1 Kings 8:47 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

Bethink themselves - literally, as in the margin - i. e. “reflect,” “consider seriously.” Compare Deuteronomy 30:1.

Sinned, done perversely, committed wickedness - The words here used seem to have become the standard form of expressing contrition when the time of the captivity arrived and the Israelites were forcibly removed to Babylon (compare the margin reference). The three expressions are thought to form a climax, rising from negative to positive guilt, and from mere wrongful acts to depravation of the moral character.

1 Kings 8:47

47 Yet if they shall bethinkk themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;