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1Ki_8:1-66
14And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood; 15and he said, Blessed be the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 17And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel. 18And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to 19build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was9 in thine heart. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. 20And the Lord [Jehovah] hath performed [established] his word that he spake, and I am risen up [established10] in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord [Jehovah] promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord 21[Jehovah] God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah], which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord [Jehovah] in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: 23And he said, Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 24who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst [spakest to11] him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 25Therefore now, Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst [spakest to] him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children [sons] take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. 26And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. 27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? 28Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord [Jehovah] my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day: 29that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 30And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 31If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: 32then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give17 him according to his righteousness. 33When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 34then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. 35When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 36then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them [when thou teachest them (by affliction)] the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. 37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar [if there be consuming locust]; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 38what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: 39then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) 40that they may fear thee all the days that 41they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake; 42(for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched-out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; 43hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. 44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord [Jehovah] toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, 47far or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, 48we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name: 49then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, 50and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may 51have compassion on them: for they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52that thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. 53For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord [Jehovah] God.
54And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord [Jehovah], he arose from before the altar of the Lord [Jehovah], from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 55And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud 56voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord [Jehovah], that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. 57The Lord [Jehovah] our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord [Jehovah], be nigh unto the Lord [Jehovah] our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: 60that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord [Jehovah] is God, and that there is none else. 61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord [Jehovah] our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord [Jehovah]. 63And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord [Jehovah], two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord [Jehovah]. 64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord [Jehovah]: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord [Jehovah] was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. 65And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord [Jehovah] our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. 66On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord [Jehovah] had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.
To bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord. In the march through the wilderness, the ark was covered with some cloths, and carried by the levites (Num_4:5; Num_4:15), but on special occasions, the priests themselves carried it, as here and in Jos_3:6; Jos_6:6. Not only the ark, but the tabernacle, which had hitherto stood at Gibeon (2Ch_1:3-4), with all its vessels, was brought out from Zion into the temple. While the priests carried the ark, the levites (1Ki_8:4) carried the other things pertaining to the tent, all of which were doubtless preserved in the rooms of the side-structure. When the procession reached the temple (1Ki_8:5), the ark was laid down in the outer court before the entrance to the holy place, and a great and solemn sacrifice offered; then the priests bore the ark to its appointed place. For 1Ki_8:6-7 see above, on 1Ki_6:23 sq.
1Ki_8:8-9. And they drew out the staves, that the ends, &c. 1Ki_8:8, which has had the most various interpretations put upon it, is nothing but a parenthesis following the concluding words of the preceding verse, explaining how it happened that the great cherubim-statues, with their wings stretched across the entire width of the sanctuary (1Ki_6:27), not only overshadowed the ark itself, but even its staves. As it says in Exo_25:15, the staves were never to be removed, but were to belong inseparably to the ark. If the cherubim-statues then were to overshadow the ark, they should also cover the staves inseparably united to it. Now as the ark lay lengthwise north and south in the holy of holies, and the wings of the cherubim-statues stretched from the southern to the northern wall of the holy of holies, the staves which they overshadowed with their wings must have been placed north and south, i.e., on the longer sides of the ark, as Josephus (Ant.iii. 6, 5) expressly states. Therefore, their heads or ends could be seen from the sanctuary (great space) only close before the holy of holies (Debir). The reason why the staves were so long ( åַàֲøִëåּ is to be understood as intransitive, as Keil remarks; as in Exo_20:12; Deu_5:16; Deu_25:15, and not to be translated: they made the staves long, as Kimchi and Thenius make it, for thus àֵúּ should stand before äַáַּãִּéí ) was in consequence of the weight of the ark, which must have been considerable, because the stone tables of the law were inside of the ark; and it was carried by more than four, perhaps by eight priests, who did not touch it, as was commanded in Num_4:15. And as the holy of holies was only intended for the ark of the covenant (1Ki_6:19), and the latter was only two and a half cubits long, with its long staves inseparable from it, it took up nearly the whole space. The oldest interpretation of our verse was borrowed from the Rabbins; it says that the staves were drawn so far forward that their ends touched the veil of the most holy place, and caused visible protrusions on the outside; but this is disproved by the fact that the staves were placed on the longest side of the ark, and pointed south and north, not east and west, consequently could not have touched the curtain. Thenius, with whom Merz and Bertheau agree, explains the simple sentence in 1Ki_8:8 “by optical laws: when a person at the entrance of the holy place (he makes îִïÎäַ÷ֹּãֶùׁ mean that) could have seen through the open door the ends of the staves of the ark which was in the middle of the holy of holies, these staves must have been, according to the laws of perspective, seven cubits long.” This highly ingenious explanation rests, as Keil justly remarks, on ill-founded suppositions, comp. Böttcher Aehrenl. ii. s. 69. The words òַìÎôְּðֵé äַãְּáִéø cannot be translated: “from the great space before the debir,” but mean, from the sanctuary, “when a person stood close before the dark holy of holies” (Ewald), or “near the most holy” (Merz). It is certain that the writer of these books had not the remotest thought about the laws of optics and perspective. The addition, and there they are unto this day, means: though the ark now had its fixed resting-place, the staves were left, according to the command Exo_25:15, in order to signify that it was the same ark, which dated from the time when Israel was chosen to be a covenant people. The expression “unto this day,” also occurring, 1Ki_9:21; 1Ki_12:19; 2Ki_8:22, shows that the writer drew from a manuscript written before the destruction of the temple, and did not deem it necessary to deviate from its words.
