1 Kings 8:36

1Ki 8:36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

Ver. 36. That thou teach them the good way.] By causing them to hear thy word, or thy rod, and setting it home upon their hearts. See Psa 94:12. {See Trapp on "Psa 94:12"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 8:36. That thou teach them the good way — The way of their duty, which is good in itself, and both delightful and profitable to those that walk in it. But this clause is better translated, 2Ch 6:27, (where the Hebrew words are the same with these here,) When thou hast taught them the good way wherein they should walk, namely, when their afflictions have had the desired effect to teach them better obedience. And give rain upon the land — The order of Solomon’s prayer is very observable; first and chiefly, he prays for their repentance and forgiveness, which is the chief blessing, and the only solid foundation of all other mercies; and then he prays for temporal mercies, thereby teaching us what to desire principally in our prayers; which also Christ hath taught us in his perfect prayer, wherein there is but one petition for outward, and all the rest are for spiritual blessings.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

36. forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel] Probably Solomon means by ‘servants’ the kings who should hereafter reign over Israel. The LXX. evidently thought this, for there we only have ‘thy servant’ meaning the king at the time being.

that thou teach them] The rendering should rather be ‘when thou teachest them,’ as at the close of the previous verse. The forgiveness is to come, when the lesson of chastisement has been given and learnt.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel,.... By removing the judgment of drought upon them:

that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk; the way of worship and duty prescribed by the Lord which was good in itself, and good for them, good things being enjoyed by them that walk therein; and this the Lord sometimes teaches by afflictions, as well as by his word; but whenever he does it, it is by his Spirit, and then afflictions are blessings, Psa 104:19 where the same phrase is differently rendered:

and give rain upon the land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance; as he did at the prayer of Elijah, Jam 5:18.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Teach them ... - Rather, “when thou art teaching them (by thy chastisement) the good way that they should walk in,” i. e. when thou art still teaching, not taking vengeance.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That thou teach them; that their sin being pardoned, and thou being reconciled unto them, mayest vouchsafe to teach them. Or rather, as our translators render the very same words, 2Ch 6:27, when thou shalt teach, or hast taught them; not only by thy word, for that was done before; but by their afflictions, which is one of God’s schools; and especially, by thy Spirit, enlightening their minds, and inclining their hearts, that they may learn and profit both by the word and by their afflictions. And this is here fitly added, to show that he could not expect, and did not desire, from God the pardon of their sins, but upon God’s terms, to wit, upon their true repentance.

The good way, i.e. the way or will of God; or the way of their duty, as the following words explain it, which is most rightly called the good way here, and 1Sa 12:23, because it is both just and holy, and therefore good in itself; and good, that is, both delightful and profitable to those that walk in it. The meaning is, When thou hast effectually taught them, and they have thoroughly learned how to please and serve thee acceptably, and to walk before thee in the way which thou hast prescribed them.

Give rain. The order of Solomon’s prayer is very observable: first and chiefly he prays for their repentance and forgiveness, which is the chief blessing, and the only solid foundation of all other mercies; and then he prays for the temporal mercy; thereby teaching us what to mind and desire principally in our prayers; which also Christ hath taught us in his perfect pattern and form of prayer; wherein there is but one petition for outward, and all the rest are for spiritual blessings.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Then hear thou in heaven see on ver. 32, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel that thou teach them rather, because thou art teaching them, etc. The thought is, "Forgive, because they have learned the lessen Thy discipline of drought was meant to teach;" because the chastisement has fulfilled its purpose the good way 1Sa_12:23 wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

The fourth petition refers to the various plagues mentioned in the law, (Le 26 De 28) as the punishment of apostasy or infidelity.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Good way - The way, of their duty, which is good in itself; and both delightful and profitable, to those that walk in it. Give rain - The order of Solomon's prayer is very observable; first and chiefly, he prays for their repentance and forgiveness, which is the chief blessing, and the only solid foundation of all other mercies: and then he prays for temporal mercies; thereby teaching us what to desire principally in our prayers; which also Christ hath taught us in his perfect prayer; wherein there is but one petition for outward, and all the rest are for spiritual blessings.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.