1 Kings 8:31 (DBY)

Passage

If a man have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to adjure him, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

Nearby Context

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

1 Kings 8:30 And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear thou in thy dwelling-place, in the heavens, and when thou hearest, forgive.

1 Kings 8:31 If a man have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to adjure him, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

1 Kings 8:32 then hear thou in the heavens, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness.

1 Kings 8:33 When thy people Israel are put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sinned", "against", "neighbour", "oath", "laid", "upon", and "adjure". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sinned" and "against", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "And hearken unto the supplication of thy..." into verse 32's "then hear thou in the heavens and...", so "sinned" and "against" 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 "sinned" and "against" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.