gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
indeed
הַֽאֻמְנָ֔םha.'um.Nam
H552
verily · interrogative particle + adverb
dwell
יֵשֵׁ֥בye.Shev
H3427
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
earth
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
heaven
הַשָּׁמַ֜יִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
heaven
וּשְׁמֵ֤יu.she.Mei
H8064
the sky (as aloft · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
heavens
הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
contain
יְכַלְכְּל֔וּךָye.khal.ke.Lu.kha
H3557
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
less
אַ֕ף'af
H637
meaning accession (used as an adverb or conjunction) · interjection
house
הַבַּ֥יִתha.Ba.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
builded
בָּנִֽיתִיba.Ni.ti
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
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
Isaiah 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the plac…
2 Chronicles 2:6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an…
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this hous…
Acts 7:48-49 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Psalms 139:7-16 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace a…
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…
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…
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? - This expression is full of astonishment, veneration, and delight. He is struck with the immensity, dignity, and grandeur of the Divine Being, but especially at his condescension to dwell with men: and though he sees, by his filling the place, that he has come now to make his abode with them, yet he cannot help asking the question, How can such a God dwell in such a place, and with such creatures?
Behold, the heaven - The words are all in the plural number in the Hebrew: השמים ושמי השמים hashshamayim, ushemey hashshamayim; "the heavens, and the heavens of heavens." What do these words imply? That there are systems, and systems of systems, each possess…
The Church Fathers
Afterwards Solomon, hearing his father David say these things, and having built a wondrous house and foreseeing him who would come to it, says in astonishment, "Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell on earth?" Yes, says David in anticipation in the psalm inscribed "For Solomon," wherein it is said, "He shall be like rain coming down on the fleece"; "rain" because of his heavenly origin but "on the fleece" because of his humanity. For rain, falling on fleece, falls noiselessly; so that, the mystery of his birth being unknown, the wise men said, "Where is he that is born king of the Jews?" And Herod, being troubled, inquired concerning him who had been born, and said, "Where is the Christ born?"
Solomon the son of David, in the books styled The Reigns of the Kings, comprehending not only that the structure of the true temple was celestial and spiritual but had also a reference to the flesh, which he who was both the son and the Lord of David was to build up, both for his own presence, where, as a living image, he resolved to make his shrine, and for the church that was to rise up through the union of faith, says expressly, "Will God in very deed dwell with humans on the earth?" He dwells on the earth clothed in flesh, and his abode with humans is effected by the conjunction and harmony that obtain among the righteous and that build … a new temple. For the righteous are the earth, being still encompassed with the earth; and earth, too, in comparison with the greatness of the Lord. Thus also the blessed Peter does not hesitate to say, "You also, as living stones, are built up, a spiritual house, a holy temple, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." And with reference to the body, which by circumscription he consecrated as a hallowed place for himself on earth, he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again." The Jews therefore said, "In forty-six years was this temple built, and will you raise it up in three days?" "But he spoke of the temple of his body."
Therefore, the one God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, fills up the whole, contains the whole; as the whole is in each thing, so the whole is in everything; as the whole is in small things, so the whole is in the largest creatures. This is true of nature but not of grace. When it creates human beings, it does not by the same act save them. While it makes them, it does not by the same act remake them. While it makes that sun to rise over the good and the evil, it does not do the same when the sun of justice rises on those on whom the light, not of the flesh but of the heart, is poured by the gift of prevenient mercy. As it belongs to all to be born through nature, it does not in the same way belong to all to be reborn through grace. Since the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit by nature are one God, eternal and infinite, there is nothing in heaven, nothing on earth, nothing above the heavens, nothing in any nature that he made that has not been made, where the same one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, could be missing. In God, just as there is no mutability of times, so there is no spatial capacity. As Solomon truly said at the dedication of the temple in these words: "Even heaven and the highest cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built."
Dictionary and topics
Heaven — (1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament,…
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
God · Fills heaven and earth — Fills heaven and earth
Heaven · God: Fills — God: Fills
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).
But will God indeed dwell on the earth?.... Is it true? Can any credit be given to it? Who could ever have thought it, that so great and glorious a Being, who inhabits eternity, dwells in the highest heavens, should ever condescend to dwell on earth? Such was the amazing condescension of Christ, the Son of God, to tabernacle in human nature with men on earth, to which Solomon perhaps might have respect; his temple being the figure of his body, in which the Godhead dwells, John 2:19.
behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee; not, only the visible heavens, but the third heaven, where the throne of God is, and is the habitation of angels and saints; though there God m…
Second Act of the feast of dedication: Solomon's dedicatory prayer (cf. 2 Chron 6:12-42). - Kg1 8:22. "Then Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the assembly of Israel, and stretched out his hands towards heaven." It is evident from Kg1 8:54 that Solomon uttered the prayer which follows upon his knees. The Chronicles contain the same account as we have here, with this addition, that it is said to have taken place on a "scaffold," or kind of pulpit (כּיּור) specially erected for the purpose.
(Note: Bttcher is right in his assertion, that the opinion expressed by Thenius and Cappellus, that this passage in the Chronicles has been dropped out of our text through a copyist's…
Solomon’s prayer affirmed God’s incomparable nature and the fulfillment of his promises to David. Solomon also prayed that God would keep his promise that David’s descendants . . . will always sit on the throne.
Rashi on 1 Kings 8:27
Will. [This is] an expression of wonder.
Cannot contain You. Cannot contain You.18The root of יכלכלוך is “כול”, meaning to contain, as in, “each basin could hold [=יכיל],” in 7:38 above.