1 Kings 6:17

And the house, that is, the temple before it [or, the anterior temple. The portion of the structure before the oracle is sometimes called, as here, "the house;" sometimes (as in ver, 5) "the temple; sometimes (as in 1 Kings 6:4 ) "the temple of the house;" or, as here again, "the front temple," לִפְנַי is supposed to be an adjective formed from לִפְנֵי . Thenius, however, supposes that דְּבִיר ( oracle ) has fallen out of the text. Our author now describes the division of the building into holy and most holy place] was forty cubits long.