Gevurot 7:49

49 "HASHOMAYIM KISSI V’HAARETZ HADOM RAGLAI ("Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet"). EI-ZEH BAYIT ASHER TIVNU LI ("What kind of House will you build for me?") says Hashem, V’EI ZEH MAKOM MENUCHATI ("Or where will my resting place be?")

Gevurot 7:49 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 7:49

Heaven is my throne
There is the seat of the divine Majesty; there his glory is most conspicuous; there he keeps his court, that is his palace; and there are his attendants, the angels; and from thence are the administrations of his regal power and government, over the whole world:

and earth is my footstool;
which is under his feet, is subject to him, and at his dispose, and which he makes use of at his pleasure: these things are not to be literally understood, but are images and figures, representing the majesty, sovereignty, and immensity of God; who is the maker of all things, the governor of the universe, and is above all places, and not to be contained in any:

what house will ye build me? saith the Lord;
or where can any be built for him, since he already takes up the heaven and the earth? what house can be built by men, or with hands, that can hold him, or is fit for him to dwell in?

or what is the place of my rest?
not in any house made with hands, but in the church among his saints, who are the temples of the living God; and this is his rest for ever, and here will he dwell, because he has chosen and desired them, and built them up for an habitation for himself, ( Psalms 132:13 Psalms 132:14 )

Gevurot 7:49 In-Context

47 "And Sh’lomo (Solomon) built for him a Beis. [MELACHIM ALEF 6:1-38]
48 "But HaElyon does not dwell in battim made by human hands, just as the Navi (prophet) says, [MELACHIM ALEF 8:27; MELACHIM BAIS 2:6]
49 "HASHOMAYIM KISSI V’HAARETZ HADOM RAGLAI ("Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet"). EI-ZEH BAYIT ASHER TIVNU LI ("What kind of House will you build for me?") says Hashem, V’EI ZEH MAKOM MENUCHATI ("Or where will my resting place be?")
50 "Did not my hand ASATAH (make) all these things?" [YESHAYAH 66:1,2]
51 "You AM KESHEH OREF ("stiff-necked people" SHEMOT 33:5), you who are without the “bris milah” of the lev (heart) and of the oznayim (ears), you always resist the Ruach Hakodesh; you are doing like your Avot. [Ex 32:9; 33:3,5; Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16; Jer 4:4; 9:26; Isa 63:10]
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.