And this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”

And they are not to see the fact that YHWH has ‘hallowed' the House as an indication that He will give it special treatment. The ‘holiness' of the House is not to be seen as intrinsic. Rather it is hallowed (set apart uniquely as His earthly Dwellingplace) because, and while, He is among them (1 Kings 8:10) and they are His obedient people. But if they rebel against Him then He will cast the house out of His sight. He will have no interest in it at all.

Furthermore Israel themselves are warned that as a result they will become a kind of private joke, a jest, a ‘proverb' (illustration) which acts as a warning to others, and a ‘byword' (a saying with teeth). Because they have rejected Him YHWH will have no concern at all for their good name.

For ‘cast out of My sight' compare Jeremiah 7:15. For the idea of being ‘a proverb and a byword' see Deuteronomy 28:37; Jeremiah 24:9, but note that in neither case do the two words stand alone. Those verses are not likely therefore to be the direct source of the idea.

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