1 Kings 9:6

1Ki 9:6 [But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

Ver. 6. But if you shall at all turn.] Heb., Turning turn; utterly and totally turn, sliding back from me by a perpetual backsliding; {Jer 8:5} if ye shall hold fast deceit, and refuse to return (ibid.).

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_9:6-9

But if ye shall at all turn from following Me.

A note of warning

A druggist in Ansonia, Conn., has an electric bell in a cabinet containing poisons. When the door is opened the bell rings, reminding the compounder he is handling poisons. What a grand thing it would be were it possible to sound an alarm every time a man puts forth his hand to touch that which will kill the soul. True, God in His great love has provided such an alarm, but, alas, men are prone to disregard its notes of alarm, and by and by it tolls forth its notes only to fall upon closed ears, and finally the bell, like that spoken of in the legend, is cut loose by the hand of a ruthless pirate, and its warning notes no longer are heard.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 9:6-7. If you shall at all turn from following me — Hebrew, If in turning you turn from me; that is, if you assuredly, and indeed, or, as some understand it, altogether turn from me; if you forsake my service, desert my altar, and go and serve other gods; (for that was the covenant-breaking sin;) if you or your children break off from me, and knowingly and wilfully violate my laws, this house will not save you. Then will I cut off Israel — By one judgment after another, till they become the most despicable people under the sun, though they be now the most honourable. This implies the destruction of the royal family, though it is not particularly threatened; for the king is of course undone if his kingdom be destroyed. And this house — will I cast out of my sight — I will not regard it, but will take away my presence and protection from it: it shall be abandoned and laid desolate. And Israel shall be a proverb — Their calamities and miseries shall be mentioned proverbially, to express extreme affliction and distress. And a byword among all people — Who would mock at their calamitous and deplorable state.

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

God declareth that disobedience against him, is the cause of his displeasure, and so of all misery.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

6. But if you shall at all turn from following me] The insertion of ‘at all’ here is an attempt to give some force to the Hebrew construction. It is a peculiarity of that language to use the infinitive of a verb followed by a finite tense to give emphasis to an expression. But undoubtedly ‘at all’ weakens the sense here. God’s warning is against utter apostasy, going and serving other gods. Hence there is more force in R.V. If ye shall turn away from following me.

and my statutes] There is no conjunction between the two nouns here, but there is in the parallel place in 2 Chronicles and in the versions it is represented. So small a letter as ו could easily drop out.

which I have set before you] The LXX. has ‘which Moses gave before you.’

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.

But if you shall at all turn from following me, you or your children,.... From my worship, as the Targum; either Solomon or his successors, or the people of Israel and their posterity; should they turn their backs on God and his worship, meaning not in a single instance, or in some small degree; but as in the original, "if in turning ye turn" (e), that is, utterly, and entirely, or wholly turn from him and his worship to other gods, as follows:

and will not keep my commandments and my statutes, which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: neglecting the will and worship of God, go into idolatrous practices, as Solomon himself did.

(e) "si avertendo aversi fueritis", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

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

At all turn - Rather, “If ye shall wholly turn from following Me.” (See 2Ch 7:19.) The Israelites were not to be cut off, except for an entire defection.

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

But if. This threat had been denounced by Moses, (Deuteronomy xxix. 24.) and was repeated by Jeremias, (xxii. 8.) when it was on the point of being put in execution. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

If ye shall at all turn from following me; or rather,

if ye shall wholly turn, & c.; if you shall wilfully and obstinately depart from God, and violate his laws, as the doubling of the word implies. Whereby he also intimates that he would not be so rigid and severe towards them, as to mark every thing that was amiss; but would bear with much, as he did in David &c., only that he would not endure a total defection from him.

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

But if ye shall at all rather altogether, or assuredly turn from following me The A.V entirely misrepresents the force of the Hebraism, If to turn, ye shall turn, which must mean complete, not partial, apostasy. Cf. 2Ch_7:19, and, 2Sa_7:14, 15 ye or your children as the promises of God are to us and our children, (Act_2:39) so are His threatenings, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I LXX Mwushv; Qui facit per allure, etc. have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them (Exo_20:5; Deu_5:9 Deu_13:2)

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

my commandments and my statutes

Here the words "commandments" and "statutes" mean basically the same thing and emphasize all that Yahweh has commanded. (See: Doublet)

worship other gods and bow down to them

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and are combined for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)

set apart to my name

Here the word "name" is a metonym for the person who possesses something. AT: "set apart for myself" (See: Metonymy)

I will cast it out of my sight

The abstract noun "sight" can be expressed with the verb "see." Looking at something is a metaphor for protecting it. AT: "I will put it where I no longer have to see it" or "I will get rid of it so I no longer have to protect it" (See: Abstract Nouns and Metaphor)

translationWords

turn

worship

false god

bow

cut off

house

set apart

name

cast out

mock

people group

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.