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. read more
1 Kings 6:19-20. And the oracle Or, rather, the most holy place. He prepared That is, he adorned and fitted it for the reception of the ark. Solomon made every thing new but the ark: that, with its mercy-seat, was still the same that Moses made. This was the token of God’s presence, which is with his people, whether they meet in tent or temple, and changes not with their condition. And the oracle in the forepart That is, in the innermost part, before mentioned, which is called the ... read more
1 Kings 6:21 . So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold Or, that house, the oracle, or the most holy place; which he made as sumptuous as he could. And he wade a partition by the chains of gold The most holy place was separated from the sanctuary by a partition, before which there was a veil also, which hung upon golden chains. Thus, it seems, this passage is to be understood; for the partition itself did not depend upon chains. Or perhaps these golden chains hung down from... read more
1 Kings 6:22. And the whole house he overlaid with gold Not only the oracle, but all the holy place; and, as some think, even the chambers belonging to it. Also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold That is, the altar of incense; thence called the golden altar; which was in the upper end of the sanctuary, near the entrance of the oracle. This he covered with cedar, (1 Kings 6:20,) and now overlaid with gold. read more
Details of the temple’s interior (6:14-38)Inside the temple the stonework was covered with lavishly carved wood panelling overlaid with beaten gold (14-15; see v. 22). A partition divided the main temple into two rooms. The larger front room was called the nave or Holy Place; the smaller rear room was called the inner sanctuary or Most Holy Place (16-18).The Most Holy Place contained the ark of the covenant, symbol of God’s presence (19). This room had a lower ceiling than the rest of the... read more
overlaid. See note on covered, 1 Kings 6:15 and 1 Kings 6:18 . read more
whole house. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Whole). App-6 . Put for every part of it. read more
2. Temple construction ch. 6After arrangements for building the temple were in order, construction began. This building took seven years to complete (1 Kings 6:38)."In an earlier era scholars debunked the reality of a temple in Israel like Solomon’s because nothing similar was known from the ancient Near East. However, at ’Ain Dara (and earlier in Tall Ta’yinat), Syria, a temple from the tenth century B.C. came to light that bore a remarkable similarity to the temple of Jerusalem. The size is... read more
The inside of the temple 6:14-36The 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." [Note: Auld, p. 44.] Since there were cherubim attached to the mercy seat of the ark, these were two additional... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Kings 6:21
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. read more