1 Kings 8:31

31 When a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath,^[a] and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

1 Kings 8:31 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:31

If any man trespass against his neighbour
By being unfaithful in a trust committed to him, or the like:

and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear;
he denying that ever anything was committed to his trust, and there being no witnesses of it, the judge obliges him to take an oath he never had any:

and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
where it was taken, as in the presence of God, and as appealing to him: hence in corrupt times they came to swear by the altar, ( Matthew 23:20 ) and so the Heathens used to take their oaths in the temples of their gods, and at their altars, as the instances of Callicrates ^F3 and Hannibal ^F4 show, and others Grotius refers to; yea, they also laid hold on the altar, at least touched it when they swore ^F5 to give the greater sanction to the oath.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Cornel. Nep. Vit. Dion. l. 10. c. 8.
F4 Ib. Hannibal. l. 23. c. 2.
F5 Vid. Lydii Dissert de Jurament. c. 4. sect. 7.

1 Kings 8:31 In-Context

29 so that Your eyes may watch over this temple night and day, toward the place where You said: My name will be there, and so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

30 Hear the petition of Your servant and Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May You hear in Your dwelling place in heaven. May You hear and forgive.

31 When a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

32 may You hear in heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

33 When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and they pray and plead with You for mercy in this temple,

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit and he lifts a curse against him to curse him