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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 6:15 - 6:38
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The Ornamentation of the Temple
v. 15. And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, veneering the stone walls with this fine lumber, both the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling, literally, "from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling"; and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir, with cypress-flooring.
v. 16. And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, the rear or western end of the entire Sanctuary, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar, from the floor to the beams of the ceiling; he even built them, this space, for it within, even for the oracle, even for the Most Holy Place, which was thus separated from the Holy Place by a partition of cedar-wood.
v. 17. And the house, that is, the temple before it, the Holy Place, was forty cubits long.
v. 18. And the cedar of the house within, in the walls and ceilings, was carved with knops and open flowers, raised work in flowers and festooning; all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
v. 19. And the oracle, the Most Holy Place, he prepared in the house within to set there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
v. 20. And the oracle, this room, in the forepart, was twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in breadth and twenty cubits in the height thereof, a perfect cubical space, which may have had an unused attic room, if the Sanctuary was thirty cubits high over its entire length; and he overlaid it with pure gold, in the form of thin sheets; and so covered the altar, which was of cedar, this being the altar of incense, which stood against the immediate wall of the Most Holy Place and was almost considered a part of its equipment, Exo_30:6; Exo_40:5-26.
v. 21. So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold; and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle, these chains evidently being fastened to the east wall of the Most Holy Place and serving to hold the bolts of the doors in place; and he overlaid it with gold.
v. 22. And the whole house, both rooms of the Sanctuary, he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also the whole altar that was by the oracle, the altar of incense, he overlaid with gold.
v. 23. And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive-tree, of the wood of wild olive-trees, very strong and durable, each ten cubits high, apparently figures resembling human beings, at least in some respect, 2Ch_3:13.
v. 24. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, as it was stretched out, 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.
v. 25. And the other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubim were of one measure and one size.
v. 26. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.
v. 27. And he set the cherubim within the inner house, in the Most Holy Place; and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, 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, as they faced toward the east, touched one another in the midst of the house.
v. 28. And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
v. 29. And he carved all the walls of the house, the edges being raised and the figures sunken, round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, buds or flower-work, probably in the nature of festoons, within and without, on both sides of the partition.
v. 30. And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
v. 31. And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive-tree; the lintel and side-posts were a fifth part of the wall, that is, the entrance was four cubits broad.
v. 32. The two doors, the leaves of the double door, also were of olive-tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, as in the walls, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim and upon the palm-trees, the thin plates of gold making the entire figures appear as if made of chased gold.
v. 33. So also made he for the door of the Temple, for the entrance to the Holy Place, posts of olive-tree, a fourth part of the wall, the width of this entrance thus being five cubits.
v. 34. And the two doors were of fir-tree, of cypress-wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding, so that only a part of the opening might be in use.
v. 35. And he carved thereon cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work, carefully fitted over the carving according to the rules of the craft.
v. 36. And he built the inner court, that reserved for the priests, with three rows of hewed stone and a row of cedar-beams, the wall of stones being topped off by the coping of cedar-wood.
v. 37. In the fourth year, namely, of Solomon's reign, was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Zif,
v. 38. and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof and according to all the fashion of it, as it had been planned. So was he seven years in building it, the exact time being seven years and six months. The Temple of God, the Christian Church, of which Solomon's Temple was a type, is an eternal kingdom, with a divine glory, the glory and majesty of Jehovah's mercy. It is a paradise on earth, a place of peace and bliss without end.