1 Kings 10:19

19 The throne had six steps leading up to it, its back shaped like an arch. The armrests on each side were flanked by lions.

1 Kings 10:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 10:19

The throne had six steps
Up to the footstool of the throne, which was of gold, ( 2 Chronicles 9:18 ) and was high, that everyone in court might see him, and the better hear the sentence he gave:

and the top of the throne was round behind;
had a semicircle at the top of it, like an alcove:

and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat;
or "hands" F17, such as the arms of a chair, to lean and rest upon:

and two lions stood beside the stays;
which were not only ornamental, and for support of the stays, but expressive of majesty, and of undaunted courage and resolution to do justice, and of the danger such expose themselves to, who oppose magistrates in the discharge of their office; and in which Solomon was a type of Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah; and for the same reasons were the like portraits on the steps, as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 (tdy) "manus", V. L. Montanus (agkwnev) "brachiola", Sept. in 2 Chron. ix. 18.

1 Kings 10:19 In-Context

17 - and three hundred smaller shields about half that size. He stored the shields in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king built a massive throne of ivory accented with a veneer of gold.
19 The throne had six steps leading up to it, its back shaped like an arch. The armrests on each side were flanked by lions.
20 Lions, twelve of them, were placed at either end of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any of the surrounding kingdoms.
21 King Solomon's chalices and tankards were made of gold and all the dinnerware and serving utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold - nothing was made of silver; silver was considered common and cheap.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.