29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floors of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm trees.
33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.
34 And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved thereon cherubim and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
29 And he carved H7049 all the walls H7023 of the house H1004 round about H4524 with carved H6603 figures H4734 of cherubims H3742 and palm trees H8561 and open H6362 flowers, H6731 within H6441 and without. H2435
30 And the floor H7172 of the house H1004 he overlaid H6823 with gold, H2091 within H6441 and without. H2435
31 And for the entering H6607 of the oracle H1687 he made H6213 doors H1817 of olive H8081 tree: H6086 the lintel H352 and side posts H4201 were a fifth part H2549 of the wall.
32 The two H8147 doors H1817 also were of olive H8081 tree; H6086 and he carved H7049 upon them carvings H4734 of cherubims H3742 and palm trees H8561 and open H6362 flowers, H6731 and overlaid H6823 them with gold, H2091 and spread H7286 gold H2091 upon the cherubims, H3742 and upon the palm trees. H8561
33 So also made H6213 he for the door H6607 of the temple H1964 posts H4201 of olive H8081 tree, H6086 a fourth part H7243 of the wall.
34 And the two H8147 doors H1817 were of fir H1265 tree: H6086 the two H8147 leaves H6763 of the one H259 door H1817 were folding, H1550 and the two H8147 leaves H7050 of the other H8145 door H1817 were folding. H1550
35 And he carved H7049 thereon cherubims H3742 and palm trees H8561 and open H6362 flowers: H6731 and covered H6823 them with gold H2091 fitted H3474 upon the carved work. H2707
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel `and' door-posts were a fifth part `of the wall'.
32 So `he made' two doors of olive-wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees.
33 So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood, out of a fourth part `of the wall';
34 and two doors of fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved `thereon' cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work.
29 and all the walls of the house round about he hath carved with openings of carvings, cherubs, and palm trees, and openings of flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he hath overlaid with gold, within and without;
31 as to the opening of the oracle, he made doors of the oil-tree; the lintel, side-posts, a fifth.
32 And the two doors `are' of the oil-tree, and he hath carved upon them carvings of cherubs, and palm-trees, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with gold, and he causeth the gold to go down on the cherubs and on the palm-trees.
33 And so he hath made for the opening of the temple, side-posts of the oil-tree, from the fourth.
34 And the two doors `are' of fir-tree, the two sides of the one door are revolving, and the two hangings of the second door are revolving.
35 And he hath carved cherubs, and palms, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with straightened gold the graved work.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved sculptures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel [and] side posts were the fifth part [of the breadth of the house].
32 The two doors were of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees and half-open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm-trees.
33 And he also made for the doorway of the temple posts of olive-wood, of the fourth part [of the breadth of the house].
34 And the two folding-doors were of cypress-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved on them cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers; and overlaid them with gold fitted on the carved work.
29 He carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, inside and outside.
30 The floor of the house he overlaid with gold, inside and outside.
31 For the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel [and] door-posts were a fifth part [of the wall].
32 So [he made] two doors of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim, and on the palm trees.
33 So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood, out of a fourth part [of the wall];
34 and two doors of fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 He carved [thereon] cherubim and palm trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
29 And all the walls of the house inside and out were ornamented with forms of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers.
30 And the floor of the house was covered with gold, inside and out.
31 For the way into the inmost room he made doors of olive-wood, the arch and the door supports forming a five-sided opening.
32 On the olive-wood doors were cut designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, all of them, with the doors, plated with gold.
33 Then he made pillars of olive-wood for the way into the Temple; the pillars were square:
34 And two folding doors of cypress-wood, with two leaves.
35 These were ornamented with designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, plated over with gold.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 6
Commentary on 1 Kings 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
1Ki 6:1-4. The Building of Solomon's Temple.
2. the house which king Solomon built for the Lord—The dimensions are given in cubits, which are to be reckoned according to the early standard (2Ch 3:3), or holy cubit (Eze 40:5; 43:13), a handbreadth longer than the common or later one. It is probable that the internal elevation only is here stated.
3. the porch—or portico, extended across the whole front (see on 2Ch 3:4).
4. windows of narrow lights—that is, windows with lattices, capable of being shut and opened at pleasure, partly to let out the vapor of the lamps, the smoke of the frankincense, and partly to give light [Keil].
1Ki 6:5-10. The Chambers Thereof.
5. against the wall of the house he built chambers—On three sides, there were chambers in three stories, each story wider than the one beneath it, as the walls were narrowed or made thinner as they ascended, by a rebate being made, on which the beams of the side floor rested, without penetrating the wall. These chambers were approached from the right-hand side, in the interior of the under story, by a winding staircase of stone, which led to the middle and upper stories.
7. there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building—A subterranean quarry has been very recently discovered near Jerusalem, where the temple stones are supposed to have been hewn. There is unequivocal evidence in this quarry that the stones were dressed there; for there are blocks very similar in size, as well as of the same kind of stone, as those found in the ancient remains. Thence, probably, they would be moved on rollers down the Tyropean valley to the very side of the temple [Porter, Tent and Kahn].
9, 10. built the house—The temple is here distinguished from the wings or chambers attached to it—and its roofing was of cedar-wood.
10. chambers … five cubits high—The height of the whole three stories was therefore about fifteen cubits.
they rested on the house with timber of cedar—that is, because the beams of the side stones rested on the ledges of the temple wall. The wing was attached to the house; it was connected with the temple, without, however, interfering injuriously with the sanctuary [Keil].
1Ki 6:11-14. God's Promises unto It.
11-13. the word of the Lord came to Solomon—probably by a prophet. It was very seasonable, being designed: first, to encourage him to go on with the building, by confirming anew the promise made to his father David (2Sa 7:12-16); and secondly, to warn him against the pride and presumption of supposing that after the erection of so magnificent a temple, he and his people would always be sure of the presence and favor of God. The condition on which that blessing could alone be expected was expressly stated. The dwelling of God among the children of Israel refers to those symbols of His presence in the temple, which were the visible tokens of His spiritual relation to that people.
1Ki 6:15-22. The Ceiling and Adorning of It.
15-21. he built the walls of the house within—The walls were wainscotted with cedar-wood; the floor, paved with cypress planks; the interior was divided (by a partition consisting of folding doors, which were opened and shut with golden chains) into two apartments—the back or inner room, that is, the most holy place, was twenty cubits long and broad; the front, or outer room, that is, the holy place, was forty cubits. The cedar-wood was beautifully embellished with figures in relievo, representing clusters of foliage, open flowers, cherubims, and palm trees. The whole interior was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood nor stone was seen; nothing met the eye but pure gold, either plain or richly chased.
31-35. for the entering of the oracle—The door of the most holy place was made of solid olive tree and adorned with figures. The door of the holy place was made of cypress wood, the sides being of olive wood.
36. the inner court—was for the priests. Its wall, which had a coping of cedar, is said to have been so low that the people could see over it.
1Ki 6:37, 38. The time Taken to Build It.
37. In the fourth year was the foundation laid—The building was begun in the second month of the fourth year and completed in the eighth month of the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, comprising a period of seven and a half years, which is reckoned here in round numbers. It was not a very large, but a very splendid building, requiring great care, and ingenuity, and division of labor. The immense number of workmen employed, together with the previous preparation of the materials, serves to account for the short time occupied in the process of building.