1 Kings 8:35-36

8:35 “The time will come when ¹  the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people ²  sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, ³  and turn away from their sin because you punish ⁴  them, 8:36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly ⁵  you will then teach them the right way to live ⁶  and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. ⁷ 

[8:35]  ¹ tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[8:35]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:35]  ³ tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”

[8:35]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“to afflict”).

[8:36]  ⁵ tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.

[8:36]  ⁶ tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”

[8:36]  ⁷ tn Or “for an inheritance.”