1 Kings 6:15
in 1 Kings 6He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.
KJV
And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
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This verse in 1 Kings 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The description of this verse applies to the main chamber of the temple, the holy place, only. The writer in 1Ki 6:16 describes the holy of holies. The marginal rendering of this verse is right, and not the rendering in the text. Fir - Rather, “juniper.” See 1Ki 5:6 note.
This site's exposition
built the house, and finished it
on 1 Kings 6:14-22
The oracle Solomon builds within the house is a perfect cube, twenty cubits in length, breadth and height, overlaid inside with pure gold along with the altar of cedar standing before it. Commentators have long set that cube beside the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21:16, the only other cube given equal length, breadth and height in Scripture, reading the innermost room where God dwelt with Israel as a small pattern of where God will dwell with his people at the end. Between the cube and the outer walls the whole house is overlaid with gold, floor to ceiling, until Solomon had finished all the house.
This site's exposition
He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling
Cedar lined the main hall from floor to ceiling, and Matthew Henry notes that the wood was strong, lasting and sweet to smell. Albert Barnes takes the cypress of the floor for juniper. Bede adds that the outer stone shone like white marble.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
On the inside, indeed, the house was lined with cedar, for on the outside, the actual stone it was built of glinted with as much brilliance as if it had been covered with glowing white marble. Taken in the mystical sense, however, the temple walls …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Floor - This is spoken only concerning the floor, because there was nothing but planks of fir; whereas there was both cedar and fir in the sides of the house, the fir being either put above, or upon the cedar; or intermixed with, or put between the boards or ribs of cedar: as may be gathered from, 2 Chron. iii, 5.
), which was strong and durable, and of a very sweet smell. The wainscot was curiously carved with knops (like eggs or apples) and flowers, no doubt as the fashion then was,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The walls of the ceiling - See the note on 1Ki 6:9.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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
21 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 |
| קִיר֨וֹת | kirot | [the] walls of | H7023 → | 75 times |
| הַבַּ֤יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מִבַּ֙יְתָה֙ | mibaytah | from inside <towards> | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בְּצַלְע֣וֹת | betzalot | with boards of | H6763 → | 40 times |
| אֲרָזִ֔ים | ʾarazim | cedar<s> | H730 → | 73 times |
| מִקַּרְקַ֤ע | mikarka' | from [the] floor of | H7172 → | 8 times |
| הַבַּ֙יִת֙ | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| קִיר֣וֹת | kirot | [the] walls of | H7023 → | 75 times |
| הַסִּפֻּ֔ן | hasipun | the ceiling | H5604 → | |
| צִפָּ֥ה | tzipah | he overlaid | H6823 → | 47 times |
| עֵ֖ץ | ʾetz | wood | H6086 → | 328 times |
| מִבָּ֑יִת | mibayit | from inside | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וַיְצַ֛ף | vaytzaf | and he overlaid | H6823 → | 47 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קַרְקַ֥ע | karka' | [the] floor of | H7172 → | 8 times |
| הַבַּ֖יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בְּצַלְע֥וֹת | betzalot | with boards of | H6763 → | 40 times |
| בְּרוֹשִֽׁים׃ | beroshim | cypresses | H1265 → | 20 times |
וַיִּבֶן֩and he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קִיר֨וֹת[the] walls of
kirotH7023 →75 times
הַבַּ֤יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
מִבַּ֙יְתָה֙from inside <towards>
mibaytahH1004 →2046 times
בְּצַלְע֣וֹתwith boards of
betzalotH6763 →40 times
אֲרָזִ֔יםcedar<s>
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
מִקַּרְקַ֤עfrom [the] floor of
mikarka'H7172 →8 times
הַבַּ֙יִת֙the house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
קִיר֣וֹת[the] walls of
kirotH7023 →75 times
הַסִּפֻּ֔ןthe ceiling
hasipunH5604 →
צִפָּ֥הhe overlaid
tzipahH6823 →47 times
עֵ֖ץwood
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
מִבָּ֑יִתfrom inside
mibayitH1004 →2046 times
וַיְצַ֛ףand he overlaid
vaytzafH6823 →47 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קַרְקַ֥ע[the] floor of
karka'H7172 →8 times
הַבַּ֖יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
בְּצַלְע֥וֹתwith boards of
betzalotH6763 →40 times
בְּרוֹשִֽׁים׃cypresses
beroshimH1265 →20 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
1 Kings 7:7In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.
it leads to
- Psalms 122:5
For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.
- Proverbs 20:8
A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- 1 Kings 3:28
When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
- Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness…
- 1 Kings 6:15–16
He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.
- Psalms 122:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 1.8.6; 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; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.