1 Kings 8:35

35 "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost 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 thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, if they turn again to thee, and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house;

34 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.

35 "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them,

36 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, thy people Israel, when thou dost teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance.

37 "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is;