1Ki_8:9. There was nothing in the ark, &c. 1Ki_8:9 returns to the ark itself, and emphasizes the fact that it was brought into the holy of holies (1Ki_8:6) because it preserved the original document of the covenant which God made with Israel, which consisted of the “ten commandments that the Lord spake unto them” (Deu_10:4). By virtue of this document, the ark was the pledge of the covenant relation; and at the same time was the fundamental condition of the religious and political life of Israel; it naturally formed the heart and central point of the sanctuary or dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His chosen people (compare Symb. des Mos. Kult., i. s. 383 sq.); “there would have been no temple without the ark of the covenant, that alone made it a sanctuary” (Hengstenberg). According to Heb_9:4, the ark contained, besides the tables of the law, the golden pot with manna (Exo_16:33), and Aaron’s rod (Numb. 17:25). The endeavor has been made to reconcile this passage with the one under consideration, by the supposition that those two additional objects were no longer in the ark in Solomon’s time, having only been there when Moses lived, the latter period being the one in the mind of the writer to the Hebrews (Ebrard, Moll, and others). But the passages quoted only say they were laid “before Jehovah” or “before the testimony;” not in the ark. The Jewish tradition alone renders it in (Schöttgen, hor. Hebr. p. 973), and this tradition, with which the reader of this epistle may have been familiar, was probably in the writer’s mind, for he was not desirous of giving an exact archæological description (comp. Tholuck and Bleek on Heb_9:4). V. Meyer’s opinion, which Lisco also adopts, that the manna and rod were not in the ark any longer because “the direct theocracy, with its spiritual sceptre, and its blessings, had departed, and the people had an earthly king who was now to guide and watch over them,” is in the highest degree erroneous. Horeb is not the highest summit of the mountains of Sinai, but a general name for the mountain-range of which Sinai is only a part: comp. Thenius on the place.
1Ki_8:10-13. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, &c. Exo_40:34-35, is almost the same as 1Ki_8:10-11; “then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon ( ùָׁëַï ) and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” It is plain that the author meant, what once happened at the dedication of the tabernacle took place again at the dedication of the house. The cloud, not a cloud (Luther), but that, in and with which, as once at the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord came down, though naturally not the same cloud as at that time. What 1Ki_8:10 says of the cloud, 1Ki_8:11 says of the glory of the Lord; it filled the house, not only the most holy place, but the whole dwelling, so that the priests were prevented for a moment from performing their functions in the sanctuary. We cannot possibly conceive this to have been the cloud of smoke “which, rising from the burning offerings on the altar, veiled the glory of the Lord” (Bertheau on 2Ch_5:14); for in this case the priests themselves would have been prevented from officiating. Nor can we, on account of the ëְáּåֹãÎéְäåָֹä , think as Thenius, of the “bright and streaming cloud” which the Rabbins name ùְׁëִéðָä , for Solomon could not have said, on beholding it: Jehovah dwells áָּòֲøָôֶì ; this word denoting, as Thenius himself rightly says, “exactly the black darkness;” and he takes an unwarrantable liberty when, as the Chaldee, he reads áִּéøåּùָׁìַíִ for it. It is admitted that the “darkness must refer to the cloud” just also as that which in Exo_19:9 is named öָðָï is called òֲøָôֶì in Exo_20:21; and in Deu_4:11; Deu_5:9; Psa_97:2, both words are conjoined as synonymies. Keil, too, thinks the òָðָï is the shekinah, for he says: “the glory of the Lord, which is like a consuming fire, manifested itself in the cloud.” But this also is contradicted by the words of Solomon, that the Lord dwells in the (thick) darkness; the text has not a syllable about a fiery appearance; and certainly a consuming fire cannot be thought of here, where the subject is the gracious presence of the Lord. Abar-banel indeed thinks that the fire of the cloud burst forth from it, after Solomon’s prayer, and consumed the burnt-offering, 2Ch_7:1; but it expressly says in this passage, that fire came “from heaven” (and therefore not out of the cloud). Keil further remarks: “This wonderful manifestation of the divine glory only took place at the dedication; afterwards, the cloud was visible in the holy of holies only on the great day of atonement, when the high-priest entered there” (Lev_16:2). This, however, is quite contrary to the rabbinical belief, which was that the shekinah hung constantly above the ark of the covenant; and it also presupposes that the wonderful manifestation was regularly repeated on that solemnity of atonement, although neither the text nor the Jewish tradition mentions such a thing; and this would have no analogy with God’s miracles, which never recur regularly on a particular day. Our text only mentions a dark cloud, which, as it filled the whole house, must necessarily have only been a passing phenomenon; it served to show that the Lord, as once in the tent, would now henceforth dwell in the house built for Him. ëְáåֹãÎéְäåָֹä stands, as Solomon’s phrase in 1Ki_8:12 shows, for Jehovah himself, and is the standing Old Testament designation of the being (majesty) of God [like the äüîá of the New Testament.—E. H.], raised absolutely above all that is creaturely, yet stooping ( ùָׁëַï , Exo_40:35), i.e., concentrating himself, in order to manifest and assert himself, either blessing and saving as here, or punishing and destroying, as for instance, in Psalms 18. The Lord said. Because there is no passage showing that the Lord spoke those words, Thenius translates àָîַø “the Lord proposeth to dwell in the thick darkness: or, He has made known that He will dwell in the thick darkness;” but just because the Lord had said so, Solomon beheld in the cloud a sign that he had come down to dwell in the temple ( ùָׁðַï ); he remembered the plain declaration Exo_19:9; Lev_16:2. “Overpowered by that sublime moment, and filled with joy that he was counted worthy of the favor of being allowed to build a house for the Lord, he utters the joyful words” (Bertheau): áָּðֹç áָðִéúִé , surely! I have built; for which Chron. gives àֲðִé áָðִéúִé ; I, yea, I have built. For the words in 1Ki_8:13, an house to dwell in, a settled place, see on 1Ki_6:2, a, Historical and Ethical. òåֹìָîִéí is similar to Jos_4:7; Job_19:24; 1Ki_1:31 (comp. Hengstenberg, Christol. ii. s. 432 sq.). According to 2Ch_5:12 sq., songs of praise, accompanied by harps and psalteries, burst forth, as the priests came out of the sanctuary.
1Ki_8:14-21. And the king turned his face, &c. Solomon had spoken the words of 1Ki_8:12-13 with his face turned to the temple; but he now turned towards the people who were in the outer court, and who listened standing, i.e., with proper reverence, to the following discourse. This is a solemn declaration (1Ki_8:15-21) that the temple was undertaken and finished according to Jehovah’s word and will. The course of thought is, compared with 2Ch_6:4-11, as follows: “so long as Israel, after the departure from Egypt, wandered about, and had not come into possession of the promised land, Jehovah had chosen no abiding dwelling-place, His habitation was movable—a tent. But after He had chosen David to be king, and brought His people by him to the full and quiet possession of the promised land, it was fitting that He, as well as the nation, should have an abiding dwelling-place. Jerusalem being the city of David, and the central point of the kingdom promised to him ‘for ever,’ Jehovah had chosen this very city for His ‘everlasting’ habitation. It was, however, forbidden to my father, David, to execute His purpose, namely, to build an house to the name of the Lord, instead of the tent; according to divine direction, He deputed this work to me, whom Jehovah had already confirmed as his successor. I then, specially commissioned and empowered to do so, have built this house, and brought into it the ark of the covenant, the pledge of the divine gracious presence; and the cloud that has just now filled the house, as once it did the tent, is the sign that Jehovah will dwell here.” The promise, the fulfilment of which Solomon refers to in this discourse, is that of 2Sa_7:4-16, comp. with 1Ch_22:6-11; 1Ch_28:2-7. For the expression: that my name shall be there, the pregnant meaning of which we may gather from its constant repetition (1Ki_8:16-19, comp. 29, 43, 44), see above, on chap. 6 Histor. and Ethical, 2, 6. It is worthy of notice that at the beginning and the conclusion of the address (1Ki_8:16; 1Ki_8:21), the building of the temple is placed in relation to the deliverance from Egypt. Comp. above on 1Ki_6:1.
