This chapter gives an account of the building of the temple, for which preparations were before made and begins with the time of its building, 1 Kings 6:1; gives the dimensions of it and the porch before it, 1 Kings 6:2, 1 Kings 6:3; observes the windows in it and chambers about it, 1 Kings 6:4–10;…

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt The Tyrian writers [[9]] make it five hundred sixty years from hence; but this no doubt is tightest, which Junius reckons thus; forty years Israel were in the wilderness,…

And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord For his worship, honour, and glory: the length thereof was threescore cubits; sixty cubits from east to west, including the holy place and the most holy place; the holy place was forty cubits, and the most holy place twenty; the same measure, as…

And the porch before the temple of the house Which stood at the east end of it: twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; which was from north to south, and of the same dimension, so that they exactly answered each other: and ten cubits was the breadth thereof…

And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. ] Or “open, shut” [[13]], which could be both, having shutters to them, to open or shut at pleasure; windows which they could open, and look through at them, or shut when they pleased; the Targum is, “open within, and shut without;” or, as others…

And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about Or near it, as Jarchi interprets it, for the beams of them were not fastened in in it, ; or rather “upon” it [[14]]; and when they are said to be round about the house, it must be understood of the two sides, north and south, and of…

And the nethermost chamber was five cubits broad The nethermost row of them, which were upon the first floor: and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; so that the middlemost was a cubit larger than the lowest, and the highest a cubit larger than that: the reason of…

And the house, when it was in building And all the while it was building: was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; being hewn or squared by the builders and stonesquarers of Solomon and Hiram, ; wherefore the builders had nothing more to do than to lay them in their proper…

The door of the middle chamber was in the right side of the house The south side of it: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber; which were outside the chambers, and which winded about for the sake of taking up less room, and which led up to the door of the middle chamber, on…

So he built the house, and finished it The body of it, the walls of the holy and most holy place, with the chambers on the sides of them, and the porch at the end that led into them: and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar; with hollow boards, as the Targum, which formed an arch…

And then he built chambers against all the house five cubits high Which some understand of the same chambers in (1 Kings 6:5, 1 Kings 6:6) ; here made mention of again for the sake of giving the height of them, not before given; but they were built against, or upon the wall of the house, these…

And the word of the Lord came to Solomon The word of prophecy, as the Targum, foretelling what would be the case of this building, according to the obedience or disobedience of him and the people of Israel; which was brought to him either by an impulse of the Spirit of God upon him; or by the hand…

Concerning this house which thou art in building Or with respect to that, these things are to be said as from the Lord: if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; even all the laws of God, moral, ceremonial, and judicial; and this…

And I will dwell among the children of Israel In this house now building, and which was in the middle of the land, and where he would meet with them, and accept their sacrifices, not only of slain beasts, but of prayer and praise: and will not forsake my people Israel; and leave them to the mercy…

So Solomon built the house, and finished it. ] He went on with it until he had completed it, animated and encouraged by the promise of the divine Presence in it, provided a proper regard was had to the will and ways of God.

And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar For as yet he had only built the stone walls of it without, but now he wainscotted it with cedar boards: and not only them, but both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling; or from “the floor of the house unto the walls…

And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house At the end or extremity of it, as the Targum; that is, he built the most holy place, which was twenty two cubits long, at the end of the holy place, which he wainscotted as the other: both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; or from the…

And the house, that is, the temple before it The holy place, which was before the of holies: was forty cubits long; and which, with the most holy place, being twenty cubits, as in the preceding verse, made the length of the whole house sixty cubits, as in .

And the cedar of the house within With which the inside of the place was lined: was carved with knops; of an oval form; so the Targum says, they had the appearance of eggs; and Ben Gersom likewise, that they were in the form of eggs: and open flowers; not in the figure of buds, but flowers blown,…

And the oracle he prepared in the house within In the innermost part of the house he fitted up the oracle, or speaking place, from whence the Lord spake and gave answer, to receive what was to be put into it: particularly to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord; even the very same that…

And the oracle in the forepart Which stood in the forepart of the temple, before a man’s face as he entered into it, and went on; or the forepart of the holy of holies, next to the holy place, was of the dimensions as follows, when the back part of it might be higher at least, and be equal to the…

So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold The inside of the holy of holies with fine gold, which gold amounted to six hundred talents, ; and these to 7,332,000 ducats of gold, or 3,045,000 pounds sterling: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; between the holy…

And the whole house he overlaid with gold Both the holy place, and the most holy place: until he had finished all the house; in this splendid and glorious manner: also the whole altar that was by the oracle; the altar of incense, which stood just before the entrance into the oracle, or most holy…

And within the oracle he made two cherubim of olive tree, &c.] Or of the oil tree, as in ; see ; for there are other trees besides olives, out of which oil is pressed, as pine trees, cypress trees and which some think are here meant; though the Targum interprets it of the olive tree: these cherubim…

And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub When stretched out on one side: and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; on the other side him: from the uttermost part of the one wing, to the uttermost part of the other wing, were ten cubits; half the breadth of the house.

And the other cherub was ten cubits That is, its wings stretched out measured so many cubits, as did those of the other: both the cherubim were of one measure, and of one size; of the same height and stature, of the same breadth of their wings, and of the same bulk of their bodies; they were of…

The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. ] Which is repeated from ; that it might be observed, being of an extraordinary size.

And he set the cherubim within the inner house The holy of holies: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims; the carvers that framed them, they wrought them in that form; or impersonally, the wings of the cherubim were stretched out; this was the position of them, they overshadowed and…

And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. ] Which may denote the purity and excellency of angels; or the precious gifts and graces of the Spirit, with which the witnesses of Christ are adorned.

And he carved all the walls of the house about with carved figures of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers That is, of palm trees, those in full blow: if the cherubim are an emblem of angels, the palm trees fitly enough represent just and upright men, who both appear in the church of God…

And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold within and without. ] Both the floor of the holy place, and of the holy of holies; so the street of the new Jerusalem is said to be pure gold, ; this expresses the purity and magnificence of it, particularly the holy conversation of them that dwell…

And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree The door of the holy of holies was a two leaved or folding door, made of olive wood; typical of Christ, the door into the church above and below, the way to heaven and eternal life, the true olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a…

The two doors also were of olive tree The two leaves of the door, as before observed, repeated for the sake of the ornament of them, as follows: and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers; as upon the walls, ; and overlaid them with gold; the two doors: and…

So also made he for the door of the temple The holy place: posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall; which was five cubits, its breadth being twenty, ; this door was a cubit wider than that into the most holy place, , more entering into the one than into the other; as more go into the church…

And the two doors were of fir tree the posts were of olive, but the doors of fir, and they were both folding doors, as appears by what follows: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding; which, taking up less room, made the passage wider, see .

And he carved thereon cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers As upon the doors of the most holy place, ; see ; and covered them with gold, fitted upon the carved work; plates of gold were fitted, as to the dimensions of them, to the cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

And he built the inner court The court of the priests, ; so called to distinguish it from the outer court, where the people assembled: this was built with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams; the rows of stones were one upon another, topped with a row of cedar beams; or rather the…

In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid The fourth year of Solomon’s reign: in the month Zif; (See Gill on 1 Kings 6:1).

In the eleventh year That is, of the reign of Solomon: in the month Bul, which is the eighth month; from the month Abib or Nisan; this month answers to part of our October, and part of November; it is the same month sometimes called Marchesvan; it had the name of Bul, because of the rains which…