1 Raja-raja 8:33-36

8:33 “The time will come when ¹  your people Israel are defeated by an enemy ²  because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, ³  and pray for your help ⁴  in this temple, 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.

8:35 “The time will come when ⁵  the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people ⁶  sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, ⁷  and turn away from their sin because you punish ⁸  them, 8:36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly ⁹  you will then teach them the right way to live ¹⁰  and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. ¹¹ 

[8:33]  ¹ tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 33-34 actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[8:33]  ² tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”

[8:33]  ³ tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”

[8:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”

[8:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[8:35]  ⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”

[8:35]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“to afflict”).

[8:36]  ⁹ tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.

[8:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”

[8:36]  ¹¹ tn Or “for an inheritance.”