1 Kings 8:22-53

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 evolutionary development as critics are wont to maintain. The prayer consists of three parts: (1) adoration of God (1 Kings 8:22-30); (2) special petitions (1 Kings 8:31-50); and (3) a general conclusion and final appeal (1 Kings 8:51-53).

1. ADORATION OF GOD (1 Kings 8:22-30)

TRANSLATION

(22) And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and he spread out his hands to heaven. (23) And he said, O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on the earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, (24) Who has kept with your servant David that which You spoke to him; and You have spoken with Your mouth, and with Your hand You have fulfilled it as it is this day. (25) And now O LORD, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You spoke unto him, saying, A man shall not be cut off to you from before Me sitting upon the throne of Israel if only your sons keep their way to walk before Me as you walked before Me. (26) And now, O God of Israel, let Your word, I pray you, be faithful, which You spoke to Your servant David my father. (27) Should God really dwell upon the earth? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, much less this house which I have built. (28) Yet have respect unto the prayer of Your servant and unto his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer which Your servant prays before You today, (29) that Your eyes may be open unto this house night and day, unto the place of which You said, My name shall be there, to hearken unto the prayer which Your servant prays unto this place. (30) And hearken unto the prayer of Your servant and Your people Israel which they shall pray toward this place, may You hear in Your dwelling place in heaven, and when You hear, forgive.

COMMENTS

An appropriate caption for 1 Kings 8:22-30 might well be, How Great Thou Art! Solomon makes the point that God is greater than any other godgreater than the universegreat in mercygreat in faithfulnessgreat in condescensiongreat in forgiveness. Solomon began his prayer in a standing position with his hands spread forth toward heaven (1 Kings 8:22). This posture was so often employed for prayer by the ancients that the phrase lift up the hands came to be a synonym for supplication.[233] Chronicles adds that he stood upon a bronze platform 4½ feet high which was set in the midst of the Temple courtyard before the altar of the Lord (2 Chronicles 6:13). Using language which had been previously employed by Moses (Exodus 15:11) and David (Psalms 86:8), Solomon declared that no other god in heaven or earth compared to the Lord God of Israel. This expression does not imply that other gods really exist, but in effect means that the Lord is the only God (cf. 1 Kings 8:60). The thing that distinguished God from the non-entities worshiped by other peoples is that the Lord kept His covenantal word and extended mercy to those who sincerely tried to live by the terms of that covenant (1 Kings 8:23).

[233] Exodus 9:29; Exodus 9:33; Psalms 44:20; Psalms 143:6; Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 65:2.

As a particular example of God's faithfulness, Solomon mentioned the promises made to David, which, in view of his own succession and the completion of the Temple, he regarded as fulfilled (1 Kings 8:24; cf. 1 Kings 8:15). But God had also promised that the succession would continue in the line of David so long as David's descendants continued to keep His commandments (cf. 1 Kings 2:4). Solomon's first petition was that God would keep this promise just as He had kept the other promises made to David in 2 Samuel 7 (1 Kings 8:25).

Again in 1 Kings 8:26 Solomon called upon God to keep the words which He had spoken to David. The king knew that God is infinitethat He cannot be contained, i.e., shut up, within a man-made building. Even the heaven of heavens, i.e., the highest heavens, cannot contain Him! (1 Kings 8:27). Yet he prayed that his God would pay attention to the prayer, supplication and cry being addressed to Him by His servant[234] (1 Kings 8:28). He prayed that this great God would condescend to take notice of the earnest worship and prayer offered to Him at the Temple. That this petition is not presumptuous is indicated by the fact that God had designated the Temple as the place where His name would dwell,[235] and had indicated His acceptance of the house by the cloud theophany. Now that God had revealed His presence in the Temple, an Israelite, wherever he might be, would pray toward that sacred spot (1 Kings 8:29).

[234] Your servant in 1 Kings 8:28 is probably more than the customary form of deferential address. Here as elsewhere in the Old Testament the term denotes one who represents the religious community before God (Gray, OTL, p. 205).

[235] The reference may be to 2 Samuel 7:13 (He shall build a house for My name) or to some other revelation made to David concerning the sanctuary which has not been preserved. Rawlinson thinks the reference is to the many passages in Deuteronomy where God speaks of a place which he shall choose to set His name (e.g., Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 12:18 etc.).

The general petition concluded with an appeal that God in heaven would hear those prayers which the king and people henceforth would bring before Him in the Temple, and that He would respond to those prayers of penitence by forgiving whatever trespass had been committed (1 Kings 8:30). The Temple was the divinely appointed bridge for the gap between the distant heavenly God and His people's desire for knowledge of His nearness.[236]

[236] Wright, BAR, 1, 180-81.

2. SPECIAL PETITIONS (1 Kings 8:31-53)

TRANSLATION

(31) If a man shall sin against his neighbor, and an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come, and swear before the altar in this house, (32) then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his head, and vindicating the innocent by giving to him according to his righteousness. (33) When Your people Israel are smitten before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they turn unto You, and praise Your name, and they pray, and make supplication in this house, (34) then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which You gave to their fathers. (35) When the heavens are shut up, and there is no ram because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place, and praise Your name, and they turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, (36) then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, because You teach them the good way in which they should walk. And give rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. (37) If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, if there be a devouring locust; if his enemy besiege him in the land of his gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness, (38) whatever the prayer, whatever the supplication which any individual or all Your people Israel have, when every man shall know the plague of his heart and shall spread forth his hands toward this house, (39) then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to each man according to all his ways because You know his heart, for You alone know the heart of all the children of men. (40) In order that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers. (41) And also unto a stranger who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a distant land for the sake of Your name, (42) for they shall hear of Your great name and of Your strong hand and of Your outstretched arm, when he conies and prays toward this house, (43) hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and act according to all which the stranger shall call unto You, in order that all the peoples of the earth might know Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel, and that they might know that Your name is called over this house which I have built. (44) If Your people go out to war against their enemy in the way in which You send them, and they pray unto the LORD toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, (45) then hear in heaven their prayer and supplication, and execute justice on their behalf. (46) If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and You become angry with them, and give them to the enemy, so that they take them captive unto the land of the enemy far or near, (47) and they come to then- senses in the land to which they were carried captive, and repent, and pray unto You in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedness, (48) and they turn unto You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies which took them captive, and pray unto You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, (49) hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication, and execute justice on their behalf, (SO) and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their rebellions which they have committed against You, and give them compassion before those who took them captive that they may have compassion upon them.

COMMENTS

From the general, Solomon moved to the particular in 1 Kings 8:31-53 by introducing seven special petitions concerning specific conditions that could be expected to arise in the future. Each situation is cast in the if. then framework. Frequently Solomon alludes to God in heaven; four times praying toward the Temple is mentioned.

1. The first petition (1 Kings 8:31-32) has reference to oaths. Under certain circumstances disputes between two persons were settled with finality before the altar, the accused party being required to take a solemn oath that he was innocent (1 Kings 8:31). Solomon prayed that God would hear every such oath taken before His altar and actively intervene to punish the guilty and justify the innocent (1 Kings 8:32). The phrase bring his way on his head means to cause the merited punishment to fall upon him. A false oath taken in God's name dishonored that name and polluted the sanctuary dedicated to that name. Consequently the false swearer had to be punished.

2. The second petition concerned military defeat and exile (1 Kings 8:33-34). Such calamities were recognized as judgment which came as the result of national sin. When the chastened nation repented, confessed transgression and came into the Temple with prayers of supplication offered by priestly intercessors, Solomon petitioned God to hearken, to forgive and to restore to the homeland those individuals who had been taken into exile.

3. The third petition concerns the plague of drought (1 Kings 8:35-36). More than once God had threatened to shut up the heavens if His people were unfaithful to Him (Leviticus 26:19; Deuteronomy 11:17 etc.). Under such circumstances contrite people all over the land would direct their prayers toward the Temple in Jerusalem. Because of the disciplinary nature of such natural disasters, God must forgive His people when they recognize the punishment as a divine chastisement and come to Him with penitential prayer.

