1 Kings 8 · a question people ask
Did God live in the house Solomon built?
The chapter says two things, a few verses apart. Solomon says, "I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever" (8:13). Then, in the prayer, he asks, "But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" (8:27). In Hebrew dwell in both verses is the same verb, yashav (tap dwell). What the prayer asks is that the LORD's eyes "may be open toward this house night and day" (8:29), the place of which he said his name would be there (8:29), and that he "hear in heaven, your dwelling place" (8:30). The LORD had asked David, "Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?" (2 Samuel 7:5). In chapter 6 the LORD's word to Solomon was, "I will dwell among the children of Israel" (6:13), where dwell is a different verb, shakan, the one in 8:12, and in chapter 9 his answer to this prayer is, "I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually" (9:3). 1 Kings sets 8:13 and 8:27 a few verses apart and doesn't say how they fit together, and this answer doesn't either.
The verses
“I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.””
“But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”
“that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place. Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.”
““Go and tell my servant David, ‘The LORD says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?”