Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’ and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them, and served them. Therefore Yahweh has brought all this evil on them.’ ”
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1 Kings 9:3-9 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When Solomon had finished the building of Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’ and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them, and served them. Therefore Yahweh has brought all this evil on them.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;
then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’
But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them;
then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’
and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them, and served them. Therefore Yahweh has brought all this evil on them.’ ”
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And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
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And the LORD said unto him: 'I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My name there for ever; and Mine eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.
And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep My statutes and Mine ordinances;
then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever; according as I promised to David thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
But if ye shall turn away from following Me, ye or your children, and not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for My name, will I cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by word among all peoples;
and this house which is so high shall become desolate, and every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and when they shall say: Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
they shall be answered: Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them; therefore hath the LORD brought all this evil upon them.'
Cross-references (108)
- 1 Kings 8:29 (v3) 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…
- 2 Kings 20:5 (v3) “Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen…
- Psalms 10:17 (v3) Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,
- 1 John 5:14 (v3) This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us.
- 1 Kings 15:5 (v4) because David did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life,…
Show all 100 cross-references
- 1 Kings 3:14 (v4) If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
- Psalms 44:14 (v7) You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
- Psalms 116:1 (v3) I love Yahweh, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy.
- Jeremiah 24:9 (v7) I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt…
- Genesis 17:1 (v4) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless.
- Deuteronomy 11:12 (v3) a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
- Deuteronomy 29:24-26 (v8) Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” Then men will say,…
- 1 Kings 2:4 (v5) Then Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your children are careful of their way, to walk before me in…
- Jeremiah 22:8-9 (v8) “Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this great city?’ Then they will…
- Deuteronomy 4:26 (v7) I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to…
- Deuteronomy 28:37 (v7) You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- 1 Kings 6:12 (v5) “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to…
- 1 Kings 11:4 (v4) When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of…
- 1 Kings 11:6 (v4) Solomon did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did.
- 2 Chronicles 6:40 (v3) “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.
- Psalms 132:13-14 (v3) For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. “This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired…
- Jeremiah 2:19 (v9) “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
- Exodus 20:11 (v3) for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the…
- Leviticus 18:24-28 (v7) “ ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. The land…
- Deuteronomy 28:1 (v4) It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you…
- 2 Samuel 7:12 (v5) When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body,…
- 2 Samuel 7:16 (v5) Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” ’ ”
- 1 Kings 11:38 (v4) It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my…
- 1 Kings 14:8 (v4) and tore the kingdom away from David’s house, and gave it you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and…
- 2 Kings 25:9 (v7) He burned Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.
- 2 Kings 25:21 (v7) The king of Babylon attacked them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 (v8) This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land and to…
- Psalms 26:11 (v4) But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me.
- Proverbs 28:18 (v4) Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.
- Jeremiah 5:19 (v9) It will happen when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken…
- Zechariah 3:7 (v4) “Yahweh of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall…
- Matthew 6:9 (v3) Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
- Luke 1:6 (v4) They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
- Luke 21:24 (v7) They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles,…
- Acts 10:31 (v3) and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God.
- Numbers 16:38 (v3) even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered…
- Deuteronomy 12:11 (v3) then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that…
- Deuteronomy 16:11 (v3) You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within…
- Deuteronomy 29:25-28 (v9) Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them…
- Deuteronomy 29:26-28 (v7) and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. Therefore Yahweh’s anger…
- 2 Samuel 7:14-16 (v6) I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the…
- 1 Kings 8:10-11 (v3) It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh’s house, so that the priests could not stand…
- 1 Kings 8:15 (v5) He said, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
- 1 Kings 8:20 (v5) Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as…
- 1 Kings 8:25 (v4) Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall…
- 1 Chronicles 22:9-10 (v5) Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall…
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 (v6) You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all…
- 2 Chronicles 7:15-16 (v3) Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that…
- 2 Chronicles 7:17-18 (v4) “As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my…
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 (v7) then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will…
- 2 Chronicles 7:22 (v9) They shall answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took other…
- 2 Chronicles 36:19 (v7) They burned God’s house, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its valuable…
- Job 23:11-12 (v4) My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away. I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have…
- Psalms 15:2 (v4) He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;
- Psalms 26:1 (v4) Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Yahweh without wavering.
