1 Kings 8:21
in 1 Kings 8And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there have I set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
KJV
And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
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This verse in 1 Kings 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd I have set there a place for the ark,.... The most holy place: wherein is the covenant of the Lord; the two tables of stone, on which were the covenant of the Lord, as the Targum: which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt; as in 1Ki 8:9.
This site's exposition
your son, your own offspring, will build the house
on 1 Kings 8:19-21
Solomon repeats the promise of 2 Samuel 7:12-13 almost word for word, “your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name”. The ark “contains the covenant of the LORD”, and John Gill identifies it as the two tablets of verse 9.
This site's exposition
a place for the ark
Adam Clarke explains why stone tablets can be called the covenant. The tablets were its sign, as Jesus called the cup the new covenant in His blood. Matthew Henry reads the temple as a house of prayer for all the nations, as Isaiah 56:7 later names it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In short, it is his request that this temple may be deemed and taken, not only for a house of sacrifice (no mention is made of that in all this prayer, that was taken for granted), but a house of prayer for all people; and herein it was a type of the gospel church; see Isa. lvi.
The covenant - The tables of the covenant, wherein the conditions of God's covenant with Israel are written.
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 Century1 voice
Wherein is the covenant of the Lord - As it is said, 1Ki 8:9, that there was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone, consequently these are called the Covenant, i.e., a sign of the covenant; as our Lord calls the cup the new covenant in his blood, that is, the sign of the new covenant: for This is my body implies, This is the sign or emblem of my body.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאָשִׂ֨ם | vaasim | and I have set up | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שָׁ֤ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מָקוֹם֙ | makom | a place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| לָֽאָר֔וֹן | laaron | for the ark | H727 → | 202 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | [is] there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בְּרִ֣ית | berit | [the] covenant of | H1285 → | 284 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כָּרַת֙ | karat | he made | H3772 → | 288 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּ | ʾavoteinu | ancestors our | H1 → | 1212 times |
| בְּהוֹצִיא֥וֹ | behotzio | when brought out he | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵאֶ֥רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ ס | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וָאָשִׂ֨םand I have set up
vaasimH7760 →584 times
שָׁ֤םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
מָקוֹם֙a place
makomH4725 →401 times
לָֽאָר֔וֹןfor the ark
laaronH727 →202 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
שָׁ֖ם[is] there
shamH8033 →834 times
בְּרִ֣ית[the] covenant of
beritH1285 →284 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
כָּרַת֙he made
karatH3772 →288 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּancestors our
ʾavoteinuH1 →1212 times
בְּהוֹצִיא֥וֹwhen brought out he
behotzioH3318 →1067 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מֵאֶ֥רֶץfrom [the] land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃ סEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
1 Kings 8:9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out…
it leads to
- Hebrews 9:4
containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 25:21
Set the mercy seat atop the ark, and put the Testimony that I will give you into the ark.
- Exodus 40:20
Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.
- Hebrews 9:4
Through
Exodus 34:28So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:13
He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 34:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
- Deuteronomy 9:25
So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
- Exodus 24:18
Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
- Deuteronomy 9:18
Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you…
- Deuteronomy 4:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About 1 Kings

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
