1 Kings 8:42 (LSB)

Passage

(for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand, and of Your outstretched arm); so if he comes and prays toward this house,

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:40 that they may fear You all the days that they live upon the face of the land which You have given to our fathers.

1 Kings 8:41 “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, if he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake

1 Kings 8:42 (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand, and of Your outstretched arm); so if he comes and prays toward this house,

1 Kings 8:43 listen in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and to know that Your name is called upon this house which I have built.

1 Kings 8:44 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hear", "great", "name", "strong", "hand", "outstretched", "comes", and "prays". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hear" and "great", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 41's "Also concerning the foreigner who is not..." into verse 43's "listen in heaven Your dwelling place and...", so "hear" and "great" 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 "hear" and "great" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.