1 Kings 8:27 (KJV)

Passage

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

1 Kings 8:26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

1 Kings 8:28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

1 Kings 8:29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "indeed", "dwell", "earth", "behold", "heaven", "heavens", and "contain". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "indeed" and "dwell", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "And now O God of Israel let..." into verse 28's "Yet have thou respect unto the prayer...", so "indeed" and "dwell" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "indeed" and "dwell" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.