1 Kings 9:8

8 If the Temple is destroyed, everyone who passes by will be shocked. They will make fun of you and ask, 'Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?'

1 Kings 9:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 9:8

And at this house which is high
The house of the most High, as some render it, and in high esteem, fame, and glory, as well as it was built on an high hill, and was itself one hundred and twenty cubits high, ( 2 Chronicles 3:4 ) , the Targum is,

``and this house which was high shall be destroyed:''

everyone that passeth by it shall be astonished;
at the ruins of the temple, and of the city of Jerusalem, which had been so magnificent:

and shall hiss;
in scorn and derision of the people of Israel, rejoicing in their ruin:

and they shall say, why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to
this house?
or suffered it to be done, to lie thus in waste and ruins; a land in which it had been said he delighted, and looked unto from one end of the year to the other, and a house he had taken up his dwelling in; surely something more than ordinary, they suggest, must be the cause of all this.

1 Kings 9:8 In-Context

6 "But you and your children must follow me and obey the laws and commands I have given you. You must not serve or worship other gods.

7 If you do, I will force Israel to leave the land I have given them, and I will leave this Temple that I have made holy. All the nations will make fun of Israel and speak evil about them.

8 If the Temple is destroyed, everyone who passes by will be shocked. They will make fun of you and ask, 'Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?'

9 People will answer, 'This happened because they left the Lord their God. This was the God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods, so the Lord brought all this disaster on them.'"

10 By the end of twenty years, King Solomon had built two buildings -- the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace.