1 Kings 6:6

6 The lowest story[a] was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

1 Kings 6:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:6

And the nethermost chamber [was] five cubits broad
The nethermost row of them, which were upon the first floor:

and the middle [was] six cubits broad, and the third [was] seven cubits
broad;
so that the middlemost was a cubit larger than the lowest, and the highest a cubit larger than that: the reason of which was,

for without [in the wall] of the house he made narrowed rests round
about;
or rebatements; the thickness of the wall, as it was raised, became narrower at the height of every five cubits; thus the wall being supposed to be six cubits broad, as in ( Ezekiel 41:5 ) ; when it came to be five cubits high, it was narrowed a cubit, which left a projection, rebatement, or bench for the beams of the first chambers to be laid upon, which made the second row of chambers broader by a cubit; and the same being observed in the next story, made the highest a cubit broader than the middlemost: and this was done,

that [the beams] should not be fastened in the walls of the house;
or be inserted into them, which could not be done without making holes in it; and these holes could not be made without an iron instrument, and which was not to be used, as the next words show; whereas by the above method the beams of the chambers could be laid upon the buttresses, benches, or rebatements left, without the use of any: the gradual enlargement of these chambers, as they rose higher, may denote the enlargement of the church of God, both as to numbers, gifts, and grace, the nearer it comes to the heavenly state, as in the spiritual and personal reign of Christ.

1 Kings 6:6 In-Context

4 And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.
5 He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around.
6 The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
7 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.
8 The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Septuagint; Hebrew structure, or platform
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.