1 Kings Chapter 8    

“the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.” The feast in the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles (also called “the Feast of Booths,” or Sukkoth).

“the Tent of Meeting.” The “Tabernacle” (“Dwelling Place”) is also referred to as the “Tent of Meeting” because it was the place where people met with God. The Hebrew phrase is 'ohel mo'ed, in which 'ohel (#0168) means “tent,” and is followed by mo'ed (#04150 מוֹעֵד or מֹעֵד) which means a “meeting” or a “place for a meeting.” Thus the 'ohel mo'ed is the “Tent of Meeting” (see commentary on Exod. 27:21).

“ark of the covenant.” The ark of the covenant that Moses made was placed in Solomon’s Temple. However, there will not be an ark of the covenant in the Millennial Temple (see commentary on Jer. 3:16).

“to this day.” This tells us that at least this part of 1 Kings was written before the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in 586 BC, because when this was written the Temple was still standing.

“the holy place.” The context indicates that in this case “the holy” was the Temple itself, and the priests came out of the Temple and were in the courtyard.

“the cloud.” The cloud of bright light that surrounded Yahweh.

[For more on the glory of Yahweh and the cloud, see commentary on Ezekiel 1:28.]

“because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house.” In this context, “the glory of Yahweh” was the glorious light that surrounded Yahweh, which is sometimes described as a “cloud.” The glorious brilliant light is called “the glory of Yahweh,” and it indicates the personal presence of Yahweh.

[For more on the glory of Yahweh and the cloud, see commentary on Ezekiel 1:28.]

“built, yes, built.” This is the figure polyptoton for emphasis (see commentary on Gen. 2:16).

“who will come from your body.” The throne of David was passed from physical father to physical son for generations, and it was Solomon, the physical son of David, who built the Temple.

“Yet have respect for.” The literal Hebrew is “turn your face to,” but it is idiomatic for having respect for something, paying attention to something, having regard for something.

“this house.” That is, the Temple.

“night and day.” The Jewish day started at sunset, so in Jewish reckoning, “night” came before “daytime.” Then, at sunset a new day started.

“pray toward this place.” This is literal. Once the Temple was built in Jerusalem, it became a custom to pray in the direction of the Temple (see commentary on 1 Kings 8:30).

“when they pray toward this place.” Since God said he would dwell between the cherubim in the Holy of Holies (2 Kings 19:15), it became customary to pray in the direction of the Temple. In this prayer, Solomon mentioned praying toward the Temple several times (1 Kings 8:29, 30, 35, 38, 42, 44, 48). Praying toward the Temple is also mentioned in Psalm 28:2 (cp. Ps. 5:7). Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem from Babylon (Dan. 6:10). James Montgomery wrote: “The custom is alluded to in the Mishna, Berak, iv, 5.6. Mohammed borrowed the custom from the Jews, and first made Jerusalem the kiblah, later Mecca; the Christians did not follow this example….”^a

“If a person sins against his neighbor.” The Hebrew text is hard to understand because the pronouns are not clear as to who they refer to. But in any case, this seems to be a request for justice and for the guilty party to be punished and the innocent party to be vindicated (cp. 2 Chron. 6:22).

“condemning the wicked person by bringing his way on his own head.” It is a consistent theme through Scripture that evil people bring evil upon themselves (see commentary on Prov. 1:18). The Hebrew word translated “way” is literally “road,” which is used here as an idiom for a person's way of life.

“because.” Here the people turn from their sin “because” God afflicts them. The people realized that what they were going through was no accident, but was due to their disobedience to God.

“everyone who knows the affliction of his heart.” The promise in the Law of Moses was that if the people were obedient to God that they would be protected by Him. So the assumption behind Solomon’s statement is that the reason there are famines, plagues, and enemies afflicting Israel is that people are sinning. Then, the people who are sinning know in their hearts that they are sinning and so they repent and pray to God.

“Yahweh...your name.” Solomon speaks to Yahweh in both the second and third person: “Yahweh...your.” The third person is more respectful and the second person is more personal and intimate.

“hear in heaven.” The Hebrew text does not have a preposition, whereas 2 Chronicles 6:35 does.

“do what is right for them.” Israel was fighting its enemies; this is holy war, and Solomon prays that God will “do” justice for Israel, in this case by giving them victory.

“as it is today.” There was a lot of emotion and devotion to God that day, and Solomon prays that it will last (he needed to pray more that it would last in him!).

“the house of Yahweh.” See commentary on 2 Chronicles 7:5.

“the middle of the court that was in front of the house.” This was the inner courtyard, the court of the priests (see commentary on 2 Chron. 4:9).

“the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little.” As large as it was, Solomon’s altar was too small to hold all the offerings at the dedication of the Temple.

“from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt.” This is a reference to the borders of the Promised Land, and a fulfillment of God’s promise about the land. Lebo-hamath is at the northern end and the Brook of Egypt is at the southern end of Israel.

“seven days and seven more days; 14 days.” There were in effect two feasts, a first “feast” of seven days to dedicate the altar of sacrifice (this was not one of the normal “feasts” of Israel), then the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, which had an eighth day added onto the end of it (cp. 2 Chron. 7:9). The Feast of Tabernacles started on the fourteenth day of the month and was celebrated for seven days, and then an eighth day was added. In 1 Kings 8:66 the “eighth day” is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (cp. Lev. 23:39).