Then Solomon convoked the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of GOD from the City of David, that is, Zion.
The entire body of IsraelaThe entire body of Israel I.e., the elders of vv. 1 and 3, representing the nation. gathered before King Solomon at the Feast [of Booths],bthe Feast [of Booths] Cf. Lev. 23.34. in the month of Ethanim—that is, the seventh month.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויקהלו
157
אלהמלך
126
שלמה
375
כלאיש
361
ישראל
541
בירח
220
האתנים
506
בחג
13
הוא
12
החדש
317
השביעי
397
I Kings 8:3
Gematria: 1899
ויבאוכלזקניישראלוישאוהכהניםאתהארון
When all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the Ark
Meanwhile, King Solomon and the whole community of Israel,cwhole community of Israel I.e., the elders, on the community’s behalf. who were assembled with him before the Ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.
The poles projected so that the ends of the poles were visible in the sanctuary in front of the Shrine, but they could not be seen outside; and there they remain to this day.
There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone that Moses placed there at Horeb, when GOD made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt.
Word-by-Word Analysis
אין
61
בארון
259
רק
300
שני
360
לחות
444
האבנים
108
אשר
501
הנח
63
שם
340
משה
345
בחרב
212
אשר
501
כרת
620
יהוה
26
עםבני
172
ישראל
541
בצאתם
533
מארץ
331
מצרים
380
I Kings 8:10
Gematria: 2244
ויהיבצאתהכהניםמןהקדשוהענןמלאאתביתיהוה
When the priests came out of the sanctuary—for the cloud had filled the House of GOD
He said:“Praised be the ETERNAL, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with deeds the promise madedwho has fulfilled with deeds the promise made Lit. “who spoke with His own mouth…and has fulfilled with His own hand.” to my father David. For [God] said,
‘Ever since I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city among all the tribes of Israel for building a House where My name might abide; but I have chosen David to rule My people Israel.’
Word-by-Word Analysis
מןהיום
151
אשר
501
הוצאתי
512
אתעמי
521
אתישראל
942
ממצרים
420
לאבחרתי
651
בעיר
282
מכל
90
שבטי
321
ישראל
541
לבנות
488
בית
412
להיות
451
שמי
350
שם
340
ואבחר
217
בדוד
16
להיות
451
עלעמי
220
ישראל
541
I Kings 8:17
Gematria: 2085
ויהיעםלבבדודאבילבנותביתלשםיהוהאלהיישראל
“Now my father David had intended to build a House for the name of the ETERNAL One, the God of Israel.
“And GOD has fulfilled the promise that was made: I have succeededesucceeded Lit. “risen in place of.” my father David and have ascended the throne of Israel, as GOD promised. I have built the House for the name of the ETERNAL One, the God of Israel;
and said, “O ETERNAL God of Israel, in the heavens above and on the earth below there is no god like You, who keep Your gracious covenant with Your servants when they walk before You in wholehearted devotion;
And now, O ETERNAL God of Israel, keep the further promise that You made to Your servant, my father David: ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end,fYour line on the throne of Israel shall never end See note at 2.4. if only your descendants will look to their way and walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’
Word-by-Word Analysis
ועתה
481
יהוה
26
אלהי
46
ישראל
541
שמר
540
לעבדך
126
דוד
14
אבי
13
את
401
אשר
501
דברת
606
לו
36
לאמר
271
לאיכרת
661
לך
50
איש
311
מלפני
210
ישב
312
עלכסא
181
ישראל
541
רק
300
אםישמרו
597
בניך
82
אתדרכם
665
ללכת
480
לפני
170
כאשר
521
הלכת
455
לפני
170
I Kings 8:26
Gematria: 2942
ועתהאלהיישראליאמןנאדבריךדברךאשרדברתלעבדךדודאבי
Now, therefore, O God of Israel, let the promise that You made to Your servant my father David be fulfilled.
“But will God really dwellgdwell Cf. 2 Chron. 6.18, which adds “with humankind.” on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!
May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers that Your servant will offer toward this place.
