Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 8:53
For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, [to be] thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
53. As thou spakest by the hand of Moses ] The reference is to Exo 19:5-6, where God promises that Israel shall be to Him ‘a peculiar treasure.’ ‘By the hand of’ is a not uncommon Hebrew phrase for ‘by’ (see below 1Ki 8:56), and it is so represented in A. V. Thus Isa 20:2, ‘the Lord spake by Isaiah,’ the original has ‘by the hand of.’ So in Mal 1:1 ‘by Malachi’ is ‘by the hand of Malachi.’ At this point there occurs in 2 Chron. (2Ch 6:40-42) a large addition thus: ‘Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.’ These words may have belonged to the original document and be the groundwork of Psalms 132, or the Chronicler may have given a free variation and borrowed from the Psalm.
In the LXX. there is also an addition of a different kind after 1Ki 8:53. It purports to be something which was written , ‘in the book of song’ and is made up of allusions to 1Ki 8:12-13 of this chapter, and, as it stands, is not very intelligible. The translation would be ‘The sun he made known in heaven, the Lord hath said that he will dwell in darkness. Build my house, a comely house for thyself to dwell in. Behold, is it not written in the book of song?’ Prof. Robertson Smith has discussed this passage in the notes (pp. 403, 404) to his ‘Old Testament in the Jewish Church,’ and by certain, not very startling corrections, he gives a restored version thus:
Jehovah created the sun in the heavens,
But he hath determined to dwell in darkness.
Build my house, an house of habitation for me,
A place to dwell in eternally.
Behold is it not written in the book of Jashar?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1Ki 8:53
For Thou didst separate them.
Solomons plea
I. The fact. Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth.
1. That separation commenced in the eternal purpose of God. Or ever the earth was He had set apart unto Himself a people whom He looked upon in the glass of His foreknowledge, and viewed with infinite affection.
2. This first act of separation was followed up by a distinct act of grace, in which the chosen were given over to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thine they were, says Jesus, and Thou gavest them Me.
3. So far the separation is hidden from us, but what is hidden in the purpose in due time develops itself in the event, for all the people of God are at the proper moment called out by effectual caning, and in this way they are separated from among the people of the world.
4. Believers become separate from the hour of their conversion by possessing a new nature.
5. The separateness of the believer tomes out in his life.
6. There shall be a final separation by and by when the wheat shall be gathered into the garner, and the tares cast into the oven, when the great Shepherd shall come and set His sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left. Oh, in that day of final separation, may we be found among those of whom He has said, They shall be Mine in the day when I make up My jewels.
II. The design. What has the Lord aimed at by separating His people from among men?
1. The text tens us: to be Thine inheritance. God has made choice of a people who are to be called the Lords portion, the lot of His inheritance, by which is meant that He would have a peculiar interest in them.
2. A man when he takes anything to be his inheritance expects to have it used for his own purposes.
3. A man will generally take up his abode in the spot which he has selected to be specially his own. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
4. In a mans inheritance He takes His delight. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.
5. When a man takes a portion to be his inheritance he means never to give it up.
III. A Plea. If you have realised that you are separated to belong to the Lord, this is a plea; and the plea applies in prayer to all your trials. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Detachment from the world through attachment to Christ
The first duty is to attach ourselves, detachment comes afterwards. The chrysalis covering in which the butterfly was imprisoned only breaks and falls away when the insects wings have grown–it is by opening that these burst their melancholy integuments. We only begin to detach ourselves from the world when we have learned to know something of a better. Till then we are capable of disappointment and weariness which are not detachment. (The Twofold Life.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance; thou hast begun to build a work of great and glorious mercy to them; do not give occasion to thine enemies to think thou wast unable to finish it; or that thou art unstable in thy ways and counsels, or unkind to thine own children.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For thou didst separate them from among all people of the earth to be thine inheritance,…. By his choice of them in his own mind, by the redemption of them out of Egypt, by the peculiar laws he gave them, and by the special blessings he conferred upon them:
as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord our God; it was he that spake this to Moses, and by him to the people, Ex 19:5 and it was he that did it, namely, separate them from all nations, to be his people and peculiar treasure: in this and the two preceding verses Solomon makes use of arguments taken from what the people of Israel were to the Lord, and he had done for them, to engage him to hearken to their supplications, and here ends his long prayer; in 2Ch 6:1 some things are added at the close of it, and some omitted.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord YHWH.”
For the reason why YHWH would hear them was not to be because of the Temple, but because He had separated them from all the people of the earth to be His inheritance (Exo 19:5-6; Exo 33:16; Lev 20:24; Lev 20:26 compare Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2; Deu 32:8). And this was in accordance with the Law of Moses in Exo 33:16. For ‘brought forth out of Egypt’ see on 1Ki 8:51.
It was a fitting statement on which to end his prayer, for it made clear that in the end it was not the Temple which was the be-all and end-all of things in his eyes, but the people. It was they who were YHWH’s treasured possession, and it was because He had chosen them and delivered them and made them His own within the covenant. They were a people separated to Him.
1Ki 8:54
‘ 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.’
This is the closing verse of the inclusio, which parallels 1Ki 8:22. Solomon had now concluded ‘praying all this prayer and supplication towards YHWH’, and we learn that such had been his fervour that he had fallen on his knees with his hands still outstretched towards Heaven. Everyone who has truly prayed knows something of this experience, commencing by standing or sitting, and being so moved that they finish up on their knees. If only he could have maintained this zeal for YHWH to the end how different things would have been. But like so many he would get caught up by the world.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Ki 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, [to be] thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
Ver. 53. As thou spakest by the hand of Moses, ] q.d., Huius rei habeo authorem gravissimum et testimonium, I have very good authority for what I say.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
didst separate. Compare Lev 20:24, Lev 20:26.
people = peoples.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
separate: Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6, Exo 33:16, Num 23:9, Deu 4:34, Deu 7:6-8, Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29, Deu 14:2, Deu 32:9, 2Co 6:14-18, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9
thine inheritance: Deu 32:9, Jer 10:16, Eph 1:18
as thou: Deu 33:1-3, Deu 33:26-29
Reciprocal: Lev 20:24 – which 1Ki 8:51 – thy people Psa 28:9 – bless
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 8:53. For thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance Thou hast begun a work of great and glorious mercy to them; do not give occasion to thine enemies to think thou wast unable to finish it; or that thou art inconstant in thy ways and purposes, or unkind to thy own children.