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2 Chronicles 6:18

in 2 Chronicles 6

But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have builded!

KJV

But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

This verse in 2 Chronicles 6

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

But will God in very deed dwell with men - “But who could have imagined, who could have thought it credible, that God should place his majesty among men dwelling upon earth? Behold, the highest heavens, the middle heavens, and the lowest heavens, cannot bear the glory of thy majesty, (for thou art the God who sustainest all the heavens, and the earth, and the deep, and all that is in them), nor can this house which I have built contain Thee.” - Targum.

This site's exposition

But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth

on 2 Chronicles 6:18-21

Solomon asks, “But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth?” and answers that “Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built”. The prayer turns on its refrain, “May You hear from heaven,” which answers every petition, as at 1 Kings 8:27-30.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But here he declares upon what inducements he undertook it, and they are such as not only justify, but magnify, the undertaking. He did it for the glory and honour of God; this was his highest and ultimate end in it. It was for the name of the Lord God of Israel (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He is infinitely beyond the bounds of the creation and infinitely above the praises of all intelligent creatures. That he, and he only, knows the hearts of the children of men,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Nearly as improper and inadmissible is the idea that a temple can contribute to enhance the glory of God, as a monument may be raised in honor of a great man.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? This is an expression of wonder. Is it possible for man to believe that God will dwell on the earth? For the heaven and the heaven of the heaven, etc.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 6:18:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 4 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

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּ֚יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • הַֽאֻמְנָ֔ם¿ really

    haumnamH552 →

  • יֵשֵׁ֧בwill he dwell

    yeshevH3427 →1079 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֛יםGod

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֶת־with

    ʾet-H854 →929 times

  • הָאָדָ֖ם<the> humankind

    haadamH120 →551 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאָ֑רֶץ<the> earth

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הִ֠נֵּהhere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • שָׁמַ֜יִםheaven

    shamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וּשְׁמֵ֤יand [the] heavens of

    ushemeiH8064 →421 times

  • הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙the heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יְכַלְכְּל֔וּךָthey will contain you

    yekhalkelukhaH3557 →38 times

  • אַ֕ףindeed?

    ʾafH637 →134 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • הַבַּ֥יִתthe house

    habayitH1004 →2046 times

  • הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • בָּנִֽיתִי׃I have built

    banitiH1129 →376 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 66:1

    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?

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 8:27

      But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Acts 17:24

      The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

    • Acts 7:48–50

      However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

    • Matthew 5:34–35

      But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

    • Psalms 132:7

      Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 2:6

    But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 66:1

      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?

    • Acts 7:48–49

      However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 32:15

    So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 5:2

      But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.