1 Kings 6 Study Notes

6:14-15 The interior walls were paneled with cedar, while the flooring was cypress wood, probably Phoenician juniper or some other evergreen. The Chronicles’s account (2Ch 3:5) seems to use the word “cypress” as a general name for both cedar and cypress.

6:16-17 The inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place, was also paneled with cedar and separated from the rest of the temple by a cedar wall. This produced the common three-part plan: (1) the court, (2) the sanctuary (the holy place), and (3) the inner sanctuary (the most holy place or the holy of holies).

6:18 The interior paneling was carved with gourds and flower blossoms as well as cherubim and palm trees (v. 29).

6:19-21 The height of the inner sanctuary was only thirty feet, leaving about fifteen feet between its top and the ceiling of the temple. The stone was completely covered (v. 18). However, the pure gold overlay in v. 21 and in 2Ch 3:7 does not necessarily demand that the entire surface was overlaid with gold. Like the ivory inlay in ivory beds (Am 6:4) or ivory palaces (Ps 45:8), this could refer to an aesthetically selective usage of gold overlay. First Kg 6:35 (“applied evenly”) may reveal the nature of this gold overlay. The best way to achieve such an even covering was to use gold that had been hammered into thin foil and then gently hammered onto selected surfaces until it adhered to those surfaces. Both the precious gold and the fine, expensive cedar wood showed God’s glory.

6:22 Here, in agreement with the LXX, the altar of incense was the altar that belongs to the inner sanctuary. This indicated a new location of the altar of incense. In the tabernacle it was in the holy place just outside the veil. Here it was in the inner sanctuary itself (Heb 9:3-4). However, the Hebrew language could be taken as ambiguous: “The altar that is to/for the . . .”

6:23-28 If the craftsmanship was typical for the time, the two larger cherubim were made of pieces of olive wood fastened together, probably glued, then carved, and then covered with gold, probably hammered gold foil (see note at vv. 19-21). Some suggest that the cherubim formed the throne of God. In the apocalyptic visions, similar beings seem to represent the glory of God. In pagan contexts, they were construed as supernatural protectors of kings and gods.

6:30 Even the floor was decorated or overlaid . . . with gold, but probably by a harder gold alloy.

6:34 This verse could describe each of the sanctuary doors as involving two hinged panels, perhaps like modern bifold doors.

6:36 The courtyard was enclosed by a wall that included cedar beams. This technique was often used to bind stone walls together for earthquake protection.

6:37-38 The temple was completed in the month of Bul, the eighth month of the Canaanite calendar (our modern October-November).