Bible Strands
1 Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon, standing before the newly dedicated temple, addressing God directly within his dedication prayer (1 Kings 8:22–53).
The words — יֵשֵׁב (yeshav, "dwell, sit, abide") is the verb at the verse's center: the same root used for God's indwelling presence elsewhere (e.g., 2 Sam 7:6), here framed by the rare rhetorical particle הַֽאֻמְנָם (ha'umnam, "truly? really?") to express astonishment rather than doubt.
The thread — Solomon's own earlier words in 2 Chronicles 2:6 echo the same logic; Isaiah 66:1 inverts it ("What kind of house will you build for Me?"); Jeremiah 23:24 states the same transcendence as a rhetorical question about God's omnipresence.
Why it lands — The verse refuses to let the temple collapse into a container for God; it forces the reader to hold God's boundless transcendence and His willing presence in one place at the same time, without resolving the tension.
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
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 66:1 This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- 2 Chronicles 2:6 But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?
- Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Acts 7:48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
- Psalms 139:7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
- Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
- John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Psalms 113:4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens.
- Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.