1 Kings 8:9 (DBY)

Passage

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when Jehovah made [a covenant] with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:7 for the cherubim stretched forth [their] wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its staves above.

1 Kings 8:8 And the staves were long, so that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle, but they were not seen without. And there they are to this day.

1 Kings 8:9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when Jehovah made [a covenant] with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

1 Kings 8:10 And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah,

1 Kings 8:11 and the priests could not stand to do their service because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "nothing", "save", "tables", "stone", "moses", "placed", "horeb", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "nothing" and "save", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And the staves were long so that..." into verse 10's "And it came to pass when the...", so "nothing" and "save" 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 "nothing" and "save" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.