Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 8:37

"If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting [or] mildew, locust [or] caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;" — 1 Kings 8:37 (ASV)

In the land of their cities - This literally means “in the land of their gates.” Hence, the marginal translation is “jurisdiction,” because judgments were pronounced in the town gates (Deuteronomy 16:18). Another reading gives “in one of their cities.”