2 Chronicles 6:26–31

Context

This passage is part of the prayer that Solomon offered before the people when he completed and dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 6:12–42). Solomon first confesses that even heaven cannot contain God, "how much less this house which I have built!" (6:18). He then lists, one by one, the occasions on which the people will pray toward this temple and asks God to hear them. Verses 26–27 address drought, when the rain has been withheld because of sin. Verses 28–31 address every kind of disaster: famine, pestilence, the scorching of grain or smut (a disease that turns the ears of grain black), swarms of locusts, and siege by enemies. A nearly identical passage appears in 1 Kings 8:35–40. In 2 Chronicles 7:13–22, God answers that if the people humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, He "will heal their land."

Interpretation

• A covenantal reading: Many interpreters find the background of this section in the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 (drought, disease, pests, and enemy invasion). Read this way, disaster is discipline intended to turn the people back. The passage locates the remedy not in sacrifice but in prayer and repentance ("and turn from their sin").
• The relationship between temple and prayer: Prayer is made "toward" the temple, but the answer comes "from heaven thy dwelling place." For this reason the temple is understood not as a place that confines God but as the place where God's name dwells and the direction toward which prayer is offered. Christian interpreters connect this passage with the New Testament presentation of Jesus as the true temple; one example is John 4:20–23, which speaks of worship not bound to a particular place.
• A reading attentive to the individual heart: Verses 29–30 speak of the time when "any man, or ... all thy people" shall each "know his own sore and his own grief" and pray, and they emphasize that God alone knows "the hearts of the children of men." On this reading, even in disasters that a community suffers together, the inner heart of each person matters; the passage is read alongside Jeremiah 17:10.
• The purpose of forgiveness: Verse 31 states that the forgiven people will "fear thee, to walk in thy ways." Because forgiveness here does not merely remove dread but leads to reverent fear, the passage is compared with Psalm 130:4.

Questions of Application

There is no marked interpretive divide among denominations. Nevertheless, the following questions arise in applying the passage today.

• Verse 26 presupposes that the drought is a consequence of sin. Verses 28–30, however, do not inquire into causes and call for prayer "whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be." On the basis of this difference, some observe that declaring a disaster to be punishment for the sins of a particular person or group is an application that goes beyond the text. In this connection, the book of Job and John 9:1–3 are also cited.
• Interpreters who stress that this is a promise given to the nation of Israel and its land propose applying the text only as a principle. Others, by contrast, regard it as a universal principle of repentance and restoration for God's people and apply it broadly to the church and to nations today.

In the Korean Church

2 Chronicles 6, which contains Solomon's prayer of dedication, is frequently used as a sermon text for church dedication services. When great disasters such as drought or epidemics strike, it is read together with 2 Chronicles 7:14 as a text calling for repentance and prayer for the nation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this section, which mentions "pestilence," was also cited in sermons.

Related Passages

• 1 Kings 8:35–40
• 2 Chronicles 7:13–14
• Deuteronomy 11:13–17
• Psalm 130:4
• John 9:1–3