Verses 33-34 present another situation in which God’s people may turn to him in prayer. Such a situation does, in fact, occur in 2 Kgs 19.14-19 at the time of King Hezekiah. Solomon’s words reflect the curse of Deut 28.25, in which Israelite disobedience to God would result in defeat by their enemies. Among the Israelites, defeat in war was regarded as punishment for sin (Josh 7.11-12). These verses form a conditional sentence like the previous two verses. Verse 33 is the “if” part of this conditional sentence, and verse 34 is the “then” part of the sentence.
Thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy: The passive verb are defeated may be translated actively by saying “your people Israel lose in battle to an enemy” or “an enemy defeats them” (Contemporary English Version).
They turn again to thee: The verb here is the same one that is translated “repent” in other contexts (see verses 47-48). Knox says “they come here repentant.” But since the text adds the pronoun thee, it is probably better to translate “… turn back to you” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
Acknowledge thy name: The verb rendered acknowledge may mean either “to praise” (New American Bible, Anchor Bible) or “to confess [sin].” In this context the first meaning is clearly intended. To praise God’s name is to praise God himself.
For pray and make supplication, see verse 28.
In this house: In Hebrew the fact that the people “come” to the Temple is left implicit. Good News Translation makes this explicit.
Some interpreters change the Hebrew at the end of this verse, so that make supplication to thee in this house reads “make supplication to you toward this house.” They make this change since the people are still in exile when they pray in this situation. However, there is no textual basis for such a correction.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .