1 Kings 8:47yet if they shall repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, 'We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;'
The setting
Jerusalem, Israel, 957 BC. Solomon envisions future Israelites in foreign prison camps, remembering this prayer and crying out the three-fold confession he's teaching them.
The emotion here: prophetic grief mixed with hope for future restoration
The original word
shub (שׁוּב) — to turn around completely, like a soldier doing an about-face on a battlefield
Why it matters
The three-part confession 'sinned, done perversely, acted wickedly' became the standard Jewish repentance formula
Read with care
What most readers miss in 1 Kings 8:47
Solomon is giving captives a script for repentance—specific words to say when they've lost everything
Common misconceptionPeople think repentance is just feeling sorry, but Solomon gives a three-part process: acknowledge the sin, admit the perverse heart, and confess the wicked rebellion.
The thread continues
Verses that echo 1 Kings 8:47
Bible Genome reading
1 Kings 8:47 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
1 Kings 8:47 comes from the book of 1 Kings, written during the United Kingdom period. The setting is the Temple. These words are attributed to Solomon. The dominant emotion in this verse is growing, with a comfort power of 70% and a tone that is reverent. It belongs to the prayer genre of biblical literature. Key themes include repentance, restoration, hope. Notable phrases: repent; turn again. This verse is a prayer.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same growing
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
— Proverbs 22:6
“So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
— Romans 10:17
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
— John 3:30
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
— Galatians 6:2
“He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.”
— Genesis 15:6
Your reflection
What does 1 Kings 8:47 mean to you, today?
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