KJV ORIGINAL
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
But will God really live with people here on earth? Look, even heaven itself—and the highest heavens above that—cannot hold all of who You are. How could this temple that I have built possibly contain You?
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
The writer is expressing wonder that the infinite, limitless God would choose to dwell in a physical building made by human hands.
📚 Historical Context
This is Solomon speaking during the dedication of the magnificent temple he built in Jerusalem, around 950 BC. He had just completed this incredible structure meant to be God's dwelling place among His people, but Solomon recognized the profound mystery that an infinite God would choose to be present in a finite building.
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