1Ki_8:22-26. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord.2Ch_6:13 mentions that Solomon had a brazen scaffold ( ëִéåֹø ) made, which he mounted, and then knelt down to pray (comp. v. 54); as the text says nothing of its form, we will not decide whether it had, as Thenius thinks, a square support, and a rounded edge. Certainly it was a species of pulpit, not behind, but before the altar of burnt-offering. It does not follow from ðֶâֶã , that Solomon again turned his face to the temple (Thenius): it means before, opposite; the people therefore could not have stood behind him, which must have happened, had he turned his back to them. The spreading out the hands is a sign of praying, just as our folding of the hands is (Exo_9:29; Exo_9:31; Psa_44:21; Psa_143:6; Isa_1:15; Isa_65:2, &c.). Modern criticism has pronounced the dedication prayer in its given form, 1Ki_8:23-61, to be unauthentic. De Wette and Stähelin place the time of its composition in the period of the exile. Ewald admits that it is, “notwithstanding its length, a very fine discourse; but belonging, in the style of thought, rather to the seventh than the eleventh or tenth century,” and thinks that it was most probably composed by the first of the so-called elaborators of Deuteronomy. According to Thenius, there is a sketch in the prayer to be held as historical, though it be brief; but it contains considerable interpolations, as 1Ki_8:44-51; and the frequent coincidence with passages in Deut. and Josh., as well as “the style, which is so often diffuse, verbose, and watery (!), denote a more recent working up.” We remark, on the other hand: that the text containing the prayer, in Chron., perfectly coincides with that in Kings, except in a few particulars; but this proves that it was not taken from the latter, but that both accounts were derived from a common source. So much then is certain, that our writer did not invent the prayer, but found it in the original which he drew from, and gave it again—as the similar text of Chron. shows—unaltered. The only question then is, of what date was the common original? 1Ki_11:41 names as such the “book of the acts of Solomon,” and the chronicler, “the book of Nathan the prophet” (2Ch_9:29). The latter, however, cannot certainly belong to the seventh century, still less to the time of the captivity; it evidently was written, as Bleek justly remarks, “in view of the state of things, when the temple, the city of Jerusalem, and David’s kingdom still existed.” As to the “thoughts,” Thenius admits that the verses 27, 28, 41–43, 58, 60, “are fully worthy of a Solomon,” and this without being able to prove that the others are unworthy of them; they are, on the contrary, in fit connection and perfect harmony with them (for the so-called interpolations of the 1Ki_8:44-51, see below, on the place). We can only conclude that this prayer was of later composition, because of its harmony with some passages of Deut. and Lev., if these books also belong to a later period; and this is unproved. But with equal propriety, inversely, we may conclude from the prayer, that these books were in existence in the time of Solomon, and were known to him as the pupil of a prophet. Finally, if the style and composition of the prayer, because they are verbose and watery, prove later working up, this objection rests on purely subjective taste; and we have just as good a right to hold, as Ewald does, that it is, “in spite of its length, a very fine discourse.” It is incredible besides, that a discourse, holding so important a place in Old Testament history, should have been composed later, and falsely put into the mouth of the great king; we must believe, on the contrary, that if ever a speech were written down and preserved carefully, it was that one.
1Ki_8:23-26. Lord God of Israel, &c. 1Ki_8:23-26, form the introduction to the prayer which is united to the speech, 1Ki_8:15-21, and gives praise and thanks to God for having already fulfilled the promise made to David (1Ki_8:23-24) in so far as the house (2Sa_7:5-16) was concerned, uniting with it the request that the Lord would further fulfil it, with regard to the house, i.e., the rape of David, and their sitting upon the throne of Israel (1Ki_8:25-26). The address, there is no God like Thee, &c., means: not that there is no god among all those in heaven and earth like Thee: but, nothing is like to Thee, who art in heaven above and on earth below. Jehovah, the God of Israel, is not compared here with other gods, but on the contrary, is described as the only true God (comp. Deu_4:39; Jos_2:11; 2Sa_7:22; 2Sa_22:32). He had shown himself such especially by His keeping of the covenant, by His mercy (Deu_7:9; Dan_9:4), and by the fulfilment of His gracious promise. áַּéּåֹí äַåֶּä 1Ki_8:24 as in 1Ki_3:6. The house, as it now stands, is a witness to His faithfulness to the covenant. Thenius remarks on 1Ki_8:26 : The urgency of the petition is shown by its concise repetition.
