1 Kings 6:3
◄  1 Kings 6:3  ►
New International Version (©2011)
The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple.

New Living Translation (©2007)
The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple.

English Standard Version (©2001)
The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
The porch in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits in length, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth along the front of the house was ten cubits.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
The portico in front of the temple sanctuary was 30 feet long extending across the temple's width, and 15 feet deep in front of the temple.

International Standard Version (©2012)
A portico extended in front of the Temple for 20 cubits outward, corresponding to the width of the Temple. Along the front of the Temple its depth was ten cubits.

NET Bible (©2006)
The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet wide, extending out from the front of the temple.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
The entrance hall in front of the main room of the temple was the same length as the shorter side of the temple. It extended 15 feet in front of the temple.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And the porch in front of the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof in front of the house.

American King James Version
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

American Standard Version
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And there was a porch before the temple of twenty cubits in length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it was ten cubits in breadth before the face of the temple.

Darby Bible Translation
And the porch, in front of the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, and ten cubits was its breadth, in front of the house.

English Revised Version
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length of it, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth of it, before the house.

World English Bible
The porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was its length, according to the breadth of the house; [and] ten cubits was its breadth before the house.

Young's Literal Translation
As to the porch on the front of the temple of the house, twenty cubits is its length on the front of the breadth of the house; ten by the cubit is its breadth on the front of the house;

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:1-10 The temple is called the house of the Lord, because it was directed and modelled by him, and was to be employed in his service. This gave it the beauty of holiness, that it was the house of the Lord, which was far beyond all other beauties. It was to be the temple of the God of peace, therefore no iron tool must be heard; quietness and silence suit and help religious exercises. God's work should be done with much care and little noise. Clamour and violence often hinder, but never further the work of God. Thus the kingdom of God in the heart of man grows up in silence, Mr 5:27.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And the porch [אוּלָם, forepart, projection (Vorhalle, Gesenius). The porch was not a colonnade - that is called a "porch of pillars" (1 Kings 7:6), but was formed By simply prolonging the side walls, and possibly the roof (see below). Bahr holds that it had only side walls and cieling (sic), and was entirely open in front; and the fact that no mention is made of any door or opening, though the doors of the other parts of the edifies are all referred to (vers. 8, 31, 33), certainly favours this view, as also does the position of the pillars of 1 Kings 7:21] before the temple of the house [The house, or main building (ver. 2), had two parts.

(1) "The temple of the house" (הֵיכָל = "spacious," hence "magnificent building," "palace," as in Proverbs 30:28; Daniel 1:4. Gesen., Thes. 1:375). The same word is used of the tabernacle (1 Samuel 1:9), of the royal palace (1 Kings 21:1; 2 Kings 20:18; Psalm 45:8, 15), and of heaven (2 Samuel 22:7, etc.) This was the ναὸς par excellence, and is called "the great house," because of its superior size and height, in 2 Chronicles 3:5.

(2) The oracle (דְּבִיר) see on ver. 5. The two bore a rough resemblance to the nave and chancel of a Gothic church], twenty cubits was the length thereof according to the breadth of the house [The porch, i.e., extended across the entire front, or east end of the temple] and ten cubits was the breadth [i.e., depth] thereof before the house. [The height of the porch, of which no mention is made here, is stated in 2 Chronicles 3:4 as 120 cubits (say 180 feet), but there is surely some mistake in the figures. For

(1) This is "unlike anything we know of in ancient architecture" (Fergusson).

(2) A porch of such dimensions would surely have been called מִגְדָּל, not אוּלָם (Thenius, Keil).

(3) It is doubtful whether an erection of so great a height, with such a slender basis, would stand. It would certainly be out of all proportion. Towers are generally built about three times the height of the adjoining nave, but this would be six times as high, and moreover the porch did not taper to a point like a Gothic spire. It is much more probable, therefore, that there is a corruption of the text of Chronicles (see on 2 Chronicles 3:4) - errors in numbers are by no means infrequent - than that such a column could be erected to serve as a porch, or if erected - and this consideration appears to me to be decisive - could have been passed over by our author without notice. It is impossible, however, to say positively what the height of the porch was. Probably 30 cubits, the height of the house. Stanley characteristically puts it down as "more than 200 feet." It may be remarked here that Fergusson, following Josephus and the Talmud, contends that the temple had another building of the same height above it. See Dict. Bib. 3 p. 1456, and note on ver. 20.]

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the porch before the temple of the house,.... Which stood at the east end of it:

twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; which was from north to south, and of the same dimension, so that they exactly answered each other:

and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house; which being added to it, make the whole of the building, most holy place, holy place, and porch, seventy cubits; the height of the porch is not here given, but in 2 Chronicles 3:4; where it is said to be an hundred twenty cubits high, equal to the height of the house, with the chambers over it; but there the breadth of the porch is not given, as it is here; by these dimensions we may observe the difference between the tabernacle and the temple; the temple was twice as long, and as broad, and thrice as high as that, see Exodus 26:8. This fabric was an emblem of the church of God, sometimes called an holy temple, and the temple of the living God, 2 Corinthians 6:16.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. the porch—or portico, extended across the whole front (see on [296]2Ch 3:4).

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Solomon Builds the Temple
1And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 2And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. 3And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

1 Kings 6:2 The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.
1 Kings 6:4 He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.
1 Kings 7:21 He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.
1 Chronicles 28:11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement.
2 Chronicles 3:4 The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits long across the width of the building and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
Ezekiel 40:48 He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits and its projecting walls were three cubits wide on either side.