to sling · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
walls
קִיר֨וֹתki.Rot
H7023
a wall (as built in a trench) · noun, common feminine plural construct
house
הַבַּ֜יִתha.Ba.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
about
מֵסַ֣בme.Sav
H4524
a divan (as enclosing the room) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
carved
פִּתּוּחֵי֙pi.tu.Chei
H6603
sculpture (in low or high relief or even intaglio) · noun, common masculine plural construct
figures
מִקְלְעוֹת֙mik.le.'Ot
H4734
a sculpture (probably in bas-relief) · noun, common feminine plural construct
cherubims
כְּרוּבִ֣יםke.ru.Vim
H3742
a cherub or imaginary figure · noun, common masculine plural absolute
trees
וְתִֽמֹרֹ֔תve.ti.mo.Rot
H8561
(architectural) a palm-like pilaster (i.e. umbellate) · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural absolute
open
וּפְטוּרֵ֖יu.fe.tu.Rei
H6362
to cleave or burst through · conjunction + verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural construct
flowers
צִצִּ֑יםtzi.Tzim
H6731
properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
within
פְּנִימָהpᵉnîymâh
H6441
faceward
without
וְלַחִיצֽוֹןve.la.chi.Tzon
H2435
properly · conjunction + preposition with the article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 6:32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with…
Exodus 36:8 And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple,…
1 Kings 6:18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
2 Chronicles 3:14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
2 Chronicles 4:2-5 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits…
Psalms 92:12-15 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psalms 103:20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Psalms 148:2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
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…
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…
The height of the one cherub was ten cubits - Concerning the cherubs, their form, etc., see my note on Exo 25:18 (note). The height of each cherub was about eighteen feet and three inches.
John Gill on 1 Kings 6:29
And he carved all the walls of the house about with carved figures of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers,.... That is, of palm trees, those in full blow: if the cherubim are an emblem of angels, the palm trees fitly enough represent just and upright men, who both appear in the church of God below, and in heaven above; in both which are to be seen the open and full-blown flowers of divine grace, especially in the latter state:
within and without; on the walls of the most holy place, both within and without; and so upon the walls of the holy place, in each of which were these sculptures, which were very ornamental, and were emblematical; see Ezekiel 41:17.
The Church Fathers
Here it is indicated that there were four symbols of cherubim, palm trees, narcissus and lilies, which we said represent the saints praying in the temple and contemplating divine things. And these same saints were foreshadowed with a similar sense by Moses, even though he used different symbols, when he distributed the tribes of his people in four groups to the four regions of the world, so that they might all live around the tabernacle. Indeed, the tabernacle represented the person of God, whom he wanted them to contemplate and to observe constantly.
Solomon makes cherubim in the temple walls when the Lord grants to his elect to guide their lives according to the rule of the holy Scriptures, which contain a great store of knowledge. He makes cherubim when he teaches them to imitate in this world, according to their limited capacity, the chastity of the life of angels, and this is done particularly by vigils and the divine praises, by sincere love of the Creator and the neighbor. He makes palm trees when he fixes in their minds the thought of their eternal reward so that the more they have the reward of righteousness ever before the eyes of their hearts, the less likely are they to fall from the pinnacle of uprightness. He makes several representations, as it were, standing out in relief from the wall when he assigns to the faithful the manifold functions of the virtues, for instance, "compassion, kindness, lowliness, patience and self-restraint, to show forbearance toward one another and forgive one another and above all these things" to have "love, which is the bond of perfection." That is to say, these virtues, when they become such a habit with the elect that they seem, as it were, to be naturally ingrained in them, what else are they than the pictures of the Lord's house done in relief as if they were coming out of the wall, because they no longer learn the words and works of truth extrinsically from others but have them deeply rooted within themselves. Holding them in constant readiness, they can bring forth from their inmost hearts what ought to be done and taught.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Temple, Solomon’s — Before his death David had “with all his might” provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the summit of Mount Moriah (1 Chr. 22:14; 29:4; 2 Chr. 3:1), on the east of the…
Carving · cherubim, and palm trees — cherubim, and palm trees
Cherubim · In the temple — In the temple
Flowers · Representations of, on the: Wood work of the temple — Representations of, on the: Wood work of the temple
Palm Tree · Wood of, used in the temple — Wood of, used in the temple
Palm Tree, The · Represented in carved work on the walls and doors of the temple of Solomon — Represented in carved work on the walls and doors of the temple of Solomon
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 6:14-35
The Internal Arrangements of the Temple-House. - Kg1 6:14-22. Internal covering of the house, and division into Holy and Most Holy. - Kg1 6:14 (cf. Kg1 6:9) resumes the description of the building of the temple, which had been interrupted by the divine promise just communicated.
Kg1 6:15
"He built (i.e., so far as the sense is concerned, he covered) the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling he overlaid it with wood within, and overlaid the floor with cypress boards." The expression הסּפּן קירות, "walls of the ceiling," is very striking here, and renders it probable that קירות is only a copyist's error for קורות, "beams of the…
In the inner sanctuary were two cherubim (see study note on 1 Chr 28:18) made of olive wood and overlaid . . . with gold. Standing like sentries facing the door (2 Chr 3:13), their combined wingspan reached from wall to wall. Along with the two smaller cherubim facing each other atop the Ark (Exod 25:17-21), they symbolized the awesome presence of the Most Holy God.
Rashi on 1 Kings 6:29
And all the walls of the Beis Hamikdosh. The wooden walls.
He encircled with figures. Surrounded with drawings.
Carved figures of cherubim. Engraved forms of cherubim, and [palm] trees, cords, and flowers.
From within and without. [I.e.,] for the inner room of the Ark cover [i.e., the Holy of Holies], and for the Sanctuary, the “one without.”38Even though the Sanctuary was also located “within” the Beis Hamikdosh, however, relative to the Holy of Holies it is the “one without.”
