1 Kings 6:22

1Ki 6:22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that [was] by the oracle he overlaid with gold.

Ver. 22. And the whole house he overlaid with gold.] So that it dazzled the eyes of the beholders, as Josephus testifieth: so that there was need to say - as the priests did at the temple of Ephesus, which was covered likewise with gold - to such as went in, Tenets oculos, look to your eyes. For the mystery, Quid est Templi illius aurea claritas, saith Rupertus, nisi ad dextram Patris sedentis immortalitas atque impassibilitas? What else is all this golden glister but the immortality and impassibility of him who sitteth at the right hand of his heavenly Father? And the polished cedars overlaid with fine gold, show the beauty of the Church, saith another, to be inward, pure, and precious, though unperceived of the world. {Psa 45:1-17}

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.

1Ki 6:22. And the whole house he overlaid with gold — Not only the oracle, but all the holy place; and, as some think, even the chambers belonging to it. Also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold — That is, the altar of incense; thence called the golden altar; which was in the upper end of the sanctuary, near the entrance of the oracle. This he covered with cedar, (1Ki 6:20,) and now overlaid with gold.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meaning, the altar of incense, Exod. 30:1.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 22. The whole house he overlaid with gold] It is impossible to calculate this expense, or the quantity of gold employed in this sacred building.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) The whole altar that was by (or belonged to) the oracle.—This is the altar of incense, which, although it stood (see Exo_30:6; Exo_40:26) before the veil, and therefore in the Holy place, was considered to belong in idea rather to the Holy of Holies; since the offering of incense on it signified the approach by worship to the unseen presence of God, symbolised in the darkness and silence of the inner shrine; and the taking of the censer from it was a condition for the actual entrance into the Holy of Holies on the great Day of Atonement. Hence in Exo_40:5 the altar is said to be “set before the ark of the testimony,” and here to “belong to the oracle.” Probably this is the explanation of the well-known passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1Ki_9:4), where the Holiest place is said to have “had the altar of incense” (wrongly rendered “censer” in our Authorised Version).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. the whole altar that was by the oracle] The preposition is not significant of position, but of possession. Read ‘the whole altar that belonged to the oracle.’ The priest who offered incense continually on this altar in the holy place could not enter the most holy place, but the altar on which the offering was made, though standing without, was looked upon as a part of the more sacred portion of the building, and placed close to the dividing wall.

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 within the oracle he made two cherubim of olive tree,.... Or of the oil tree, as in Isa 41:19; see Neh 8:15; for there are other trees besides olives, out of which oil is pressed, as pine trees, cypress trees, &c. and which some think are here meant; though the Targum interprets it of the olive tree: these cherubim are different from those made by Moses, and were besides them; these were larger than they; these were made of olive wood, they of gold; these stood on the floor of the house, they at the two ends of the mercy seat, and were made out of it, and were with it in this holy place in Solomon's temple: these two cherubim may be emblems of the angels in their greatness and glory, who are always in the presence of God, behold his face, and wait to do his will; or it may be rather of the two witnesses, said to be the two olive trees standing before the God of the whole earth, Rev 11:3; who have boldness to enter into the holiest of all, and have sight and knowledge of the mysteries of the ark and mercy seat; have their commission from heaven, and speak according to the oracles of God; these are said to be of image work, Ch2 3:10; that is, of various forms, as the thee of a man, a lion, an ox, and eagle, Eze 1:10. Dr. Lightfoot thinks (g) they resembled the two Testaments, which in their beginning and end reach the two sides of the world, the creation and the last judgment, and in the middle do sweetly join the one to the other:

each ten cubits high; half as high as the most holy place; emblems either of the high angels, those thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, or of men of uncommon size as to their gifts and grace.

(g) Prospect of the Temple, c. 15. sect. 4.

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

The lavish use of the precious metals in ornamentation was a special feature if early Oriental architecture. Recent researches have given reason to believe that two stages of the great temple at Borsippa - now known as the Bits Nimrud - had respectively a gold and a silver coating.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The whole house; not only the oracle, but all the holy place; and, as some add, even the chambers belonging to it.

The whole altar that was by the oracle, i.e. the altar of incense, which was set in the holy place close by the doors of the oracle.

He overlaid with gold, as before he overlaid it with cedar; of which See Poole "1Ki 6:20".

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

22. The whole house he overlaid with gold — That is, the whole interior of the holy place and the most holy was overlaid with gold, like the boards of the tabernacle. Exo_26:29. The prominence given to the golden covering of the various parts of the temple not only shows the exceeding expensiveness of the building, but also points in symbol to the excellence and preciousness of the Church of the living God.

The whole altar — The entire outside of the altar, top, sides, and horns, as specified in Exo_30:3.

That was by the oracle — The golden altar of incense was placed directly in front of the vail that concealed the oracle from view, (Exo_30:6,) and so might be said to belong to the oracle. Compare note on 1Ki_6:20.

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

And the whole house he overlaid with gold This no mere repetition, more Hebraico, as Bahr and Keil would have us think. Something additional must surely be referred to, and 2Ch_3:4 warrants us in understanding this statement to include the porch, the interior of which was gilded. Because the porch is elsewhere (ver. 3) distinguished from the "house," it does not follow that it can never be comprehended under that term until he had finished all the house: also (Heb. and) . the altar that was by Heb. to. See on ver. 20 the oracle he overlaid with gold.

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

Whole house - Not only the oracle, but all the holy place. The altar - the altar of incense, which was set in the holy place close by the doors of the oracle. With gold - As before he overlaid it with cedar.

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

And the whole Beis Hamikdosh. [I.e.,] the entire Sanctuary.

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.