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2 Chronicles 6:20

in 2 Chronicles 6

May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

that thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place.

KJV

That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 6

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The prayer that will speed must be warranted by the word. We may with humble confidence pray to God to be well pleased with us in Jesus Christ, because he had declared himself well pleased in him-- This is my beloved Son; but he says not now of any house, "This is my beloved place." 2. That God would hear and accept the prayers which should be made in or towards that place,

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.

This site's exposition

May Your eyes be open

Henry reads this verse as the request that God hear and accept every prayer made in or toward the house. Prayer toward the house recurs in the petitions that follow, at verses 21, 26, 29, 32, 34 and 38. The request rests on God's own word about His Name.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

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

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.

The words behind it

24 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.

  • לִהְיוֹת֩to be

    lihyotH1961 →3559 times

  • עֵינֶ֨יךָeyes your

    ʾeineikhaH5869 →887 times

  • פְתֻח֜וֹתopen

    fetuchotH6605 →144 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַבַּ֤יִתthe house

    habayitH1004 →2046 times

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • יוֹמָ֣םby day

    yomamH3119 →

  • וָלַ֔יְלָהand night

    valaylahH3915 →233 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַ֨מָּק֔וֹםthe place

    hamakomH4725 →401 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אָמַ֔רְתָּyou have said

    ʾamartaH559 →5305 times

  • לָשׂ֥וּםto put

    lasumH7760 →584 times

  • שִׁמְךָ֖name your

    shimkhaH8034 →864 times

  • שָׁ֑םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • לִשְׁמ֙וֹעַ֙to listen

    lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַתְּפִלָּ֔הthe prayer

    hatefilahH8605 →72 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִתְפַּלֵּ֣לhe will pray

    yitpalelH6419 →84 times

  • עַבְדְּךָ֔servant your

    ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמָּק֖וֹםthe place

    hamakomH4725 →401 times

  • הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

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

Related verses

15 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Chronicles 16:9For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”17 works2 Chronicles 7:15Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.8 works2 Chronicles 20:9‘If disaster comes upon us—whether sword or judgment, plague or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’6 works2 Chronicles 7:16For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.6 worksPsalms 34:15The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.5 works1 Kings 8:29May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.5 works
The other 9 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 121:5The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.4 works2 Chronicles 6:6But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’4 worksDaniel 6:10Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.4 worksNehemiah 1:6let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.3 worksDeuteronomy 26:2you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,3 worksDeuteronomy 12:11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.3 works2 Kings 19:16Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.2 worksColossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.2 worksZechariah 12:4On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.2 works

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

    Psalms 34:15

    The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 3:12

      For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

    • Psalms 34:17

      The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.

    • Psalms 33:18

      Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

    • Job 36:7

      He does not take His eyes off the righteous, but He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.

  • Through

    Psalms 121:5

    The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 25:4

      For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like…

    • Psalms 91:1

      He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

  • Through

    Daniel 6:10

    Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on…

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:29

      But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

    • Psalms 55:17

      Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

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.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 6 →

This page draws on 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.

Read on in 2 Chronicles 6 →