1 Kings 8:22

And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Solomon	שְׁלֹמֹ֗ה she.lo.Moh	H8010	Shelomah · proper noun, a man's name
stood	וַיַּעֲמֹ֣ד vai.ya.'a.Mod	H5975	to stand · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before	לִפְנֵי֙ lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
altar	מִזְבַּ֣ח miz.Bach	H4196	an altar · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָ֔ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
of	נֶ֖גֶד Ne.ged	H5048	a front · cardinal number, masculine singular construct
congregation	קְהַ֣ל ke.Hal	H6951	assemblage (usually concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
forth	וַיִּפְרֹ֥שׂ vai.yif.Ros	H6566	to break apart · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hands	כַּפָּ֖יו ka.Pav	H3709	the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven	הַשָּׁמָֽיִם ha.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ezra 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my…
Exodus 9:33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was n…
1 Kings 8:54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar o…
Exodus 9:29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, nei…
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of…
2 Kings 11:14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the peop…
2 Kings 23:3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonie…
2 Chronicles 6:12-42 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 8:22-53

Solomon having made a general surrender of this house to God, which God had signified his acceptance of by taking possession, next follows Solomon's prayer, in which he makes a more particular declaration of the uses of that surrender, with all humility and reverence, desiring that God would agree thereto. In short, it is his request that this temple may be deemed and taken, not only for a house of sacrifice (no mention is made of that in all this prayer, that was taken for granted), but a house of prayer for all people; and herein it was a type of the gospel church; see Isa 56:7, compared with Mat 21:13. Therefore Solomon opened this house, not only with an extraordinary sacrifice, but with…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 8:22

HIS PRAYER. (1Ki. 8:22-61) Solomon stood before the altar--This position was in the court of the people, on a brazen scaffold erected for the occasion (Ch2 6:13), fronting the altar of burnt offering, and surrounded by a mighty concourse of people. Assuming the attitude of a suppliant, kneeling (Kg1 8:54; compare Ch2 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 blend…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 8:22

Stood - He ascended the brazen scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and then kneeled down upon his knees, with his hands spread up to heaven, and offered up the following prayer: see Kg1 8:54, and Ch2 5:12, Ch2 5:13. And spread forth his hands toward heaven - This was a usual custom in all nations: in prayer the hands were stretched out to heaven, as if to invite and receive assistance from thence; while, humbly kneeling on their knees, they seemed acknowledge at once their dependence and unworthiness. On this subject I have spoken elsewhere. In the Scriptures we meet with several examples of the kind: Hear my voice - when I Lift Up My Hands toward thy ho…

The Church Fathers

Now notice that Solomon did not only pray for his people but also for the foreigners and the strangers who distrusted the nation of Israel and were often hostile to it, so that the son of David might show the God of David to everyone in general, by praying for his enemies and by speaking ahead of time for us those future words: "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
— Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 8:21

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Altar — (Heb. mizbe’ah, from a word meaning “to slay”), any structure of earth (Ex. 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places…
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Temple, Solomon’s — Before his death David had “with all his might” provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the summit of Mount Moriah (1 Chr. 22:14; 29:4; 2 Chr. 3:1), on the east of the…
Dedication · Subjects of: Temple of Solomon — Subjects of: Temple of Solomon
Prayer · Postures in: Standing — Postures in: Standing
Temple, The First · Solemnly dedicated to God by Solomon — Solemnly dedicated to God by Solomon

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Kings 8:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 8:22-53

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 8:22

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 8:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Kings 8:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 8:22-53

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 8:22

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 8:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Kings 8:22

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 8:22-53

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Kings 8:22-61

Rashi on 1 Kings 8:22