1 Kings 8:58

8:58 May he make us submissive, ¹  so we can follow all his instructions ²  and obey ³  the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors.

1 Kings 8:1

Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

8:1 ⁴ Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem ⁵  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). ⁶ 

1 Kings 1:18

1:18 But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you, ⁷  my master the king, are not even aware of it! ⁸ 

Psalms 119:5

119:5 If only I were predisposed ⁹ 

to keep your statutes!

Psalms 119:36

119:36 Give me a desire for your rules, ¹⁰ 

rather than for wealth gained unjustly. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 3:6

3:6 Acknowledge ¹²  him in all your ways, ¹³ 

and he will make your paths straight. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 10:23

10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. ¹⁵ 

It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them. ¹⁶ 

James 1:16-18

1:16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. ¹⁷  1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ¹⁸  is from above, coming down ¹⁹  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ²⁰  1:18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth ²¹  through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

¹ tn Heb “to bend our hearts toward him.” The infinitive is subordinate to the initial prayer, “may the Lord our God be with us.” The Hebrew term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the people’s volition and will.

² tn Heb “to walk in all his ways.”

³ tn Heb “keep.”

⁴ 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.”

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ 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).”

⁷ tc Instead of עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) many Hebrew mss, along with the Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, have the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (’attah, “you”). This reading is followed in the present translation.

⁸ tn Heb “you do not know [about it].”

⁹ tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “turn my heart to your rules.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and not unjust gain.”

¹² tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

¹³ tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

¹⁴ tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.

¹⁵ tn Heb “Not to the man his way.” For the nuance of “fate, destiny, or the way things turn out” for the Hebrew word “way” see Hag 1:5, Isa 40:27 and probably Ps 49:13 (cf. KBL 218 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 5). For the idea of “control” or “hold in one’s power” for the preposition “to” see Ps 3:8 (cf. BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.b[a]).

¹⁶ tn Heb “Not to a man the walking and the establishing his step.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

¹⁸ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

¹⁹ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

²⁰ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).

²¹ tn Grk “Having willed, he gave us birth.”