For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.
Parallel Translations
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For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.
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For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
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For now have I chosen and hallowed this house, that My name may be there for ever; and Mine eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to 2 Chronicles 7:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Chronicles 7:15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place.
- 2 Chronicles 7:12 Yahweh appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice.
- 2 Chronicles 6:5-6 ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there and I chose no man to be prince over my people Israel; but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’
- 1 Kings 9:3 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.
- 2 Chronicles 6:20 that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name; to listen to the prayer which your servant will pray toward this place.
- John 2:19-21 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his body.
- Colossians 2:9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,
- 2 Chronicles 33:4-7 He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.” He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of Yahweh’s house. He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s house, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
- Psalms 132:14 “This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired it.
- Zechariah 3:2 Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?”
- Deuteronomy 12:21 If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to put his name is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
- Deuteronomy 16:11 You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
- 1 Kings 8:16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
- 1 Kings 8:35 “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,
- 1 Kings 8:44 “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;
- 1 Kings 8:48 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;
- 2 Kings 21:7-8 He set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which Yahweh said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever; I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”
- Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
- 2 Kings 21:4 He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Of this verse and the rest of this chapter,…
Of this verse and the rest of this chapter, See Poole "1Ki 9:3", &c.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain This house - There will I make myself known,…
This house - There will I make myself known, and there will I be called upon.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. sanctified] R.V. hallowed (as 1Ki_9:3). for ever] Cp.…
16. sanctified] R.V. hallowed (as 1Ki_9:3). for ever] Cp. 2Ch_30:8.
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 (16) Have I chosen.—2Ch_6:6, and 2Ch_7:12, supr.
(16) Have I chosen.—2Ch_6:6, and 2Ch_7:12, supr.
Sanctified this house.—1Ki_9:3. The two accounts are again parallel.
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Perpetually.—All the days.
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 This verse glances, as an answer to the contents,…
This verse glances, as an answer to the contents, or spirit of the contents, of the second petition at 2Ch_6:18-21. The beautiful touching condescension in the wording of the last clause, Mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually, will not escape notice.
The temple, the Temple, and the temples of the Lord.
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We are reminded in these words of successive manifestations of the Divine to the children of men. We have first
I THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM. This was for many generations and for many centuries the chosen place and method of Divine manifestation. It was:
1. The sacred place, "chosen and sanctified" of God, the recognized spot where Cod was to be approached, where his presence was markedly and peculiarly felt, where sacrifice and prayer were to be offered to him, and where pardon and grace were to be gained from him.
2. The place of revelation, where the nature and the character of the Supreme was to be known, and whence it was to be made known. God"s "Name was to be there forever." There he was to be known as the one Divine Spirit, as the Holy One, the Just One, the Merciful One; there he revealed himself in such wise that his worshippers "knew the Lord;" knew him so that they could truly honour him, obediently and acceptably serve him, attain towards his own character and spirit.
3. The place where God manifested himself in peculiar kindness. "Mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually." Not, indeed, that this is not applicable, in a very true sense, everywhere. For "the eyes of the Lord are in every place," and there are none of his children or of his creatures in whom he is not interested. But upon his people worshipping him in his house he would look down with peculiar kindness; and towards them, as they reverently and obediently poured forth their praises or brought their grateful offerings, his heart of love would lean.
II THE ONE GREATER THAN THE TEMPLE, who yet was the Temple of the Lord in his day. For Jesus Christ was he in whom and through whom God manifested himself to mankind, in whom he dwelt and from whom his glory shone.
1. Whoso approached him drew nigh to God and stood in the Divinepresence.
2. He made known "the Name" of God, for he revealed the Father unto the human race; has caused us all to know and to feel that God is, above everything else, the Divine Father, who cares for all his children, and who, whatever their wanderings may be, earnestly remembers them still and is seeking their return.
3. He was the One toward whom "the eyes and the heart" of God werepeculiarly directed, the "beloved Son in whom he was well pleased," and for whose sake his eye of pity and his heart of love are directed to mankind. Not the magnificent Herodian structure on Zion, but that Son of man who often walked about its courts, was the Object in which, in whom, God was to be sought and found.
III OURSELVES THE TEMPLES OF THE LORD. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?". (1Co_3:16) What Christ was when he was in the world, that we are to be now. He was the Light of the world, and he said to us, "We are the light of the world;" so he was the temple of God, the One in whom God dwelt, and through whom his Name (his character and his purpose) was made known; and now he charges us to be the "temples of the Holy Ghost;" as men regard us and our life they should be reminded of the Divine, of the truth and the spirit and the character that are of God. We should be living to make God known to all whom we can anywise reach and teach. Upon us his eyes are fixed, and toward us his heart is going in all Divine tenderness and love. We do not fulfil the end of our Christian life except it be true of us that we are the temples of the living God. Not to any sacred place or any consecrated building need men go to find the truth and the Spirit of God; it is (or it should be) enough that they approach the nearest Christian man; they will find what they seek in his words, his bearing, his character, his life. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 that my name may be there forever
that my name may be there forever
Possible meanings are 1) God's name represents himself. AT: "that I may be there forever" or 2) God's name represents Yahweh's reputation, and his name being there represents people worshiping him there. AT: "for people to worship me there forever" (See: Metonymy)
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My eyes and my heart will be there every day
Here "My eyes" represents God's careful attention, and "my heart" represents his love. These being at his temple implies that he will protect his temple. AT: "I will watch and protect it forever" (See: Metonymy and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
As for you
Here "you" refers to King Solomon.
if you walk before me as David your father walked
Here walking is a metaphor for living. Walking before God represents living in obedience to him. AT: "If you obey me as David your father did" (See: Metaphor)
David your father
Solomon was one of David's sons.
keeping my statutes and my decrees
"obeying my statutes and my decrees"
I will establish the throne of your kingdom
Here the throne represents ruling. Establishing the throne of Solomon's kingdom represents causing Solomon to have descendants who will rule over Israel. AT: "I will make descendants of yours rule over your kingdom" (See: Metonymy)
A descendant of yours will never fail to be ruler in Israel
This can be stated positively. AT: "One of your descendants will always be ruler in Israel" or "Descendants of yours will always rule in Israel"
translationWords
set apart
eternity
command
statute
decree
kingdom
covenant
descend
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.