1 Kings 8:37

37 "¹If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

1 Kings 8:37 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 37 If there be in the land famine
Through want of rain, or any other cause, as there had been a three years' famine in the time of David, and it is supposed it might be again, though Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey:

if there be pestilence;
as there had been, for David's numbering the people:

blasting;
or blights, occasioned by the east wind:

mildew;
a kind of clammy dew, which falling on plants, corn corrupts and destroys them, see ( Amos 4:9 ) ,

locust,
or

if there be caterpillar;
creatures very pernicious to the fruits of the earth, and cause a scarcity of them, see ( Joel 1:4 ) ,

if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities;
so that they cannot go out to gather the increase of the earth, or till their land:

whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
whatever stroke from the hand of God, or what judgment or calamity soever befalls.

1 Kings 8:37 In-Context

35 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance.

37 "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

38 whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house;

39 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men,

Cross References

• 1. Lev 26:16, 25, 26; Deut 28:21-23, 38-42

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "gates"