- Psalms 89:28-39 (v5) I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him. I will also make his offspring endure forever,…
- Psalms 132:11-12 (v5) Yahweh has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne. If your children will keep…
- Song of Solomon 4:9-10 (v3) You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck. How…
- Jeremiah 2:10-13 (v9) For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see. Send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. Has a…
- Jeremiah 15:1 (v3) Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight,…
- Jeremiah 19:8 (v8) I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.
- Jeremiah 22:28 (v8) Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which no one delights? Why are they cast out, he and his offspring, and cast…
- Jeremiah 26:6 (v7) then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”
- Lamentations 2:6-7 (v7) He has violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. Yahweh has caused solemn…
- Ezekiel 33:27-29 (v7) “You shall tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give he…
- Daniel 9:23 (v3) At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider…
- Joel 2:17 (v7) Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t…
- Micah 3:12 (v7) Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 (v4) Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that…
- Joshua 23:15-16 (v6) It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the…
- 1 Samuel 2:30 (v6) “Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father should walk before me forever.’ But…
- 1 Kings 9:3 (v7) Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you…
- 1 Kings 11:4-10 (v6) When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of…
- 2 Kings 17:20-23 (v7) Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hands of raiders, until he had cast them out of…
- 2 Chronicles 7:19-22 (v6) But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and…
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 (v6) and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with him; and if…
- Nehemiah 4:1-4 (v7) But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. He spoke before his…
- Psalms 66:19 (v3) But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer.
- Psalms 89:30 (v6) If his children forsake my law, and don’t walk in my ordinances;
- Psalms 89:32 (v6) then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
- Proverbs 10:9 (v4) He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.
- Proverbs 20:7 (v4) A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.
- Isaiah 64:11 (v8) Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste.
- Isaiah 65:15 (v7) You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
- Jeremiah 7:4-15 (v7) Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’ For if you thoroughly amend your ways…
- Jeremiah 12:7-8 (v9) “I have forsaken my house. I have cast off my heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. My…
- Jeremiah 16:10-13 (v9) It will happen, when you tell this people all these words, and they ask you, ‘Why has Yahweh pronounced all this great evil against us?’ or…
- Jeremiah 26:18 (v7) “Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies…
- Jeremiah 49:17 (v8) “Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues.
- Jeremiah 50:7 (v9) All who found them have devoured them. Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation…
- Jeremiah 50:13 (v8) Because of Yahweh’s wrath she won’t be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished, and…
- Jeremiah 52:13 (v7) He burned Yahweh’s house, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.
- Lamentations 2:15-16 (v7) All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men…
- Lamentations 2:16-17 (v9) All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly…
- Lamentations 4:13-15 (v9) It is because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the middle of her.…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (108 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 7 If thou walk in my fear, and withdraw thyself…
If thou walk in my fear, and withdraw thyself from the common manner of men, which follow their sensuality.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–9 1Ki 9:3 And the LORD said unto him, I…
1Ki 9:3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Ver. 3. I have heard thy prayer.] God sometimes answereth his people before they ask, {Isa 65:24} as he did David; {Psa 32:5} sometimes as they are asking, as he did Daniel; {Dan 9:20} but certainly after they have prayed, provided that they bring to him lawful petitions and honest hearts. The reason whereof, see Joh 16:26-27.
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Mine eyes and my heart shall be there.] It shall well be seen that this house is mihi chara, cordi, et curae.
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 vv3–8 I have hallowed this house; I have, by my…
I have hallowed this house; I have, by my glorious presence in the cloud, and by my acceptation of thy sacrifices, sanctified it to my proper use and service.
For ever; as long as the Mosaical dispensation lasts; whereas hitherto my name and worship hath been successively in several places.
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Mine eyes, i.e. my watchful and gracious providence.
Mine heart; my true and tender affection.
Shall be there; shall be towards this place and people, Perpetually; upon condition of your obedience, as it here follows.
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 vv3–9 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard…
And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me,.... With delight and pleasure, and had accepted it; meaning the prayer recorded in the preceding chapter:
I have hallowed this house which thou hast built; by the cloud of glory filling it, and by fire descending from heaven, and consuming the sacrifices offered in it, Ch2 7:1.
