1 Kings 8:31

31 "If anyone sins against another person and is required to take an oath and comes to take the oath in front of 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 Night and day may your eyes be on this temple, the place about which you said, 'My name will be there.' Listen to me as I pray toward this place.

30 Hear the plea for mercy that your people Israel and I pray toward this place. Hear us [when we pray] to heaven, the place where you live. Hear and forgive.

31 "If anyone sins against another person and is required to take an oath and comes to take the oath in front of your altar in this temple,

32 then hear [that person] in heaven, take action, and make a decision. Condemn the guilty person with the proper punishment, but declare the innocent person innocent.

33 "An enemy may defeat your people Israel because they have sinned against you. But when your people turn to you, praise your name, pray, and plead with you in this temple,