The plural דְּבָרֶיךָ (Chethîb) points back to כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים in 2Sa 7:17, and is not to be altered into the singular after the Keri. The singular יֵאָמֵן is used as it frequently is with the subject in the plural, when the verb precedes (cf. Ewald. §316, a., 1). Solomon has here in mind one particular point in the promise, viz., that God would not withdraw His mercy from the seed of David, even when it sinned. This is evident from what follows, where he mentions simply cases of transgression, and prays that they may be forgiven.

1Ki 8:27-28

1Ki 8:26 are closely connected in this sense: keep Thy words that were spoken to David; for although this temple cannot hold Thine infinite divine nature, I know that Thou wilt have respect to the prayer of Thy servant, to keep Thine eyes open over this temple, to hear every prayer which Thy people shall bring before Thee therein. וּפָנִיתָ in 1Ki 8:28 continues the optative נָא יֵאָמֵן in 1Ki 8:26; and 1Ki 8:27 contains an intermediate thought, with which Solomon meets certain contracted ideas of the gracious presence of God in the temple. כִּי (1Ki 8:27) signifies neither but, nevertheless, atque (Böttcher), nor “as” (Thenius, Bertheau); and the assertion that 1Ki 8:27 is the commencement of a new section is overthrown by the inadmissible rendering of וּפָנִיתָ, “but Thou turnest Thyself” (Thenius). - With the words, “Should God really dwell upon the earth! behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens (i.e., the heavens in their widest extent, cf. Deu 10:14) cannot contain Thee, to say nothing (כִּי אַף; cf. Ewald, §§354, c.) of this house which I have built,” in which the infinitude of God and His exaltation above the world are expressed as clearly and forcibly as possible, Solomon does not intend to guard against the delusion that God really dwells in temples (J. D. Mich.), but simply to meet the erroneous idea that He dwells in the temple as men dwell in a house, namely, shut up within it, and not also outside and above it, - a delusion which sometimes forced its way into the unspiritual nation but which was always attacked by the prophets (cf. Mic 3:11; Jer 7:4, etc.). For it is evident that Solomon did combine with his clear perception of the infinite exaltation of God a firm belief in His real presence in the temple, and did not do homage to the abstract idealism of the rationalists, not merely from his declaration in 1Ki 8:12. that he had built this temple as a dwelling-place for God, but also from the substance of all the following prayers, and primarily from the general prayer in 1Ki 8:28, 1Ki 8:29, that God would take this temple under His special protection, and hearken to every prayer directed towards it. The distinction between תְּפִלָּה, תְּחִנָּה, and רִנָּה is the following: תְּפִלָּה denotes prayer in general, praise, supplication, and thanksgiving; תְּחִנָּה, supplication or entreaty, prayer for help and mercy; and רִנָּה, jubilation, prayer as the joyous utterance of praise and thanksgiving.

1Ki 8:29-32

“That Thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day.” אֶל־הַבַּיִת, speciali quadam providentia in hanc domum directi (Mich.). The following clause, “upon the place of which Thou hast said, My name shall be there” (namely, 2Sa 7:13, implicite), contains within itself the ground upon which the prayer rests. Because the name of God will be in the temple, i.e., because God will manifest His gracious presence there, He will also keep His eyes open upon it, so as to hear the prayer of Solomon directed towards it. הַזֶּה הַמָּקֹום אֶל (toward this place): because Solomon also was prayer in the court towards the temple. - In 1Ki 8:30, “and hear the supplication of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel,” he begins by asking that those prayers may be heard which the king and people shall henceforth bring before God in the temple. וְשָׁמַעֵתָּ corresponds to וּפָנִיתָ in 1Ki 8:28, and is more precisely defined by the following תִּשְׁמַע וְאַתָּה (as for these prayers), Thou wilt hear them up to the place of Thine abode, to heaven. אֶל שָׁמַע is a pregnant expression: to hear the prayer, which ascends to heaven. In the Chronicles we find throughout the explanatory מִן. The last words, “hear and forgive,” must be left in their general form, and not limited by anything to be supplied. Nothing but forgiveness of sin can remove the curse by which transgression is followed.