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to put my name there for ever; there to grant his presence, so long as his pure worship should be continued in it; so the Targum adds,
"and my Shechinah or divine Majesty shall abide in it, if my will is done there continually:''
and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually; his eyes of Providence should be upon it, to watch over it, and protect it, and his worshippers in it; and he should have a cordial regard to the sacrifices there offered, and to the persons of the offerers, so long as they offered them in a right way, and to right ends and purposes.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 8 For ever - As long as the Mosaic dispensation…
For ever - As long as the Mosaic dispensation lasts; whereas hitherto my worship has been successively in several places. Eyes - My watchful and gracious providence. Heart - My tender affection. Shall be there - Shall be towards this place and people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 Verse 7. A proverb and a by-word among all…
Verse 7. A proverb and a by-word among all people] And so they are to the present; the unbelieving Jews, the stubborn, stiff-necked Jews, are words still in common use. They forsook the Lord, rejected his Christ, and are cast off, their temple destroyed, and they scattered over the face of the earth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8 1Ki 9:3. The Lord said, I have heard thy…
1Ki 9:3. The Lord said, I have heard thy prayer — This shows that the first verse is to be understood as we have just stated: for otherwise we must suppose this appearance of God to Solomon to have taken place, and this answer to have been given to his prayer, eleven years after he had finished the house, and addressed that prayer to him at the dedication of it; which is very unlikely. I have hallowed this house — By my glorious presence in the cloud, and by my acceptance of thy sacrifices. I have sanctified it to my proper use and service. Solomon had dedicated it, but it was God’s prerogative to hallow or consecrate it. Men cannot make a place holy; yet what we in sincerity devote to God, we may hope he will graciously accept as his. To put my name there for ever — As long as the Mosaic dispensation lasts: whereas hitherto my worship has been successively in several places. And mine eyes — My watchful and gracious providence. My heart — My true and tender affection. Shall be there perpetually — Shall be toward this place and people, upon condition of your obedience, as it here follows. Apply this to persons, to God’s living temples: those whom he hallows or sanctifies; whom he sets apart for himself, in consequence of their repentance and faith in Jesus, have his eye upon and his heart toward them; they have his love and his care, and this perpetually.
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 vv3, 4, 6, 8 The answer given by God to Solomon’s prayer is…
The answer given by God to Solomon’s prayer is reported more fully in 2Ch 7:12-22.
When God puts His Name in the temple He does it, in intention, “forever.” He will not arbitrarily withdraw it; there it will remain “forever,” so far as God is concerned. But the people may by unfaithfulness drive it away 1Ki 9:7-9.
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And mine eyes and my heart - An answer in excess of the prayer 1Ki 8:29; “Not Mine eyes only, but Mine eyes and Mine heart.”
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 vv4, 6, 7, 8 Simplicity of heart. That is, in the sincerity and…
Simplicity of heart. That is, in the sincerity and integrity of a single heart, as opposite to all double-dealing and deceit. (Challoner) --- External worship alone will not be acceptable. (Worthington) --- "God is worshipped by faith, hope, and charity." (St. Augustine, Ench. iii.)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v8 this house, which is high--"high," either in point of…
this house, which is high--"high," either in point of situation, for it was built on a hill, and therefore conspicuous to every beholder; or "high" in respect to privilege, honor, and renown; or this "house of the Most High," notwithstanding all its beauty and magnificence, shall be destroyed, and remain in such a state of ruin and degradation as to be a striking monument of the just judgment of God. The record of this second vision, in which were rehearsed the conditions of God's covenant with Solomon and the consequences of breaking them, is inserted here as a proper introduction to the narrative about to be given of this king's commercial enterprises and ambitious desire for worldly glory; for this king, by encouraging an influx of foreign people and a taste for foreign luxuries, rapidly corrupted his own mind and that of this subjects, so that they turned from following God, they and their children (Kg1 9:6).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7–8 7. A proverb and a byword — The very…
7. A proverb and a byword — The very name Israel will become a proverbial expression significant of disastrous failure; nay, more — a byword, a pointed, sarcastic term, ever suggestive of scorn and mockery. Compare Deu_28:37.
