1 Kings 6:16
in 1 Kings 6He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls of the ceiling: he built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place.
KJV
And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
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This verse in 1 Kings 6
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHe calls the east side of the temple the rear; for the temple had its entrance on the east and its inner house, that is, the Holy of Holies, on the west. The fact that he says that the board partitions that separated the inner …
This site's exposition
So Solomon built the temple and finished it
on 1 Kings 6:14-22
The inner sanctuary is a cube, “twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high”. The only other space in Scripture given equal length, width and height is the New Jerusalem at Revelation 21:16. The whole house is overlaid with gold “until everything was completely finished”.
This site's exposition
the Most Holy Place
The Most Holy Place was a room, closed off by a cedar partition twenty cubits from the rear wall, as Albert Barnes explains. The partition ran from floor to ceiling and had a doorway. Bede sets the inner room at the west end, with the entrance on the east.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
House - That is, the most holy place, which contained in length twenty cubits, which may be said to be on the sides Of the house, because this part took off twenty cubits in length from each side of the house, and was also twenty cubits from side to side, so it was twenty cubits every way.
And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The cedar-wood was beautifully embellished with figures in relievo, representing clusters of foliage, open flowers, cherubims, and palm trees. The whole interior was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood nor stone was seen; nothing met the eye but pure gold, either plain or richly chased.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
With panels of cedar. Boards of cedar against the stone wall in order to coat it with gold, as it states below, “And Shlomo covered the inside of the Beis Hamikdosh with refined gold,” 24 Below, v.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּבֶן֩ | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֨ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| אַמָּ֜ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| מִֽיַּרְכְּתֵ֤י | miyarkotei | from [the] innermost parts of | H3411 → | |
| הַבַּ֙יִת֙ | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בְּצַלְע֣וֹת | betzalot | with boards of | H6763 → | 40 times |
| אֲרָזִ֔ים | ʾarazim | cedar<s> | H730 → | 73 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַקַּרְקַ֖ע | hakarka' | the floor | H7172 → | 8 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַקִּיר֑וֹת | hakirot | the walls | H7023 → | 75 times |
| וַיִּ֤בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| לוֹ֙ | lo | for <the> it | ||
| מִבַּ֣יִת | mibayit | from inside | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| לִדְבִ֔יר | lidvir | to an innermost room | H1687 → | 16 times |
| לְקֹ֖דֶשׁ | lekodesh | to [the] holy place of | H6944 → | 469 times |
| הַקֳּדָשִֽׁים׃ | hakodashim | the holy places | H6944 → | 469 times |
וַיִּבֶן֩and he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֶשְׂרִ֨יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
אַמָּ֜הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
מִֽיַּרְכְּתֵ֤יfrom [the] innermost parts of
miyarkoteiH3411 →
הַבַּ֙יִת֙the house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
בְּצַלְע֣וֹתwith boards of
betzalotH6763 →40 times
אֲרָזִ֔יםcedar<s>
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַקַּרְקַ֖עthe floor
hakarka'H7172 →8 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַקִּיר֑וֹתthe walls
hakirotH7023 →75 times
וַיִּ֤בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
לוֹ֙for <the> it
lo
מִבַּ֣יִתfrom inside
mibayitH1004 →2046 times
לִדְבִ֔ירto an innermost room
lidvirH1687 →16 times
לְקֹ֖דֶשׁto [the] holy place of
lekodeshH6944 →469 times
הַקֳּדָשִֽׁים׃the holy places
hakodashimH6944 →469 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 16:2And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he…
it leads to
- Exodus 30:10
Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar…
- 1 Kings 8:10–12
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD
- Hebrews 10:19–20
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
- Hebrews 9:25
Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.
- Hebrews 9:7–8
But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
- Exodus 30:10
Through
Hebrews 9:3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,
it leads to
- Exodus 26:31–33
Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
- Exodus 40:3
Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.
- Exodus 26:31–33
Through
2 Chronicles 3:8Then he made the Most Holy Place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold.
it leads to
- Exodus 26:33
And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
- Exodus 26:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 1.9.2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Kings.