1 Kings 6:4

4 The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside.

1 Kings 6:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:4

And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
] Or "open, shut" ^F15, which could be both, having shutters to them, to open or shut at pleasure; windows which they could open, and look through at them, or shut when they pleased; the Targum is,

``open within, and shut without;''

or, as others understand it, they were wide within, and narrow without; by being narrow without, the house was preserved from bad weather, as well as could not so easily be looked into by those without; and by being broader within, the light that was let in spread itself within the house; which some interpret only of the holy place, the most holy place having, as they suppose, no windows in it, which yet is not certain: now these windows may denote the word and ordinances of the church of God, whereby light is communicated to men; which in the present state is but narrow or small, in comparison of the new Jerusalem church state, and the ultimate glory; and especially so it was under the legal dispensation, which was very obscure; see ( Song of Solomon 2:9 ) ( Isaiah 55:8 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (Mypqv Mymja) "apertas clausas", Vatablus; "perspectui accommodas, clausas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

1 Kings 6:4 In-Context

2 The house which King Shlomo built for ADONAI was 105 feet long, thirty-five feet wide and fifty-two-and-a-half feet high.

3 The hall fronting the temple of the house was thirty-five feet long, the same as the width of the house itself, so that its seventeen-and-a-half-foot width extended frontward from the house.

4 The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside.

5 Against the wall of the house he built an annex all the way around; it went all the way around the walls of the house, including both the temple and the sanctuary.

6 The lowest floor of the annex was eight-and-three-quarters feet wide, the middle floor ten-and-a-half feet wide and the third floor twelve-and-a-quarter feet wide; for he had made the outer part of the wall of the house step-shaped, so that the beams of the annex would not have to be attached to the house walls.