1 Kings 6:3

3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[a] and projected ten cubits[b] from the front of the temple.

1 Kings 6:3 in Other Translations

KJV
3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
ESV
3 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house.
NLT
3 The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple.
MSG
3 There was a porch across the thirty-foot width of The Temple that extended out fifteen feet.
CSB
3 The portico in front of the temple sanctuary was 30 feet long extending across the temple's width, and 15 feet deep in front of the temple.

1 Kings 6:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:3

And the porch before the temple of the house
Which stood at the east end of it:

twenty cubits [was] the length thereof, according to the breadth of the
house;
which was from north to south, and of the same dimension, so that they exactly answered each other:

[and] ten cubits [was] the breadth thereof before the house;
which being added to it, make the whole of the building, most holy place, holy place, and porch, seventy cubits; the height of the porch is not here given, but in ( 2 Chronicles 3:4 ) ; where it is said to be an hundred twenty cubits high, equal to the height of the house, with the chambers over it; but there the breadth of the porch is not given, as it is here; by these dimensions we may observe the difference between the tabernacle and the temple; the temple was twice as long, and as broad, and thrice as high as that, see ( Exodus 26:8 Exodus 26:16 ) . This fabric was an emblem of the church of God, sometimes called an holy temple, and the temple of the living God, ( 2 Corinthians 6:16 ) ( Ephesians 2:21 ) .

1 Kings 6:3 In-Context

1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.
2 The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.
3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple.
4 He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.
5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.

Cross References 1

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20
  • [b]. That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.