1 Kings 8:35

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

1 Kings 8:35 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:35

When heaven is shut up
As it may be said to be when the air is quite serene, and not a cloud in it:

and there is no rain;
in its season, neither the former nor the latter, as it was in the times of Elijah:

because they have sinned against thee;
want of rain was threatened in case of sin, and was always the effect of it, ( Leviticus 26:19 Leviticus 26:20 ) ( Deuteronomy 28:23 Deuteronomy 28:24 ) ,

if they pray towards this place;
in any part of the country where they were; for it sometimes rained on one city, and not on another, ( Amos 4:7 )

and confess thy name;
own his power and his providence, and the justness of his dealings with them:

and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them;
their affliction being made useful, to bring them to a sense of their sin, and to repentance for it, and reformation from it; or, "when thou hearest" or "answerest them" ^F7; so the Targum, receives their prayer; thus the goodness of God leads to repentance.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (Mnet yk) "cum exaudieris eos", Vatablus.

1 Kings 8:35 In-Context

33 "When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple,

34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.

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

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

37 "When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;