This general prayer is then particularized from 1Ki 8:31 onwards by the introduction of seven special petitions for an answer in the different cases in which, in future, prayers may be offered to God in the temple. The first prayer (1Ki 8:31, 1Ki 8:32) has reference to the oaths sworn in the temple, the sanctity of which God is asked to protect. “If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him, to cause him to swear, and he come (and) swear before the altar in this house, then wilt Thou hear,” etc. אֲשֶׁר אֵת does not mean either “granted that” (Thenius) or “just when” (Ewald, §533, a.), although אִם is used in the Chronicles, and we might render it freely “when;” but אֵת is simply an accusative particle, serving to introduce the following clause, in the sense of “as for,” or “with regard to (such a case as) that a man sins” (vid., Ewald, §277, a.). אָלָה וּבָא cannot be taken as anything but an asyndeton. For if אָלָה were a substantive, it would have the article (הָאָלָה) provided it were the subject, and the verb would be written בָּאָה; and if it were the object, we should have בָּאָלָה, as in Neh 10:30 (cf. Eze 17:13). The prayer refers to the cases mentioned in Exo 22:6-12 and Lev 26:17, when property entrusted to any one had been lost or injured, or when a thing had been found and the finding was denied, or when an act of fraud had been committed; in which cases the law required not only compensation with the addition of a fifth of its value, but also a trespass-offering as an expiation of the sin committed by taking a false oath. But as this punishment could only be inflicted when the guilty person afterwards confessed his guilt, many false oaths might have been sworn in the cases in question and have remained unpunished, so far as men were concerned. Solomon therefore prays that the Lord will hear every such oath that shall have been sworn before the altar, and work (עָשִׂיתָ), i.e., actively interpose, and judge His servants, to punish the guilty and justify the innocent. The construction הַשָּׁמַיִם תִּשְׁמַע (1Ki 8:32, 1Ki 8:34, 1Ki 8:36, etc.) can be explained more simply from the adverbial use of the accusative (Ewald, §300, b.), than from הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל in 1Ki 8:30. בְּרֹאשֹׁו דַּרְכֹּו תֵּת, to give (bring) his way upon his head, i.e., to cause the merited punishment to fall upon him (cf. Eze 9:10; Eze 11:21, etc.). רָשָׁע הַרְשִׁרעַ and צַדִּיק הַצְדִּיק recall Deu 25:2. For כְּצִדְקָתֹו לֹו תֵּת compare 2Sa 22:21, 2Sa 22:25. - The following cases are all taken from Lev 26 and Deut 28.

1Ki 8:33-34

The second petition, - “If Thy people Israel are smitten by the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee, and they turn to Thee and confess Thy name, ... then hear ... and bring them back into the land,” - refers to the threatenings in Lev 26:17 and Deu 28:25, where the nation is threatened with defeat and subjugation on the part of enemies, who shall invade the land, in which case prisoners of war are carried away into foreign lands, but the mass of the people remain in the land, so that they who are beaten can pray to the Lord in the temple, that He will forgive them their sin, save them out of the power of the enemy, and bring back the captives and fugitives into their fatherland.

1Ki 8:35-36

The third prayer refers to the remission of the punishment of drought threatened against the land, when the heaven is shut up, according to Lev 26:19; Deu 11:17; Deu 28:23. תַעֲנֵם כִּי, because Thou humblest them (lxx, Vulg.); not “that Thou hearest them” (Chald. and others). תֹורֵם כִּי, because Thou teachest them the good way. These words correspond to כי תענם, and contain a motive for forgiveness. Because God teaches His people and seeks by means of chastisements to bring them back to the good way when they fail to keep His commandments, He must forgive when they recognise the punishment as a divine chastisement and come to Him with penitential prayer.

