1 Kings 6:22

22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also the whole altar that was in front of the oracle he overlaid with gold.

1 Kings 6:22 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:22

And the whole house he overlaid with gold
Both the holy place, and the most holy place:

until he had finished all the house;
in this splendid and glorious manner:

also the whole altar that [was] by the oracle;
the altar of incense, which stood just before the entrance into the oracle, or most holy place:

he overlaid with gold;
he overlaid it all over with gold; hence it is called the golden altar, and was an emblem of the excellent and effectual mediation and intercession of Christ, ( Revelation 8:3 Revelation 8:4 ) . Agreeably to this account Eupolemus, an Heathen writer ^F4 testifies, that the whole house, from the floor to the tool, was covered with gold, as well as with cedar and cypress wood, that the stonework might not appear; and so the capitol at Rome, perhaps in imitation of this temple, its roofs and tiles were glided with gold ^F5; a magnificent temple, like this, was at Upsal in Switzerland, as Olaus Magnus relates ^F6.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F4 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 34. p. 450.
F5 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3. Vid. Rycquium de Capitol. Roman. c. 16.
F6 De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 3. c. 5.

1 Kings 6:22 In-Context

20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold and likewise covered the altar which was of cedar.

21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and he closed the door of the oracle with chains of gold, and he overlaid it with gold.

22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also the whole altar that was in front of the oracle he overlaid with gold.

23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

24 And one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits; from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.