1 Kings 9:6-9

6 “But if you^[a] or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you^[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them,

7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.

8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All^[c] who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’

9 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’ ”

1 Kings 9:6-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 9

This chapter relates a second vision Solomon had at Gibeon, in which he received an answer to his prayer in the preceding chapter, 1Ki 9:1-9 that passed between him and Hiram king of Tyre, 1Ki 9:10-14, the places that Solomon built or repaired, 1Ki 9:15-19, the Canaanitish people that became bondmen to him, and the officers he had among the children of Israel, 1Ki 9:20-23 the removal of Pharaoh's daughter to the house built for her, 1Ki 9:24. Solomon's attention to religious services, 1Ki 9:25 and the navy of ships he employed, which brought him in great riches, 1Ki 9:26-28.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 28:15; 2 Samuel 7:14; 2 Kings 18:12; Jeremiah 17:27; Jeremiah 26:4; Jeremiah 32:23; Jeremiah 44:23
• 2. 1 Kings 11:10
• 3. Leviticus 18:24-28; Deuteronomy 4:26; S Joshua 23:13; 2 Kings 17:23; 2 Kings 25:21; Jeremiah 24:10
• 4. Deuteronomy 12:5; Jeremiah 7:14
• 5. Job 17:6; Psalms 44:14; Jeremiah 24:9; Joel 2:17
• 6. S Deuteronomy 28:37; Ezekiel 5:15
• 7. S Leviticus 26:32
• 8. S Deuteronomy 29:24; Jeremiah 7:4-15; Matthew 23:38; Jeremiah 22:8-9
• 9. Deuteronomy 29:25; 2 Kings 22:17; Jeremiah 5:19; Jeremiah 13:22; Jeremiah 16:11,13; Jeremiah 22:9
• 10. S Numbers 25:3; Jeremiah 40:3; Jeremiah 44:23; Lamentations 4:12
• 11. S Deuteronomy 31:29

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew is plural.
• [b]. The Hebrew is plural.
• [c]. See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew "And though this temple is now imposing, all"