1Ki_8:27-30. But will God indeed, &c. The prayer passes, at 1Ki_8:27, to its chief object, the temple, with which all the rest of it is occupied. áִּé at the beginning is used here as in 1Sa_29:8; 1Ki_11:22; 2Ki_8:13; Jer_23:18, “merely as an impressive introduction to the interrogatory sentence that leads to the real prayer” (Thenius), and is not, therefore, a mere confirming particle, as Keil, who connects our verse with 1Ki_8:26 instead of with 1Ki_8:28-30, repeatedly asserts. The petition in 1Ki_8:26 : that God would indeed keep the house (dynasty) of David on the throne, was not founded on the fact that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, still less that temple. On the contrary, the entire contents of the following prayer are, that God would hear all the prayers that should be offered in this place; hence Solomon very naturally begins with the thought, can the infinite, unconfined Deity really have His dwelling here? The expression, the heaven and heaven of heavens, can have nothing to do with the different heavens taught by Jewish theology (Schöttgen, hor. hebr. p. 719), but is the description of the heavens in their all-embracing extent, as Deu_10:14; Psa_115:16. This is the connection of 1Ki_8:27-28 : Thou art the infinite God whom no house built by man can contain, but I beseech Thee to show thyself here, as a God who answers prayer. In 1Ki_8:28 Solomon prays that God would hear his present prayer, and in 1Ki_8:29-30 that He would also in the future always hear the prayers of the king and people in this place. The different expressions for prayer in the verses 28–30 are not very different in their meaning, and are placed near together here, to describe every kind of prayer. The words, that thine eyes may be open (1Ki_8:29), do not mean that God was besought to watch over the building, and take it under His almighty protection, but always to see, when any one prayed there, and to hear his prayer, to turn His eyes and ears toward the house (comp. Psa_34:16). For the placing of the temple and heaven (1Ki_8:30) in antithesis, which is done indeed through the entire prayer, see above, on chap. 6 Histor. and Ethic. 2 c. The prayer for forgiveness is joined to the prayer for hearing, at the conclusion, as also in 1Ki_8:34; 1Ki_8:36; 1Ki_8:39; 1Ki_8:50, because man, who is full of sin and guilt, can only hope for the acceptance of his prayer when his sins are forgiven; every answer to prayer rests on the sinpardoning grace of God.
1Ki_8:31-32. If any man trespass against, &c. The prayer that God may hear in general is now followed, from 1Ki_8:31 on, by prayers for particular cases, of which there are seven altogether; which is no more remarkable than that the Lord’s prayer, Mat_6:9 sq., also contains the sacred number seven, the number of the covenant (Symb. des Mos. Kult. i. s. 193). The first of the seven prayers (1Ki_8:31-32) concerns the observation of the oath as sacred, namely, in cases like those of Exo_22:7-10 and Lev. 5:21–24. For àֵú àֲùֶׁø it is àִí in 2Ch_6:22; it means: the case happening, that=when (Keil). åּáָà àָìָä cannot be translated; and the oath comes, as the article is wanting to àָìָä ; all the old translations give: comes and swears. Before the altar, i.e., the place of divine witness and presence (Exo_20:24). Thou bringest his deed upon his head, i.e., thou punishest him for his false oath (Eze_9:10). We receive no answer from the commentators to the question, why is the prayer with respect to the oath placed foremost in the seven petitions? Perhaps the reason is as follows: The temple, which is constantly and impressively exalted in the chapter we are considering, was built to the name of Jehovah, which should be deemed holy; but the oath was nothing more than the calling upon the sacred name; i.e., the name of that God who had made himself known as a holy God, and who does not allow the misuse of his name to go unpunished (according to Sir_23:9, ὅñêïò is equivalent to ὀíïìáóßá ôïῦ ἁãßïí , comp. 1Ki_8:11 : ὁ ὀìíýùí êáὶ ὀíïìÜæùí ); they swore by the name of God, is an oath-form in Lev_19:12; Deu_6:13; Deu_10:20; Isa_48:1; Jer_12:16; Jer_44:26. The false oath was a contemptuous use of the name to which the house was built; but it was the chief requirement from him who stood in the holy place, that he should not swear falsely, Psa_24:3-4. The command to keep the name of God holy, stands also first among the commandments of the fundamental law (Exo_20:7), and it is the first of the seven petitions in the Lord’s prayer: hallowed be Thy name (Mat_6:9).
