1 Kings 6:35

6:15-38 See what was typified by this temple. 1. Christ is the true Temple. In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead; in him meet all God's spiritual Israel; through him we have access with confidence to God. 2. Every believer is a living temple, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, 1Co 3:16. This living temple is built upon Christ as its Foundation, and will be perfect in due time. 3. The gospel church is the mystical temple. It grows to a holy temple in the Lord, enriched and beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit. This temple is built firm, upon a Rock. 4. Heaven is the everlasting temple. There the church will be fixed. All that shall be stones in that building, must, in the present state of preparation, be fitted and made ready for it. Let sinners come to Jesus as the living Foundation, that they may be built on him, a part of this spiritual house, consecrated in body and soul to the glory of God.

And he carved thereon cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers,.... As upon the doors of the most holy place, 1 Kings 6:32 ; see Ezekiel 41:25 ; and covered them with gold, fitted upon the carved work; plates of gold were fitted, as to the dimensions of them, to the cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

35 . and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work ] Here we have a definite statement of what was done, and the same is no doubt meant in 1 Kings 6:32 . The first verb is that which has been rendered overlaid all through the narrative. So consistency requires the same rendering here. In 2 Chronicles 3:6 we read that precious stones, as well as gold, were used for adorning the walls. upon the carved work ] This is not a word connected with that so frequently used for ‘carving’ in these verses. So the R.V. has given graven work to mark the variation. There is no doubt that the figures on the doors were cut in the wood and in English ‘graven-work’ refers generally to metal. But see Isaiah 45:20 ; Deuteronomy 7:5 , where graven images appear to have been of wood, and destructible by burning. The description here given appears to mean that the embossed and carved portions of the woodwork were covered with gold, but not the whole surface of the doors.

The two doors - i. e., two leaves which met in the middle, as in the Assyrian gate-ways generally. Spread gold - The doors were not simply sheeted with gold, like the floors 1 Kings 6:30, but had the gold hammered to fit the forms of the palms, cherubs, and flowers carved upon them. 1 Kings 6:35. Such hammered metal-work, generally in bronze, has been found in tolerable abundance among the Assyrian remains.

Verse 35. - And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers [The constant recurrence of the same forms is in itself a proof that they must have been significant], and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work [Heb. made straight upon the engraved work. That is to say, the gold fitted closely to all the uneven and indented surface of the figures. Elsewhere, laminae were simply laid upon the level walls, etc.] 1 Kings 6:35

Carving and gilding: as upon the doors before the hinder room. The gold was levelled or smoothed over that which had been engraved, i.e., it was beaten out thin and laid upon the carving in such a manner that the gold plate fitted closely to the figures. Gilding was generally effected in ancient times by the laying on of gold plate, which was fastened with tacks (compare 2 Chronicles 3:9 ).

14 . I was no prophet, and I was no prophet’s son ] i.e. not one of the “sons of the prophets,” as the companies, or guilds, of prophets, at Beth-el, Gilgal, and other places, are called in the Book of Kings ( 1 Kings 20:35 ; 2 Kings 2:3 ; 2 Kings 2:5 ; 2 Kings 2:7 ; 2 Kings 2:15 ; 2 Kings 4:1 ; 2 Kings 4:38 ; 2 Kings 5:22 ; 2 Kings 6:1 ; 2 Kings 9:1 ). In Semitic languages ‘son’ is often used in the figurative sense of belonging to: thus in Syriac bar naggârê , ‘a son of the carpenters,’ means a member of a carpenters’ guild.