1 Kings 8:50 (WEB)

Passage

and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:48 if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

1 Kings 8:49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;

1 Kings 8:50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

1 Kings 8:51 (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace);

1 Kings 8:52 that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 49's "then hear their prayer and their supplication..." into verse 51's "for they are your people and your...", so "transgressions" and "forgive" 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 "transgressions" and "forgive" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.