1 Kings 8:40 (WEB)

Passage

that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:38 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house,

1 Kings 8:39 then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men);

1 Kings 8:40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

1 Kings 8:41 “Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name’s sake

1 Kings 8:42 (for they shall hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "fear", "days", "live", "land", "gave", and "fathers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "fear" and "days", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 39's "then hear in heaven your dwelling place..." into verse 41's "Moreover concerning the foreigner who is not...", so "fear" and "days" 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 "fear" and "days" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.