1 Kings 6:5

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.

1 Kings 6:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:5

And against the wall of the house he built chambers round
about
Or near it, as Jarchi interprets it, for the beams of them were not fastened in in it, ( 1 Kings 6:6 ) ; or rather "upon" it ^F16; and when they are said to be round about the house, it must be understood of the two sides, north and south, and of the west end only, for at the east end, where the porch was, there were none:

[against] the walls of the house round about, [both] of the temple and
of the oracle;
that is, both of the holy and the most holy place:

and he made chambers round about;
the said buildings; which is repeated that it might be observed; how many chambers there were, is not said; Josephus says ^F17 there were thirty of them, and over them others of the same measure and number, and over them others also; so that there were three stories of them, and in all ninety; and which is countenanced by what follows in ( 1 Kings 6:6 ) , and agrees with ( Ezekiel 41:6 ) ; the Jewish doctors say ^F18, there were thirty eight of them, fifteen on the north, fifteen on the south, and eight on the west; they that were to the north and south were five upon five, and five over them; and they that were to the west were three upon three, and two over them; upper rooms or chambers were rare in Heathen temples ^F19: these chambers were for the priests, where they lodged and laid up their garments, and ate their holy things; and were emblems of congregated churches, where the true members thereof, who are priests to God, have communion with him, and partake of divine things.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (ryq le) "super parietem", V. L. Montanus.
F17 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 2.
F18 Misn. Middot, c. 4. sect. 3.
F19 Pausan. Laconic. sive. l. 3. p. 190.

1 Kings 6:5 In-Context

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.

7 For the house, when under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; so that no hammer, chisel or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was being built.