1 Kings 6:20-35

Context
6:20 The inner sanctuary was 30 feet¹ long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold,² as well as the cedar altar.³ 6:21 Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold.⁴ He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary⁵ with gold. 6:22 He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary.⁶

6:23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubs of olive wood; each stood 15 feet⁷ high. 6:24 Each of the first cherub’s wings was seven and a half feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet.⁸ 6:25 The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape.⁹ 6:26 Each cherub stood 15 feet high.¹⁰ 6:27 He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple.¹¹ Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub’s wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub’s wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub’s other wing touched the second cherub’s other wing in the middle of the room.¹² 6:28 He plated the cherubs with gold.

6:29 On all the walls around the temple, inside and out,¹³ he carved¹⁴ cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. 6:30 He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out.¹⁵ 6:31 He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided.¹⁶ 6:32 On the two doors made of olive wood he carved¹⁷ cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold.¹⁸ He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold.¹⁹ 6:33 In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall, only with four-sided pillars.²⁰ 6:34 He also made²¹ two doors out of wood from evergreens; each door had two folding leaves.²² 6:35 He carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings.

[6:20] ¹tn Heb “twenty cubits” (this measurement occurs three times in this verse).

[6:20] ²tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).

[6:20] ³tn Heb “he plated [the] altar of cedar.”

[6:21] ⁴tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).

[6:21] ⁵tn Heb “it.”

[6:22] ⁶tn Heb “all the temple he plated with gold until all the temple was finished; and the whole altar which was in the inner sanctuary he plated with gold.”

[6:23] ⁷tn Heb “ten cubits” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).

[6:24] ⁸tn Heb “The first wing of the [one] cherub was five cubits, and the second wing of the cherub was five cubits, ten cubits from the tips of his wings to the tips of his wings.”

[6:25] ⁹tn Heb “and the second cherub was ten cubits, the two cherubs had one measurement and one shape.”

[6:26] ¹⁰tn Heb “the height of the first cherub was ten cubits; and so was the second cherub.”

[6:27] ¹¹tn Heb “in the midst of the inner house,” i.e., in the inner sanctuary.

[6:27] ¹²tn Heb “and their wings were in the middle of the room, touching wing to wing.”

[6:29] ¹³sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.

[6:29] ¹⁴tn Heb “carved engravings of carvings.”

[6:30] ¹⁵sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.

[6:31] ¹⁶tn Heb “the pillar, doorposts, a fifth part” (the precise meaning of this description is uncertain).

[6:32] ¹⁷tn Heb “carved carvings of.”

[6:32] ¹⁸tn Heb “he plated [with] gold” (the precise object is not stated).

[6:32] ¹⁹tn Heb “and he hammered out the gold on the cherubs and the palm trees.”

[6:33] ²⁰tn Heb “and so he did at the entrance of the main hall, doorposts of olive wood, from a fourth.”

[6:34] ²¹tn The words “he also made” are added for stylistic reasons.

[6:34] ²²tc Heb “two of the leaves of the first door were folding, and two of the leaves of the second door were folding.” In the second half of the description, the MT has קְלָעִים (qÿla’im, “curtains”), but this is surely a corruption of צְלָעִים (tsÿla’im, “leaves”) which appears in the first half of the statement.