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At the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8, Solomon asks God to hear his people whenever they are defeated and turn back to pray toward the temple. The high priest’s prayer in 3 Maccabees 2 appeals to that promise as enemies threaten Jerusalem.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Kings 8:34
Hebrew Bible
32 Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. 33 “The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple, 34 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. 35 “The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them,
3 Maccabees 2:10
Pseudepigrapha
9 You, O King, when you had created the boundless and immeasurable earth, chose this city and sanctified this place for your name, though you have no need of anything; and when you had glorified it by your magnificent manifestation, you made it a firm foundation for the glory of your great and honored name. 10 And because you love the house of Israel, you promised that if we should have reverses and tribulation should overtake us, you would listen to our petition when we come to this place and pray. 11 And indeed you are faithful and true.
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Notes and References
... A number of scholars have suggested that 3 Maccabees 2:10 makes a clear reference to 1 Kings 8:23-53, the long prayer offered by Solomon at the dedication of the Temple and discussed at some length in Chapter One above. There are three indications that the verse in 3 Maccabees makes reference to Solomon's prayer. The first is simply that 1 Kings 8:23-53//2 Chronicles 6:14-42 is the only time that the subject of what prayers God might answer from the Temple appears in the Bible. The second indication for dependence is the circumstances surrounding the high priest's prayer in 3 Maccabees 2. The petition is offered at the Temple in the face of Ptolemy Philopater's invasion of Jerusalem and threatened desecration of the Temple. ...
Newman, Judith H.
Praying by the Book: The Scripturalization of Prayer in Second Temple Judaism
(p. 193) Society of Biblical Literature, 1999
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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