4. The fourth petition (1 Kings 8:37-40) refers to other plagues which might fall upon the land because of rebellion. Pestilence is the plague of man and beast which might be a consequence of shortage and pollution of water, or might be an infection brought in from neighboring lands. Mildew (lit., greenness, paleness) is caused by excessive dew of spring and summer in consequence of the heavy condensation on the high mountains of the interior, the paleness being caused by a parasite fungus which exhausts the nutritive substances on which the plant depends. Blasting is the premature desiccation of the plant in consequence of the desert winds which sweep across Palestine usually in May and October. Usually these winds, called the sirocco, come during or after the harvest, but if they come earlier than usual, growth is immediately arrested. Locusts were a pest to which Palestine is particularly susceptible owing to its proximity to the desert where the locusts breed. During such times of national trial, each man would experience the plague of his own heartthe painful agony of stricken conscienceand would spread forth his hands in desperate prayer toward the Temple (1 Kings 8:38). Solomon prayed that God would hear these prayers and give to every man according to his way. God alone can fairly deal with each person, for He alone knows what is hidden in the heart (1 Kings 8:39). The forgiveness and goodness of God would (or at least should) result in godly fear on the part of His people (1 Kings 8:40).

5. Having first prayed to God on behalf of his fellow country men, Solomon made intercession for foreigners in his fifth petition (1 Kings 8:41-43). The king assumed that strangers would come and worship before the Lord in His Temple (1 Kings 8:41) once they had heard of His fame, His strong and outstretched arm, i.e., the wondrous manifestations of divine power on behalf of Israel. Solomon pleaded that God would answer such prayers so that all people of the earth might come to fear (i.e., worship and serve) the Lord and realize that the Temple was His special habitation (1 Kings 8:43). Representatives of foreign governments and neighboring aliens whose business led them to Palestine may have been attracted to the higher worship of the God of Israel.

6. The last two petitions concern prayers directed towards the Temple by those far distant from Jerusalem. The sixth petition refers to those who might be called upon to go into war at the appointment of God (1 Kings 8:44-45). Wherever they might be, if they prayed toward Jerusalem and the Temple, Solomon called upon God to hear their supplication in heaven and intervene on their behalf to defend their cause.

7. In the last petition, Solomon contemplated the captivity of the Hebrew nation (1 Kings 8:46-50). Long before, Moses had warned of the possibility of Israel going into captivity if the nation persisted in disobedience (Leviticus 26:33; Leviticus 26:44; Deuteronomy 28:25; Deuteronomy 28:36; Deuteronomy 28:64). Solomon's plea is that God might show mercy to those captives when they (1) came to their senses, (2) made supplication unto the Lord, confessing their iniquity, (1 Kings 8:47) and (3) returned unto their God with all their heart and soul (1 Kings 8:48). Divine mercy in this case would take the form of intervening on their behalf (1 Kings 8:49), and causing their captors to have compassion upon them. God would thereby demonstrate that He had forgiven their sins and their rebellions (1 Kings 8:50).[237]

[237] In 1 Kings 8:50 Solomon uses two terms to describe the reason for the captivity: (1) Their sins (Heb. chata-')which may denote an unwitting or unwilling delinquency; and (2) their rebellions (Heb. pesha-')a stronger word indicating rebellion against the known will of God. Note also in 1 Kings 8:47 to do iniquity (lit., twist, distort) and to do wickedness (lit., be loose, disjointed, abnormal).

3. GENERAL CONCLUSION AND FINAL APPEAL (1 Kings 8:51-53).

TRANSLATION

(51) (For they are Your people, and Your inheritance whom You brought out from Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron), (52) that Your eyes may be opened unto the supplication of Your servant, and unto the supplication of Your people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they cry unto You. (53) For You separated them to Yourself for an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out from Egypt, O Lord GOD.

COMMENTS

1 Kings 8:51-53 are a fitting conclusion to this magnificent prayer. Here Solomon recited several reasons why God should hearken to the present prayer and all future prayers which God's servant (i.e., a special intercessor) or the people of Israel should offer before Him (1 Kings 8:52). Israel is God's people (Deuteronomy 4:10), His inheritance among the nations of the earth (cf. Deuteronomy 32:8 f). God had rescued them from the furnace of Egyptian bondage and He could not well forsake them now (1 Kings 8:51). The Lord had set them apart from all other peoples (Leviticus 20:24; Leviticus 20:26) and had declared, by His servant Moses, that they were His special possession (1 Kings 8:53). In Chronicles this prayer closes with an appeal to the Lord to cause salvation and grace to go forth from the Temple over His people (2 Chronicles 6:40-42).