1 Kings 6:3

3 And a porch was before the temple of twenty cubits of length, by the measure of the breadth of the temple; and the porch had ten cubits of breadth, before the face of the temple. (And there was a vestibule in front of the Temple, twenty cubits in length, equal to the measure of the breadth of the Temple; and the vestibule was ten cubits deep, projecting out 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 Forsooth it was done in the four hundred and fourscore year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the realm of Solomon (in the fourth year of Solomon's reign), in the month Zif; that is, the second month of the fourth year of the realm of Solomon on Israel; he began to build an house to the Lord.
2 Forsooth the house which king Solomon builded to the Lord, had sixty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.
3 And a porch was before the temple of twenty cubits of length, by the measure of the breadth of the temple; and the porch had ten cubits of breadth, before the face of the temple. (And there was a vestibule in front of the Temple, twenty cubits in length, equal to the measure of the breadth of the Temple; and the vestibule was ten cubits deep, projecting out in front of the Temple.)
4 And Solomon made in the temple narrow windows withoutforth and large within.
5 And he builded on the wall of the temple, buildings of boards by compass, in the walls of the house, by compass of the temple, and of God's answering place; and he made [the] sides in the compass. (And he made chambers, or rooms, out of boards, against the walls of the Temple, all around the Temple, and the Inner Temple, that is, the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, on the sides, and at the back.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.