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 vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 3. I have heard thy prayer] This could not…
3. I have heard thy prayer] This could not have been the form of God’s message, if thirteen years had passed away since the dedication. God’s way is rather that spoken of by Isa_65:24 ‘While they are yet speaking I will hear.’ The LXX. adds after the first clause of this verse ‘I have done for thee according to all thy prayer.’
to put my name there for ever] The place which God had chosen was now made known; and God’s purposes change not.
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mine eyes and mine heart shall be there] As in the former vision at Gibeon, God had given more than Solomon asked, so it is here. The prayer was that God’s eyes might be open toward the house, the promise is that His heart shall be there perpetually.
This verse is largely expanded in 2Ch_7:12 seqq. thus: ‘I have heard thy prayer and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there for ever.’ This addition appears to be the work of a later writer who wished to express by it, that God’s answer was as large as the king’s prayer.
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 vv3, 5, 7, 8, 9 (3) To put my name there for ever.—The meaning…
(3) To put my name there for ever.—The meaning of the words “for ever” is determined by the prayer which they answer. They simply mark the Temple as the “settled habitation to abide in for ever” (see 1Ki_8:13), in contradistinction from the movable tabernacle. Whether they were to have a larger significance is expressly declared to depend on the faithfulness of Israel (see 1Ki_9:7-8).
Mine eyes and mine heart.—See 8:29.
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(3-9) And the Lord said unto him.—This vision of the Lord presents a remarkable contrast with that recorded in 1Ki_6:11-13, while the Temple was in building. Then all was promise and encouragement; now, not only is warning mingled with promise, but, as in Solomon’s own prayer, the sadder alternative seems in prophetic anticipation to overpower the brighter. In this there is (as has been often remarked) a striking exemplification of the austere and lofty candour of the inspired narrative, sternly contradicting that natural hopefulness in the hour of unexampled prosperity, which would have shrunk from even entertaining the idea that the blessing of God on the Temple should be frustrated, and the glory of Israel should pass away.
It is notable that, in its reference to the two parts of the promise to David, there is a subtle and instructive distinction. As for the Temple, now just built in fulfilment of that promise, it is declared without reserve that, in case of unfaithfulness in Israel, it shall be utterly destroyed, and become an astonishment and a proverb of reproach before the world. But in respect of the promise of the perpetuity of David’s kingdom—the true Messianic prediction, which struck the key-note of all future prophecies—it is only said that Israel shall be “cut off from the land,” and so “become a proverb and a byword” in captivity. Nothing is said to contradict the original declaration, that, even in case of sin, the mercy of God would chastise and not forsake the house of David (2Sa_7:13-14; Psa_89:30-37). So again and again in prophecy captivity is denounced as a penalty of Israel’s sin; but the hope of restoration is always held out, and thus the belief in God’s unchanging promise remains unshaken. The true idea is strikingly illustrated by the prophet Amos (1Ki_9:9-11): “I will sift the house of Israel, among all nations . . . yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth . . . I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof.”
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 vv3–9 And the Lord said unto him This message is…
And the Lord said unto him This message is given at greater length in 2Ch_7:12-22. Vers. 13, 14, e.g., contain a reference to that part of the prayer which related to drought and rain), I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication These two words are found similarly united in Solomon"s prayer, (vers. 38, 45, 54) that thou hast made Heb. supplicated before me; I have hallowed this house which thou hast built sc. by the manifestation described 1Ki_8:11. Cf. Exo_29:43: "the tabernacle shall be sanctified" (same word) "by my glory." In 2 Chronicles we read, "I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice," where, however, it is worth considering whether instead of the somewhat singular jbz tyb the original text may not have been lbz tyb, (1Ki_8:13) to put my name there 1Ki_8:29; cf. vers. 16, 17, 18, 19; also Deu_12:11; Luk_11:12 forever 1Ki_8:13. As Solomon offered it, so God accepted it, in perpetuity. That the house was subsequently "left desolate" and destroyed (2Ki_25:9) was because of the national apostasy (vers. 8, 9), and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. In 1Ki_8:29 Solomon asked that God"s "eyes may be open towards the house." The answer is that not only His eyes shall be open, but eyes and heart shall be there Eph_3:20; see Homiletics on; the 1Ki_3:5 eye to watch, the heart to cherish it.
