IN THE FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTIETH YEAR - It is upon this statement that all the earlier portion of what is called the “received chronology” depends. Amid Minor differences there is a general agreement, which justifies us in placing the accession of Solomon about 1000 B.C. (1018 B.C. Oppert.) But gre... [ Continue Reading ]
The size of Solomon’s temple depends upon the true length of the ancient cubit, which is doubtful. It has been estimated as somewhat less than a foot, and again as between 19 and 20 inches, a difference of nearly 8 inches, which would produce a variation of nearly 40 feet in the length of the temple... [ Continue Reading ]
WINDOWS OF NARROW LIGHTS - Either (as in the margin) windows, externally mere slits in the wall, but opening wide within, like the windows of old castles: or, more probably, “windows with fixed lattices.” The windows seem to have been placed high in the walls, above the chambers spoken of in 1 Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAMBERS - (Margin, floors). Rather, a lean-to, which completely surrounded three sides of the building, the north, the west, and the south.... [ Continue Reading ]
In order to preserve the sanctity of the temple, and at the same time allow the attachment to it of secular buildings - sleeping apartments, probably, for the priests and other attendants - Solomon made “rebatements” in the wall of the temple, or in other words built it externally in steps, thus: Th... [ Continue Reading ]
The spirit of the command (marginal references), was followed. Thus the fabric rose without noise.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DOOR FOR THE MIDDLE CHAMBER - i. e., the door which gave access to the mid-most “set of chambers.” The chambers on the ground-floor were possibly reached each by their own door in the outer wall of the lean-to. The middle and upper floors were reached by a single door in the right or south wall,... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BUILT THE HOUSE, AND FINISHED IT - i. e., the external shell of the house. The internal fittings were added afterward. See 1 Kings 6:15. COVERED THE HOUSE - Roofed it with a wooden roof, sloped like our roofs.... [ Continue Reading ]
The meaning is, “So far as this house goes, thou art obedient (2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Chronicles 17:12, etc.); if thou wilt be obedient in other things also, then will I perform My word,” etc., God’s promises being always conditional. The promises made to David were: (1) that he should be succeeded by on... [ Continue Reading ]
The first promise to “dwell among” the Israelites had been made to Moses Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45, but had not been repeated to David. The next promise, “I will not forsake, etc.,” if not absolutely new, seems to have been more positive and general than previous similar promises Deuteronomy 31:6, D... [ Continue Reading ]
The description of this verse applies to the main chamber of the temple, the holy place, only. The writer in 1 Kings 6:16 describes the holy of holies. The marginal rendering of this verse is right, and not the rendering in the text. FIR - Rather, “juniper.” See 1 Kings 5:6 note.... [ Continue Reading ]
The meaning is, that at the distance of 20 cubits, measured along the side walls of the house from the end wall, Solomon constructed a partition, which reached from the floor to the ceiling and had a doorway in it. He thus made within the house, a sanctuary for a holy of holies.... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOPS AND OPEN FLOWERS - Rather, “gourds and opening flower-buds.” Imitations of the vegetable world are among the earliest of architectural ornaments. They abound in the architecture of Egypt and Persia. In that of Assyria they occur more sparingly.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FORE PART - Perhaps “the interior.” AND SO COVERED ... - Rather, “and he covered the altar (of incense) with cedar.” The altar was doubtless of stone, and was covered with cedar in preparation for the overlaying with gold. This overlaying was not gilding, but the attachment of thin plates of go... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE - i. e., the main chamber. THE CHAINS OF GOLD - Omit “the.” Their object was to form a barrier between the holy place and the holy of holies.... [ Continue Reading ]
The lavish use of the precious metals in ornamentation was a special feature if early Oriental architecture. Recent researches have given reason to believe that two stages of the great temple at Borsippa - now known as the Bits Nimrud - had respectively a gold and a silver coating.... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO CHERUBIMS - The pattern of the tabernacle was followed (marginal reference), but without servile imitation. The original cherubs were entirely of gold. These, being so much larger, were of wood, merely overlaid with a golden plating. The arrangement of the wings, and the direction of the faces,... [ Continue Reading ]
Palms, cherubs, and flowers - the main decorations of Solomon’s temple - bear considerable resemblance to the ornamentation of the Assyrians, a circumstance which can scarcely be accidental. WITHIN AND WITHOUT - i. e., both in the inner chamber, or holy of holies, and in the outer one.... [ Continue Reading ]
A FIFTH PART - Better than the margin. The meaning seems to be that the lintel was one-fifth of the width of the wall, and each door-post one-fifth of its height. Thus the opening was a square of four cubits, or of six feet.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TWO DOORS - i. e., two leaves which met in the middle, as in the Assyrian gate-ways generally. SPREAD GOLD - The doors were not simply sheeted with gold, like the floors 1 Kings 6:30, but had the gold hammered to fit the forms of the palms, cherubs, and flowers carved upon them. 1 Kings 6:35. S... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DOOR OF THE TEMPLE - The door, that is, which led from the porch into the great chamber of the temple. Its posts were “a fourth part of the wall,” or, “five cubits high,” which was, therefore, the height of the doorway.... [ Continue Reading ]
FIR-TREE - Rather, juniper (1 Kings 5:6 note). Each door was made in two parts, which folded back one on the other like shutters, by means of hinges. The weight of the doors no doubt made it inconvenient to open the whole door on every occasion.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE INNER COURT - An outer court is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 4:9. The inner court is probably identical with the “higher court” of Jeremiah Jeremiah 36:10, being raised above the outer, as were sometimes the inner courts of Assyrian palaces. The court seems to have surrounded the temple. Its dimens... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN YEARS - More exactly, “seven years and six months,” since Zif was the second, and Bul the eighth month. 1 Kings 6:1.... [ Continue Reading ]