Text -- 1 Kings 8:1-32 (NET)

Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

8:1 Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion). 8:2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month Ethanim (the seventh month). 8:3 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. 8:4 The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent. 8:5 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered. 8:6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. 8:7 The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8:8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. 8:9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 8:10 Once the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 8:11 The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple. 8:12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 8:13 O Lord, truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 8:14 Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. 8:15 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David. 8:16 He told David, ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 8:17 Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. 8:18 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. 8:19 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’ 8:20 The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel 8:21 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon Prays for Israel

8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky. 8:23 He prayed: “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity. 8:24 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. 8:25 Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.’ 8:26 Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant, my father David, be realized. 8:27 “God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 8:28 But respond favorably to your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today. 8:29 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. 8:30 Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably. 8:31 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. 8:32 Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:1

¹ tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words at the beginning of ch. 8: “It so happened that when Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own house, after twenty years.”

² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

³ tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to King Solomon [in] Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David (it is Zion).”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:2

¹ sn The festival. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.

² sn The month Ethanim. This would be September-October in modern reckoning.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:4

¹ tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”

sn The tent of meeting. See Exod 33:7-11.

² tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the Lord…. The priests and the Levites carried them.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:5

¹ tn Heb “And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel, those who had been gathered to him, [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle which could not be counted or numbered because of the abundance.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:6

¹ tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:7

¹ sn And its poles. These poles were used to carry the ark. See Exod 25:13-15.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:8

¹ tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:9

¹ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.

² tn Heb “in Horeb where.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:11

¹ tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”

² tn Heb “the house of the Lord.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:13

¹ tn The words “O Lord” do not appear in the original text, but they are supplied for clarification; Solomon addresses the Lord in prayer at this point.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:14

¹ tn Heb “turned his face.”

² tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:15

¹ tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his hand.”

² tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his mouth.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:16

¹ tn Heb “saying.”

² tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.”

sn To build a temple in which to live (Heb “to build a house for my name to be there”). In the OT, the word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:17

¹ tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father.”

² tn Heb “to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.” The word “name” in the OT sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:18

¹ tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:19

¹ tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:20

¹ tn Heb “his word that he spoke.”

² tn Heb “name.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:21

¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 34, 40, 48, 53, 57, 58).

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:22

¹ tn Or “heaven.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:23

¹ tn Heb “said.”

² tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

³ tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:24

¹ tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”

² tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:25

¹ tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”

² tn Heb “guard their way by walking before me as you have walked before me.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:26

¹ tn Heb “the words that you spoke.”

² tn Or “prove to be reliable.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:27

¹ tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which the translation above seeks to reflect.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:28

¹ tn Heb “turn to.”

² tn Heb “by listening to.”

³ tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”

⁴ tn Heb “praying before you.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:29

¹ tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”

² tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:30

¹ tn Heb “listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”

² tn Heb “and you, hear inside your dwelling place, inside heaven.” The precise nuance of the preposition אֶל (’el), used here with the verb “hear,” is unclear. One expects the preposition “from,” which appears in the parallel text in 2 Chr 6:21. The nuance “inside; among” is attested for אֶל (see Gen 23:19; 1 Sam 10:22; Jer 4:3), but in each case a verb of motion is employed with the preposition, unlike 1 Kgs 8:30. The translation above (“from inside”) is based on the demands of the immediate context rather than attested usage elsewhere.

³ tn Heb “hear and forgive.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:31

¹ tn Heb “and forgive the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.” In the Hebrew text the words “and forgive” conclude v. 30, but the accusative sign at the beginning of v. 31 suggests the verb actually goes with what follows in v. 31. The parallel text in 2 Chr 6:22 begins with “and if,” rather than the accusative sign. In this case “forgive” must be taken with what precedes, and v. 31 must be taken as the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, with v. 32 being the apodosis (“then” clause) that completes the sentence.

sn Be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. At first it appears that Solomon is asking God to forgive the guilty party. But in v. 32 Solomon asks the Lord to discern who is guilty and innocent, so v. 31 must refer to a situation where an accusation has been made, but not yet proven. The very periphrastic translation reflects this interpretation.

NET Notes: 1Ki 8:32

¹ tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by declaring the guilty to be guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”