And when You hear the supplications that Your servant and Your people Israel offer toward this place, give heed in Your heavenly abode—give heed and pardon.
“Whenever one person commits an offense against another, and the latter utters an imprecation to bring a curse upon the former,hand the latter utters an imprecation to bring a curse upon the former Or “and is made to take an oath and utter a self-imprecation.” and comes with that imprecation before Your altar in this House,
oh, hear in heaven and take action to judge Your servants, condemning the one who is in the wrong and bringing down the punishment of their conduct on their head—while vindicating the other, who is in the right, by rewarding them according to their righteousness.
“Should Your people Israel be routed by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and then turn back to You and acknowledge Your name, and they offer prayer and supplication to You in this House,
“Should the heavens be shut up and there be no rain, because they have sinned against You, and then they pray toward this place and acknowledge Your name and repent of their sins, when You answerianswer The Septuagint, with a different vocalization, reads “chastise.” them,
oh, hear in heaven and pardon the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, after You have shown them the proper way in which they are to walk; and send down rain upon the land that You gave to Your people as their heritage.
So, too, if there is a famine in the land, if there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locusts or caterpillars, or if an enemy oppresses them in any of the settlements of the land.“In any plague and in any disease,
in any prayer or supplication offered by any person among all Your people Israel—each of whom knows their own affliction—when they spread their palms toward this House,
oh, hear in Your heavenly abode, and pardon and take action! Render to that individual according to their ways as You know their heart to be—for You alone know every human heart.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ואתה
412
תשמע
810
השמים
395
מכון
116
שבתך
722
וסלחת
504
ועשית
786
ונתת
856
לאיש
341
ככלדרכיו
310
אשר
501
תדע
474
אתלבבו
441
כיאתה
436
ידעת
484
לבדך
56
אתלבב
435
כלבני
112
האדם
50
I Kings 8:40
Gematria: 3346
למעןיראוךכלהימיםאשרהםחייםעלפניהאדמהאשרנתתהלאבתינו
Thus may Your peoplejYour people Lit. “they.” revere You all the days that they live on the land that You gave to our ancestors.
Word-by-Word Analysis
למען
190
יראוך
237
כלהימים
155
אשרהם
546
חיים
68
עלפני
240
האדמה
55
אשר
501
נתתה
855
לאבתינו
499
I Kings 8:41
Gematria: 2829
וגםאלהנכריאשרלאמעמךישראלהואובאמארץרחוקהלמעןשמך
“Or if a foreigner who is not of Your people Israel comes from a distant land for the sake of Your name—
oh, hear in Your heavenly abode and grant all that the foreigner asks You for. Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built.
“When Your people take the field against their enemy by whatever way You send them, and they pray to GOD in the direction of the city that You have chosen, and of the House that I have built to Your name,
Word-by-Word Analysis
כייצא
131
עמך
130
למלחמה
153
עלאיבו
119
בדרך
226
אשר
501
תשלחם
778
והתפללו
557
אליהוה
57
דרך
224
העיר
285
אשר
501
בחרת
610
בה
7
והבית
423
אשרבנתי
963
לשמך
390
I Kings 8:45
Gematria: 5122
ושמעתהשמיםאתתפלתםואתתחנתםועשיתמשפטם
oh, hear in heaven their prayer and supplication and uphold their cause.
“When they sin against You—for there is no mortal who does not sin—and You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors carry them off to an enemy land, near or far;
and then they take it to heart in the land to which they have been carried off, and they repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying: ‘We have sinned, we have acted perversely, we have acted wickedly,’
and they turn back to You with all their heart and soul, in the land of the enemies who have carried them off, and they pray to You in the direction of their land that You gave to their ancestors, of the city that You have chosen, and of the House that I have built to Your name—
Word-by-Word Analysis
ושבו
314
אליך
61
בכללבבם
126
ובכלנפשם
528
בארץ
293
איביהם
68
אשרשבו
809
אתם
441
והתפללו
557
אליך
61
דרך
224
ארצם
331
אשר
501
נתתה
855
לאבותם
479
העיר
285
אשר
501
בחרת
610
והבית
423
אשרבניתי
973
בנית
462
לשמך
390
I Kings 8:49
Gematria: 5960
ושמעתהשמיםמכוןשבתךאתתפלתםואתתחנתםועשיתמשפטם
oh, give heed in Your heavenly abode to their prayer and supplication, uphold their cause,
and pardon Your people who have sinned against You for all the transgressions that they have committed against You. Grant them mercy in the sight of their captors that they may be merciful to them.
