Bible Strands
1 Kings 8:15
and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon addresses the assembled Israelites immediately after turning from the altar to bless them. He speaks at the temple dedication, following his declaration of God’s faithfulness to David.
The words — בָּר֤וּךְ (ba.Rukh) translates literally to "blessed" or "praised," opening Solomon’s declaration. אֲשֶׁר֙ ('a.Sher) means "who," grammatically binding the praise to God’s specific action of fulfilling His promise.
The thread — The blessing formula runs through 1 Chronicles 29:10 and 29:20, where David and the assembly praise Yahweh. It reappears in Luke 1:68, which opens with the identical declaration of blessing the God of Israel.
Why it lands — The text states that God executes by His own hand what He previously declared by His mouth. It requires the reader to recognize that divine speech and divine action are functionally identical, demanding acknowledgment rather than mere emotional response.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
Cross-references
- Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.
- 1 Chronicles 29:10 Then David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly and said: “May You be blessed, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
- 1 Chronicles 29:20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.
- Nehemiah 9:5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
- Joshua 21:45 Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.
- 2 Chronicles 6:4 and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,
- Psalms 115:18 But it is we who will bless the LORD, both now and forevermore. Hallelujah!
- Luke 1:70 as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,
- Joshua 23:15 But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.
- 2 Samuel 7:5 “Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?