If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
And thou ... deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away ... This does not refer to the national captivity in Babylon, but to the smaller 'carrying away,' which might, and probably did, occur in every campaign; and Solomon mentions the case of those Israelites who, by the fate of, war, should be carried away into the enemies' land far and near (Joel 3:4; Amos 1:6-9), being delivered, on account of their apostasies and sins, into the power of foreign invaders (see Judges, passim). Solomon petitions that on their bethinking themselves or repenting, the Lord would hear their prayers, directed to Him in that temple (Daniel 6:10), and restore them to liberty and their own land. It is evident that Solomon knew well the condition on which alone they could enjoy possession of the land. He speaks as one who had not the least idea of the Jews being recalled, either from a brief or a protracted captivity, while they continued in the sin which had caused their captivity: he prays for their restoration only in the event of their returning unto the Lord with all their heart, and with all their soul. And this language of his was evidently borrowed from statements contained in the books of Moses (Deuteronomy 30:1-3: cf. Nehemiah 1:8-9).