There are striking similarities between the dedicatory prayer of Solomon’s Temple and the Kirtland Temple. They begin in a similar fashion. Here is the beginning of the dedicatory prayer for Solomon’s Temple:
“And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
“And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart.” (1 Kings 8:22-23)
Here is the prayer for the Kirtland Temple:
“Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts.” (D&C 109:1)
The Hebrew word for mercy is checed. President Nelson made this word famous in the Church. Often, it is translated as lovingkindness in the Old Testament. Checed (sometimes transliterated as hesed) is tied to a covenant relationship. One of its meanings is “to favor.” Nephi said, “Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God” (1 Nephi 17:35). Some of God’s choicest blessings can only be accessed by virtue of covenants.
Both of the above passages include the concept of “walking before God.” In Hebrew, this implies being in God’s presence. The temple endowment is a symbolic journey from premortal to mortal life and then back to God’s presence.
The word uprightly is tamiym in Hebrew and it means “without spot or blameless.” Moroni explains how we can “become holy, without spot” by abiding the “covenant of the Father” (Moroni 10:33). Alma asks, “Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God?” (Alma 5:27).
Solomon’s prayer pleads for the repentant sinner: “When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers” (1 Kings 8:33-34). Likewise, the prayer Joseph Smith received by revelation states, “And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house” (D&C 109:21).
There were spiritual manifestations in both temples, such as a cloud of glory, speaking in tongues, cloven tongues of fire, and a mighty rushing wind during the dedications.
Part of this symbolic walk back to the presence of God involves, what Bible scholars call, “gestures of approach.” One of these is known as the “Hallel Gesture.” This is described as Solomon begins the dedicatory prayer. The scripture reads:
“And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.” (1 Kings 8:22)
“What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house.” (1 Kings 8:38)
“And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.” (1 Kings 8:54)
For the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, the Hallel Gesture is also noted:
“That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High.” (D&C 109:9)
“And that all their salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with holy hands, uplifted to the Most High.” (D&C 109:19).
For Solomon’s Temple, the Hallel Gesture occurs three times. This Hallel Gesture of “spreading forth the hands” or uplifted hands toward heaven has at least four symbolic meanings.
First, it’s obviously a gesture of prayer. The Apostle Paul said, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Timothy 2:8).
Second, by raising the hands and exposing the chest cavity, we show the Lord our clean hands and pure heart. The verse above in 1 Timothy is linked by a footnote to Psalm 24:3-4: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” In another temple text, Alma asks, “I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands?” (Alma 5:19). In Isaiah 1:15, we see the context of prayer, pure hearts, and clean hands, as the Lord judged Israel by saying, “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.”
Third, this gesture demonstrates surrender to God. Remember, these gestures of approach determine our standing before God as friend or foe. The open hand bears no weapons, while the clenched fist demonstrates defiance.
Fourth, the word Hallel means “to praise.” We come to Him in worship to praise His holy name. The word Hallelujah is a full Hebrew sentence. It means “Praise ye the Lord.” Hugh Nibley once said, speaking of the Zoramite Rameumptom, “This is the way they would go. They would go on the top and stretch forth their hands to heaven. That’s the hallel gesture, which you find anciently everywhere. It gave us the Hebrew letter h. It’s the little hallelujah mannequin here [Brother Nibley draws it on the board]. You see it on jars, vases, rocks, glyphs, etc. They would do that. It’s the usual gesture, the hallel or hallelujah. Hallel means ‘to greet the new moon’ and various things like that.” Alma was not criticizing the gesture itself, but how the Zoramites had “perverted” something sacred.
David Mitchell observed that the hands were raised to varying heights to emphasize different ideas. The word hand has two forms—yad and kaph. Kaph refers mainly to the palm of the hand, but is also used as hollow of the thigh, sole of the foot, or spoon. Yad is the open flat hand. Both words symbolize power, but yad also symbolizes direction. We commonly use the hand to point in a specific direction. On some occasions, the high priest in the temple would raise his hands only to the height of his golden crown to point to the words, “Holiness to the Lord.”
