1 Kings 7:2-5

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:1-12

SOLOMON’S PALACE, 1 Kings 7:1-12. The description given in this chapter of Solomon’s royal house is, on account of its brevity, exceedingly obscure, and we are often obliged to conjecture the meaning, or to gather it from supposed analogies in ancient Oriental architecture. Fergusson, in his article on Solomon’s Palace in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, observes: “The exhumation of the palaces of Nineveh, and the more careful examination of those at Persepolis, have thrown a flood of light... read more

Daniel Whedon

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:2

2. He built also Rather, and he built, for the house here mentioned is not a building entirely distinct from all his house, (1 Kings 7:1,) but an important part of it. House of the forest of Lebanon So called from the vast amount of Lebanon cedar used in building it. This part of the palace was the great hall of state, and was large enough, Josephus says, “to contain a multitude for hearing causes and taking cognizance of suits.” In it also were deposited the king’s wondrous targets... read more

Daniel Whedon

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:3

3. Upon the beams Rather, Upon the chambers; for צלעת , here rendered beams, is the same word that is rendered chambers in 1 Kings 6:5; 1 Kings 6:8. The meaning here is, that he covered over or wainscotted with cedar the chambers, which in the stories above rested upon the four rows of pillars previously described. The whole verse should be translated thus: And above he covered over with cedar the side-chambers which were upon the pillars, forty-five, (in number,) fifteen in a... read more

Daniel Whedon

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:4

4. Windows in three rows Rather, The frameworks were three rows. The word שׁקפים does not mean windows, but is applied, in chap. 1 Kings 6:4, to the cross-bars or framework of windows. So here it means the framework of beams with which the three galleries were constructed. Each of these three rows of framework contained a row of fifteen chambers. Light was against light מחזה , here translated light, means a place to see through, an aperture for the purpose of looking out, like... read more

Daniel Whedon

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:5

5. All the doors Which led from one of these chambers to another. (d d in cut.) And posts מזוזת , posts, is undoubtedly a copyist’s error, and for it we should read, as did the Septuagint translators, מחזות , apertures, described in the preceding verse. Were square, with the windows Here, again, the translation is erroneous. שׁק does not mean windows, but a layer of beams; that is, a beam framework. Render: And all the doors and the apertures were of squared beamwork. They... read more

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:1-12

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:2

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:3

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:4

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 7:5

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