(for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace); that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”
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1 Kings 8:51-53 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name; then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’ if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name; then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause; and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace); that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”
Parallel Translations
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(for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace);
that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you.
For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”
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For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
That 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.
For 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 GOD.
Show all 3 translations
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for they are Thy people, and Thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron;
that Thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of Thy servant, and unto the supplication of Thy people Israel, to hearken unto them whensoever they cry unto Thee.
For Thou didst set them apart from among all the peoples of the earth, to be Thine inheritance, as Thou didst speak by the hand of Moses Thy servant, when Thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.'
Cross-references (30)
- Exodus 19:5-6 (v53) Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all…
- Deuteronomy 4:20 (v51) But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.
- Nehemiah 1:10 (v51) “Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.
- Psalms 145:18 (v52) Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
- Jeremiah 11:4 (v51) which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace,’ saying, ‘Obey my voice,…
Show all 29 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 14:2 (v53) For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on…
- Deuteronomy 32:9 (v53) For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
- 1 Kings 8:29 (v52) that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to…
- Deuteronomy 9:26-29 (vv51, 53) I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness,…
- Exodus 32:11-12 (v51) Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of…
- Numbers 14:13-19 (v51) Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. They will tell it to…
- Psalms 86:5 (v52) For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.
- Jeremiah 51:19 (v51) The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things; including the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his…
- Exodus 33:16 (v53) For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us, so that we are separated,…
- Numbers 23:9 (v53) For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among…
- Deuteronomy 4:34 (v53) Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand,…
- Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (v53) For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who…
- Deuteronomy 33:1-3 (v53) This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and…
- Deuteronomy 33:26-29 (v53) “There is no one like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. The eternal God is your…
- 1 Kings 8:53 (v51) For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you…
- 2 Chronicles 6:39 (v51) then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people…
- 2 Chronicles 6:40 (v52) “Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.
- Isaiah 63:16-18 (v51) For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from…
- Isaiah 64:9 (v51) Don’t be furious, Yahweh. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.
- Jeremiah 10:16 (v53) The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is…
- 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (v53) Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with…
- Ephesians 1:18 (v53) having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his…
- Titus 2:14 (v53) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
- 1 Peter 2:9 (v53) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
29 distinct cross-references across this passage (30 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv51–53 1Ki 8:51 For they [be] thy people, and thine…
1Ki 8:51 For they [be] thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
Ver. 51. For they be thy people.] Culled and called out of the rest of the world. Thou hast avouched them for thine; and they have avouched thee for their God.
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From the midst of the furnace of iron.] Where they were grievously afflicted, and by those afflictions melted and made more malleable.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv51, 53 They be thy people; for howsoever they may sin…
They be thy people; for howsoever they may sin against thee, or suffer from men, yet still remember that they are thy peculiar people, and therefore do thou pity, and pardon, and save them.
The furnace of iron; so called, either from the metal melted in it; or rather, from the matter of which it consisted, an iron furnace being more hot and terrible than one of brick or stone. He understands hereby their cruel bondage and painful labours. See Poole "Deu 4:20".
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv51–53 That thine eyes may be open to the supplication…
That thine eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant,.... That is, attentive to it, meaning himself and his present supplication; or any other he should hereafter put up in this place:
and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call unto thee: at any time, and upon any account; so far as may be agreeable to his will, make for his glory, and their good; see Deu 4:7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v53 1Ki 8:53. For thou didst separate them to be…
1Ki 8:53. For thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance — Thou hast begun a work of great and glorious mercy to them; do not give occasion to thine enemies to think thou wast unable to finish it; or that thou art inconstant in thy ways and purposes, or unkind to thy own children.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v51 The furnace of iron - Egypt is so called…
The furnace of iron - Egypt is so called as a place of severe trial and affliction.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v51 Iron. This expression is often used to denote the…
CHAPTER VIII.
