1 Kings 8:30

Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Solomon addresses Yahweh during the temple dedication, requesting that God attend to the petitions of His servant and the people of Israel whenever they direct their prayers toward the newly constructed sanctuary. (1 Kings 8:30)

The words — The Hebrew verb שָׁמַעְתָּ (Sha.ma'.ta) translates as "you will listen," anchored by תְּחִנָּת (te.chi.Nat, "supplication") and the future tense יִתְפַּלְלוּ (yit.pa.Lu, "they will pray").

The thread — The sequence of divine hearing from heaven followed by forgiveness repeats in the same prayer at 1 Kings 8:34, 1 Kings 8:36, and 1 Kings 8:39.

Why it lands — The text explicitly states that God will hear and forgive when the people pray toward the designated place, and it requires the reader to accept that divine attention is conditional upon the people's directed petition rather than human merit.

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 hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

Cross-references

1 Kings 8:34 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.
1 Kings 8:36 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.
1 Kings 8:39 be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—
Daniel 9:19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”
Psalms 130:3 If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?
Ecclesiastes 5:2 Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
1 Kings 8:43 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.
1 Kings 8:49 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.
2 Chronicles 6:21 Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.