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1 Kings 6:24

in 1 Kings 6

One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, 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.

KJV

And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, 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.

This verse in 1 Kings 6

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub,.... When stretched out on one side: and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; on the other side him: from the uttermost part of the one wing, to the uttermost part of the other wing, were ten cubits; half the breadth of the house.

This site's exposition

two cherubims of olive tree

on 1 Kings 6:23-28

The two olive wood cherubim stand ten cubits high with wings five cubits each, so that spread wing to wing they span the whole twenty cubit width of the oracle, one outer wing touching each wall and the two inner wings touching one another in the middle. The tabernacle's cherubim were a single small pair beaten out of one piece of gold and worked into the mercy seat itself at Exodus 25:18-20; these stand freestanding, carved of wood and overlaid with gold, built to the room's own scale. The image given a worshipper is of the whole space held under outstretched wings.

This site's exposition

the full wingspan was ten cubits

Each cherub's two wings spanned ten cubits, half the width of the inner sanctuary, as John Gill counts. Bede reads wings as virtues that rise to heavenly things.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Of the Temple of Solomon 1.13.2 · Written before 735.

proposed

Wings when used as a figure of holy people signify their virtues whereby they delight in always flying to heavenly things and passing their lives in preoccupation with these things. But when wings are used to signify angels, what do they more aptly demonstrate than …

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְחָמֵ֣שׁand [was] five

    vechameshH2568343 times

  • אַמּ֗וֹתcubits

    ʾamotH520247 times

  • כְּנַ֤ף[the] wing of

    kenafH3671109 times

  • הַכְּרוּב֙the cherub

    hakeruvH374291 times

  • הָֽאֶחָ֔ת<the> one

    haechatH259971 times

  • וְחָמֵ֣שׁand [was] five

    vechameshH2568343 times

  • אַמּ֔וֹתcubits

    ʾamotH520247 times

  • כְּנַ֥ף[the] wing of

    kenafH3671109 times

  • הַכְּר֖וּבthe cherub

    hakeruvH374291 times

  • הַשֵּׁנִ֑ית<the> second

    hashenitH8145156 times

  • עֶ֣שֶׂר[was] ten

    ʾeserH6235176 times

  • אַמּ֔וֹתcubits

    ʾamotH520247 times

  • מִקְצ֥וֹתfrom [the] ends of

    miktzotH709835 times

  • כְּנָפָ֖יוwings its

    kenafavH3671109 times

  • וְעַד־and to

    vead-H57041261 times

  • קְצ֥וֹת[the] ends of

    ketzotH709835 times

  • כְּנָפָֽיו׃wings its

    kenafavH3671109 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 1.13.2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Kings.