Reflections on 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. 23He said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart.

41"Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name 42-- for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm-- when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, 43then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built."

In 2 Samuel 7, once David was firmly established as king, he had the impulse to build a Temple for God in place of the tent that had been used since the Exodus, but was told by God that this was not to be his task, but that of his son’s. Now Solomon is king, and he has built God a marvelous Temple. In 1 King 6:11-13, God had promised to live in the Temple so long as the king and the people were faithful to God. In 1 Kings 8, he is dedicating the Temple. The ark of the covenant was brought from the tent and placed in the Temple, and sacrifices were made before the ark until it was set in place. Once this was accomplished a cloud filled the Temple, and Solomon, in his role as both king and priest, blessed the people, and recounted the story of how Solomon has fulfilled the promise made to David and built this Temple. He then turns to the altar and makes the statement found in verses 22-23 of this pericope. The first part of his prayer addresses the people who are gathered to help consecrate the Temple; now Solomon turns to address God by entreaty to hear the prayers with which this Temple will be filled. In verses 24-26, which was omitted in this reading, Solomon reminds God of covenants made between God and David:

²⁴the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. ²⁵Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, “There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.” ²⁶Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.

In verse 27, Solomon had noted that God could not dwell on earth, but this Temple is a conduit for people to pray and worship, and Solomon asks God to listen especially to the prayers addressed through the Temple as a focal point. Furthermore, the Temple itself was built with the help of Gentiles—King Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre, had cut the cedars of Lebanon that was used in the construction and sent workmen to Solomon to help. In verses 28-30, Solomon asks God to hallow the Temple with God’s presence and by giving ear to the prayers prayed there:

27 ‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! ²⁸Have regard to your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; ²⁹that your eyes may be open night and day towards this house, the place of which you said, “My name shall be there”, that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays towards this place. ³⁰Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling-place; heed and forgive.

In verses 31-40 Solomon lists other signs of the singularity of the Temple: it can provide asylum for those who stand accused of crimes; a place the people pray for help if they are attacked by enemies (which would indicate that they have sinned against God and thus need to repent); it can be a place the people can pray for rain. He then continues in verse 41 to ask God to hear the prayers of the people of Israel when addressed toward the Temple. Then we pick up again in verse 41, where Solomon prays that prayers prayed by Gentiles using the Temple as focal point should also be heard by God to help spread the greatness of God’s name beyond Israel to other peoples. As in the Book of Deuteronomy, Solomon is asking God to make a covenantal relationship with humanity through the use of the Temple, and to fulfill the promises of the covenantal relationship.

Thus the Temple is the place where God can be approached and addressed by all people. It is a focal point on the Earth, a “thin place,” as the Irish say, where heaven and earth meet. It is the place where everyone, Gentile and Jew alike, can encounter God. This was very unusual thinking for the time that it was written, where different people had their own national gods. And indeed, the people of Israel were not usually proselytizers: even today, the Jewish faith does not really seek out converts. Yet it is logical for Solomon to anticipate that eventually, the favor God promised to Israel would attract the attention of those in the outside world, and there are examples of non-Jews throughout scripture acknowledging the power of God. One of my personal favorites was Ruth, who gets an entire book in the Bible to tell her story—and yet, she was not born a Jew but was a Moabite from what is now Jordan. Rahab helped the Israelites under Joshua capture Jericho when she herself was from Jericho (Joshua 2.3); she goes on to marry an Israelite, it seems, since she is listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1.5).