1 Kings 8:51

_YET IF THEY SHALL BETHINK THEMSELVES IN THE LAND WHITHER THEY WERE CARRIED CAPTIVES, AND REPENT, AND MAKE SUPPLICATION UNTO THEE IN THE LAND OF THEM THAT CARRIED THEM CAPTIVES, SAYING, WE HAVE SINNED, AND HAVE DONE PERVERSELY, WE HAVE COMMITTED WICKEDNESS;_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

22-53 In this excellent prayer, Solomon does as we should do in every prayer; he gives glory to God. Fresh experiences of the truth of God's promises call for larger praises. He sues for grace and favour from God. The experiences we have of God's performing his promises, should encourage us to depend upon them, and to plead them with him; and those who expect further mercies, must be thankful for former mercies. God's promises must be the guide of our desires, and the ground of our hopes and expectations in prayer. The sacrifices, the incense, and the whole service of the temple, were all typical of the Redeemer's offices, oblation, and intercession. The temple, therefore, was continually to be remembered. Under one word, "forgive," Solomon expressed all that he could ask in behalf of his people. For, as all misery springs from sin, forgiveness of sin prepares the way for the removal of...

THE FURNACE OF IRON - Egypt is so called as a place of severe trial and affliction....

EXPOSITION THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.—The stately and impressive service with which the Temple, the character and contents of which have now been described, was dedicated, is related in this chapter, and divides itself into four sections. We have (1) the removal of the ark and Solomon's ascription of praise on the occasion (1 Kings 8:1). (2) The prayer of consecration (1 Kings 8:23-11). (3) The benediction of the congregation (1 Kings 8:55-11), and (4) the festal sacrifices which followed on and completed the dedication ...

FOR THEY BE THY PEOPLE, AND THINE INHERITANCE,.... Whom the Lord had chosen above all people, to be a special people to him, and to be his portion and possession; see Deuteronomy 7:6 WHICH THOU BROUGHTEST FORTH OUT OF EGYPT, FROM THE MIDST OF THE FURNACE OF IRON; hard and cruel bondage in Egypt: Deuteronomy 4:20....

CHAPTER 8THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE _ 1. The great assembly (1 Kings 8:1)_ 2. The transportation of the ark (1 Kings 8:3) 3. The glory of the LORD filling the house (1 Kings 8:10) 4. Solomon's opening words (1 Kings 8:12) 5. Solomon's great prayer (1 Kings 8:22) 6. Solomon's benediction (1 Kings 8:54) 7. The sacrifices and the feast ...

SOLOMON'S DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE, PRAYER AND ADDRESS. This chapter is mainly Deuteronomic, being clearly written from the standpoint of one who has seen the Temple as the one national sanctuary of Israel, and has either witnessed its downfall or perceived that it was imminent. 1 Kings 8:1 is, however, probably from the early record of how the house of Yahweh was dedicated by Solomon, of which 1 Kings 8:62 is the continuation, the prayer of Solomon being Deuteronomic. In 1 Kings 8:12 f. we may have preserved an authentic poetic utterance of Solomon himself in the words of the dedication of the Temple. As they are given in the LXX they read as follows: Yahweh set the sun in heaven,...

FURNACE. furnace for the smelting of iron; not made of iron. Compare Genesis 15:17....

_from the midst of the furnace of iron_ The bondage of Egypt is so called, Deuteronomy 4:20. The idea is of the intense heat needed to melt iron in a furnace, and that with this the suffering of Israel might be compared. Cf. Isaiah 48:10; Jeremiah 11:14....

C. THE DEDICATORY PRAYER 8:22-53 The dedicatory prayer of Solomon is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. No doubt the author of Kings copied this composition from the _book of the acts of Solomon_ (1 Kings 11:41), or possibly from the _book of Nathan_ (2 Chronicles 9:29). Modern critics have attacked the authenticity of the prayer on the dubious grounds that it contains too many references to the Pentateuch! Of course if the Pentateuch in its entirety be regarded as Mosaic in origin, there is no reason in the world why Solomon could not or would not have alluded to it frequently. It is interesting to note that in the entire prayer there is not one reference to offering sacrifice in the Temple. The concept of the Temple as a house of prayer was not, then, a postexilic e