1Ki_8:33-34. When thy people Israel be smitten down, &c. The second petition concerns the case of captives, who had, through their guilt, merited overthrow, and were led away by their conquerors; and beseeches Jehovah for the return of the people to their native land. To be taken away from the land of promise, to be separated from communion with the covenant people, in whose midst Jehovah dwelt, and to live among heathens, was the greatest of all misfortunes to an Israelite, and it was very natural to pray against it. And confess thy name must be connected with ùָׁáåּ ; if they, feeling their guilt, acknowledge Thee God, dwelling and manifesting thyself here; it is not then the same as: praise Jehovah (Gesenius, Winer). It is unnecessary to seek a direct association of ideas between this second and the first petition. Thenius says: “The internal welfare of the state was secured by fidelity and faith arising from fear of God, but that welfare could be in peril from without.” Nor is there here a direct reference to Lev_26:17 and Deu_28:25, as Keil asserts.
1Ki_8:35-40. When heaven is shut up, &c. The third petition (1Ki_8:35-36), and the fourth (1Ki_8:37-40), concern divine judgments by means of long-continued drought and land-plagues. As the rain, on which the fertility of the soil, and therefore all outward prosperity, depended in the East, was a sign of divine blessing (Eze_34:26 sq.), so drought was a sign of curse and punishment (Lev_26:3; Lev_26:19; Deu_28:15; Deu_28:23; Deu_11:17; Amo_4:7; Hag_1:11). The meaning of 1Ki_8:36 is: when the people were brought into the right way again, by the merited chastisement, then he beseeches God to hear their supplication, and to forgive their sin and to send rain again. In 1Ki_8:37 there are coincidences with Lev_26:25; Deu_28:22; but hunger, plague, blasting, and mildew are elsewhere mentioned as divine chastisements (Amo_4:9-10; Jer_14:12; Jer_24:10; Eze_6:12; Eze_14:21). çָñִּéì is in apposition (according to Keil), to describe the plague of locusts (Deu_28:38); Thenius thinks the copula before it, which the chronicler and the old translations give, is wanting, and that a worse kind of locust is meant (Joe_1:4; Psa_78:46). áְּàֶøֶõ ùְׁòָøָéå is literally: in the land of his gates, which, however, gives no sense; it is clear that áָּàָøֶõ must be read (as Bertheau has it), and ùְׁòָøָéå be supplied with á , as is clear from Deu_28:52 : “thou shalt be besieged in all thy gates, in thy whole land.” Thenius unnecessarily reads, according to the Sept. ( ἑí ìéᾷ ôῶí ðüëåùí áὐôῶí ) áְּàַçַú instead of áàøõ . The words say—when the enemy is in his land, yea, even besieging his well-protected towns. The wasting of the land by locusts was similar to the wasting by hostile armies, that invaded the land like locusts (Jdg_6:5). Which shall know every man, &c. (1Ki_8:38), i.e., when each one should see the connection “between his sin and the plague inflicted on him by God, and allow it to work out his chastisement” (Bertheau). According to his ways (1Ki_8:39), i.e., by the repentant heart, shown in all his conduct. Whether this repentance is really felt, He alone, who “searches the hearts” of the children of men, can know (Jer_17:10). The reason of the hearing of prayer is given in 1Ki_8:40 : continuance in godly fear (comp. Deu_4:10).
1Ki_8:41-43. Moreover concerning a stranger, &c. The fifth petition (1Ki_8:41-43) ranks with the former ones: but not only those belonging to thy people Israel, who may call upon Thee here, hear also every stranger who does so; that all people of the earth, &c. In the law (Deu_15:14-16) it was provided that a stranger, sojourning among the Israelites, might sacrifice with them; Solomon goes further, and declares that the great deeds of God in Israel, the seal and crown of which was the temple as a fixed dwelling-place of Jehovah, were to work out the salvation not only of Israel, but the conversion of all the nations of the earth. To reach that end may God hear every stranger who comes to this house and calls upon Him for His name’s sake (i.e., because he had heard of the might and greatness displayed on Israel, 1Ki_8:42). The expressions in 1Ki_8:42 refer essentially to the wonderful exodus from Egypt (Deu_4:34; Deu_5:15; Exo_6:6), which had reached its climax in the building of the temple (see above, on 1Ki_6:1). The words in 1Ki_8:43 : that they may know that this house … is called by thy name ( ð÷øà òì ), are a formula that occurs as here and in Jer_7:10-11; Jer_7:14; Jer_25:29, about the temple, and about the people Israel in Deu_28:10; Isa_4:1; Isa_63:19; Jer_14:9; Jer_15:16; 2Ch_7:14; and is intimately related to the expression, to lay the name of Jehovah upon ( òì ) a thing or person (Num_6:27; Deu_12:5; Deu_16:6; 1Ki_11:36, &c). The latter was thus marked as one to whom God reveals himself (names himself), i.e., manifests and communicates himself, so that he stands in union and communion with Him (Amo_9:12, comp. Hengstenberg, Christologie, iii. s. 231 sq.). Through the hearing of the prayers which the heathen offered here to Israel’s God, they as well as Israel were to experience that His “name” was there (1Ki_8:16), i.e., that He manifested and proved himself there to be God. The usual translation of the expression, that this house is called by Thy name, or bears Thy name, is therefore quite wrong. What good would it have done the heathen to know that the house Solomon built was called by Jehovah’s name? But the following is equally erroneous: “that Thy name has been invoked upon this temple (at its dedication), i.e., that this temple has been dedicated under effective invocation of Thy continued help” (Thenius); it was not that the heathens were to know that the temple had been solemnly consecrated, but that the God who dwelt there would hear their as well as Israel’s prayer, and that hence He is the only true God (1Ki_18:37; Psa_65:3).
