1 Kings 10:19

19 The throne had six steps. The top of the throne was rounded in the back, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests,

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 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king also made a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with the finest gold.
19 The throne had six steps. The top of the throne was rounded in the back, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests,
20 while twelve lions were standing, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom.
21 All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver—it was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.