John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:9
All these were of costly stones ,.... Marble, porphyry, &c.; according to the measure of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without ; they were all hewed, and squared, and polished, and so they appeared both on the inside of the building, and without: even from the foundation unto the coping ; from the bottom to the top: and so on the outside toward the great court : where the people used to assemble when they had causes to be tried, and was adjoining to the king's... read more
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:8
And his house where he dwelt ,.... Which was properly his dwellingplace, that part of the house where he usually resided: had another court within the porch, which was of the like work ; a court between that and the porch, called the inner court, 2 Kings 20:4 . Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife ; see 1 Kings 3:1 , like unto this porch : being built of the same sort of materials, though in a different form. read more