1 Kings 8:30
in 1 Kings 8Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive.
KJV
And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
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This verse in 1 Kings 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseToward this place - Both tabernacle and temple were types of our Lord Jesus, or of God manifested in the flesh; and he was and is the Mediator between God and man. All prayer, to be acceptable, and to be entitled to a hearing, must go to God through Him.
This site's exposition
hearken unto the cry and to the prayer
on 1 Kings 8:28-30
The prayer's hinge is set here, hear thou in heaven becoming the refrain that answers seven petitions still to come, each naming a different trouble and each ending on the same three words. Solomon asks first that the Lord's eyes stay open toward the house night and day, toward the place of which thou hast said, my name shall be there, the promise of verse 16 turned into a standing request. Barnes notes that the Jews always prayed toward the temple wherever they stood, so the house functions as a fixed direction for prayer rather than a boundary on where God can be reached.
This site's exposition
May You hear and forgive
John Wesley reads heaven here as a call to lift the eye above the temple to God's true dwelling. Albert Barnes renders the close both hear and forgive. Adam Clarke takes the temple as a type of Christ, the one through whom every accepted prayer reaches God.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " Hear it in heaven, that is indeed thy dwelling-place, of which this is but a figure; and, when thou hearest, forgive the sin that separates between them and God, even the iniquity of their holy things. " a. He supposes that God's people will ever be a prayer people; he resolves to adhere to that duty himself. b.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
In heaven - Which he adds to direct them in their addresses to God in this temple, to lift up their eyes above it, even to heaven, where God's most true, and most glorious dwelling-place is. Forgive - The sins of thy people, praying, and even of their prayers; which, if not pardoned, will certainly hinder the success of all their prayers, and the course of all thy blessings.
And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray towards this place,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And when thou hearest, forgive - literally, “both hear and forgive” - i. e., “hear the prayer, and forgive the sin” which alone causes God to chasten men or to withhold from them His choicest blessings.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָׁ֨מַעְתָּ֜ | veshama'ta | and you will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תְּחִנַּ֤ת | techinat | [the] supplication of | H8467 → | 25 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֙ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וְעַמְּךָ֣ | veamekha | and people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִֽתְפַּֽלְל֖וּ | yitpalu | they will pray | H6419 → | 84 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֣וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְ֠אַתָּה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִּשְׁמַ֞ע | tishma' | you will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מְק֤וֹם | mekom | [the] place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| שִׁבְתְּךָ֙ | shivtekha | dwelling you | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֖ | veshama'ta | and you will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְסָלָֽחְתָּ׃ | vesalacheta | and you will forgive | H5545 → | 46 times |
וְשָׁ֨מַעְתָּ֜and you will listen
veshama'taH8085 →1159 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
תְּחִנַּ֤ת[the] supplication of
techinatH8467 →25 times
עַבְדְּךָ֙servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
וְעַמְּךָ֣and people your
veamekhaH5971 →1873 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִֽתְפַּֽלְל֖וּthey will pray
yitpaluH6419 →84 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֣וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְ֠אַתָּהand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
תִּשְׁמַ֞עyou will listen
tishma'H8085 →1159 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מְק֤וֹם[the] place
mekomH4725 →401 times
שִׁבְתְּךָ֙dwelling you
shivtekhaH3427 →1079 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֖and you will hear
veshama'taH8085 →1159 times
וְסָלָֽחְתָּ׃and you will forgive
vesalachetaH5545 →46 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
Isaiah 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
it leads to
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- Isaiah 66:1–2
This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- Psalms 138:6
Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Psalms 34:18
Through
1 Kings 8:39be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought.…
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Acts 1:24
And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.