1 Kings 6:15–22, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Kings 6:15–22
Cedar, the inner sanctuary, and gold cover the house
Cedar covers stone; a rear room becomes the most holy place
He builds the walls within with boards of cedar, from the floor to the walls of the ceiling, and covers the floor with planks of fir. He builds twenty cubits on the sides of the house with boards of cedar, from the floor to the walls, for the oracle, even for the most holy place. The house before it, the temple, is forty cubits.
The cedar is carved with knops and open flowers. There is no stone seen. The oracle inside is prepared to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. Architecture here is concealment and preparation, not magic.
Gold goes on until the house is overlaid
The oracle is twenty cubits in each dimension. He overlays it with pure gold and overlays the cedar altar. The house is overlaid with gold, the partition before the oracle has gold chains, and the whole house is overlaid until it is finished. The altar belonging to the oracle is overlaid too.
Splendor is the point of this paragraph. It is not proof of spiritual health. Gold can hide stone the way a reputation can hide a levy. The inner room is for the ark, the sign of the Horeb words, not for a god who needs plating.
How this should shape us
Beauty in a holy place still has a cost and a purpose. Ask what the overlay conceals, who paid for it, and whether the inner room still serves the covenant it was built to hold.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Kings 6:15–22 in your own words: include the movement “Cedar, the inner sanctuary, and gold cover the house,” one source-supported observation, one limit, and one harm the unit does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where does uncertainty remain?
Best judgment: The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
1 Kings 6:15–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 6:15–22
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 594–596, translation and translator notes for 6:15–22
Supports: Inspected full-text literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one synthesis rather than consensus.
Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 237–239, exposition covering 1 Kings 6:15–22
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Masoretic, Greek, and other textual witnesses; the full chapter was not inspected.
Tekoniemi, 'Textual History,' Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 55–66
Supports: Only publisher-visible discussion of links with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History.
Müller, 'Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 83–97
Supports: Only publisher-visible authorship, dating, source, and redaction framing; detailed proposals remain alternatives.
Römer, 'Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 98–122
Supports: Abstract-level current framing of Solomon and Jeroboam traditions, history, and literary development.
Robker, 'Solomon and Jeroboam I,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 139–155
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of temple descriptions and Ancient Near Eastern comparison, not proof of every dimension or event.
Dubovský, 'Solomon's Temple,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 296–310
Supports: Publisher-visible political and ideological questions around royal power and privilege.
Hens-Piazza, 'Power and Privilege,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 493–505
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 6:15–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 6:15–22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 594–596, translation and translator notes for 6:15–22
Open source ↗scholarly commentary chapter
1 and 2 Kings
Walter Dietrich
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2001
Supports: Inspected full-text literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one synthesis rather than consensus.
Exact location: Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 237–239, exposition covering 1 Kings 6:15–22
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Textual History
Timo Tekoniemi
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Masoretic, Greek, and other textual witnesses; the full chapter was not inspected.
Exact location: Tekoniemi, 'Textual History,' Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 55–66
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History
Reinhard Muller
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Only publisher-visible discussion of links with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History.
Exact location: Müller, 'Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 83–97
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings
Thomas Romer
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Only publisher-visible authorship, dating, source, and redaction framing; detailed proposals remain alternatives.
Exact location: Römer, 'Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 98–122
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Solomon and Jeroboam I
Jonathan Miles Robker
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Abstract-level current framing of Solomon and Jeroboam traditions, history, and literary development.
Exact location: Robker, 'Solomon and Jeroboam I,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 139–155
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Solomon's Temple
Peter Dubovsky
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of temple descriptions and Ancient Near Eastern comparison, not proof of every dimension or event.
Exact location: Dubovský, 'Solomon's Temple,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 296–310
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Power and Privilege
Gina Hens-Piazza
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Publisher-visible political and ideological questions around royal power and privilege.
Exact location: Hens-Piazza, 'Power and Privilege,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 493–505
Open source ↗