Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 7:4
And [there were] windows [in] three rows, and light [was] against light [in] three ranks.
4. And there were windows in three rows ] This is not the usual word for ‘windows,’ but is that which in 1Ki 6:4 describes the sloping woodwork, or lattice, used in the windows of the Temple. From its use in the two descriptions it may be supposed to indicate the like work here as there, and so ‘windows’ is no inappropriate rendering, as it can be understood from the former passage. The R.V. gives prospects to avoid the commoner word, and puts ‘beams’ in the margin. ‘Window-spaces’ would perhaps give the best idea of what appears to be meant, which is some wooden framework fitted into those walls which looked into the interior court.
and light was against light in three ranks ] This means that the windows in every one of the three stories were exactly over each other. There is a very slight difference in the Hebrew of the final clause of the next verse, but the sense is exactly the same.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Either three ranges of windows, one above the other, on either side of the house; or perhaps the three ranges were one in either side wall, and the third in a wall down the middle of the hall, along the course of the midmost row of pillars. The windows were directly opposite one another, giving what we call a through light.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Light was against light; one directly opposite or answering to the other, as is usual in well-contrived buildings. In three ranks; one exactly under another.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And there were windows in three rows,…. Both in the second and third stories, east, north, and south, there being none in the west, where the porch stood:
and light was against light in three ranks; or the windows, through which light was let, answered to each other.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. Windows in three rows Rather, The frameworks were three rows. The word does not mean windows, but is applied, in chap. 1Ki 6:4, to the cross-bars or framework of windows. So here it means the framework of beams with which the three galleries were constructed. Each of these three rows of framework contained a row of fifteen chambers.
Light was against light , here translated light, means a place to see through, an aperture for the purpose of looking out, like those of the boxes in a theatre. These openings were against or opposite to each other, one in each chamber. (c c in cut.)
In three ranks Or, three times.
Corresponding to the three ranges of chambers. Each gallery had its row of openings looking out into the interior of the great hall below, and this interior may have been either open in the centre to the sky, or, as Alexander observes, the whole may have been roofed over, and lighted above by a clear story. The latter supposition is more probable.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 7:4 And [there were] windows [in] three rows, and light [was] against light [in] three ranks.
Ver. 4. In three rows, ] i.e., In three stories, called also ranks here.
And light was against light.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
windows: 1Ki 7:5, 1Ki 6:4, Isa 54:12, Eze 40:16, Eze 40:22, Eze 40:25, Eze 40:29, Eze 40:33, Eze 40:36, Eze 41:26
light was against light: Heb. sight against sight
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:4 And [there were] windows [in] three rows, and light [was] {c} against light [in] three ranks.
(c) There were as many and like proportion on the one side as the other, and at every end even three in a row one above another.