Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 6:21
So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
21. with pure gold ] The adjective, or rather participle, as it is in Hebrew, signifies ‘closed,’ ‘shut up.’ The traditional rendering is that of the text, supported by the Chaldee, the Vulgate and Kimchi; but it is not clear how the sense comes, unless we may take it, as the notes of the Synod of Dort, that what was precious was usually kept close. The amount of gold employed is given in 2Ch 3:8 as six hundred talents.
and he made a partition by the chains of gold ] Render with R.V. and he drew across chains of gold. The words literally signify ‘he caused to pass over with chains,’ i.e. he made with chains of gold something that went across either the whole of the dividing wall or over the doorway which was made therein. From 2Ch 3:5; 2Ch 3:16 it seems as if chains had been used for ornamentation on other parts of the walls and pillars. The LXX. ( Alex.) renders ‘he drew a curtain across by means of chains of gold.’
and he overlaid it with gold ] Now that a more literal sense has been given to the previous clause, and the word ‘partition’ got rid of, there is nothing for the ‘it’ in this sentence to refer to. As the clause stands, the word must refer to the oracle. Thus in the beginning of the verse ‘the house within’ will refer to the holy place, and this last clause to the most holy place. This is further emphasized by the words which immediately follow in 21. ‘And the whole house he overlaid.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The house – i. e., the main chamber.
The chains of gold – Omit the. Their object was to form a barrier between the holy place and the holy of holies.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The house, or, that house, to wit, the oracle.
With pure gold: compare 2Ch 3:8.
He made a partition by the chains of gold, i.e. he made a veil, which was upon or before the partition; or which was a further partition between the holy and the most holy; which veil did hang upon these golden chains. Others render it thus, he closed or shut (as the word signifies in the Chaldee dialect, from which divers Hebrew words borrow their signification) it (i.e. the house now mentioned, to wit, the door of it) with chains or bars of gold. Before the oracle, i.e. in the outward part of the wall, or partition, which was erected between the. oracle and the holy place; which is properly said to be before the oracle, which was the space within, and beyond that partition; for there the veil was hung, and there the chains or bars, or whatsoever it was which fastened the doors of the oracle, were placed.
He overlaid it, to wit, the partition; which he here distinguisheth from the house, or the main walls of the house, which he had in the former part of this verse told us were overlaid with gold; and now he affirms as much of the partition.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold,…. The inside of the holy of holies with fine gold, which gold amounted to six hundred talents, 2Ch 3:8; and these to 7,332,000 ducats of gold, or 3,045,000 pounds sterling:
and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; between the holy and the most holy, and were instead of a vail in the tabernacle of Moses between them; here was also a vail beside the partition made by chains of gold across the oracle; for the partition was a wall of the thickness of a cubit, as Maimonides b says; and in 2Ch 3:14 express mention is made of a vail of blue, c. and in imitation of this had the Heathens their deities within vails c:
and he overlaid it with gold the partition wall.
b Hilchot Beth Habechirah, c. 4. sect. 2. c Apulei Metamorph. l. xi. p. 176.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(21) He made a partition by (the) chains of gold before the oracle.This phrase is difficult. The LXX. and Vulg. have wholly different readings; but our translation appears to be substantially correct, and to signify either that Solomon made a chain-work decoration on the partition, or (perhaps more probably) that he made a golden chain to go across the entrance in the partition before the Oracle, in front of the veil, so as to be an additional guard against intrusion.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. The house within The interior, or most holy place.
Made a partition by the chains of gold Literally, He made chains of gold pass through before the oracle; or, he made pass through by chains of gold before the oracle. The meaning is very doubtful. Thenius thinks the word vail has fallen out of the text, and by supplying it reads, he carried the vail by golden chains over before the oracle. Gesenius, Ewald, Keil, and Bahr take he made to pass through, in the sense of bolting, or fastening: He closed up or bolted by chains of gold before the oracle. “But then the question is, What was bolted? According to Calmer and others it was only the door of the oracle, which had two leaves. But in that case it would have been necessary to take away the chains on the day of atonement a thing nowhere hinted at, and in itself highly improbable. Obviously the bolting chains were not a movable but a fixed contrivance running across the entire wall. They held together the parts of the wall made of cedar, like the bolts on the planks of the tabernacle, (Exo 26:26,) and likewise represented the oracle as a barred, closed room.” Bahr. Some suppose that the partition between the holy and the most holy place was made of cedar beams in the form of a network, and over the whole was hung the great vail mentioned 2Ch 3:14. So the smell of the incense could easily pass from the altar into the oracle.
He overlaid it Overlaid the oracle a repetition from the preceding verse.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 6:21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
Ver. 21. So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. ] Gold of Parnaim: he embellished it also with precious stones. 2Ch 3:6
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
overlaid: Exo 26:29, Exo 26:32, Exo 36:34, 2Ch 3:7-9
by the chains: 1Ki 6:5, Exo 26:32, Exo 26:33, 2Ch 3:14-16
Reciprocal: 2Ch 3:5 – the greater 2Ch 3:16 – chains
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 6:21. So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold Or, that house, the oracle, or the most holy place; which he made as sumptuous as he could. And he wade a partition by the chains of gold The most holy place was separated from the sanctuary by a partition, before which there was a veil also, which hung upon golden chains. Thus, it seems, this passage is to be understood; for the partition itself did not depend upon chains. Or perhaps these golden chains hung down from the wall only for ornament. Before the oracle In the outward part of the wall or partition which was erected between the oracle and the holy place; which is properly said to be before the oracle, for there the veil was hung, and there the bars, or whatsoever it was which fastened the doors of the oracle, were placed. He overlaid it with gold Namely, the partition; which he here distinguisheth from the house, or the main walls of the house, which he had in the former part of this verse told us were overlaid with gold; and now he affirms as much of the partition.