Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 8:55
And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
1Ki 8:55
And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice.
The king blessing his people
The great ceremonial of dedicating the temple was threefold. The first stage was setting the ark in its place, which was the essence of the whole thing. Gods presence was the true dedication, and that was manifested by the bright cloud that filled the sanctuary as soon as the ark was placed there. The second stage was the lofty and spiritual prayer, saturated with the language and tone of Deuteronomy, and breathing the purest conceptions of the character and nature of God, and all aglow with trust in Him. Then follows, thirdly, this Blessing of the Congregation.
1. Note the thankful retrospect of the nations past (verse 56).
2. Note the prayer for obedient hearts (verses 57, 58). The proper subject-matter of this petition is that He may incline our hearts to walk in His ways, and Gods presence is invoked as a means thereto. The deepest desire of a truly religious soul is for the felt nearness of God. That goes before all other blessings, and contains them all But Solomon desires that God may be with him and his people for one specific purpose. As in his choice in his dream, so now, he asks, not for these things, but for an inward influence on heart and will. What he wants most for himself and them is moral conformity to Gods will. All will be right if that be right. The prayer implies that, without Gods help, the heart will wander from the paths of duty.
3. Note the prayer for Gods defence (verses 59, 60). The proper subject-matter of this petition is that God would maintain the cause of king and nation; and it is preceded by a petition that, to that end, the long former prayer may be answered, and is followed by the desire that thereby the knowledge of God may fill the earth. The prayer for outward blessings comes after the prayer for inward heart-obedience. Note the grand aim of Gods help of Israel–the universal diffusion of His name among all the peoples of the earth. Solomon understood the Divine vocation of Israel, and had risen above desiring blessings only for his own or his subjects sake. Gods choice of Israel was not meant for the exclusion of the Gentiles, but as the means of transmitting the knowledge of God to them. The one nation was chosen that Gods grace might fructify through them to all. The fire was gathered into a hearth, that the whole house might be warmed.
4. The blessing ends with one brief, all-comprehensive charge to the people, which seems based, by its therefore, on the preceding thought of Jehovah as the only God. The only attitude corresponding to His sole and supreme Majesty is the entire devotion of the heart, which leads to thorough-going obedience to His commandments. We, too, are tempted to bring Him divided hearts, and to carry some of our love and trust as offerings at other shrines. But if there be one God, and none other but He, then to serve Him with all our hearts and strength and mind is the dictate of common sense, and the only course which He can accept, or which can bring our else distracted natures peace and satisfaction. His voice to us is, My son, give Me thy whole heart. Our answer to Him should ever be that prayer, Lord unite my heart to fear Thy name. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 55. He stood, and blessed all the congregation] This blessing is contained in 1Kgs 8:57-58.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice,…. Turning himself the altar, and his face to the people, giving them his benediction, not only as the father of his people, but as preacher in Jerusalem, closing it with a word of exhortation to them:
saying: as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(55) Blessed all the children of Israel.To bless the congregation was the special duty and privilege of the priests (see Num. 6:23-27); but throughout the whole of this narrative the king, and the king alone, is conspicuous. It is, however, to be noted that Solomons words here are not strictly of blessing, but rather of praise and prayer to God, and exhortation to the people.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Solomon’s Closing Blessing Of The People ( 1Ki 8:55-62 ).
In his first blessing (1Ki 8:14-21), prior to his major prayer, Solomon had been concerned to establish the credentials of the Temple. Now, however, his concern was for the spiritual life of the people in a blessing which to begin with clearly echoes the last part of the Book of Joshua. Like Joshua he was calling on them once again to renew the covenant (see Joshua 24). He consequently called on YHWH not to forsake them but to incline their hearts to obey and follow Him, and to so hear the intercession that he had made that He would maintain the cause of His people and bring glory to His Name throughout the earth. And he then completed his blessing with a call to the people of Israel to walk truly with God in full obedience to His commandments.
Analysis.
a
b “YHWH our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us, nor forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers” (1Ki 8:57-58).
c “And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before YHWH, be nigh to YHWH our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require, that all the peoples of the earth may know that YHWH, he is God; there is none else” (1Ki 8:59-60)
b “Let your heart therefore be perfect with YHWH our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day” (1Ki 8:61).
a And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before YHWH (1Ki 8:62).
