1 Kings 8:13
in 1 Kings 8I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have surely built thee a house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in for ever.
KJV
I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
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This verse in 1 Kings 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
He would dwell in the thick cloud
on 1 Kings 8:12-13
Solomon says, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud”, recalling the cloud of Sinai at Exodus 20:21. He calls the house “a place for You to dwell forever”. That claim stands beside his own question at verse 27, and the prayer leaves both in place.
This site's exposition
a place for You to dwell forever
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear Solomon turning to address God directly, welcoming Him as a guest seen arriving in the cloud. Matthew Henry reads forever as a pledge that the house would never be put to another use. Solomon asks God to keep what He has taken.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The house is thy own, entirely thy own, I have surely built it for thee, and furnished it for thee; it is for ever thy own, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever; it shall never be alienated nor converted to any other use; the ark shall never be removed from it, never unsettled again." It is Solomon's joy that God has taken possession; and it is his desire that he would keep possession.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
I have surely built thee an house to dwell in,....
In a long prayer he recommended to God's gracious acceptance all the prayers that should be made in or towards this place,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I have surely built thee an house--This is an apostrophe to God, as perceiving His approach by the cloud, and welcoming Him to enter as guest or inhabitant of the fixed and permanent dwelling-place, which, at His command, had been prepared for His reception.
I have surely built thee a house - He was now fully convinced that the thing pleased God, and that he had taken this place for his settled habitation.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
A dwelling place for You forever. From when it was chosen it would no longer be permissible [to offer sacrifices] on improvised altars, and the Divine Presence no longer dwelled in any other place.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Then Shlomo declared. When he saw the cloud, he said, “Now I see that the Divine Presence is in the house which I built, for thus did He promise to come and dwell in it from the midst of a cloud and thick darkness.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּנֹ֥ה | banoh | certainly <to build> | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בָנִ֛יתִי | vaniti | I have built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| זְבֻ֖ל | zevul | loftiness | H2073 → | |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | for you | ||
| מָכ֥וֹן | makhon | a place | H4349 → | 17 times |
| לְשִׁבְתְּךָ֖ | leshivtekha | to dwell in you | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עוֹלָמִֽים׃ | olamim | forever | H5769 → | 438 times |
בָּנֹ֥הcertainly <to build>
banohH1129 →376 times
בָנִ֛יתִיI have built
vanitiH1129 →376 times
בֵּ֥יתa house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
זְבֻ֖לloftiness
zevulH2073 →
לָ֑ךְfor you
lakh
מָכ֥וֹןa place
makhonH4349 →17 times
לְשִׁבְתְּךָ֖to dwell in you
leshivtekhaH3427 →1079 times
עוֹלָמִֽים׃forever
olamimH5769 →438 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
Hebrews 9:24For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…
- Hebrews 9:11–12
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part…
- Hebrews 9:23
So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- Hebrews 12:2
Through
2 Samuel 7:13He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
it leads to
- Luke 1:31–33
Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
- 1 Kings 8:19
Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’
- 2 Samuel 7:16
Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”
- 1 Kings 5:5
So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God, according to what the LORD said to my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne…
- 1 Chronicles 22:9–10
But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and…
- Luke 1:31–33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
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About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.