1 Kings 9:3

3 And the Lord said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and thy beseeching, that thou hast besought before me; I have hallowed this house, that thou hast builded, that I should set there my name without end (I have dedicated, or consecrated, this House which thou hast built, and I have set my name there forevermore); and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there in all days.

1 Kings 9:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 9:3

And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy
supplication that thou hast made before me
With delight and pleasure, and had accepted it; meaning the prayer recorded in the preceding chapter:

I have hallowed this house which thou hast built;
by the cloud of glory filling it, and by fire descending from heaven, and consuming the sacrifices offered in it, ( 2 Chronicles 7:1 )

to put my name there for ever;
there to grant his presence, so long as his pure worship should be continued in it; so the Targum adds,

``and my Shechinah or divine Majesty shall abide in it, if my will is done there continually:''

and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually;
his eyes of Providence should be upon it, to watch over it, and protect it, and his worshippers in it; and he should have a cordial regard to the sacrifices there offered, and to the persons of the offerers, so long as they offered them in a right way, and to right ends and purposes.

1 Kings 9:3 In-Context

1 And it was done, when Solomon had performed the building of the house of the Lord, and the building of the king, and all thing that he coveted, and would make, (And it was done, when Solomon had finished building the House of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the things that he desired, and would make,)
2 the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he (had) appeared to him (before) in Gibeon.
3 And the Lord said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and thy beseeching, that thou hast besought before me; I have hallowed this house, that thou hast builded, that I should set there my name without end (I have dedicated, or consecrated, this House which thou hast built, and I have set my name there forevermore); and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there in all days.
4 Also if thou goest before me, as thy father went, in simpleness of heart, and in equity, and doest all things which I have commanded to thee, and keepest my dooms, and my lawful things, (And if thou goest before me, as thy father went, with integrity, and uprightness, and doest all the things which I have commanded to thee, and obeyest my judgements, and my laws,)
5 I shall set the throne of thy realm upon Israel without end, as I spake to David, thy father, and said, A man of thy kin shall not be taken away from the throne of Israel.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.