Solomon's Prayer Of Dedication Of The Temple (1 Kings 8:22-62).
Having, as he hoped, reconciled the people to having the Temple in Jerusalem as their Central Sanctuary, Solomon now reminded God of His covenant, and of His covenant love, admitted that the Temple that he had built could not really contain the God of Heaven and earth, the One Whom even the Heaven of heavens could not contain, and prayed that God would bless them as a result of their having their Temple. He asked Him to listen to their prayers when they prayed towards it, and as a result offer them forgiveness for their sins when they sinned and then repented, and went on to list seven possibilities of the way in which He could show His mercy when they had sinned and then sought His mercy.
Considering the examples that we have of similar sins in Leviticus 27 and Deuteronomy 28-29 what is really remarkable is how any real direct reference to them appears to be avoided. There are very occasional possible echoes of language, but certainly nothing substantial. To describe the prayer as ‘Deuteronomic' (why not Levitical?) is therefore a total misrepresentation. All that can be said is that it contains occasional parallel ideas to one or the other without borrowing from either, and indeed contains echoes from the whole of the Pentateuch. Furthermore it must be said that even these echoes could easily be seen simply as resulting from traditional ideas conveyed during cultic recitation at the regular feasts.
But there is one further point to be noted and that is the emphasis of the prayer on ‘forgiveness' (salach). It can hardly be denied that it is a central feature of the prayer and yet it is salutary to recognise that this concept of forgiveness (salach) is prominent in Leviticus and Numbers but almost unknown in what are often called the Deuteronomic writings up to this point.
Thus our conclusion is that we have in Solomon's prayer a unique and carefully thought out independent prayer of the kind that we would expect from someone like Solomon. During the commentary on the verses we will be giving examples of parallel use of words and ideas found in the Pentateuch, (such as they are), and it will be noted that they are evenly spread over a number of books and of a kind which might have been expected of a young man who had attended the feasts and heard the whole of the Torah being read out, but who did not have it to hand while preparing his speech.
From a literary point of view it will also be noticed that 1 Kings 8:22; 1 Kings 8:54 form a definite and specific inclusio. And what is also interesting is that while he began the prayer standing before the altar with his hands raised towards Heaven, he finished it kneeling on his knees before the altar with his hands spread forth towards Heaven. As we consider the depths which his prayer reached we are not surprised by this. He was clearly so deeply moved by the content of his intercession that as the people's intercessor he eventually fell to his knees before YHWH. His prayer was no mere formality.
Analysis.
a And Solomon stood before the altar of YHWH in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven (1 Kings 8:22).
b And he said, “O YHWH, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and covenant love with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart, who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day” (1 Kings 8:23-24).
c “Now therefore, O YHWH, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, “There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me” (1 Kings 8:25).
d “Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word, I pray you, be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father” (1 Kings 8:26).
e “But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built” (1 Kings 8:27).
d “Yet have you respect to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day” (1 Kings 8:28).
c “That your eyes may be open towards this house night and day, even towards the place of which you have said, “My name shall be there,” to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray towards this place, and hearken you to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place. Yes, hear you in heaven your dwelling-place, and when you hear, forgive” (1 Kings 8:29-30).
b Seven examples of breaches of the covenant for which he prays forgiveness if the people truly repent (1 Kings 8:31-53).
a And it was so, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to YHWH, he arose from before the altar of YHWH, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven (1 Kings 8:54).
Note that in ‘a' he is praying before the altar, and in the parallel he ceases praying before the altar. In ‘b' he stresses the keeping of the covenant and the covenant-keeping nature of God, and in the parallel he considers seven possible breaches of covenant and their possible consequences, and prays that God will hear His people if they truly repent of them. In ‘c' he calls on YHWH to keep His promises to David, and in the parallel he calls on Him in the same way to listen to the prayers of himself and his people. In ‘d' he prays that the word of YHWH to David might be verified, and in the parallel he asks YHWH to listen to the prayer that he is praying this day. Centrally in ‘e' he acknowledges that God will not really dwell on earth, because even the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.