Note that in ‘a’ Solomon blessed the assembly of Israel and pointed out what YHWH had done for them, and in the parallel the king and all Israel offered sacrifices before YHWH. In ‘b’ He calls on God to incline their heart to obedience to His commandments, and in the parallel he urges the people to obey His commandments. Centrally in ‘c’ he asks that YHWH would so hear the prayer that he had prayed that He might maintain their cause and bring glory to His own Name around the world.
1Ki 8:55-56
‘ And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, “Blessed be YHWH, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word (dabar) of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.”
Having completed his dedicatory prayer Solomon then stood and blessed ‘the assembly of Israel’, pointing out that YHWH had fulfilled, in an even greater way than He had previously, His promise to Israel of rest from all their enemies. He saw his day as being the culmination of all God’s promises of rest, for as he looked around the kingdom appeared stable, and no enemies were remotely threatening.
His words here very much have the closing chapters of the Book of Joshua in mind, with Solomon extending the ideas to his own day. We should consider, for example, Jos 22:4, ‘and now YHWH your God has given rest to your brothers as He spoke to them ’. Jos 23:1, ‘and it came about after many days, when YHWH had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about.’ Jos 23:14, ‘ not one good word (dabar) has failed of all the good things which YHWH your God promised concerning you’ (said Moses).. Thus Solomon saw these words as finding even deeper fulfilment in the circumstances in which Israel now found themselves than they had in Joshua’s day. And we should note that in these words Joshua was leading Israel up to the point of renewing the covenant and renouncing all other gods (Jos 24:23-25).
And many a time after that Israel had found rest from all their enemies. It was not a new concept. Consider for example Jdg 3:11; Jdg 3:30; Jdg 5:31. But the problem was that every time that rest had been disturbed because other enemies had arisen. But now at last it appeared as though God had given permanent rest to His people.
This idea of God’s rest now given was again prominent in 2Sa 7:1; 2Sa 7:11, where it led up to the giving of the everlasting covenant to David. And in 1Ki 5:4 Solomon saw it as grounds for building the Temple, which he saw as associated with that covenant. It may well be that he had Deu 12:10-11 in mind where the arrival of God’s rest was to be followed by the establishing of His Sanctuary at the place where YHWH would choose, which Solomon now saw (and wanted the people to see) as Jerusalem. These words in Deuteronomy had already, however, been fulfilled, when Joshua renewed the covenant at the holy site at Shechem (Jos 8:30), the place at which YHWH had clearly recorded His Name (note how Exo 20:24-25 is cited as authority for his act), prior to His choosing Shiloh. And we need have no doubt that Joshua had arranged for the offering of burnt offerings on the altar on Mount Ebal (Jos 8:30) at that covenant ceremony, for no covenant ceremony would have been complete without them. (See also 1Ch 22:9; 1Ch 22:18; 1Ch 23:25).
And now as Solomon looked around at his great empire, and his doughty warriors, and his powerful chariots, he probably felt that they had attained to the ultimate rest. For what could possibly disturb the peace of such an empire? And he wanted it known that the Temple was closely connected with this final fulfilment of YHWH’s promises of rest, as the Sanctuary to supersede all sanctuaries. It must have appeared that all was well indeed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
(55) And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, (56) Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. (57) The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: (58) That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. (59) And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: (60) That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else. (61) Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
Having spoken to the Lord for the people; he again now speaks to the people from the Lord; that is, still with an eye to Jesus, he watches in prayer, well assured that the blessings implored will come: God hath never yet out-promised himself, but of all his good promises, not a word hath failed. Thus, in the experience of the past, faith finds the greatest encouragement for all that is to come. And while we look to God’s faithfulness, may we look to him for grace also for our own! This is to have our heart perfect with the Lord.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 8:55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
Ver. 55. And he stood and blessed all the congregation. ] Praying for them, and praising God for his mercy to them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
blessed: 1Ki 8:14, Num 6:23-26, 2Sa 6:18, 1Ch 16:2
Reciprocal: Lev 9:22 – his hand 2Ch 6:3 – blessed 2Ch 31:8 – and his people Isa 9:16 – led of them Luk 19:37 – the whole Heb 7:7 – the less
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 8:55-56. He stood and blessed all the congregation, &c. He spoke what follows standing, that he might be the better heard, and because he blessed as one having authority. Never were words more pertinently spoken; never was a congregation dismissed with that which was more likely to affect them, and to abide with them. Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest, &c., according to all that he promised Thus he, as it were, writes a receipt in full on the back of the bonds of the divine promises. There hath, not failed one word of all his good promises This discharge he gives in the name of all Israel, to the everlasting honour of the divine faithfulness, and the everlasting encouragement of all those who build on the divine promises.