1 Kings 6


1 Kings 6 is the sixth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the reign of Solomon over the unified kingdom of Judah and Israel. The focus of this chapter is the reign of Solomon, the king of Israel.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 38 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

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Analysis

1 Kings 6 to 7 cover the building of the temple, with insertions of information about Solomon's palace, the "house of the forest of Lebanon", the hall of the throne, the hall of judgment, and a house for Pharaoh's daughter.

Construction of the Temple walls (6:1–10)

The ground-plan of the temple indicates a long and narrow building which was not particularly large, a form that was commonly found in the region of Israel.

Verse 1

  • Cross reference: 1 Kings 6:37
  • "The 4th year of Solomon's reign" based on Thiele-McFall calculation, this period ran from September 968 to September 967 BCE, which points to the Exodus in April 1446 BCE, according to this verse.
  • "The month of Ziv": or Iyar/Ayyar, which is April or May in Gregorian calendar.

A word from God to Solomon (6:11–13)

In this section it is emphasized that God was not bound to the confines of the temple building, but the temple symbolizes God' permanent presence and thus, 'eternal security', contingent upon the obedience of the people to God's commandments, a message repeated multiple times by the prophets. Therefore, the existence of the temple does not change the 'essential terms' of the divine-human relationship.

The interior decoration of the Temple (6:14–38)

All the walls of the holy site were clad with made of costly materials. The ornamentation in wooden panels and carvings s emphatically non-figural, but limited to plants and animals, an aniconic characteristic of the YHWH-religion.
In comparison to the 'curtain walls and dust floor' of the tabernacle, much of the interior and floor of the temple was covered in gold.

Verse 37

  • Cross reference: 1 Kings 6:1
  • "The month of Ziv": or Iyar/Ayyar, which is April or May in Gregorian calendar.

Verse 38

  • "The month of Bul": or Cheshvan/Heshvan, which is October or November in Gregorian calendar. A reference to the month of "Bul" is found in the inscription on the sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, a Phoenician king of Sidon.
  • "Seven years": Ziv is the second month and Bul is the eighth month, so it took more precisely "seven years and six months" to complete the temple.