1 Kings 6:14-36

1 Kings 6:14-36

[14] So Solomon  built  the house,  and finished  [15] And he built  the walls  of the house  with boards  of cedar,  both the floor  of the house,  and the walls  of the cieling:  and he covered  them on the inside  with wood,  and covered  the floor  of the house  with planks  of fir.  [16] And he built  twenty  cubits  on the sides  of the house,  both  the floor  and the walls  with boards  of cedar:  he even built  them for it within,  even for the oracle,  even for the most  place. [17] And the house,  that is, the temple  it, was forty  cubits  [18] And the cedar  of the house  within  was carved  with knops  flowers:  all was cedar;  there was no stone  seen.  [19] And the oracle  he prepared  in  the house  within,  to set  there the ark  of the covenant  of the LORD.  [20] And the oracle  in the forepart  was twenty  cubits  in length,  and twenty  cubits  in breadth,  and twenty  cubits  in the height  thereof: and he overlaid  it with pure  gold;  and so covered  the altar  which was of cedar.  [21] So Solomon  overlaid  the house  within  with pure  gold:  and he made a partition  by the chains  of gold  before  the oracle;  and he overlaid  it with gold.  [22] And the whole house  he overlaid  with gold,  until he had finished  all the house:  also the whole altar  that was by the oracle  he overlaid  with gold.  [23] And within the oracle  he made  two  cherubims  of olive  tree,  each ten  cubits  high.  [24] And five  cubits  was the one  wing  of the cherub,  and five  cubits  the other  wing  of the cherub:  from the uttermost part  of the one wing  unto the uttermost part  of the other  were ten  cubits.  [25] And the other  cherub  was ten  cubits:  both  the cherubims  were of one  measure  and one  size.  [26] The height  of the one  cherub  was ten  cubits,  and so was it of the other  cherub.  [27] And he set  the cherubims  within  the inner  house:  and they stretched forth  the wings  of the cherubims,  so that the wing  of the one  touched  the one wall,  and the wing  of the other  cherub  touched  the other  wall;  and their wings  touched  one  in the midst  of the house.  [28] And he overlaid  the cherubims  with gold.  [29] And he carved  all the walls  of the house  round about  with carved  figures  of cherubims  and palm trees  flowers,  and without.  [30] And the floor  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  [32] The two  doors  also were of olive  tree;  and he carved  upon them carvings  of cherubims  and palm trees  flowers,  and overlaid  them with gold,  and spread  gold  upon the cherubims,  and upon the palm trees.  [33] So also made  he for the door  of the temple  posts  of olive  tree,  a fourth part  [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 cherubims  and palm trees  flowers:  and covered  them with gold  fitted  upon the carved work.  [36] And he built  the inner  court  with three  rows  of hewed stone,  and a row  of cedar  beams. 

What does 1 Kings 6:14-36 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The altar ( 1 Kings 6:19; 1 Kings 6:22) refers to the altar of incense (cf. 1 Kings 7:48). This altar evidently stood in the west end of the holy place (cf. Exodus 30:6; Exodus 40:5; Leviticus 16:2; Hebrews 9:4; Hebrews 9:7). The cherubim were figures of angels carved out of olive wood ( 1 Kings 6:23-28). They may have resembled "winged sphinxes." [1] Since there were cherubim attached to the mercy seat of the ark, these were two additional freestanding cherubim. In addition to the inner courtyard ( 1 Kings 6:36), there was also an outer one ( 2 Chronicles 4:9) that was slightly lower in elevation ( Jeremiah 36:10). [2]
One problem that continues to puzzle scholars is the difference in height between the holy place (30 cubits or45 feet, 1 Kings 6:2) and the most holy place (20 cubits or30 feet, 1 Kings 6:20). Was the floor of the most holy place higher, and were there steps up to it from the holy place? Was the ceiling of the most holy place lower than that of the holy place? Was the most holy place a room within the holy place? [3] We do not know.
Scholars also debate what relationship the row of cedar beams had to the rows of cut stone ( 1 Kings 6:36). [2]5 The cedar beams may have been cedar coping on top of the stone. They may have been cedar that lined the stone interior of the temple. Possibly cedar beams alternated with rows of stone. All of these are possibilities.