Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
- KJV Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
- NKJV Then Solomon spoke: “The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
- NASB Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.
- NLT Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon declared that the Lord had said He would dwell in thick darkness. He acknowledged God's hidden, holy presence in the temple.
Overview
Recalling how God had appeared in cloud and darkness at Sinai, Solomon recognized that the Lord, though now dwelling among His people, remained holy and beyond full human sight. The thick darkness signified both God's nearness and His unapproachable majesty. This veiled presence anticipates the fuller revelation in Christ, in whom the invisible God draws near and makes Himself known.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 97:2Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
- 2 Chr 6:1–11Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud;
- Lev 16:2And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
- Isa 45:15Truly You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
- Ps 18:8–11Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
- Exod 20:21And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
- Deut 5:22The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
- Heb 12:18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;
- Deut 4:11You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 8:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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