Iron. This expression is often used to denote the rigour of the Egyptian bondage, Deuteronomy iv. 20. Thus Homer says, that Mars was shut up for thirteen months in a barrel (or prison) of brass. (Iliad E.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v51 51. Furnace of iron — Metaphorical description of the…
51. Furnace of iron — Metaphorical description of the bitter bondage and inhuman persecutions of Egypt. Compare marginal references.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv51–53 51. from the midst of the furnace of iron]…
51. from the midst of the furnace of iron] The bondage of Egypt is so called, Deu_4:20. The idea is of the intense heat needed to melt iron in a furnace, and that with this the suffering of Israel might be compared. Cf. Isa_48:10; Jer_11:14.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v51 (51-53) For they be thy people.—This pleading with God…
(51-53) For they be thy people.—This pleading with God by His deliverance of the people from Egypt, and by His promise to Moses to make them His inheritance (see Exo_19:5; Deu_9:26; Deu_9:29; Deu_14:2), although especially suggested by the last petition for deliverance from captivity, may be held to apply to the whole of Solomon’s prayer. It implies the belief not only that the declared purpose of God cannot fail, but that, even for the manifestation of His glory to man, it must needs be visibly fulfilled before the eyes of the world. This same conviction breathes in many of the utterances of Moses for Israel (see Exo_32:12-13; Num_14:13-14); it is expressed in the “Help us, O Lord, and deliver us for Thy name’s sake,” of Psa_79:9-10, or the “Defer not for Thine own sake, O my God” of Dan_9:19 : it is declared on the part, of the Lord again and again in Eze_20:9; Eze_20:14; Eze_20:22, “I wrought for my name’s sake.” It may, indeed, seem to jar upon our fuller conception of the infinite majesty of God, incapable of being augmented or lessened, and of the infinite love which does all for the sake of His creatures. Yet it is not wholly unlike our Lord’s prayer (Joh_12:28), “Father, glorify thy name,” or the Apostolic declarations of the great purpose of redemption, as designed for “the praise of God’s glory” (Eph_1:6; Eph_1:12; Eph_1:14), and of all Christian life as commanded to “do all to the glory of God” (1Co_10:31). In some respects it is like the pleading with our Lord, in the Litanies of the Church in all ages, by all the various acts of His redemption, and the prayer of the old Latin hymn—
“ Redemisti crucem passus;
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Tantus labor ne sit cassus.”
But, indeed, all that might seem to us strange or unworthy in such prayers vanishes at once, when we consider that the knowledge of God in His self-manifestation is the highest happiness of man; on which, indeed, depend all depth and harmony of human knowledge, and all dignity and purity of human life. Hence, in the Lord’s Prayer, the three petitions “for Gods glory,” preceding all special petitions for our own needs, are really prayers for the highest blessing of all mankind. God’s care for His glory is not for His own sake, but for ours.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv51–53 For they be thy people a citation or reminiscence…
For they be thy people a citation or reminiscence of Deu_4:10, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt cf. vers. 21, 53. There is a constant recurrence throughout the Old Testament to this great deliverance, and with good reason, for it was the real birthday of the nation, and was also a pledge of future help and favour. God who had "wrought such great things for them in Egypt "could not well forsake them. Solomon"s constant plea is that they are the elect and covenant race from the midst of the furnace of iron i.e., a furnace for iron, heated and fierce as for smelting. Same phrase, Deu_4:20.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v53 For Thou didst separate them.
1Ki_8:53
For Thou didst separate them.
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Solomons plea
I. The fact. Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth.
1. That separation commenced in the eternal purpose of God. Or ever the earth was He had set apart unto Himself a people whom He looked upon in the glass of His foreknowledge, and viewed with infinite affection.
2. This first act of separation was followed up by a distinct act of grace, in which the chosen were given over to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thine they were, says Jesus, and Thou gavest them Me.
3. So far the separation is hidden from us, but what is hidden in the purpose in due time develops itself in the event, for all the people of God are at the proper moment called out by effectual caning, and in this way they are separated from among the people of the world.
4. Believers become separate from the hour of their conversion by possessing a new nature.
5. The separateness of the believer tomes out in his life.
6. There shall be a final separation by and by when the wheat shall be gathered into the garner, and the tares cast into the oven, when the great Shepherd shall come and set His sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left. Oh, in that day of final separation, may we be found among those of whom He has said, They shall be Mine in the day when I make up My jewels.
II. The design. What has the Lord aimed at by separating His people from among men?
1. The text tens us: to be Thine inheritance. God has made choice of a people who are to be called the Lords portion, the lot of His inheritance, by which is meant that He would have a peculiar interest in them.
2. A man when he takes anything to be his inheritance expects to have it used for his own purposes.
3. A man will generally take up his abode in the spot which he has selected to be specially his own. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
4. In a mans inheritance He takes His delight. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.
5. When a man takes a portion to be his inheritance he means never to give it up.
III. A Plea. If you have realised that you are separated to belong to the Lord, this is a plea; and the plea applies in prayer to all your trials. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Detachment from the world through attachment to Christ
The first duty is to attach ourselves, detachment comes afterwards. The chrysalis covering in which the butterfly was imprisoned only breaks and falls away when the insects wings have grown--it is by opening that these burst their melancholy integuments. We only begin to detach ourselves from the world when we have learned to know something of a better. Till then we are capable of disappointment and weariness which are not detachment. (The Twofold Life.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v51 a furnace where iron is forged
a furnace where iron is forged
This can be stated in active form. AT: "a furnace where people forge iron" (See: Active or Passive)
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May your eyes be open
The eye is a synecdoche for the person. AT: "Please pay attention" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
Egypt
furnace
servant
people group
Israel
receive
promise
Moses
ancestor
Lord Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v52 8:52-53 Solomon concluded his prayer of dedication with a…
8:52-53 Solomon concluded his prayer of dedication with a general petition for God to be accessible to all of Israel and respond to their requests. Returning to the theme of the Exodus (8:16), Solomon reminded God that he had selected Israel as his special possession (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:1-2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; cp. Titus 2:11-14; 1 Pet 2:9-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.