1 Kings 6:10

1Ki 6:10 And [then] he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house [with] timber of cedar.

Ver. 10. And he built chambers.] The tabernacle had none such. See on 1Ki 6:5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

chambers . . . five cubits high--The height of the whole three stories was therefore about fifteen cubits.

they rested on the house with timber of cedar--that is, because the beams of the side stones rested on the ledges of the temple wall. The wing was attached to the house; it was connected with the temple, without, however, interfering injuriously with the sanctuary [KEIL].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10. And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high] Better with R.V. ‘And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high.’ We ought perhaps to make some allowance for the thickness of floors and roofs. So that the whole height to which this three-storied structure rose may have been much more than 15 cubits, if five cubits were the inside height of each range of rooms. Mr Fergusson (p. 27) says ‘It hardly admits of dispute that with the requisite thickness of their roofs they make up the 20 or 21 cubits which are necessary to bring up their roofs to the level of that of the Holy of Holies.’

they rested on the house] i.e. On the shoulders or rebatements mentioned in 1Ki_6:6. The other ends of these cedar beams were embedded in the outside wall of the encasing story-work.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And then he built chambers against all the house five cubits high,.... Which some understand of the same chambers in Kg1 6:5; here made mention of again for the sake of giving the height of them, not before given; but they were built against, or upon the wall of the house, these against, or rather upon the whole house itself; and are the chambers referred to; see Gill on Kg1 6:2; which consisting of three stories of ninety cubits, raised the whole house to an equal height with the porch, Ch2 3:4; as is there intended (x); these are the upper chambers in Ch2 3:9; and they rested on the house with timber of cedar; or on the timber of cedar, the beams of cedar, with which the house was covered, as in Kg1 6:9; on these the chambers rested, being built upon them; and in one of these chambers the disciples might be after Christ's ascension, Act 1:13.

(x) Vid. Joseph. Antiqu. ut supra. (l. 8. c. 3. sect. 2.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Height. To prevent the excessive heats. Five other cubits were also subtracted, ver. 20. Some translate, "he made also stories of all the temple, each five cubits high;" so that the three stories occupied half the height of the walls, which were 30 cubits in height, ver. 2. (Calmet) --- Covered. Hebrew, "took (or bound together) the house," &c. The roof was flat. (Calmet) --- Villalpand maintains the contrary, (in Ezechiel xli.) with Sanchez, &c. Salien gathers from many of the ancients, that the floor here mentioned, was a balustrade, or the pinnacle of the temple, (Matthew iv.) where people might walk or pray. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Against all the house; which interpreters understand of those chambers described 1Ki 6:5,6. But why should that be repeated again, and that so darkly and confusedly, after he had particularly and exactly treated of them (unless to give an account of the height of each chamber, or story, which before was not done)? And the Hebrew words may be truly and properly rendered thus,

He built a roof (to wit, a flat and plain roof, called yatziah, because of the exact resemblance it hath with the floor of a house) over all the house, according to the manner of all the Israelitish buildings, which were flat at the top; of which see Deu 22:8; Jos 2:6; 2Sa 11:2. The inner roof was arched, 1Ki 6:9, that it might be more beautiful and glorious to behold; but the outward roof was flat.

Five cubits high, above the walls of the temple; which was necessary, that it might be a little higher than the arched roof, which it was designed to cover and secure.

They rested, Heb. it rested, to wit, the roof; for the Hebrew verb is of the singular number.

With timber of cedar; which rested upon the top of the wall, as the chambers, 1Ki 6:5, rested upon the sides of the wall. But all this I submit to the learned and judicious.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Chambers… five cubits high — Literally, Five cubits its height; that is, each chamber or story was five cubits high from floor to ceiling. “Their flooring and roofing being added, they reached together to about eighteen or twenty cubits in height; so that there would be room for the windows of the temple to be opened out, like clear story windows, above them.” — Wordsworth.

Rested on the house with timber of cedar — Rather, were fastened to (אחז) the house by means of cedar beams set into the side-walls or rebatements described 1Ki_6:6.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And then Heb. omits he built chambers Heb. the floor (wxiYh). The word (masculine) is here again used of the entire side structure against all the house, five cubits high i.e. , each story was five cubits (7.5 feet). The three stories would altogether measure fifteen cubits, and of course something must be allowed for joists, floors, etc. The entire height of the side structure (exterior) would consequently be about 18 or 20 cubits. And as the house was internally 30 cubits high, the exterior measurement would probably be about 32 cubits. It has hence been inferred that between the side structure and the top of temple wall there would be a clear space of 12 or 14 cubits, in which the windows were inserted. But this is based on the assumption that the side structure had a flat roof, which is by no means certain. If the roof leaned against the walls of the house, with a low pitch, there would still be space amply sufficient for the clerestory windows. Rawlinson"s diagram (p. 511), which gives 80 cubits as the height from basement to ridge of roof, and only allows 20 cubits for height of walls, practically makes the house 20 instead of 30 cubits high, for it is hardly likely that it had an open roof. In fact, we know that it had a cieling (ver. 14), which must have been at the height of 30 cubits (see the diagrams on p. 102. In

(1) house and side structure are represented with flat, in

(2) with ridged or sloping roofs),

unless there was an upper chamber above the house, as to which see ver. 20. Rawlinson"s diagram has this further defect, that he allows nothing forthickness of joists, floors, and cielings. If we allow one cubit for each floor, then, on his plan, there would be little or no room left for the windows. This verse is hardly to be considered as a repetition of ver. 5, the side structure being here mentioned in connexion with its height and the materials used in its construction and they rested on the meaning of the Heb. zjoaYw has been much disputed. It is uncertain what is the nominative, Solomon (as in bYiw), or the "floor" (just referred to in wOtmwOq). Gesenius understands the former, and renders, he covered the house," etc. Thenius, he fastened the floor," etc. Keil adopts the latter alternative, "it held to the house with cedar beams." It may be urged against this rendering (as also against Thenius"s) that beams which merely rested on the walls would hardly bind or hold the side structure to the main building. But it is almost impossible to decide between these interpretations. We may either render "he covered," etc. (with Chald., Vulg.) in which case ver. 10 would agree with ver. 9 (each, i.e., would refer to the roofing; ver. 9 to roof of temple; ver. 10 to roof of side structure and its stories); or we may take the words to mean "it laid hold of, i.e., rested on the house with timber of cedar.

At this point the historian interrupts his description of the building to record the gracious promise made to the king during its erection. It should, perhaps, be stated that this (vers. 11-14) is omitted in the Vat. LXX But it has every mark of genuineness.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Built chambers - The Hebrew words may be properly rendered, He built a roof, a flat and plain roof, over all the house, according to the manner of the Israelitish buildings. The inner roof was arched, ver. 9, that it might be the more beautiful, but the outward roof was flat. Five cubits - Above the walls of the temple: that it might be a little higher than the arched roof, which it was designed to cover and secure. They rested - Hebrew. it rested, namely, the roof. Timber of cedar - Which rested upon the top of the wall, as the chambers, ver. 5, rested upon the sides of the wall.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Five amohs high. Of each one. Therefore, their total height was fifteen amohs besides the thickness of the ceiling.

And he covered the Beis Hamikdosh. That is the upper covering of the roof, and the covering [=והספון] mentioned above that was the ceiling of the upper story.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.