Hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel: The Revised Standard Version rendering hearken is archaic English. New Revised Standard Version translates in contemporary English by saying “Hear the plea….” Other modern versions use the verb “Listen” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

For supplication see the comments in verse 28.

Solomon continues to refer to himself in the third person as thy servant, as in verses 28 and 29. But it will be more natural in most languages to use the first person singular. Compare, for example, New Century Version: “Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel.” New Living Translation preserves the element of humility implied by the third person self-reference by saying “May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel.”

When they pray: Many languages will have to say “when we pray” (so Parole de Vie). Otherwise readers may feel that Solomon is excluding himself from the people of Israel. But this is certainly not his intention.

Toward this place: Those translations that render the Hebrew “in this place” in verse 29 do it here also. However, in the following verses Solomon mentions people throughout Israel praying toward the Temple. This fact favors the rendering toward here, instead of the rendering “in.”

Yea is literally “and you [singular].” The pronoun indicates emphasis and urgency here, which Revised Standard Version expresses with the word yea.

Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: This is the first occurrence of this clause, which occurs again in verses 32, 34, 36, 39, 43, 45, and 49, mostly in the shortened form “hear thou in heaven.” It is an appeal to Yahweh to listen to the prayer of Solomon but also locates the deity in heaven. The word translated heaven is the same as “sky” in other contexts. Translators should translate heaven here as a place where God is thought to dwell. The verb hear implies a favorable hearing. Some may prefer to translate this clause as “answer from your home in heaven” (Contemporary English Version).

When thou hearest, forgive: The Hebrew does not have an expressed direct object for the verb hearest or forgive, but the context requires that the first person pronoun “us” be understood in both cases (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). The Hebrew verb rendered forgive is found four more times in this chapter (verses 34, 36, 39, and 50). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “pardon.”

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 .