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 vv4, 6 If thou writ walk before Me, as David thy…
1Ki_9:4
If thou writ walk before Me, as David thy father walked.
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Imperativeness of law
General Grant, while president, caused the injury of a woman by his fast driving. He invited a police officer to enter his buggy, and drove with him to the police station, where he paid a fine of twenty dollars for fast and reckless driving. President MKinley once had to reprove his driver for crossing a chalk-line which marked the limit of space allowed to carriages. He leaned his head out of the window, apologised to the policeman in charge, and ordered his driver to obey the rule at once. Obedience comes hard when we think that for some reason we ought to be exceptions to the rules that govern others. (J. B. Morgan.)
The power of a sainted parent
After the news of his fathers death, Thomas Carlyle set himself to describe with pride his peasant parent. A living picture he gives: the large head, grey ever since he could remember; the strong face, full of earnestness; the clear eyes, through which honesty streamed--his dear, good father! Only a common farmer, though. Digging and ditching were part of his work. He drove the plough through the furrow. But, writes Thomas, his son also is part of his work. An inspiring example I owe him. The pale face stiffened into death will certainly impel me. I seem to myself the second volume of my father. The dead spirit of the Ecclefechan farmer lived in the brilliant writer of books. The instructions of his father soaked into his very flesh and bone. He, being dead, yet shaped his life. O blessed office of parenthood! (F. Y. Leggatt.)
The law of obedience
To that law of truth that firmly fixes foundations for cathedrals, Ruskin adds the law of obedience. In springing his wall the architect must plumb the stones of obedience to the law of gravity. In springing his arch he must brace it, obeying the laws of resistance. In lifting his tower he must relate it to the temple, obeying the law of proportion and symmetry; and he who disobeys one fundamental law will find great nature puking his towers down over his head. For no architect builds as he pleases, but only as nature pleases, through laws of gravity, and stone and steel. In the kingdom of the soul also obedience is strength and life, and disobedience is weakness and death. In the last analysis liberty is a phantom, a dream, a mere figment of the brain. Societys greatest peril of to-day is the demagogues who teach, and the ignorant classes who believe that there is such a thing as liberty. The planets have no liberty; they follow their sun. The seas know no liberty; they follow the moon in tidal waves. When the river refuses to keep within its banks, it becomes a curse and a destruction. It is the stream that is restrained by its banks that turns mill wheels for men. The clouds, too, have their beauty in that they are led forth in ranks and columns generaled by the night winds. And in proportion as things pass from littleness towards largeness they go toward obedience to law. (N. D. Hillis, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v3 1Ki_9:3. Sept. inserts, after “Supplication that thou hast made…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_9:3. Sept. inserts, after “Supplication that thou hast made before me,” “I have done to thee according to all thy prayer.”
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1Ki_9:6. If ye shall at all turn.—A. V. implies only the slightest dereliction, “at all turn;” whereas שוֹב תְּשֻׁבוֹן is an intensive Hebraism, implying entirety, absolute apostasy. Which I have set before you: or, Moses set before you; so Sept. Notice also that the threatening (1Ki_9:7) is a quotation from Moses (Deu_28:37).
1Ki_9:8. This house is high—Omit italicised words at and which; is high=future tense, shall be high עֶלְיוֹן not exalted in renown (as Von Meyer, De Wette, Bähr), but shall stand high, a conspicuous example, a pre-eminent illustration of destruction. Others (the Peshito and Dr. Böttcher), “this house shall be a heap.” Sept.=ὁ οἶκος οὗτος ἔσται ὁ υψηλός. Vulg., et domus hæc crit in exemplum.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_9:3-9
RELIGION THE GLORY OF A NATION
I. That the religion of a nation does not consist in anything external.
1. Not in the grandeur of its temples. Architecture and artistic decoration are not essential to true piety. The most exquisite creations of the trowel and mallet can never rival the glorious edifice which has been already reared by the master hand of Deity. Nature is one vast cathedral, with its roof fretted with clouds and gemmed with stars; its aisles are the long-extended valleys; its pillars the lofty, massive hills; its altar the spot where the worshipper reverently bends his knee; and its music the manifold voices that rise from bird, or forest, or sea. Some of the costliest temples built by the art and adorned by the genius of man are consecrated to the worship of other than the only true God.