Word-by-Word Analysis
וסלחת
504
לעמך
160
אשר
501
חטאולך
74
ולכלפשעיהם
591
אשר
501
פשעובך
478
ונתתם
896
לרחמים
328
לפני
170
שביהם
357
ורחמום
300
I Kings 8:51
Gematria: 3078
כיעמךונחלתךהםאשרהוצאתממצריםמתוךכורהברזל
For they are Your very own people that You freed from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.
May Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, and may You heed them whenever they call upon You.
For You, O Sovereign GOD, have set them apart for Yourself from all the peoples of the earth as Your very own, as You promised through Moses Your servant when You freed our ancestors from Egypt.”
When Solomon finished offering to GOD all this prayer and supplication, he rose from where he had been kneeling, in front of the altar of GOD, his hands spread out toward heaven.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויהי
31
ככלות
476
שלמה
375
להתפלל
575
אליהוה
57
את
401
כלהתפלה
570
והתחנה
474
הזאת
413
קם
140
מלפני
210
מזבח
57
יהוה
26
מכרע
330
עלברכיו
338
וכפיו
122
פרשות
986
השמים
395
I Kings 8:55
Gematria: 1945
ויעמדויברךאתכלקהלישראלקולגדוללאמר
He stood, and in a loud voice blessed the whole congregation of Israel:
“Praised be GOD who has granted a haven to Israel—God’s people—just as promised; not a single word has failed of all the gracious promises that were made through God’s servant Moses.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ברוך
228
יהוה
26
אשר
501
נתן
500
מנוחה
109
לעמו
146
ישראל
541
ככל
70
אשר
501
דבר
206
לאנפל
191
דבר
206
אחד
13
מכל
90
דברו
212
הטוב
22
אשר
501
דבר
206
ביד
16
משה
345
עבדו
82
I Kings 8:57
Gematria: 2027
יהייהוהאלהינועמנוכאשרהיהעםאבתינואליעזבנוואליטשנו
May the ETERNAL our God be with us, as was the case with our ancestors. May we never be abandoned or forsaken.
May our hearts be inclined to [God], that we may walk in all God’s ways and keep the commandments, the laws, and the rules that were enjoined upon our ancestors.
And may these words of mine, which I have offered in supplication before GOD, be close to the ETERNAL our God day and night, that God’s servant and this covenanted people Israel may be provided for, according to each day’s needs—
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויהיו
37
דברי
216
אלה
36
אשר
501
התחננתי
923
לפני
170
יהוה
26
קרבים
352
אליהוה
57
אלהינו
102
יומם
96
ולילה
81
לעשות
806
משפט
429
עבדו
82
ומשפט
435
עמו
116
ישראל
541
דבריום
262
ביומו
64
I Kings 8:60
Gematria: 1430
למעןדעתכלעמיהארץכייהוההואהאלהיםאיןעוד
to the end that all the peoples of the earth may know that the ETERNAL alone is God, there is no other.
That day the king consecrated the center of the court that was in front of the House of GOD. For it was there that he presented the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat parts of the offerings of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before GOD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat parts of the offerings of well-being.
So Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assemblage, [coming] from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egyptkfrom Lebo-hamath to … Egypt I.e., from one end of the country to the other.—observed the Feastlthe Feast See note at v. 2. at that time before the ETERNAL our God, seven days and again seven days, fourteen days in all.
On the eighth daymOn the eighth day Of the second seven-day feast; cf. 2 Chron. 7.8–10. he let the people go. They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that GOD had shown to God’s servant David and to Israel—God’s people.