8:6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned 1 place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. 8:7 The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. 2 8:8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. 3 They have remained there to this very day.
1 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 sn And its poles. These poles were used to carry the ark. See Exod 25:13-15.
3 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
4 tn Heb “turn to.”
5 tn Heb “by listening to.”
6 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
7 tn Heb “praying before you.”
8 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
9 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
10 tn Heb “listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
11 tn Heb “and you, hear inside your dwelling place, inside heaven.” The precise nuance of the preposition אֶל (’el), used here with the verb “hear,” is unclear. One expects the preposition “from,” which appears in the parallel text in 2 Chr 6:21. The nuance “inside; among” is attested for אֶל (see Gen 23:19; 1 Sam 10:22; Jer 4:3), but in each case a verb of motion is employed with the preposition, unlike 1 Kgs 8:30. The translation above (“from inside”) is based on the demands of the immediate context rather than attested usage elsewhere.
12 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
13 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
14 tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”