1 Kings 8:27

8:27 “God does not really live on the earth!¹ Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!

1 Kings 8:1

Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

8:1 ²Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem³ 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).⁴

1 Kings 1:2

1:2 His servants advised⁵ him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king,⁶ to take care of the king’s needs⁷ and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you⁸ and keep our master, the king, warm.”⁹

1 Kings 1:2

1:2 His servants advised¹⁰ him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king,¹¹ to take care of the king’s needs¹² and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you¹³ and keep our master, the king, warm.”¹⁴

1 Kings 6:18

6:18 The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible.¹⁵

Psalms 11:4

11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple;¹⁶

the Lord’s throne is in heaven.¹⁷

His eyes¹⁸ watch;¹⁹

his eyes²⁰ examine²¹ all people.²²

Psalms 99:9

99:9 Praise²³ the Lord our God!

Worship on his holy hill,

for the Lord our God is holy!

Psalms 132:7

132:7 Let us go to his dwelling place!

Let us worship²⁴ before his footstool!

Matthew 5:34-35

5:34 But I say to you, do not take oaths at all – not by heaven, because it is the throne of God, 5:35 not by earth, because it is his footstool, and not by Jerusalem,²⁵ because it is the city of the great King.

Matthew 23:21-22

23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

Acts 17:24

17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it,²⁶ who is²⁷ Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,²⁸

¹tn 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.

²tc 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.”

³map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴tn 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).”

⁵tn Heb “said to.”

⁶tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).

⁷tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).

⁸tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.

⁹tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

¹⁰tn Heb “said to.”

¹¹tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).

¹²tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).

¹³tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.

¹⁴tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

¹⁵tn Heb “Cedar was inside the temple, carvings of gourds (i.e., gourd-shaped ornaments) and opened flowers; the whole was cedar, no stone was seen.”

¹⁶tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4).

¹⁷sn The Lord’s throne is in heaven. The psalmist is confident that the Lord reigns as sovereign king, “keeps an eye on” all people, and responds in a just manner to the godly and wicked.

¹⁸sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.

¹⁹tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the Lord’s characteristic activity.

²⁰tn Heb “eyelids.”

²¹tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.

²²tn Heb “test the sons of men.”

²³tn Or “exalt.”

²⁴tn Or “bow down.”

²⁵map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²⁶tn Grk “all the things that are in it.” The speech starts with God as Creator, like 14:15.

²⁷tn Or “because he is.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) could be either adjectival, modifying οὗτος (Joutos, “who is Lord…”) or adverbial of cause (“because he is Lord…”). Since the participle διδούς (didou") in v. 25 appears to be clearly causal in force, it is preferable to understand ὑπάρχων as adjectival in this context.

²⁸sn On the statement does not live in temples made by human hands compare Acts 7:48. This has implications for idols as well. God cannot be represented by them or, as the following clause also suggests, served by human hands.