2. Not in the elaborateness of its ritual. The rites and ceremonies of the Israelitish religion in the days of Solomon were minute and exacting. Their worship was a rich, imposing pageant, calculated to impress both the worshipper and the spectator; and their history shows with what scrupulosity they observed the forms of their ritual when the spirit which gave those forms life and meaning was altogether quenched. It is the tendency of man to rest in the outward; and the devoutest worshipper has often to complain—
But I of means have made my boast,
Of means an idol made;
The spirit in the letter lost,
The substance in the shade.
3. Religion consists in the sincere worship of an ever-present God. The true glory of Moriah’s Temple was the hallowing presence of Jehovah. “I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually” (1Ki_9:3). When we fail to recognize the true God, when we forget His eye is upon us, when we are no longer conscious of His personal and all-compassionate love, religion ceases to be a power, ceases to be a reality. We may take our place in the temple, we may engage mechanically in its services, but there is no longer any true, acceptable worship (Mat_15:8-9).
II. That the religion of a nation depends for its permanence on obedience to God (1Ki_9:4-5).
1. Obedience is regulated by clearly defined injunctions. “To do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments.” Obedience must be intelligent, be governed by a studious appreciation of the Divine commands. We are surrounded by law. We cannot properly fulfil the great purpose of life without some acquaintance with the laws and forces in operation around us. The mariner needs it in order to pilot his vessel aright, the scientist to guide him in research, the physician to ameliorate human suffering. There should not be less study given to the laws of God for the government of our moral actions than is given to the laws of nature.
2. Obedience must be genuine and complete. “In integrity of heart and in uprightness.” We must be sincere. When we remember with what energy and publicity we have sometimes served sin, we should be animated with the more courage and earnestness in serving God. “He doeth not God’s will but his own, who doeth no more than himself will. Everything must be done as well as anything, else we do nothing.”
3. Obedience is illustrated by noble examples. “If thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked.” God expects no impossibility. What one man has done, another may do. David had great imperfections; but he had also great virtues. The seed of the godly cannot expect to enjoy the entail of the blessing unless they tread in the steps of those who have gone before, and keep up the piety of their ancestors. Solomon’s subsequent fall lends to these repeated warnings a special interest.
4. Obedience ensures perpetuity of blessing. “Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever” (1Ki_9:5). Obedience and blessing run together. If we are faithful to our part of the covenant, God will never fail on His part. All the promises of God are conditional; and failure in fulfilment of the promise is no proof of changeableness in God, but of infidelity in man. While the condition is observed, the promise is inviolably kept.
III. That the decay of the religion of a nation is inevitably followed by national ruin (1Ki_9:6-9).
1. The ruin of its national greatness. “Then will I cut off Israel out of the land I have given them.” In the very land where the Jews were most highly exalted did they witness the most abject degradation. When the people forsook God, and turned to idols, the Temple of Solomon—the world-wide evidence of national prosperity and blessing—was destroyed, Israel ceased to be an independent kingdom, and the people were banished; and when, after the second temple was built, they rejected David’s greater Son—their promised, true, and eternal king in whom all nations of the earth were to be blessed—this temple was destroyed never to be rebuilt, and the people were scattered through the whole world, ceasing for ever to be an independent kingdom and nation. Irreligion will ruin a nation more completely than an invading army could do. The external evidences of national greatness are the last to go: the first fatal weakness begins within, and may progress for a time silently and unnoticed.
2. The ruin of its religious prestige. “And this house which I have hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight.” The temple was the symbol and external evidence of the intense religiousness of the people. Never was there before a nation so favoured with religious privileges: it was its solemn mission to preserve and promulgate the idea of the Only True God, which idea had become lost amid the mists of heathenism. When Israel lost its religion it lost everything—temple, character, influence. The same is true of every nation that abandons God.
