1 Kings 9:5

Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) If thou wilt walk.—The fall of the house of Solomon from dominion over all Israel is an emphatic comment on the conditional nature of this promise. Yet the essence of the covenant with David was kept in that preservation of the diminished kingdom to an unbroken succession of his descendants—singularly contrasted with the changes of dynasty in the greater rival kingdom—which is expressly declared to have been granted “for David’s sake” (1Kings 11:12-13).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-9 God warned Solomon, now he had newly built and dedicated the temple, that he and his people might not be high-minded, but fear. After all the services we can perform, we stand upon the same terms with the Lord as before. Nothing can purchase for us liberty to sin, nor would the true believer desire such a licence. He would rather be chastened of the Lord, than be allowed to go on with ease and prosperity in sin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See 1 Kings 3:14. Solomon's subsequent fall lends to these repeated warnings a special interest.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. That—rather, "For."

the Lord appeared—This appearance was, like the former one at Gibeon, most probably made in a supernatural vision, and on the night immediately following the dedication of the temple (2Ch 7:12). The strain of it corresponds to this view, for it consists of direct answers to his solemn inaugural prayer (1Ki 9:3 is in answer to 1Ki 8:29; 1Ki 9:4, 5 is in answer to 1Ki 8:25, 26; 1Ki 9:6-9 to 1Ki 8:33-46; see also De 29:22-24).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Then; upon that condition; for my promise to David was conditional.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever,.... In a succession in his posterity, until the coming of the Messiah:

as I promised unto David thy father, saying, there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel; not fail one of his posterity to sit upon it; see 2 Samuel 7:12.

Geneva Study Bible

Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - Then I will establish [same word as in ch. 1 Kings 2:4, where see note. Surely he would remember this word as it would recall his father's charge to his mind] the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever [this is the answer to the prayer of 1 Kings 8:26] as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. [2 Samuel 7:12, 16; 1 Kings 2:4; 1 Kings 6:12; Psalm 132:12. But the primary reference is to 1 Kings 8:25; see Introduction, sect. III.] 1 Kings 9:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

1 Kings 9:4, 1 Kings 9:5 contain the special answer to 1 Kings 8:25, 1 Kings 8:26. - 1 Kings 9:6-9 refer to the prayer for the turning away of the curse, to which the Lord replies: If ye and your children turn away from me, and do not keep my commandments, but worship other gods, this house will not protect you from the curses threatened in the law, but they will be fulfilled in all their terrible force upon you and upon this temple. This threat follows the Pentateuch exactly in the words in which it is expressed; 1 Kings 9:7 being founded upon Deuteronomy 28:37, Deuteronomy 28:45, Deuteronomy 28:63, and the curse pronounced upon Israel in Deuteronomy 29:23-26 being transferred to the temple in 1 Kings 9:8, 1 Kings 9:9. - פּני מעל שׁלּח, to dismiss, i.e., to reject from before my face. "This house will be עליון," i.e., will stand high, or through its rejection will be a lofty example for all that pass by. The temple stood upon a high mountain, so that its ruins could not fail to attract the attention of all who went past. The expression עליון is selected with an implied allusion to Deuteronomy 26:19 and Deuteronomy 28:1. God there promises to make Israel עליון, high, exalted above all nations. This blessing will be turned into a curse. The temple, which was high and widely renowned, shall continue to be high, but in the opposite sense, as an example of the rejection of Israel from the presence of God.

(Note: The conjecture of Bttcher, Thenius, and Bertheau, that עליון should be altered into עיּים, has no support in Micah 3:12; Jeremiah 26:18, and Psalm 79:1, and has all the ancient versions against it; for they all contain the Masoretic text, either in a verbal translation (lxx), or in a paraphrase, as for example the Chaldee, "the house that was high shall be destroyed;" the Syriac and Arabic, "this house will be destroyed;" and the Vulgate, domus haec erit in exemplum. - In 2 Chronicles 7:21 the thought is somewhat varied by the alteration of יהיה into היה אשׁר. For it would never enter the mind of any sober critic to attribute this variation to a misinterpretation of our text. Still less can it be an unsuccessful attempt to explain or rectify our text, as Bttcher imagines, since the assertion of this critic, that עליון is only used to signify an exalted position, and never the exaltation of dignity or worth, is proved to be erroneous by Deuteronomy 26:19 and Deuteronomy 28:1.)