1 Kings 8:46

46 If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near;

1 Kings 8:46 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:46

If they sin against thee
The same persons when they were gone forth to battle, not observing the divine commands as they should:

for there is no man that sinneth not;
such are the depravity of human nature, the treachery of the heart, and the temptations of Satan, of which Solomon had early notice, and was afterwards still more confirmed in the truth of, ( Ecclesiastes 7:20 )

and thou be angry with them;
for their sins, and resent their conduct:

so as to deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away
captive unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
as into Assyria or Babylon, whither they were carried.

1 Kings 8:46 In-Context

44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto Jehovah toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name;

45 then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

46 If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near;

47 yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly;

48 if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: