What Does 1 Kings 5:5 Mean?
And behold, I say that I will build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, Your son, whom I will set in his place upon your throne, he will build a house for my name.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.THE KEY
The son inherits both the throne and the building work: the house gives visible form to the LORD’s nature.
THE MEANING
The verse holds succession and building together: a son is placed in his father’s throne-place, and he builds a house for the LORD’s name. The name is the LORD’s nature, so the house gives that nature a visible place in the world. The pattern speaks now wherever what is built takes its shape from who God is.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that a sacred house is only a structure bearing a divine label; its purpose is to make the nature named visible.
THE ROOT
לִבְנוֹת
livnot
GROWS FROM
בנה
banah
Build, build up.
“build” in this verse is livnot. The verse uses this root for both the act of building and, in its related word בן (ben, son), the son himself. The son’s place in the family and his work on the house belong to one word-family: succession is part of the building.
ALSO GROWS
son: Son
בֵּן
This related word ties the son directly to the root of building; the one who inherits the place is also the one who builds the house.
building: Building, structure
בִּנְיָן
The structure is the root made visible, giving form to the work entrusted to the son.
לְשֵׁם
leshem
GROWS FROM
שׂים
Set, place; traditionally associated with a name as a definite or conspicuous designation.
Here, the name is more than an inscription: it is the LORD’s nature made known. The house is built for that nature to take visible form, so the building belongs to the character it bears.
ALSO GROWS
name: Name, identity, reputation
שֵׁם
The house is built for the LORD’s nature and identity, not merely for a label attached to a place.
set: Set, place
שׂוּם
The traditional association with setting or placing echoes the son being set in the throne-place from which he undertakes the building.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling for God takes shape through human building, while its purpose and stability remain God’s own.
He shall build a house for my name, and I will set firm the throne of his kingdom for the ages.A Song of degrees for Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders toil in emptiness. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in emptiness.In whom you also are built together into a place where God settles, through breath.THE THREAD
He shall build a house for my name, and I will set firm the throne of his kingdom for the ages.This promise uses the same Hebrew root בנה (banah, build) for the son’s work. It makes explicit the link this verse compresses: the son builds the house for the LORD’s name as the throne passes through him.
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