“Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Chronicles 6:40 Mean?
"Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place." The CLIMAX of Solomon's dedication prayer in Chronicles: the king begs God to keep His EYES OPEN and His EARS ATTENTIVE to prayer made in the temple. The plea is for SUSTAINED divine attention — not just a one-time hearing but an ongoing openness. The request is that the temple function as a permanent PRAYER-STATION where God is always watching and always listening.
The phrase "let thine eyes be open" (yihyu eynekha petuchot — let your eyes be opened) asks for divine VIGILANCE: open eyes mean God SEES what happens in the temple — every prayer, every offering, every penitent, every worshiper. The request isn't for occasional glances. It's for perpetually OPEN eyes. The temple should be the place where God never looks away. The divine gaze is constant.
The phrase "let thine ears be attent" (ve'oznekha qashshuvot — your ears be attentive/listening) adds the AUDITORY dimension: open eyes SEE the worshiper. Attentive ears HEAR the prayer. Both senses are engaged. God watches AND listens. The temple is the place of COMPLETE divine attention — nothing unseen, nothing unheard. The worshiper who comes to this place has God's full sensory engagement.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What space needs God's perpetual attention — His eyes open and ears attentive?
- 2.What does the most powerful king in the world BEGGING for God's attention teach about the nature of prayer?
- 3.How does 'this place' (geographic specificity) describe the importance of designated spaces for divine encounter?
- 4.What prayer are you making that requires both God SEEING and God HEARING?
Devotional
Solomon's final plea: God, keep your EYES OPEN here. Keep your EARS ATTENTIVE here. Don't look away. Don't stop listening. Make this temple the place where your attention is PERPETUAL — where every prayer is seen and heard, where no worshiper is overlooked, where no cry goes unnoticed.
The EYES and EARS together represent COMPLETE attention: seeing and hearing, watching and listening. Solomon asks for BOTH — not just that God observes from a distance but that He leans in, pays attention, engages with what happens in this space. The request is for INTIMATE divine attention — the kind where nothing is missed.
The 'prayer that is made IN THIS PLACE' anchors the request GEOGRAPHICALLY: Solomon asks for God's attention to be fixed on THIS location. The temple becomes the coordinates for divine engagement. The building is the address where prayers arrive and attention resides. The 'this place' isn't just architecture. It's an APPOINTMENT — a permanent meeting-point between human prayer and divine attention.
The 'I BESEECH thee' (anna — please, I beg) reveals the URGENCY: the most powerful king in the world BEGS. The builder of the temple PLEADS. The request isn't casual or assumed. It's DESPERATE — please, God, pay attention here. The begging says: I know you're not obligated. I know I can't demand this. But PLEASE — let this place be the place where you always watch and always listen.
What space in your life needs God's eyes to be OPEN and His ears to be ATTENTIVE — and are you asking with Solomon's urgency?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
In Kings, a different conclusion takes the place of these verses. The document from which both writers copied contained…
Solomon had, in the foregoing verses, signed and sealed, as it were, the deed of dedication, by which the temple was…
(No parallel in 1 Kings). The Invocation
The end of the prayer in 1Ki 8:51-53 is quite different.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture