I Kings 8

Chapter 8

 

v. 8:  I suppose the poles could not be seen beyond the Holy Place because the doors to the Holy Place were closed.

 

v. 27:  I like this because Solomon is expressing what a modern person might consider an “advanced” conception of the nature of God, one not to be expected among the Israelites at this stage of their intellectual development.  Whatever Solomon thought about the nature of God or the existence of other gods, he at least considers the presence of God to be a thing beyond the comprehension of any human mind.[1]  Solomon does not even think that God can be contained by earth or heaven, while many modern people would have Solomon believing that God was a localized deity.

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[1] Verses like v. 23 are considered proof by some that Israelites were not clear at this time about whether or not God was the only god, but even if the Israelites allowed for the existence of other gods, it is still clear to me that, at the time of the writing of this book, the Israelites’ conception of their God was that he was like no other: omnipotent, omnipresent, and the creator of all (presumably even the creator of other gods if there were such things).