Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 9:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6But 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:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
At 1 Kings 9:6, the narrator warns Solomon and later generations against abandoning the commands for other gods.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 9:1–9:9
Read 1 Kings 9:6 with 1 Kings 9:1–9:9, titled “God answers Solomon with promise and warning.” Warns Solomon and later generations against abandoning the commands for other gods.
Why This Verse Appears Here
1 Kings 9:6 warns Solomon and later generations against abandoning the commands for other gods; this distinct detail carries 1 Kings 9:1–9:9 from “1 Kings 8:62–8:66 has just shown: Sacrifice and feast dedicate the temple.” toward “1 Kings 9:10–9:14 next develops: Hiram rejects the Galilean cities.”
Read 1 Kings 9:1–9 together
Why these verses belong together: God answers Solomon with promise and warning is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 9:1–9:9.
Verse 1. 1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,
Verse 2. 2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
Verse 3. 3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Verse 4. 4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
Verse 5. 5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
Verse 6. 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:
Verse 7. 7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
Verse 8. 8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
Verse 9. 9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
Follow the Context
- Marks completion of temple, palace, and Solomon's other desired projects
- Supplies covenant abandonment and other worship as the narrator's theological answer to catastrophe
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Divine promise and warning do not approve conquest, forced labor, diplomatic extraction, or the treatment of subjected peoples as expendable.
What Remains True
Because 1 Kings 9:6 warns Solomon and later generations against abandoning the commands for other gods, responsible reading keeps the narrated action, source limits, accountable agents, and affected people together; Divine promise and warning do not approve conquest, forced labor, diplomatic extraction, or the treatment of subjected peoples as expendable.
How It Can Shape Life
- When an analogous issue arises, use 1 Kings 9:6 to name the specific conduct—warns Solomon and later generations against abandoning the commands for other gods—then document power, evidence, uncertainty, safeguards, and people at risk.
Teach It Back
In 55–180 words, explain how 1 Kings 9:6 warns Solomon and later generations against abandoning the commands for other gods, why it needs 1 Kings 9:1–9:9, and what the complete unit does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Kings 9:1–9:9 — God answers Solomon with promise and warningSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
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 9:1–9:9, 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 9:1–9:9
Open source ↗