1 Kings 8:33 (WEB)

Passage

“When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house;

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:31 “If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house;

1 Kings 8:32 then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

1 Kings 8:33 “When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house;

1 Kings 8:34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.

1 Kings 8:35 “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "israel", "struck", "down", "before", "enemy", "sinned", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "israel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 32's "then hear in heaven and act and..." into verse 34's "then hear in heaven and forgive the...", so "people" and "israel" 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 "people" and "israel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.