'Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, keeping the covenant and the steadfast love that you have sworn to your servants — Despite the paradox, Solomon appeals to God to 'have regard' (וּפָנִיתָ אֶל־תְּפִלַּת עַבְדְּךָ, turn toward your servant's prayer) and his supplication (וְתִחִנָּתוֹ). The petition employs the covenantal language: God is asked to keep 'the covenant and steadfast love' (בְּרִית וְהַחֶסֶד). The phrase 'sworn to your servants' (אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁמַעְתָּ לְעֲבָדֶיךָ) anchors the petition in prior divine commitment. Solomon's strategy: acknowledge the paradox, then appeal to God's covenant obligation. The shift from architectural questions to covenant language suggests the resolution: the temple's function is covenantal, not cosmological. The house works as covenant symbol and meeting-place despite its inability to literally contain the infinite.

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