Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 6:15–end
Here, I. We have a particular account of the details of the building.
1. The wainscot of the temple. It was of cedar (Kg1 6:15), which was strong and durable, and of a very sweet smell. The wainscot was curiously carved with knops (like eggs or apples) and flowers, no doubt as the fashion then was, Kg1 6:18.
2. The gilding. It was not like ours, washed over, but the whole house, all the inside of the temple (Kg1 6:22), even the floor (Kg1 6:30), he overlaid with gold, and the most holy place with pure gold, Kg1 6:21. Solomon would spare no expense necessary to make it every way sumptuous. Gold was under foot there, as it should be in all the living temples: the abundance of it lessened its w…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 6:15
THE CEILING AND ADORNING OF IT. (Kg1 6:15-22)
he built the walls of the house within--The walls were wainscotted with cedar-wood; the floor, paved with cypress planks; the interior was divided (by a partition consisting of folding doors, which were opened and shut with golden chains) into two apartments--the back or inner room, that is, the most holy place, was twenty cubits long and broad; the front, or outer room, that is, the holy place, was forty cubits. The cedar-wood was beautifully embellished with figures in relievo, representing clusters of foliage, open flowers, cherubims, and palm trees. The whole interior was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood nor stone was seen; nothing m…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 1 Kings 6:22
The whole house he overlaid with gold - It is impossible to calculate this expense, or the quantity of gold employed in this sacred building.
John Gill on 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. Agreeably to this account Eupolemus, an Heathen writer (d) testifies, that the whole house, from the floor to the tool, was covered with gold, as well as with cedar and cypress wood, that th…