1Ki 8:37-40

The fourth prayer relates to the removal of other land-plagues: famine (Lev 26:19-20, and Lev 26:26; Deu 28:23); pestilence (Lev 26:25); blight and mildew in the corn (Deu 28:22); locusts (חַסִיל, devourer, is connected with אַרְבֶּה without a copula, - in the Chronicles by Vâv, - to depict the plague of locusts more vividly before their eyes after Deu 28:38); oppression by enemies in their own land; lastly, plagues and diseases of all kinds, such as are threatened against the rebellious in Lev 26:16 and Deu 28:59-61. יָצַר is not the imperfect Kal of צוּר (Ges., Dietr., Fürst, Olsh. Gramm. p. 524), but the imperfect Hiphil of הֵצַר in Deu 28:52, as in Neh 9:27; and the difficult expression שְׁעָרָיו בְּאֶרֶץ is probably to be altered into שׁ בָּאָרֶץ, whilst שְׁעָרָיו is either to be taken as a second object to יָצַר, as Luther supposes, or as in apposition to בָּאָרֶץ, in the land (in) his gates, as Bertheau assumes. The assertion of Thenius, that all the versions except the Vulgate are founded upon the reading עָרָיו בְּעַחַת, is incorrect. יִהְיֶה כִּי is omitted after kaal-machalaah, since Solomon dropped the construction with which he commenced, and therefore briefly summed up all the prayers, addressed to God under the various chastisements here named, in the expression כָּל־תְּחִנָּה כָּל־תְּפִלָּה, which is placed absolutely at the opening of 1Ki 8:38. וגו יֵדְעוּן אֲשֶׁר, “when they perceive each one the stroke of his heart,” i.e., not dolor animi quem quisque sentit (Vatab., C. a Lap.), but the plague regarded as a blow falling upon the heart, in other words, as a chastisement inflicted upon him by God. In all these cases may God hear his prayer, and do and give to every one according to his way. תֵּדַע אֲשֶׁר, “as Thou knowest his heart,” i.e., as is profitable for every one according to the state of his heart of his disposition. God can do this, because He knows the hearts of all men (cf. Jer 17:10). The purpose assigned for all this hearing of prayer (1Ki 8:40), viz., “that they may fear Thee,” etc., is the same as in Deu 4:10.

1Ki 8:41-43

The fifth prayer has reference to the hearing of the prayers of foreigners, who shall pray in the temple. Solomon assumes as certain that foreigners will come and worship before Jehovah in His temple; even Moses himself had allowed the foreigners living among the Israelites to offer sacrifice at the temple (Num 15:14.), and the great name and the arm of the Lord, that had manifested itself in deeds of omnipotence, had become known in the times of Moses to the surrounding nations (Exo 15:14; Exo 18:1; Jos 5:1), and the report of this had reached Balaam even in Mesopotamia (see the Comm. on Num 22). הַנָּכְרִי אֶל does not mean “as for the foreigners” (Thenius), for אֶל is never used in this sense; but it is to be connected with תִּשְׁמַע in 1Ki 8:43, as אֶל שָׁמַע frequently occurs (Bertheau).

1Ki 8:42

1Ki 8:42 is a parenthesis inserted in explanation of שְׁמֶךָ לְמַעַן: “for they will hear,” etc. The strong hand and the outstretched arm are connected together as a standing expression for the wondrous manifestations of the divine omnipotence in the guidance of Israel, as in Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15, etc. With וְהִתְפַּלֵּל וּבָא the מֵאֶרֶץ וּבָא in 1Ki 8:41 is resumed, and the main thought continued.

1Ki 8:43

The reason for the hearing of the prayers of foreigners is “that all nations may know Thy name to fear Thee,” etc., as in Deu 28:10. An examination of this original passage, from which וגו עַל נִקְרָא שִׁמְךָ כִּי is taken and transferred to the temple, shows that the common explanations of this phrase, viz., “that this house is called after Thy name,” or “that Thy name is invoked over this temple (at its dedication),” are erroneous. The name of the Lord is always used in the Scriptures to denote the working of God among His people or in His kingdom (see at 2Sa 6:2). The naming of this name over the nation, the temple, etc., presupposes the working of God within it, and denotes the confession and acknowledgment of that working. This is obvious from such passages as Jer 14:9, where the expression “Thy name is called over us” is only a further explanation of the word “Thou art in the midst of us;” and from Isa 63:19, where “we are they over whom Thou hast not ruled from eternity” is equivalent to “over whom Thy name has not been called.” The name of Jehovah will be named over the temple, when Jehovah manifests His gracious presence within it in such a manner, that the nations who pray towards it experience the working of the living God within His sanctuary. It is in this sense that it is stated in 2Sa 6:2 that the name of Jehovah is named above the ark of the covenant (see the Comm. in loc.). - There are no cases on record of the worship of foreigners in connection with Solomon's temple, though there are in connection with the temple built after the captivity (vid., Josephus, Ant. xi. 8, 5, that of Alexander the Great; xii. 2, 5ff., that of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus; and 2 Macc. 3:2, 3, that of Seleucus).

1Ki 8:44-45

Finally, in 1Ki 8:44-50 Solomon also asks, that when prayers are directed towards the temple by those who are far away both from Jerusalem and the temple, they may be heard. The sixth case, in 1Ki 8:44, 1Ki 8:45, is, if Israel should be engaged in war with an enemy by the appointment of God; and the seventh, in 1Ki 8:46-50, is, if it should be carried away by enemies on account of its sins.

