Bible Strands
1 Kings 8:60
so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon, concluding his temple dedication prayer before the assembled congregation (1 Kings 8:55–61), just before the final exhortation in v. 61.
The words — לְמַעַן (lema'an) is a purpose clause marker, "so that," binding this verse to the petition in v. 59; יְהוָה הוּא (YHWH hu) pairs the divine name with the emphatic pronoun "He," producing the bare declaration "YHWH is God."
The thread — Deuteronomy 4:35 states the same confession as a past fact ("you were shown… so that you would know"); 2 Kings 19:19 repeats the purpose clause in Hezekiah's prayer; 1 Kings 18:39 records the people's own confession after the fire from heaven.
Why it lands — The verse widens the prayer's scope from Israel's daily needs to the nations' recognition, making the temple's purpose not merely Israel's welfare but the world's knowledge of YHWH's uniqueness.
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
That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 4:35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.
- 1 Kings 18:39 When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”
- 2 Kings 19:19 And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
- Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- Isaiah 44:8 Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
- Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- Isaiah 45:22 Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
- 1 Samuel 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.