Bible Strands
1 Kings 8:42
for they will hear of Your great name and mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon speaks to Yahweh during the temple dedication, describing how a foreigner from a distant land will respond after hearing of God's reputation.
The words — The Hebrew יִשְׁמְעוּ (yishme'u) translates literally to "they will hear," while שִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל (shim'cha hagadol) means "your great name."
The thread — The text's reference to God's "mighty hand" (יָדְךָ הַחֲזָקָה) directly parallels the divine compulsion described in Exodus 3:19 and the greatness declared in Deuteronomy 3:24.
Why it lands — The verse states that distant foreigners will hear of Yahweh's name and power and then pray toward the temple, requiring the reader to acknowledge that God's reputation and authority extend beyond Israel to prompt genuine foreign worship.
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
(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 3:24 “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?
- Exodus 3:13 Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?”
- Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
- Exodus 9:15 For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth.
- Exodus 13:14 In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Exodus 15:14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
- Exodus 34:5 And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 4:6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
- Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?
- Deuteronomy 11:2 Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;