(Note: Bertheau (on Chron.) has already proved that there is no force in the arguments by which Thenius attempts to show, on doctrinal grounds, that 1Ki 8:44-51 are an interpolated addition. As he correctly observes, “it is, on the contrary, quite in harmony with the original plan, that the two cases are also anticipated, in which the prayers of Israelites who are at a distance from the seat of the sanctuary are directed towards the temple, since it is perfectly appropriate that the prayers of the Israelites at the place of the sanctuary are mentioned first, then the prayers of foreigners at the same place, and lastly the prayers of Israelites, who, because they are not in Jerusalem, are obliged to content themselves with turning their faces towards the temple. We might also point to the fact that it is probably intentional that exactly seven cases are enumerated, inasmuch as in enumerations of this kind, which are not restricted by the nature of the case to any definite measure, such a number as seven easily furnishes an outward limit,” - or more correctly: because seven as a sacred or covenant number was more appropriate than any other to embrace all prayers addressed to God.)

By the expression in 1Ki 8:44, “in the way which Thou sendest them,” the war is described as one undertaken by the direction of God, whether wages against an enemy who has invaded the land, or outside the land of Canaan for the chastisement of the heathen dwelling around them. “And shall pray וגו הָעִיר דֶּרֶךְ:” i.e., in the direction towards the chosen city and the temple, namely, in faith in the actual presence of the covenant God in the temple. יְהֹוָה אֶל, “to Jehovah,” instead of “to Thee,” is probably introduced for the sake of greater clearness. מִשְׁפָּטָם וְעָשִׂיתָ, and secure them justice (cf. Deu 10:18; Psa 9:5, etc.).

1Ki 8:46-49

In the seventh prayer, viz., if Israel should be given up to its enemies on account of its sins and carried away into the land of the enemy, Solomon had the threat in Lev 26:33, Lev 26:44 in his eye, though he does not confine his prayer to the exile of the whole nation foretold in that passage and in Deu 28:45., Deu 28:64, and Deu 30:1-5, but extends it to every case of transportation to an enemy's land. לִבָּם אֶל וְהֵשִׁיבוּ, “and they take it to heart,” compare Deu 4:39, and without the object, Deu 30:1; not “they feel remorse,” as Thenius supposes, because the Hiphil cannot have this reflective signification (Böttcher). The confession of sin in 1Ki 8:47, רָשַׁעְנוּ וְהֶעֱוִינוּ חָטָאנוּ, was adopted by the Jews when in captivity as the most exhaustive expression of their deep consciousness of guilt (Dan 9:5; Psa 106:6). חָטָא, to slip, labi, depicts sin as a wandering from right; הֶעֱוָה, to act perversely, as a conscious perversion of justice; and רָשַׁע as a passionate rebellion against God (cf. Isa 57:20).

1Ki 8:50-53

לְרַחֲמִים וּנְתַתָּם: literally, “and make (place) them for compassion before their captors, that they may have compassion upon them,” i.e., cause them to meet with compassion from their enemies, who have carried them away. - In 1Ki 8:51-53 Solomon closes with general reasons, which should secure the hearing of his prayer on the part of God. Bertheau follows the earlier commentators in admitting that these reasons refer not merely to the last petitions, but to all the preceding ones.

(Note: Seb. Schmidt has already given the following explanation: “These things which I have asked for myself and for my people do Thou, O Lord, because it is for Thy people that I have prayed, and I am their king: therefore hear Thou the prayers of Thy servant and Thy people. For in 1Ki 8:52 he makes mention of his own case and of the cases of all the rest, in which they would call upon the Lord.)

The plea “for they are Thy people,” etc. (1Ki 8:51), is taken from Deu 4:10; and that in 1Ki 8:53, “Thou didst separate them,” etc., is taken from Lev 20:24, Lev 20:26, compared with Exo 19:5. וגו עֵינֶיךָ לִהְיֹות, “that Thine eyes may be opened,” follows upon וְשָׁמַעֵתָּ (“then hear Thou”) in 1Ki 8:49; just as 1Ki 8:29 at the commencement of the prayer follows upon וּפָנִיתָ in 1Ki 8:28. The recurrence of the same expression shows that the prayer is drawing to a close, and is rounded off by a return to the thought with which it opened. “As Thou spakest by Moses” points back to Exo 19:5. - In 2Ch 6:40-42 the conclusion of the prayer is somewhat altered, and closes with the appeal to the Lord to cause salvation and grace to go forth from the temple over His people.