1 Kings 8:53

For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 8:53. For thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance — Thou hast begun a work of great and glorious mercy to them; do not give occasion to thine enemies to think thou wast unable to finish it; or that thou art inconstant in thy ways and purposes, or unkind to thy own children.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:22-53 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 every evil, and the receiving of every good. Without it, no deliverance can prove a blessing. In addition to the teaching of the word of God, Solomon entreated the Lord himself to teach the people to profit by all, even by their chastisements. They shall know every man the plague of his own heart, what it is that pains him; and shall spread their hands in prayer toward this house; whether the trouble be of body or mind, they shall represent it before God. Inward burdens seem especially meant. Sin is the plague of our own hearts; our in-dwelling corruptions are our spiritual diseases: every true Israelite endeavours to know these, that he may mortify them, and watch against the risings of them. These drive him to his knees; lamenting these, he spreads forth his hands in prayer. After many particulars, Solomon concludes with the general request, that God would hearken to his praying people. No place, now, under the gospel, can add to the prayers made in or towards it. The substance is Christ; whatever we ask in his name, it shall be given us. In this manner the Israel of God is established and sanctified, the backslider is recovered and healed. In this manner the stranger is brought nigh, the mourner is comforted, the name of God is glorified. Sin is the cause of all our troubles; repentance and forgiveness lead to all human happiness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The furnace of iron - Egypt is so called as a place of severe trial and affliction.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ki 8:22-61. His Prayer.

22. Solomon stood before the altar—This position was in the court of the people, on a brazen scaffold erected for the occasion (2Ch 6:13), fronting the altar of burnt offering, and surrounded by a mighty concourse of people. Assuming the attitude of a suppliant, kneeling (1Ki 8:54; compare 2Ch 6:24) and with uplifted hands, he performed the solemn act of consecration—an act remarkable, among other circumstances, for this, that it was done, not by the high priest or any member of the Aaronic family, but by the king in person, who might minister about, though not in, holy things. This sublime prayer [1Ki 8:22-35], which breathes sentiments of the loftiest piety blended with the deepest humility, naturally bore a reference to the national blessing and curse contained in the law—and the burden of it—after an ascription of praise to the Lord for the bestowment of the former, was an earnest supplication for deliverance from the latter. He specifies seven cases in which the merciful interposition of God would be required; and he earnestly bespeaks it on the condition of people praying towards that holy place. The blessing addressed to the people at the close is substantially a brief recapitulation of the preceding prayer [1Ki 8:56-61].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance; thou hast begun to build a work of great and glorious mercy to them; do not give occasion to thine enemies to think thou wast unable to finish it; or that thou art unstable in thy ways and counsels, or unkind to thine own children.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For thou didst separate them from among all people of the earth to be thine inheritance,.... By his choice of them in his own mind, by the redemption of them out of Egypt, by the peculiar laws he gave them, and by the special blessings he conferred upon them:

as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord our God; it was he that spake this to Moses, and by him to the people, Exodus 19:5 and it was he that did it, namely, separate them from all nations, to be his people and peculiar treasure: in this and the two preceding verses Solomon makes use of arguments taken from what the people of Israel were to the Lord, and he had done for them, to engage him to hearken to their supplications, and here ends his long prayer; in 2 Chronicles 6:1 some things are added at the close of it, and some omitted.

Geneva Study Bible

For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

53. As thou spakest by the hand of Moses] The reference is to Exodus 19:5-6, where God promises that Israel shall be to Him ‘a peculiar treasure.’ ‘By the hand of’ is a not uncommon Hebrew phrase for ‘by’ (see below 1 Kings 8:56), and it is so represented in A. V. Thus Isaiah 20:2, ‘the Lord spake by Isaiah,’ the original has ‘by the hand of.’ So in Malachi 1:1 ‘by Malachi’ is ‘by the hand of Malachi.’ At this point there occurs in 2 Chron. (2 Chronicles 6:40-42) a large addition thus: ‘Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.’ These words may have belonged to the original document and be the groundwork of Psalms 132, or the Chronicler may have given a free variation and borrowed from the Psalm.

In the LXX. there is also an addition of a different kind after 1 Kings 8:53. It purports to be something which was written ἐν βιβλίῳ τῆς ᾠδῆς, ‘in the book of song’ and is made up of allusions to 1 Kings 8:12-13 of this chapter, and, as it stands, is not very intelligible. The translation would be ‘The sun he made known in heaven, the Lord hath said that he will dwell in darkness. Build my house, a comely house for thyself to dwell in. Behold, is it not written in the book of song?’ Prof. Robertson Smith has discussed this passage in the notes (pp. 403, 404) to his ‘Old Testament in the Jewish Church,’ and by certain, not very startling corrections, he gives a restored version thus:

Jehovah created the sun in the heavens,

But he hath determined to dwell in darkness.

Build my house, an house of habitation for me,

A place to dwell in eternally.

Behold is it not written in the book of Jashar?

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 53. - For thou didst separate them from [Leviticus 20:24, 26; cf. Exodus 19:5, 6] among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance [same expression, Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:26, 29. This is no idle repetition of ver. 51. The idea of that verse is deliverance, of this election. Cf. Numbers 16:9; Numbers 8:14], as thou spakest by the hand [see note on ch. 2:25] of Moses thy servant [Exodus 19:5, 6; Deuteronomy 9:26, 29; Deuteronomy 14:2], when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. In Chronicles (ch. 6:41, 42) the prayer ends somewhat differently. "Now therefore arise, O Lord God," etc. - words which are found in substance in Psalm 132:8-10. These two verses look like an addition, and were probably inserted by the chronicler to form a connecting link with 1 Kings 7:1-3 (Bahr). The LXX. has an extremely curious addition, said to be taken from the "Book of the Song." Stanley sees in its very abruptness and obscurity an evidence of its genuineness ("Jewish Ch." 2:218). SECTION III. - The Concluding Blessing. The service of dedication concludes, as it commenced, with a benediction (ver. 14). 1 Kings 8:53

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

לרחמים וּנתתּם: literally, "and make (place) them for compassion before their captors, that they may have compassion upon them," i.e., cause them to meet with compassion from their enemies, who have carried them away. - In 1 Kings 8:51-53 Solomon closes with general reasons, which should secure the hearing of his prayer on the part of God. Bertheau follows the earlier commentators in admitting that these reasons refer not merely to the last petitions, but to all the preceding ones.

(Note: Seb. Schmidt has already given the following explanation: "These things which I have asked for myself and for my people do Thou, O Lord, because it is for Thy people that I have prayed, and I am their king: therefore hear Thou the prayers of Thy servant and Thy people. For in 1 Kings 8:52 he makes mention of his own case and of the cases of all the rest, in which they would call upon the Lord.)

The plea "for they are Thy people," etc. (1 Kings 8:51), is taken from Deuteronomy 4:10; and that in 1 Kings 8:53, "Thou didst separate them," etc., is taken from Leviticus 20:24, Leviticus 20:26, compared with Exodus 19:5. וגו עיניך להיות, "that Thine eyes may be opened," follows upon ושׁמעתּ ("then hear Thou") in 1 Kings 8:49; just as 1 Kings 8:29 at the commencement of the prayer follows upon וּפנית in 1 Kings 8:28. The recurrence of the same expression shows that the prayer is drawing to a close, and is rounded off by a return to the thought with which it opened. "As Thou spakest by Moses" points back to Exodus 19:5. - In 2 Chronicles 6:40-42 the conclusion of the prayer is somewhat altered, and closes with the appeal to the Lord to cause salvation and grace to go forth from the temple over His people.