“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house,
Solomon's prayer at the temple's dedication now turns to specific cases, and the first is a quarrel between two men. Nobody can prove the wrong, so the accused swears an oath at God's altar and Solomon asks God to judge.
Where this case sits in the prayer
Solomon does not begin with disasters. He starts by asking for pardon, because he knows what people are like. Only then does he work through the troubles he expects. One writer lays out the shape of the whole prayer:
W. W. FeredayHowever favoured and glorious Solomon might be, Solomon was not Christ… He was surrounded by splendour. He had wisdom and power beyond anyone before him. Yet Solomon felt that stability had not yet come. So his prayer is full of expected trouble… Solomon knew something of what weak human nature can do, so he used the word "forgive" before mentioning any specific evil (verse 30). He then lists the likely needs and troubles of the future: (1) Personal trespasses (verses 31-32) (2) Military defeat (verses 33-34) (3) Drought (verses 35-36) (4) Famine, plague, etc. (verses 37-40) (5) Danger in war (verses 44-45) (6) Captivity in a foreign land (verses 46-50)
A case no human court could decide
Here the facts are in doubt. The accused man swears an oath, and Solomon asks God to settle what evidence could not.
Leslie M. GrantSuppose one man sinned against his neighbour and there was some question about the matter. The accused then had to swear an oath about his guilt or innocence. Solomon asks that God would hear and step in, clearing the innocent and condemning the guilty (vs. 31-32). Because people may be guilty of swearing falsely, Solomon prayed that God would step in to settle such cases.
Why the oath was taken at the altar
The oath was not sworn in a vacuum. It was sworn in the house where God had put His name, and that is what gave it weight.
H. L. RossierThe first case (vv. 31-32) concerns one person. Solomon asks God to condemn the wicked man when an oath is laid on him before the altar "in this house" — and to justify the righteous. God's presence in His house makes wrongdoing impossible. This is the simple, general truth that each person is repaid for what he does. People knew that truth under the law, when God agreed to come and live among a people in the flesh.
An oath carried the same weight anywhere in Israel, because of who lived among the people:
William KellyTaking such an oath was all the more solemn for an Israelite, since the Lord lived among them to judge. This was not hidden providence, or waiting for a final court day. He was there to deal according to His law and their relationship as His people.
The weight of a false oath
Solomon's prayer assumes some men will lie under oath. One writer sets that sin beside theft:
H. L. RossierA thief is an evil man who treats his neighbour wrongly. The man who swears falsely makes God out to be a liar, by calling Him as a witness to back up his oath.
Not "forgive" but "judge"
Every other request in this prayer asks for pardon. This one does not, and commentators mark the difference:
The Bible Treasury"If a man sins against his neighbor." Such a thing might happen as an exception to the general obedience of the people… And Solomon's prayer in such a case is not, Hear and forgive, but "Hear from heaven [where he knew he could only find forgiveness] and act, and judge Your servants. Repay the wicked man by bringing his own conduct back on his head, and clear the righteous man by giving him what his righteousness deserves." This is law. If God had repaid the sinner at once, sin would not have polluted the land or the people. But suppose the whole nation are sinners. Suppose the very men whose job it was to uphold the law were just as guilty. Who then could righteously take vengeance for a broken law?
That shows the limit. Judging one man against another works only while everyone else is innocent — and they were not.
The Bible TreasurySuppose God judged on the principle of law, by righteousness apart from grace. Then He would — indeed He must — abandon His house and leave Israel under the terrible judgment of a broken covenant. Again and again Solomon says "hear and forgive."… He did not know, as we do, how the cross of Christ secures that mercy, and indeed makes it abound.
Summary
- Trespass. One man wrongs his neighbour, nobody can prove it, so the accused swears an oath.
- Altar. He swears it where God lives among His people. Nothing waits on hidden providence — God is there to deal with it.
- Perjury. Swearing falsely goes past the neighbour and touches God: it calls Him as witness to a lie.
- Judge, not forgive. Every other request asks for pardon. This one asks God to condemn the guilty and clear the innocent. That is pure law: each man repaid for what he did.
- Limit. This works only while the nation is not wholly guilty. Once all have sinned, only mercy can act — and commentators point to the cross of Christ, which secures that mercy.