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, 1 Kings 6:29 ; and overlaid them with gold ; the two doors: and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees ; thin plates of gold. read more
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, 1 Kings 6:20 ; this door was a cubit wider than that into the most holy place, 1 Kings 6:31 , more entering into the one than into the other; as more go into the church on earth than into the heavenly glory. read more
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 Ezekiel 41:24 . read more
And he carved thereon cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers ,.... As upon the doors of the most holy place, 1 Kings 6:32 ; see Ezekiel 41:25 ; 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. read more
And he built the inner court ,.... The court of the priests, 2 Chronicles 4:9 ; 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 cedar was a lining to the stones; and the whole is supposed to be about three cubits high, and was so low, that the people in the outward court might see priests... read more
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 . read more
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 usually fell in this month, as Kimchi thinks, like a flood; and Noah's flood is called Mabbul, from the same root F9 נבל "concidit", Buxtorf. , and when all the fruits were... read more
Three rows of hewed stone , and a row of cedar beams - Does not this intimate that there were three courses of stone, and then one course of timber all through this wall? Three strata of stone and one stratum of timber, and so on. If so, could such a building be very durable? This is also referred to in the succeeding chapter, 1 Kings 7:11 ; and as both the temple and Solomon's house were built in the same manner, we may suppose that this was the ordinary way in which... read more
In the eleventh year - was the house finished - It is rather strange that this house required seven years and about six months to put all the stones and the timbers in their places, for we have already seen that they were all prepared before they came to Jerusalem; but the ornamenting, gilding, or overlaying with gold, making the carved work, cherubim, trees, flowers, etc., must have consumed a considerable time. The month Bul answers to a part of our October and November, as... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 6:15-38
Here, I. We have a particular account of the details of the building. 1. The wainscot of the temple. It was of cedar (1 Kgs. 6:15), which was strong and durable, and of a very sweet smell. The wainscot was curiously carved with knops (like eggs or apples) and flowers, no doubt as the fashion then was, 1 Kgs. 6:18. 2. The gilding. It was not like ours, washed over, but the whole house, all the inside of the temple (1 Kgs. 6:22), even the floor (1 Kgs. 6:30), he overlaid with gold, and the most... read more