📖WEB · 1 Kings 9:5
What does 1 Kings 9:5 mean?
"then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’"
— 1 Kings 9:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;
then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’
But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them;
then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’
Explanation
1 Kings 9:5 records God's promise to Solomon that if he remains faithful, God will make the throne of his kingdom over Israel permanent, fulfilling what He had earlier promised to David—that David's line would never lack a descendant sitting on Israel's throne. In plain language, God is saying: "Your dynasty will last forever, just as I told your father it would."
This verse comes from God's second appearance to Solomon, occurring after the dedication of the newly built temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 9:1-9). The first appearance had been at Gibeon, where God granted Solomon wisdom (1 Kings 3). Now, after Solomon has completed both the temple and his own palace, God visits him again to confirm His covenant. This passage echoes 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant, where God promised David an everlasting dynasty through Nathan the prophet. Here God reaffirms that promise directly to Solomon, David's son and successor, showing continuity between generations of God's covenant faithfulness.
Theologically, this verse is significant because it is explicitly conditional, as the surrounding verses make clear (1 Kings 9:4, 6-9). Solomon must "walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness" for this promise to hold. If Solomon or his descendants turn away to worship other gods, God warns that Isra
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.