1 Kings 7:10

1Ki 7:10 And the foundation [was of] costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

Ver. 10. And the foundatlon was of costly stones.] Heb., Precious; yet not of emeralds, carbuncles, sapphires, as Isa 54:11, but of marble, porphyry, &c., which were longlasting.

Even great stones.] Which therefore were the closer together, and the surer.

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 7:10-11. The foundation was of costly stones — By costly stones, mentioned here, and in the foregoing and following verses, are not meant precious stones, but stones that, being larger, firmer, and better polished than others, were of greater price: probably they were large blocks of marble, squared and polished on all sides. Stones of ten cubits — Not ten cubits square, which would have been unnecessary, and would have rendered them unportable and unmanageable, but of such measure as is generally used in measuring stones and timber; and thus also the following eight cubits are to be understood. And above — That is, in the roof, or upper part; for this is opposed to the foundation. Were costly stones and cedars — Intermixed the one with the other. Thus the roof was finished after the same manner with the lower parts.

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

the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones--Enormous stones, corresponding exactly with the dimensions given, are found in Jerusalem at this day. Not only the walls from the foundation to the roof beams were built of large hewn stones, but the spacious court around the palace was also paved with great square stones.

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 the foundation] Even that work which was to be buried out of sight was of the same quality.

ten cubits … eight cubits] Probably we have here the greatest dimension, the length. We are left to imagine the breadth and thickness which would be proportional in stones of 15 feet and 12 feet long.

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 above were costly stones,.... Above the foundation, from thence to the top of the buildings; the whole walls were made of such right up to the ceiling:

after the measure of hewed stones; which, according to the Rabbins, as Kimchi says, were five hands breadth:

and cedars; beams of cedars over them, or these, both the foundation and the walls, were lined with them.

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

See the 1Ki 5:17 note.

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

Stones of ten cubits; not square, which would have been both unnecessary, and unportable, and unmanageable; but of solid measure, by which stones and timber are usually measured; and so they were only two cubits square, but there were twenty solid cubits contained in them. And so also the following

eight cubits are to be understood.

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

10. Even great stones — These foundation stones were costly because of their great size rather than of the vast amount of labour required in hewing them.

Ten cubits — About fifteen feet. See note on 1Ki_5:17.

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 foundation was of costly stones, even great stones Bahr says, "Even the foundations which from without were not seen, were composed of these great stones." But the meaning evidently is that the foundation stones were larger than those reared upon them, stones of ten cubits i.e., ten cubits long, and of proportionate width, etc. , and stones of eight cubits. The foundations of the palaces, consequently, were much less than those of the temple platform, some of which would measure 16 cubits. (See note on 1Ki_5:17)

All these i.e. buildings, palaces were of costly or precious; cf. 1Ki 5:30 and vers. 10, 11 stones, according to the measures of hewed stones lit., of squaring or hewing, same word in, 1Ki 5:30 1Ki_6:36 and, Isa_9:9, etc. All the stones in these several buildings were shaped to certain specified dimensions sawed with saws rrG is obviously an onomatopoetic word, like our saw. Gesenius cites sairw, serro, etc. The Egyptians, whose saws were apparently all single handed, do not seem to have applied this instrument to stone, but part of a double-handed saw was found at Nimrud (Layard, p. 195, and Dict. Bib., art. "Saw). That saws were in common use and were made of iron is implied in, 2Sa_12:31 within and without It is not quite clear whether the meaning is that the two surfaces exposed to view, one within and the other without, the building were shaped with saws, or that the inner and hidden surface of the stone was thus smoothed as well as the exposed parts, even from the foundation unto the coping or corbels. It is generally agreed (Gesen., Keil, Bight) that the reference is to the "projecting stones on which the beams rest," though Thenius would understand battlements (Deu_22:8) to be intended. But for these a different word is always used, and the LXX geisov signifies the projection of the roof, not an erection upon it, and so on the outside toward the great court i.e., the pavement of the court was of sawed stones (see ver. 12).

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

The foundation was, etc., [of] huge stones. And the foundation which was in the ground was of stones greater than the [standard] size of cut [stones].

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.