1 Kings 6:8

8 The door of the middle side was in the wall of the right half of the house; and by a vice men went up into the middle solar, and from the middle solar into the third solar. (The door for the bottom story was in the wall for the right side of the House of the Lord; and by a stairway, men went up to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third story.)

1 Kings 6:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:8

The door of the middle chamber [was] in the right side of the
house
The south side of it:

and they went up with winding stairs into the middle [chamber];
which were outside the chambers, and which winded about for the sake of taking up less room, and which led up to the door of the middle chamber, on the south of which they went into it; according to the Vulgate Latin and Tigurine versions, they went up in the forth of a cockle, or the shell of a snail; in like manner as was the ascent of the temple of Pan at Alexandria, as Strabo ^F21 relates:

and out of the middle into the third;
the third chamber, and by winding stairs up to that; and the like might be on the north side, though not expressed, and on the west: the Jews say ^F23, that in the second temple, these winding stairs went from the northeast to the northwest, whereby they went up to the roof of the chambers, and so to the south and west; with this compare ( Ezekiel 41:7 ) ; and which may represent the windings and turnings of God's people in this present state, their many afflictions and tribulations, through which they pass from one state to another.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Geograph. l. 17. p. 547.
F23 Misn. Middot, c. 4. sect. 5. See Lightfoot's Prospect of the Temple c. 12. p. 1071.

1 Kings 6:8 In-Context

6 The building of boards, that was under, had five cubits of breadth; and the middle building of boards was of six cubits of breadth; and the third building of boards was having seven cubits of breadth (The bottom story, made out of boards, was five cubits in breadth; and the middle story, also made out of boards, was six cubits in breadth; and the third story, also made out of boards, was seven cubits in breadth). And he put beams in the house by compass withoutforth, (so) that those cleaved not to the walls of the temple.

7 And when the house was builded, it was built of perfect(ly) hewn stones; and hammer, and ax, and all thing made of iron, were not heard in the house, while it was in building (while it was being built).

8 The door of the middle side was in the wall of the right half of the house; and by a vice men went up into the middle solar, and from the middle solar into the third solar. (The door for the bottom story was in the wall for the right side of the House of the Lord; and by a stairway, men went up to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third story.)

9 And Solomon builded the house, and ended it. And Solomon covered the house with couples of cedar, (And Solomon built the House, and finished it. And he braced the House with cedar couplings,)

10 and he builded a building of boards over all the house, by five cubits of height, and covered the house with cedar wood. (and he built a building out of boards all around the sides of the House, or the Temple, five cubits in height, and joined it to the Temple with cedar beams.)