1 Raja-raja 8:22

Solomon Prays for Israel

8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky. ¹ 

1 Raja-raja 8:27-28

8:27 “God does not really live on the earth! ²  Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 8:28 But respond favorably to ³  your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer ⁴  the desperate prayer ⁵  your servant is presenting to you ⁶  today.

1 Raja-raja 8:31

8:31 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. ⁷ 

1 Raja-raja 8:34

8:34 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

1 Raja-raja 8:38

8:38 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, ⁸  as they acknowledge their pain ⁹  and spread out their hands toward this temple,

[8:22]  ¹ tn Or “heaven.”

[8:27]  ² tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which the translation above seeks to reflect.

[8:28]  ³ tn Heb “turn to.”

[8:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “by listening to.”

[8:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”

[8:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “praying before you.”

[8:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “and forgive the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.” In the Hebrew text the words “and forgive” conclude v. 30, but the accusative sign at the beginning of v. 31 suggests the verb actually goes with what follows in v. 31. The parallel text in 2 Chr 6:22 begins with “and if,” rather than the accusative sign. In this case “forgive” must be taken with what precedes, and v. 31 must be taken as the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, with v. 32 being the apodosis (“then” clause) that completes the sentence.

[8:31]  sn Be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. At first it appears that Solomon is asking God to forgive the guilty party. But in v. 32 Solomon asks the Lord to discern who is guilty and innocent, so v. 31 must refer to a situation where an accusation has been made, but not yet proven. The very periphrastic translation reflects this interpretation.

[8:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”

[8:38]  ⁹ tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”