1 Kings 8:44

When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Solomon addresses the LORD during the temple dedication, outlining a conditional scenario for Israel's future. He describes a moment when the nation is deployed for battle and turns its prayers toward Jerusalem and the temple.

The words — The Hebrew כִּי (ki) operates as a conditional "if," and יֵצֵא (ye.Tze) literally means "it will go forth." These terms frame the passage as a stipulated condition for divine attention rather than a promise of military success.

The thread — The identical phrasing appears in 2 Chronicles 6:34, confirming its use in parallel historical records. The geographic focus on the chosen city aligns with 1 Kings 8:16, while the underlying tension between chosen and rejected tribes surfaces in Psalms 78:67.

Why it lands — The text states that national prayer must be directed toward the specific city and house God designated. It requires readers to accept that worship is geographically anchored and that corporate survival hinges on obedience to that divine placement.

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

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 6:34 When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You in the direction of this city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,
Psalms 78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
1 Kings 8:16 ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
Psalms 132:13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
Daniel 9:17 So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.
Numbers 31:1 And the LORD said to Moses,
Deuteronomy 20:1 When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.
Deuteronomy 31:3 The LORD your God Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said.
Joshua 1:2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel.
Joshua 6:2 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have delivered Jericho into your hand, along with its king and its mighty men of valor.