1 Kings 6:5

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.)

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.

---

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 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.)

6 The building of boards, that was under, had five cubits of breadth; and the middle building of boards was of six cubits of breadth; and the third building of boards was having seven cubits of breadth (The bottom story, made out of boards, was five cubits in breadth; and the middle story, also made out of boards, was six cubits in breadth; and the third story, also made out of boards, was seven cubits in breadth). And he put beams in the house by compass withoutforth, (so) that those cleaved not to the walls of the temple.

7 And when the house was builded, it was built of perfect(ly) hewn stones; and hammer, and ax, and all thing made of iron, were not heard in the house, while it was in building (while it was being built).