1 Kings 8:27 (WEB)

Passage

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!

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:25 Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’

1 Kings 8:26 “Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father.

1 Kings 8:27 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!

1 Kings 8:28 Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you today;

1 Kings 8:29 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.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Now therefore God of Israel please let..." into verse 28's "Yet have respect for the prayer of...", so "very" and "deed" 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 "very" and "deed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.