Melachim Alef 8:44

44 If Thy people go out to milchamah against their oyev (enemy), in the derech that Thou shalt send them, and shall daven unto Hashem in the Derech HaIr which Thou hast chosen, and toward the Bayit that I have built for Thy Shem;

Melachim Alef 8:44 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:44

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy
In a foreign country, threatening to invade them, or having trespassed on their borders, or some way or other infringed on their liberties and privileges, and so given them just occasion to go to war with them:

whithersoever thou shalt send them;
this case supposes their asking counsel of God, or having a direction and commission from him by a prophet, or some other way, to engage in war with the enemy:

and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen,
and toward the house I have built for thy name:
for, notwithstanding the justness of their cause, and having a warrant from God to go to war, yet they were to pray to him for success when at a distance, even in a foreign land, and about to engage the enemy; and this they were to do, turning their faces towards the city of Jerusalem, and the temple there; declaring thereby that their dependence was upon the Lord that dwelt there, and their expectation of victory was only from him.

Melachim Alef 8:44 In-Context

42 (For they shall hear of Thy Shem HaGadol, and of Thy Yad HaChazakah, and of Thy stretched out zero’a;) and shall come and daven toward this Bayit;

43 Hear Thou in Shomayim the Makom of Thy dwelling, and do according to all that the nokhri calleth to Thee for; that all peoples of ha’aretz may know Thy Shem, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Yisroel; that they may know that this Bayit, which I have built, is called by Thy Shem.

44 If Thy people go out to milchamah against their oyev (enemy), in the derech that Thou shalt send them, and shall daven unto Hashem in the Derech HaIr which Thou hast chosen, and toward the Bayit that I have built for Thy Shem;

45 Then hear Thou in Shomayim their tefillah and their techinnah, and uphold their mishpat.

46 If they sin against Thee, (for there is no adam that sinneth not), and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the oyev (enemy), so that they carry them away captives unto the eretz of the oyev, far or near;