1 Kings 8:54-66

Solomon's Blessing

54 When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread out toward heaven,

55 and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice:

56 "May the Lord be praised! He has given rest to His people Israel according to all He has said. Not one of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses has failed.

57 May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our ancestors. May He not abandon us or leave us.^[a]

58 May He incline our hearts toward Him to walk in all His ways and to keep His commands, ordinances, and judgments, which He commanded our ancestors.

59 May my words I have made my petition with before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night, so that He may uphold His servant's cause and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires,

60 and so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God. There is no other!

61 Let your heart be completely devoted to the Lord our God to walk in His ordinances and to keep His commands, as it is today."

62 The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the Lord's presence.

63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord's temple.

64 On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord's temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings^[b] since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

65 Solomon and all Israel with him-a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath^[c] to the Brook of Egypt-observed the festival at that time in the presence of the Lord our God, seven days, and seven [more] days-14 days.^[d]

66 On the fifteenth day^[e] he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home to their tents rejoicing and with joyful hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.^[f]

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1 Kings 8:54-66 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of the introduction of the ark into the temple, 1Ki 8:1-9 of the glory of the Lord filling it, 1Ki 8:10,11 of a speech Solomon made to the people concerning the building of the temple, and how he came to be engaged in it, 1Ki 8:12-21, of a prayer of his he put up on this occasion, requesting, that what supplications soever were made at any time, or on any account, by Israelites or strangers, might be accepted by the Lord, 1Ki 8:22-53, and of his blessing the people of Israel at the close of it, with some useful exhortations, 1Ki 8:54-61, and of the great number of sacrifices offered up by him, and the feast he made for the people, upon which he dismissed them, 1Ki 8:62-66.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Footnotes 6

[a]. Jos 1:5; Ps 27:9
[b]. Lv 7:30-31
[c]. Or from Lebo-hamath
[d]. Seven days for the dedication of the temple, and then seven days for the Festival of Tabernacles.
[e]. Lit the eighth day (after the second seven days)
[f]. 2 Ch 7:4-10