1Ki_8:44-50. If thy people go out, &c. The sixth petition (1Ki_8:44-45), and the seventh (1Ki_8:46-50), relate to the conceivable cases, in which the people cannot pray at Jehovah’s house, because they are far from it. The first case is, when the people should be whithersoever Jehovah should send them, i.e., in war, according to Jehovah’s appointment and approbation; they were then to pray towards the city in which the temple was. The other case is, if having grievously sinned against Jehovah, and in consequence, being vanquished and led away captive to another land, they were then to repent, and direct their prayers towards the country, the city, and the house where Jehovah dwelt. The outward turning was the sign of the inward turning to the God of Israel, who as such has His dwelling-place in the temple, and is a real confession to this God, who never leaves His people, if they do not forsake Him. Maintain their cause, 1Ki_8:45 (comp. Psa_9:5; Deu_10:18). This presupposes that the war is a just one. The three expressions for sinning are scarcely to be distinguished with precision from each other, as Keil thinks, but are only meant to include every conceivable kind of sin. Thenius asserts that the verses 44–51 are a “section added later, perhaps by the elaborator,” for such a petition, which belongs properly to 1Ki_8:33-34, cannot follow 1Ki_8:43; the custom of turning towards Jerusalem is first mentioned in writings subsequent to the exile (Dan_6:11; Ezra 4:58), and the last petition, 1Ki_8:46-51, was occasioned by the Babylonian captivity, just also as the formula of the confession of sin, 1Ki_8:47, belonged to a later period (Dan_9:5; Psa_106:6). On the other hand, both petitions are exactly in the right place; the five previous ones refer to cases in which prayer is offered at the temple itself; the last two to cases where the praying people cannot come to the temple. They therefore follow quite naturally; besides this, the case in 1Ki_8:44 is evidently quite different from that in 1Ki_8:33 sq., for in the latter there is an armed invasion by the enemy, in which some are taken prisoners; and in the former (1Ki_8:44) the people go out to battle under the divine order. Turning towards the temple was a very natural custom, and mentioned not only in 1Ki_8:44; 1Ki_8:48, but in 1Ki_8:38, before, and also in Psa_5:8; Psa_28:2. As the temple, being Jehovah’s dwelling, was a pattern of the heavens, His real dwelling-place, it followed that as men stretched out their hands to heaven, so they stretched them towards the temple in prayer; it is, at any rate, impossible to prove that this custom came in first after the captivity. The carrying away conquered nations was “a fundamental maxim of despots which prevailed in the ancient orient” (Winer, R.-W.-B., i. s. 357, and the writings quoted there); when therefore Solomon, in counting up the misfortunes and straits in which Israel could fall, thinks lastly of this most grievous case, it is less surprising that he should rather than that he should not have mentioned it, especially since it was repeatedly threatened in the law (Lev_26:33; Deu_28:25; Deu_28:36; Deu_28:64; Deu_4:27). The petition is quite general, and there is not the slightest allusion to any particular captivity. The confession in 1Ki_8:47 is by no means of a kind that could have only been made in exile (comp. Num_14:40; 1Sa_7:6; Psa_51:6; Psa_32:5), and we might, inversely, with more justice maintain that the Jews in exile appropriated this most expressive word for the deepest guilt, from the royal prayer (Keil). There are exactly seven petitions, thus giving the prayer the seal of this significant number; and the last two cannot have been added later, for they contain nothing foreign to the other ones, but on the contrary are very suitable to the former petitions, and in perfect harmony with the immediately preceding one (comp. Bertheau on 2Ch_6:39).
