The king turned his face around, and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.
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The king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.
And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all
And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)
And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.
Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together.
And the king turneth round his face, and blesseth the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel is standing.
And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel; and the whole congregation of Israel stood.
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On 1 Kings 6:1–8.66
The construction of the Temple and palace complex, along with the temple's dedication celebration, are key events in the 1 Kings account of Solomon's time. The temple, built to honor God, was Israel's most important building. Therefore, the writer of 1 Kings documented its construction details thoroughly.
On 1 Kings 8:1–66
Solomon's building efforts peaked when he moved the ark to the new temple. The king prayed (1 Kings 8:22–53) and offered praise and blessings (8:56–61) to dedicate the temple to the Lord. After the dedication, the people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. The story highlights Solomon praising God and blessing the people (1 Kings 8:12–61).
On 1 Kings 8:12–21
Solomon started with a prayer (1 Kings 8:12–13), then blessed the people and praised God for keeping his promises (8:14–21). Like many praise psalms, Solomon honored God, humbled himself, and spoke of God's great goodness.
On 1 Kings 8:14–16
Solomon praised God for keeping his promises and blessing his people (see 2 Samuel 7:12–16; compare 2 Chronicles 6:1–11).
On this section 1 Kings 5:1–8:66
Solomon had a temple built for God in Jerusalem. He used supplies that the king of Tyre agreed to give him. He used a skilled worker from Tyre for everything made from bronze.
Thousands of men were forced to work preparing all the wood and stone for the temple. The temple took seven years to complete. The temple was ready to be used in time for the Feast of Booths. All the Israelites gathered as they offered sacrifices, prayed (prayer) and joyfully celebrated for 14 days.
God hadn’t asked the Israelites to build a temple for worshipping him. David and Solomon wanted to build it. God accepted their desire and used the temple like he had used the holy tent. It became the place where God was present in Israel. He made this known by sending a cloud to fill the temple. The cloud was a sign of God’s glory.
What mattered most to God was that his people follow him and obey him. God reminded Solomon of this in a message. The king must set the example of being completely faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. The stone tablets in the ark of the covenant were a record of this covenant.
Solomon’s blessings and prayers showed something. He understood that he and the people were responsible for being faithful to God. Doing so would help other people groups realise that Israel’s God is the true God. Solomon also understood that God didn’t need a temple to live in. A building made by human beings can’t hold God. But the temple would help God’s people remember that God was with them. They could go there to pray. Or they could turn their body towards the temple to pray. They could do this if they were far away from Jerusalem. This would help them to pray and ask God to forgive their sins. It would help them trust that God heard them and took action to help them. This was true for the Israelites and for outsiders who worshipped God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes (adapted by Mission Mutual) and Biblica Study Notes, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Henry (concise) · Verses 12–21
Solomon encouraged the priests, who were much astonished at the dark cloud. The dark dispensations of Providence should quicken us in fleeing for refuge to the hope of the gospel. Nothing can more reconcile us to them, than to consider what God has said, and to compare his word and works together. Whatever good we do, we must look on it as the performance of God's promise to us, not of our promises to him.
What other commentators say on this verse
The same words or events elsewhere.
Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.
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