Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Kings 8:32 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 32. 32Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Prayer for justice under oath.”
An oath at the altar is referred to heaven
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 8:31–32. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 8:31–32
Read 1 Kings 8:32 with 8:31–32. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Introduces a case in which an accused neighbor takes an oath at the altar; asks God to judge the guilty and vindicate the righteous in that dispute.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Prayer for justice under oath,” 1 Kings 8:32 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 1 Kings 8:22–30 establishes this prior movement: Places Solomon before the altar with hands spread toward heaven to pray; locates God's dwelling in heaven and makes forgiveness the answer to prayers directed toward the temple. 1 Kings 8:31–32 responds to the pressure, request, or claim already established; that demonstrated relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 1 Kings 8:31–32 together
Why these verses belong together: Prayer for justice under oath is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 8:31–8:32.
Verse 31. 31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
Verse 32. 32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
What Remains True
Discernment serves justice when it hears vulnerable people carefully and remains open to later moral evaluation. This unit tests that truth through introduces a case in which an accused neighbor takes an oath at the altar; asks God to judge the guilty and vindicate the righteous in that dispute. In 1 Kings 8:32, the concrete line “Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 8:31–32 — Prayer for justice under oathSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 8:31–32, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 8:31–32
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 599–602, translation and translator notes for 8:31–32
Open source ↗