1Ki_8:51-54. For they be thy people, &c. 1Ki_8:51-52 form the conclusion of the prayer, as 1Ki_8:23-26, the beginning, to which this conclusion points back. He confidently gives his reason for hoping for the acceptance of the whole prayer; which reason is the election of Israel out of all nations, to be a peculiar and covenant people. With 1Ki_8:51 comp. Deu_4:20. The iron furnace is not = a furnace of iron, but the furnace in which the iron is melted, which requires the greatest heat, therefore = glowing furnace. The deliverance from Egypt is here also looked on as a pledge for deliverance from every future distress, how great soever. The beginning of the prayer, 1Ki_8:28-29, is taken up again in 1Ki_8:52; its close connection with 1Ki_8:51 through ìִäְéåֹú has this sense; that it follows from their election to be a peculiar people, that Jehovah would also listen, in future, to their prayers. 1Ki_8:53 (comp. Lev_20:24; Lev_20:26) is no mere repetition of 1Ki_8:51 (Thenius), but rests upon a broader ground, derived from the destiny of the nation itself. The peculiar people is that which was set apart for Jehovah’s service from among all nations (Num_8:14; Num_16:9), the holy people, the royal priesthood (Exo_19:5-6). The prayer has quite a different ending in 2Ch_6:41-42; this, Thenius thinks the original one, which was not discovered by our author. That ending, however, must not be preferred to that in our books, and put in place of the latter; because it agrees word for word with Psa_132:8-10, referring to a period after the captivity, and is evidently taken from that psalm, not the latter from Chronicles, or from some source common to both. Peculiarities of the language also point to a relatively late period of composition (see Bertheau on the place). This ending in Chron. appears to have been chosen to form a connecting link with what is related immediately afterwards (2Ch_7:1-3), but which is not in our text.
1Ki_8:54-61. And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer, &c. As the dedication-prayer was preceded by an address of greeting to the people (1Ki_8:14-21), so also it was followed by a concluding speech and blessing, which Solomon gave, again standing ( åַéַּòֲîֹã ). He next praises God for having given rest to His people Israel (1Ki_8:56); for the consecrated temple, that had been filled with the glory of the Lord (1Ki_8:10-11), was a firm, immovable habitation, and therefore the practical evidence that the people had now fully come into their promised rest (Deu_12:9-10), (see above, on 1Ki_6:1); Solomon, the builder of the temple, was for this reason named the “man of rest” (1Ch_22:9). The good word is that which promises blessing (Jer_33:14), as pronounced in Lev. 36:3 sq., and Deu_28:1 sq. The expression there hath not failed as = fulfilled, often occurs (Jos_21:45; Jos_23:14; 2Ki_10:10). The praise of Jehovah, 1Ki_8:56, forms the introduction to 1Ki_8:57-61, which are also blessings and exhortations. In 1Ki_8:58, Solomon wishes for the people, that God might, as heretofore, continue to be with them; in 1Ki_8:59, that He would, in answer to the prayer just spoken, grant them continued help against their enemies. The object of the first wish is stated in 1Ki_8:58, that of the second in 1Ki_8:60. Nigh, meaning that He should always remember these words, and fulfil them. Day and night, i. e., as each day should require, Exo_5:13; Exo_16:4. With 1Ki_8:60 comp. 1Ki_8:43. The ùָׁìֵí , 1Ki_8:61, does not mean: in friendship with God (Gesenius), nor submissive (de Wette), nor uprightly (Luther), but: entirely, undividedly (comp. 1Ki_11:4; 1Ki_11:6). The entire concluding discourse (1Ki_8:54-61) is missing in Chronicles, as we remarked; and this concluding portion being an integral part of the dedication-solemnity, the fact is by no means satisfactorily accounted for by saying: that “it is only a recapitulation of the preceding lengthy prayer” (Keil). On the other hand, Chron. informs us that immediately after the prayer was ended, fire fell from heaven, which consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and that the glory of the Lord filled the house (2Ch_7:1 sq.). There is no apparent reason why our author, who is otherwise so minute in his account, should quite pass over this remarkable and wonderful occurrence, if it had been related in his original. Chronicles contradicts itself, inasmuch as it makes the filling of the house with the glory of the Lord follow upon the prayer, while 1Ki_5:14, as in our account, 1Ki_8:10 sq., makes it precede the prayer, which indeed the entire contents of the prayer presuppose. No one will believe that the glory of the Lord left the house during the pray