‘ And Solomon stood before the altar of YHWH in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,'
The most solemn moment of the dedication of the Temple had now come (such dedications at the building of temples is testified to elsewhere in the ancient Near East), and as the intercessor of Israel Solomon had well prepared himself. He stood before the altar of YHWH in the presence of all of assembled Israel, and spread forth his hands towards Heaven. But as already mentioned, he would shortly be so moved by some of the things that he was praying about that, by the end of the prayer, he would be on his knees (1 Kings 8:54). For the idea of the spreading forth of the hands compare Exodus 9:33; Psalms 143:6 (a Psalm of David); Isaiah 1:15; and compare Exodus 17:11-12. The Chronicler informs us that he stood on a specially made bronze platform so that all could see him (2 Chronicles 6:13).
The altar of YHWH has not previously been mentioned in connection with the Temple (see 1 Kings 9:25), for the concentration had been on the items made of gold, but it was so necessary a part of ancient worship that it could be assumed. No temple would be complete without one. For the phrase ‘the altar of YHWH' see Leviticus 17:6; Joshua 9:27; Joshua 22:28-29. In contrast, in Deuteronomy it is always ‘the altar of YHWH your God' (Deuteronomy 12:27; Deuteronomy 16:21; Deuteronomy 26:4; Deuteronomy 27:6)
‘ And he said, “O YHWH, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and covenant love with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart, who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.”
His prayer was firmly based on the covenant that YHWH had made with his father David, which also intimately affected him, although very much as a part of the continuing covenant of Sinai. He addressed Him as ‘the God of Israel', that is as the God Who had a personal interest in Israel, and yet he immediately expanded the thought to include the idea that YHWH is supreme and unique in Heaven and earth, a supremacy and uniqueness especially revealed in His keeping of His covenant promises. We can compare Exodus 15:11, ‘Who is like to you O YHWH among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness (set-apartness), fearful in praises, doing wonders?'.
“Who keeps covenant and covenant love with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart” can only refer to the covenant of Sinai, and was directly based on words which YHWH had spoken to David concerning ‘the Torah of Moses' (1 Kings 2:3-4). This combination of ‘covenant' and ‘covenant love' is found in Deuteronomy 5:10; Deuteronomy 7:9; Deuteronomy 7:12. In keeping His covenant He reveals His covenant love, for otherwise our case would be hopeless. And that covenant love is shown towards those who walk before Him (see Genesis 17:1; 1 Samuel 2:30) ‘with all their hearts' (1 Kings 2:4).
Note the idea of the people as ‘YHWH's servants'. He is their king, and they are in subjection to Him, owning Him as their Overlord.
“Who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.” Solomon then connects the original covenant up with the matter that is now on their minds, the fulfilment of YHWH's covenant with David as evidenced in the building of the Temple. As recent history had demonstrated, YHWH had kept His promises to David, and that keeping of His promises has now resulted in the building of the Temple. That was, of course, Solomon's view. The original covenant had been about ‘the house of David' not about the Temple (2 Samuel 7:4-17).
For the idea of ‘covenant love' see Genesis 20:13; Genesis 24:12; Genesis 24:14; Genesis 24:27; Genesis 32:10; Genesis 39:2; Exodus 15:13; Exodus 20:6; Exodus 34:6-7; Leviticus 20:17; Numbers 14:18-19. For the combination of covenant and covenant love see Deuteronomy 5:10; Deuteronomy 7:9; Deuteronomy 7:12. For the phrase ‘Heaven above' compare Genesis 49:25. For both ‘Heaven above' and ‘earth beneath' see Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:39; Deuteronomy 5:8, but as it is in part of the ten major requirements of the covenant it would be a commonly used phrase. For walking before God see Genesis 17:1; 1 Samuel 2:30. For ‘walking before God with all their hearts' see 1 Kings 2:4. For ‘fulfilled with your hand' see 1 Kings 8:15.