1 Reyes 8:31

31 »Si alguien peca contra su prójimo y se le exige venir a este templo para jurar ante tu altar,

1 Reyes 8:31 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:31

If any man trespass against his neighbour
By being unfaithful in a trust committed to him, or the like:

and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear;
he denying that ever anything was committed to his trust, and there being no witnesses of it, the judge obliges him to take an oath he never had any:

and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
where it was taken, as in the presence of God, and as appealing to him: hence in corrupt times they came to swear by the altar, ( Matthew 23:20 ) and so the Heathens used to take their oaths in the temples of their gods, and at their altars, as the instances of Callicrates ^F3 and Hannibal ^F4 show, and others Grotius refers to; yea, they also laid hold on the altar, at least touched it when they swore ^F5 to give the greater sanction to the oath.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Cornel. Nep. Vit. Dion. l. 10. c. 8.
F4 Ib. Hannibal. l. 23. c. 2.
F5 Vid. Lydii Dissert de Jurament. c. 4. sect. 7.

1 Reyes 8:31 In-Context

29 ¡Que tus ojos estén abiertos día y noche sobre este templo, el lugar donde decidiste habitar, para que oigas la oración que tu siervo te eleva aquí!

30 Oye la súplica de tu siervo y de tu pueblo Israel cuando oren en este lugar. Oye desde el cielo, donde habitas; ¡escucha y perdona!

31 »Si alguien peca contra su prójimo y se le exige venir a este templo para jurar ante tu altar,

32 óyelo tú desde el cielo y juzga a tus siervos. Condena al culpable, y haz que reciba su merecido; absuelve al inocente, y vindícalo por su rectitud.

33 »Cuando tu pueblo Israel sea derrotado por el enemigo por haber pecado contra ti, si luego se vuelve a ti para honrar tu nombre, y ora y te suplica en este templo,