Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!”
Parallel translations
- WEB I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
- KJV I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
- BSB I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”
- NKJV I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever.”
- NASB “I have truly built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever.”
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 declares that he has built a permanent house for God to dwell in. It marks the temple as the settled center of God's presence among His people.
Overview
Concluding his words at the temple's dedication, Solomon affirms that the long-promised house is finished, a fixed dwelling replacing the mobile tabernacle. The language of God dwelling 'forever' anticipates a permanence ultimately fulfilled not in a building but in Christ, who is Immanuel, God with us, and in His people as God's temple. Even here, the hope of God dwelling with humanity points beyond stone and cedar.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Sam 7:13He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
- Exod 15:17You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in; the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.
- Ps 132:13–14For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
- Heb 9:24For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
- 1 Chr 17:12He will build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
- 1 Chr 28:10Take heed now; for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”
- Heb 9:11–12But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
- 1 Chr 28:20David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed; for Yahweh God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of Yahweh’s house is finished.
- Heb 8:5–13who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”
- 1 Chr 22:10–11He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’
- John 4:21–23Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.
- 2 Chr 6:2But I have built you a house and home, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
- 1 Chr 28:6He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
- Ps 78:68–69But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
- Acts 6:14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”
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 8:13 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.