1 Kings 7:9

1Ki 7:9 All these [were of] costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and [so] on the outside toward the great court.

Ver. 9. According to the measure of hewed stones.] Though costly, yet as great as other hewed stones.

Unto the coping,] i.e., The top of the wall, whereon the beams were laid.

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 7:9. All these were of costly stones — Namely, the buildings described here, and in the former chapter. According to the measures of hewed stones — Either, 1st, Which were hewed in such measure and proportion, as exact workmen use in hewing ordinary stones: or, 2d, As large as hewed stones commonly are, which are often very great. Sawed them with saws, within and without — Both on the inside of the buildings, which were covered with cedar, and on the outside also. From the foundation unto the coping — From the bottom to the top of the building. So on the outside toward the great court — Not only on the outside of the front of the house, which, being most visible, men are more careful to adorn, but also of the other side of the house, which looked toward the great court belonging to the king’s house.

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

7:9-11 As with the Temple, the stones for Solomon’s palace complex were high-quality stone, cut . . . and trimmed to exact specifications. Similar stonework has been found at Megiddo. Cedar beams between the courses of the wall provided better protection against earthquakes.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which were rests and stays for the beams to lie upon.

Or, precious.

Or, span.

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

9. All these] i.e. The whole of the buildings described in the previous verses.

according to the measures of hewed stones] Better not to be taken as in construction, but with R.V. even hewn stones according to measure. The word is literally ‘according to measures,’ and this the R.V. explains on the margin as ‘after divers measures.’ But this is what is meant by their text.

within and without] Though the inside face of the walls was to be covered with cedar, and so put out of sight, the same care was taken with the dressing of that part of the stone work, as with all that was to remain uncovered.

toward the great court] Better, unto. What appears to be meant in the verse is a strong expression of the excellency of the stone work. This is said to have been of the same character from the base to the coping of all the walls, and then is added, that it was the same from the front part of the buildings to the back. The front part, which was the house of the forest, is not mentioned, but it said that the good work extended unto the great court, which lay farthest back of all the buildings.

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 the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,.... Of a great price, and very large:

stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits some of one measure, and some of another; not so many cubits square, but of solid measure; they were so many in length.

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

The stones were uniform - all cut to certain fixed measures of length, breadth, and thickness. They were not squared only on the face which showed, but also on the sides which fell within the wall and were not seen. Saws appear in Assyrian sculptures of the age of Sennacherib; and fragments of an iron saw have been found at Nimrud.

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

All these buildings described here and in the former chapter.

According to the measures of hewed stones; either first, which were hewed in such measure and proportion, as exact workmen used to hew ordinary stones; or, secondly, as large as common hewed stones, which are oft very great.

Within and without; both on the inside of the buildings which were covered with cedar, and on the outside also.

From the foundation unto the coping; from the bottom to the top of the building.

On the outside toward the great court; not only on the outside of the front of the house, which being most visible, men are more careful to adorn; but also of the other side of the house, which looked towards the great court belonging to the king’s house.

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

9. All these were of costly stones — That is, the exterior walls of all these buildings were built of costly stones.

According to the measures of hewed stones — Rather, according to the measure of hewing; that is, according to the amount of skill and labour required in sawing and hewing them. They were costly on account of this vast amount of labour and expense in preparing them for use.

Sawed with saws — Here is evidence of the ancient use of saws in cutting stone. “Saws appear in Assyrian sculptures of the age of Sennacherib; and fragments of an iron saw were found at Nimrud.” — Rawlinson.

Within and without — That is, on both sides of the wall the sawn surface of the stones appeared. But the inside of most of the buildings was covered with cedar, and so only the outside, towards the great court, continued to reveal from foundation to coping the smoothly sawn faces of the costly stones.

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

These - Buildings described here and in the former chapter. The measures - Hewed in such measure and proportion as exact workmen use to hew ordinary stones. Within, &c. - Both on the inside of the buildings which were covered with cedar, and on the outside also. To the coping - From the bottom to the top of the building. And so on - Not only on the outside of the front of the house, which being most visible, men are more careful to adorn; but also of the other side of the house, which looked towards the great court belonging to the king's house.

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

General Information:

The writer is writing about the stones used for the buildings.

These buildings were adorned with costly hewn stones

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The workers adorned the buildings with costly, hewn stones" (See: Active or Passive)

hewn stones, precisely measured and cut with a saw and smoothed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "hewn stones, that workers had precisely measured and cut with a saw and smoothed" (See: Active or Passive)

These stones were used

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The workers used these stones" (See: Active or Passive)

from the foundation to the stones on top, and also on the outside to the great court

The author is emphasizing that the workers used expensive stones for the foundations and all the buildings.

The foundation was constructed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The workers constructed the foundation" (See: Active or Passive)

eight and ten cubits

A cubit is 46 centimeters. AT: "about 3.7 meters and 4.6 meters" (See: Biblical Distance)

translationWords

found

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

All these [structures] were of heavy stones. All these stones were made heavy.

According to the dimensions of standard cut stones. According to the measures of cut stone, [i.e.,] theyhad one [standard] size for cut stone [for buildings] in that country,

From the foundation to the ceiling. This building in height was made of these cut stones from the foundation until the highest beam.

From the foundation. [ממסד is] an expression [meaning] foundation [=יסוד].

The ceiling. The highest beam, as in, “My right hand had spanned [טפחה] the heavens.”

And from the outside. On the outside, the entire length of the walls until the great court, were of these 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.