3. The ruin is held up as a terrible warning to all ages. “And Israel shall be a proverb and a bye-word among all people; and this house which is high (Heb. shall be high), every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss” (1Ki_9:7-8). Not a scornful hiss, but a hissing of terror (Jer_19:8; Jer_49:17). The temple and the nation shall be as conspicuous in their desolation as in their glory. No people in the world ever became such a proverb—everywhere despised, reviled, and persecuted. By its story it illustrates to all nations the unchanging truth uttered by the prophet Azariah to King Asa, “If ye forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2Ch_15:2).
LESSONS:—
1. Religion is at once the strength and the adornment of a people.
2. The chief concern of the monarch should be for the religious welfare of his people.
3. The nation that abandons God will be abandoned by Him.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_9:3. “To put my name there for ever.” God’s gifts are without repentance. When He puts His name in the temple, He does it, in intention, for ever. He will not arbitrarily withdraw it after so many years or so many centuries. Once placed there, it will remain there for ever, so far as God is concerned. But the people may, by unfaithfulness, drive it away.
—“Mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” Solomon’s prayer had been that God’s eyes might be directed towards the temple continually. The answer given is—Not mine eyes only, but mine eyes and mine heart. To every house where the name of God is truly honoured applies the Divine saying, “Mine eyes and my heart shall dwell there for ever.”
—The Divine solicitude for the Church. 1. He investigates its moral condition.
2. He sympathises with its struggles.
3. He rejoices in its triumphs.
4. His care is unremitting.
1Ki_9:4. “If Thou wilt walk before me” (compared with 1Ki_9:6). The power of individualism.
1. The national is vastly influenced by the personal.
2. A monarch may foster or blast the religious interests of his people.
3. The greater the authority placed in the hands of one man, the greater is his responsibility for its use or abuse.
4. How momentous are the opportunities presented within the compass of a single life!
1Ki_9:6-9. Because men endure uninterrupted prosperity with much greater difficulty than they do crosses and afflictions, therefore, when they are at the summit of their wishes and their hearts’ desire, it is most necessary that the grave importance of God and of eternity should be held up before them, so that they may not fall into security, and forget to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Mat_16:26; 1Co_10:12). The more abundantly God displays His mercy and love towards an individual or towards a nation, so much the more fearful will be the righteous sentence, if the riches of His mercy are despised. In happy and prosperous days forget not that the Lord tells us, “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” How many men, how many families, how many nations, blessed in every respect, have come to a fearful and shameful end! Askest thou—“Wherefore is this? The only reply is—Because they have forsaken the Lord their God; for what a man sows that shall he also reap. Let him who will not recognize a Divine justice, turn to the twice-destroyed temple of Jerusalem, and to the world-scattered people who have become a byeword amongst all nations.—Lange.
1Ki_9:7. If our growth in grace does not correspond with our privileges, our boast of the temple and the best form of worship will but delude and destroy us.
1Ki_9:9. Apostasy is hateful even among the heathen. Solyman, the Grand Signior, rejected the revolt of his Christian subjects to Turkism, and doubled their taxations.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 4, 6, 8 your prayer and your request
your prayer and your request
The words "prayer" and "request" mean basically the same thing and emphasize that Yahweh recognized that Solomon's request was sincere. See how you translated similar words in 1 Kings 8:28. AT: "your request" (See: Doublet)
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to put my name there forever
The name is a metonym for the person. AT: "to dwell there and to claim possession of it forever" (See: Metonymy)
My eyes and my heart will be there
The eyes and heart are synecdoche for the whole person. AT: "I will protect and care for it" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
Yahweh
pray
set apart
name
eternity
heart
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 v3 9:3-9 The Lord answered Solomon’s prayer by reviewing the…
9:3-9 The Lord answered Solomon’s prayer by reviewing the conditions of the covenant. Obedience would bring prosperity and the Lord’s blessing; disobedience could mean utter disaster, including destruction of the city and Temple, and deportation of God’s people (see Deut 28:36-37, 63-68). Although God’s covenant was irrevocable, receiving its blessings depended upon faithfulness to its terms (Ps 89:24-37).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.