1 Kings 8:64

1Ki 8:64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that [was] before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that [was] before the LORD [was] too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

Ver. 64. The king hallowed,] i.e., saith Lyra, He caused the high priest to sanctify the pavement of that court near unto the altar, by reason of the multitude of the sacrifices, and incapacity of the altar.

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 8:64. The same day — Or rather, at the same time. For it can scarcely be supposed that it could all be done the same day. Did the king hallow the middle of the court — Namely, the court of the priests in which the great altar was. This he consecrated as he did the great altar, by sacrifices; but with this difference, that he consecrated that for perpetual use, but this only for the present occasion, being warranted to do so both by the necessity of it for God’s service, and for the present solemn work, for which the brazen altar was not sufficient; and by the direction of God’s Spirit, wherewith Solomon was endowed, as being a prophet, as well as a king. Here therefore he suddenly reared up divers altars, which, after this solemnity, were demolished.

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

The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court--that is, the whole extent of the priests' court--the altar of burnt offerings, though large (Ch2 4:1), being totally inadequate for the vast number of sacrifices that distinguished this occasion. It was only a temporary erection to meet the demands of an extraordinary season, in aid of the established altar, and removed at the conclusion of the sacred festival. [See on Ch2 7:7.]

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

Verse 64. Did the king hallow the middle of the court] The great altar of burnt-offerings was not sufficient for the number of sacrifices which were then made; therefore the middle of the court was set apart, and an altar erected there for the same purpose.

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

64. meat offerings] These consisted (see Lev_2:4-7) of fine flour with oil and incense. In modern English the sense of ‘meat’ has become so restricted to flesh, that the R.V., to give a nearer idea of the true nature of the offering, has changed the word to meal-offering, though this does not quite adequately convey the meaning. In 2Ch_7:6 we read that the Levites accompanied these sacrifices with music, on instruments which David had made for religious services, and the priests blew the trumpets before them.

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.

The middle of the court - Or, “the whole area of the court “ - all the “mid” space within the enclosing walls, which thus became one huge altar, on any part of which victims might be offered at one and the same time.

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

Court of the priests. An altar was there erected, in haste. Fire from heaven came to consume the victims, 2 Paralipomenon vii. 1. (Calmet)

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).

The middle of the court, to wit, of the priests’ court, in which the great altar was. This he consecrated as he did the great altar, to wit, by sacrifices; but with this difference, that he consecrated that for lasting and perpetual use, but this only for the present time and occasion, being warranted to do so both by the necessity of it for God’s service; and for the present solemn work, for which the brazen altar was not sufficient, as it here follows; and by the direction of God’s Spirit, wherewith Solomon was endowed, as being a prophet as well as a king. Here therefore he suddenly reared up divers altars, which after this solemnity were demolished.

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

64. The same day — The same time that the multitude of these sacrifices were offered.

Hallow — Sanctify; consecrate. The purpose for which this inner court was hallowed bears further testimony to the vast number of the sacrifices offered on that occasion. The brazen altar was insufficient, and therefore Solomon caused the erection of other altars in the midst of the court, thus sanctifying the whole middle of its area for sacrificial purposes.

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

The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court i.e., the entire area of the court of the priests. (1Ki_6:36) Ewald (287 g) translates "the inner court." The whole space may have been regarded as "one huge altar" (Rawlinson), or temporary altars may have been erected all over the area. As already observed, this fact alone points to an enormous number of victims that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings Heb. the burnt offerings, i.e., either the usual daily burnt offerings, (Num_28:3) or more probably, those appropriate to such a special function, (Num_29:13 sqq.; cf. 1Ki_3:4) and meat offerings Heb. the meat offering. Both this and the preceding word (hlOh) are singular (generic) in the original, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord i.e., house of the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings and yet it was 20 cubits (30 feet) square, and so would offer a surface of 100 (Keil 144) square yards.

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

Middle of the court - Of the priests court, in which the great altar was. This he consecrated as he did the great altar, by sacrifices; but with this difference, that he consecrated that for perpetual use: but this only for the present occasion, being warranted to do so both by the necessity of it for God's service, and for the present solemn work, for which the brazen altar was not sufficient; and by the direction of God's spirit, wherewith Solomon was endowed, as being a prophet, as well as a king. Here therefore he suddenly reared up divers altars, which, after this solemnity were demolished.

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

the bronze altar that was before Yahweh

"the bronze altar that was in Yahweh's presence." Since the temple is Yahweh's dwelling place among his people, the altar is described as being in his presence.

translationWords

set apart

court

temple

Yahweh

burnt offering

grain offering

fellowship offering

bronze

altar

receive

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

The inside of the Courtyard. These words are to be taken literally, according to Rabbi Yehudah; [i.e.,] he hallowed the floor of the court with the [same] sanctity of the Altar, [enabling one] to offer sacrifices on the floor.

For the copper altar. The stone altar that he [Shlomo] constructed in lieu of the copper altar.

Too small to contain the burnt-offerings and the meal offerings. For they brought many. Rabbi Yose said to him [Rabbi Yehudah], “Is it not already written, ‘Shlomo offered a thousand burnt-offerings upon that altar,’ which Moshe had made,” and when you compute the number of amohs and the number of burnt offerings, this one of stones was larger than Moshe’s, for on Moshe’s altar the place used for the sacrifice, was one amoh by one amoh, but this one’s place used for the sacrifice was twenty-four [amohs] by twenty-four [amohs]. Therefore Shlomo’s [altar] was 576 times as large as Moshe’s. If so, what is the meaning of, “the king sanctified the middle of the Courtyard?” [It means] that he set the stone altar into it, firmly connected to the floor.

Was too small to contain. He is referring to Moshe’s [altar], like a person says to his friend, “So and so is a dwarf,” [i.e.,] he is disqualified to perform the service.

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.