1 Kings 6:10
in 1 Kings 6He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
KJV
And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
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This verse in 1 Kings 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe inner roof was arched, ver. 9, that it might be the more beautiful, but the outward roof was flat. Five cubits - Above the walls of the temple: that it might be a little higher than the arched roof, which it was designed to cover and secure. They rested - Hebrew. it rested, namely, the roof.
This site's exposition
with winding stairs into the middle chamber
on 1 Kings 6:8-10
The door to the middle chamber sits on the south side of the house, and a winding stair carries a man from the first level up to the second and from the second to the third. Rings of side chambers, five cubits high per story, rest on the ledges cut into the outer wall and are finished with beams and boards of cedar laid over the house. The passage is architecture only, three floors wrapped around the sanctuary proper for storage and priestly use.
This site's exposition
each five cubits high
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add the three stories of chambers to about fifteen cubits, half the height of the temple. John Wesley reads the verse differently, as a flat outer roof raised five cubits over an arched inner one. Bede reads it as a roof parapet.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
This means the breastworks that were constructed on top of the roof of the house all around in case anyone who came up to the upper parts of the building should suddenly fall to the bottom. And in every house that anyone built, Moses ordered …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And then he built chambers against all the house five cubits high,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
chambers . . . five cubits high--The height of the whole three stories was therefore about fifteen cubits. they rested on the house with timber of cedar--that is, because the beams of the side stones rested on the ledges of the temple wall. The wing was attached to the house; it was connected with the temple, without, however, interfering injuriously with the sanctuary [KEIL].
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How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Five amohs high. Of each one. Therefore, their total height was fifteen amohs besides the thickness of the ceiling.
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֤בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַיָּצִ֙יעַ֙ | haiyatzoa' | the extension | H3326 → | 8 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַבַּ֔יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| חָמֵ֥שׁ | chamesh | [was] five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| אַמּ֖וֹת | ʾamot | cubits | H520 → | 247 times |
| קֽוֹמָת֑וֹ | komato | height its | H6967 → | 45 times |
| וַיֶּאֱחֹ֥ז | vaiyeechoz | and he covered | H270 → | 67 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבַּ֖יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בַּעֲצֵ֥י | baatzei | with wood<s> of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| אֲרָזִֽים׃ פ | ʾarazim | cedar<s> | H730 → | 73 times |
וַיִּ֤בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַיָּצִ֙יעַ֙the extension
haiyatzoa'H3326 →8 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַבַּ֔יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
חָמֵ֥שׁ[was] five
chameshH2568 →343 times
אַמּ֖וֹתcubits
ʾamotH520 →247 times
קֽוֹמָת֑וֹheight its
komatoH6967 →45 times
וַיֶּאֱחֹ֥זand he covered
vaiyeechozH270 →67 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבַּ֖יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
בַּעֲצֵ֥יwith wood<s> of
baatzeiH6086 →328 times
אֲרָזִֽים׃ פcedar<s>
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings

This page draws on Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 1.8.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Kings.
