1 Kings 8:35
in 1 Kings 8When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them:
KJV
When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
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This verse in 1 Kings 8
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
When the skies are shut and there is no rain
on 1 Kings 8:35-36
The third petition, “When the skies are shut and there is no rain”, names ahead of time the drought Elijah announces at 17:1. Solomon asks God to forgive “so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk”, so the drought serves as teaching.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Heaven - The lower heaven in which the clouds are. Shut up - Heaven is compared to a great store-house in God's keeping, out of which nothing can be had, so long as it is close shut up.
When heaven is shut up,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain - The Third case. When, because of their sin, and their ceasing to walk in the good way in which they should have walked, God refuses to send the early and latter rain, so that the appointed weeks of harvest come in vain, as there is no crop: then, if they pray and confess their sin, hear thou in heaven, etc.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּהֵעָצֵ֥ר | beheatzer | when are shut up | H6113 → | 47 times |
| שָׁמַ֛יִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מָטָ֖ר | matar | rain | H4306 → | 38 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֶחֶטְאוּ־ | yechetu- | they will sin | H2398 → | 238 times |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| וְהִֽתְפַּֽלְל֞וּ | vehitpalu | and they will pray | H6419 → | 84 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֤וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְהוֹד֣וּ | vehodu | and they will praise | H3034 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמֶ֔ךָ | shemekha | name your | H8034 → | 864 times |
| וּמֵחַטָּאתָ֥ם | umechatatam | and from sin their | H2403 → | 295 times |
| יְשׁוּב֖וּן | yeshuvun | they will turn back ! | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תַעֲנֵֽם׃ | taanem | you will afflict them | H6031 → | 82 times |
בְּהֵעָצֵ֥רwhen are shut up
beheatzerH6113 →47 times
שָׁמַ֛יִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
מָטָ֖רrain
matarH4306 →38 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יֶחֶטְאוּ־they will sin
yechetu-H2398 →238 times
לָ֑ךְto you
lakh
וְהִֽתְפַּֽלְל֞וּand they will pray
vehitpaluH6419 →84 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֤וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְהוֹד֣וּand they will praise
vehoduH3034 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמֶ֔ךָname your
shemekhaH8034 →864 times
וּמֵחַטָּאתָ֥םand from sin their
umechatatamH2403 →295 times
יְשׁוּב֖וּןthey will turn back !
yeshuvunH7725 →1056 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
תַעֲנֵֽם׃you will afflict them
taanemH6031 →82 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 4:25But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- James 5:17
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
- 1 Kings 17:1
Through
1 Kings 8:33When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:25
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 28:25
Through
Leviticus 26:19I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:23
The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
- Deuteronomy 28:23
Through
Deuteronomy 11:17or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 6:26
When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because…
- Deuteronomy 6:15
For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face…
- Amos 4:7
“I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- 2 Chronicles 6:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
About 1 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.
