1 Kings 8:46

46 "If they sin against you (for there is not a person who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them to an enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far 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 your people go out to battle against his enemy in the way that you shall send them and they pray to Yahweh, toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name,

45 then you shall hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and you shall {vindicate} them.

46 "If they sin against you (for there is not a person who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them to an enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near,

47 and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,'

48 if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen and the house that you built for your name,