And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.

1 KINGS 7:6KJV
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1 Kings 7:6 (KJV)

What does 1 Kings 7:6 mean?

1 Kings 7:6 describes a pillared porch that Solomon built as part of his royal building work. The verse gives its size and mentions another porch, pillars, and a thick beam in front, giving the reader a sense of the scale and arrangement of the structure.

The porch measured fifty cubits by thirty cubits, roughly 75 by 45 feet, using a cubit of about 18 inches. A cubit was a measure based roughly on the length of a forearm.

The Hebrew behind 1 Kings 7:6

  • “porch” — אוּלָם (ʾulam): The word often refers to a porch or hall at the front of a building. The KJV’s “porch” need not suggest a small entrance like one on a modern house.
  • “before” — פָּנִים (panim): The word can express the idea of being in front of something. Here it helps describe the placement of the features, though the exact arrangement is difficult to picture.

Why 1 Kings 7:6 matters

  • The porch belongs to Solomon’s royal building work, not to the temple description in the previous chapter. The surrounding passage describes his own house and related buildings.
  • The measurements suggest a substantial structure. At roughly 75 by 45 feet, the porch was large enough to be pictured as an architectural space, rather than merely a doorway.

Where else these words appear

“beam” Hebrew H5646 · used in 3 verses

  • Ezekiel 41:25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
  • Ezekiel 41:26 And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.

“porch” Hebrew H197 · used in 29 verses

  • 1 Kings 6:3 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.
  • 2 Chronicles 15:8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.
  • Ezekiel 40:40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables.

“pillars” Hebrew H5982 · used in 84 verses

  • Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
  • Exodus 39:33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets,
  • 2 Kings 25:13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

“breadth” Hebrew H7341 · used in 89 verses

  • Genesis 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
  • 1 Kings 6:20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.
  • Ezekiel 41:3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.