The Hebrew paragraphs:
8:1-11 {p} The ark brought into the Most Holy Place; the glory of YHVH filled the house
8:12-21 {s} Solomon blessed YHVH, for He fulfilled His word to Israel, and to David
8:22-34 {s} Solomon’s prayer of dedication: hear our prayer, and forgive, and bring us back to this land
8:35-36 {s} When there is no rain, hear our prayer, and forgive, and teach us Your way, and send rain
8:37-53 {p} When there is plague or pestilence, or captivity by enemies, hear our prayer, and forgive
8:54-9:1 {p} Solomon blessed the people/ the sacrifices and the feast of rejoicing in the 7th month
The Strong themes:
8:12-53 {sx3+p} Solomon blessed YHVH/ his prayer of dedication
1 Kin 8:1-66 Chiastic Structure:
There is a glaring hole in the middle of the Chiastic Structure.
Then Solomon said, “YHVH has said that He would dwell in thick cloud. I have indeed built a house of exaltation for You, a place for Your dwelling forever.” 1 Kin 8:12-13
When there are out-of-place verses in the structure, they stick out like a sore thumb. I have found the Holy Spirit often highlights these oddities for a reason. So, I began digging into the Hebrew. The verbs translated “to dwell” here, are two different verbs in Hebrew.
“To dwell in thick cloud,” is Strong’s H7931, שכן shakan, a primitive verb meaning, “to settle down, to dwell.” According to Gesenius, the 3-letter root is shin + kaph + nun, but the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon says the shin was transposed from an original sin.
sin ס = thorn, thus grab, hate, protect
kaph כ ך = open palm, thus bend, open, allow, tame
nun נ ן = seed, thus continue, heir, son
The parable being told by the Hebrew Root Word is of a protected (sin) covering (kaph, in the sense of the father’s open palm covering the head of his son when conferring the blessing) under which one continues (nun). The idea in Hebrew is of a temporary shelter.
“Your dwelling forever” is from Strong’s H3427, ישב yashab, a primitive verb meaning, “to sit down.”
yud י = closed hand, thus work, throw, worship
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
bet ב = house, thus house, household, family, in, within
The parable is that when work (yud) is ended, we press (shin) into the house (bet), to sit down at the end of our day of labor. We dwell in the place we make our home. The idea in Hebrew is of a permanent shelter.
Then came the untangling of “thick darkness.”
Then spoke Solomon: The LORD hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. 1 Kin 8:12 JPS, KJV
Now why would YHVH dwell in darkness? I looked up the instances of “darkness” in Scripture, thinking it would mean something like the plague of darkness which covered the Egyptians for three days (Exo 10:21-22). Not so. The plague of darkness is what we think of when we think of darkness, that is, the absence of light. But the Hebrew word here is not that. It occurs only a few times in Scripture, most notably in the context of YHVH’s presence at Mt. Sinai.
And the people stood far off, and Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. Exo 20:21
Darkness is in Hebrew, Strong’s H6205, araphel, “thick clouds,” from Strong’s H6201, ערף araph, “to drop down.” The ancient pictographs are ayin + resh + pey, but the ayin was originally a ghah according to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon.
ghah § = rope, thus twisted, goat, dark, negative
resh ר = head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man
pey פ ף = mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
The parable is of darkness (ghah) overhead (resh) which opens (pey). When overhead clouds open, life-giving rain drops down, as the Hebrew reveals the clouds are thick because they are heavy with moisture.
The concept of darkness as an absence of light is not what the Hebrew is speaking here. This thick cloud in which God dwells, is the cloud of His presence and glory, heavy with moisture, that is, with life-giving blessing (Deu 32:2, Hos 10:12, the verbs in both these Scriptures being cognate to araph). His dwelling in thick cloud accompanied the children of Israel and the tabernacle from the time they left Egypt until this day of the dedication of the Temple. As Israel was not settled in a permanent place, so His presence was not settled in a permanent place (shakan). But the son of David built a permanent house for His dwelling (yashab).
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. Joh 14:16-17
We are the permanent house which the Son of David built for His dwelling, in thick cloud heavy with life-giving water and glory.
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