What Does 1 Kings 10:20 Mean?
And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other, upon the six ascents. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.THE KEY
The throne is reached by an ascent flanked by lions, so its authority is shown in the approach as well as at the summit.
THE MEANING
You meet sovereignty through a measured climb: six steps lead upward, while twelve lions stand along both sides. The ordered display makes the approach itself part of the throne’s force, and the verse calls it unmatched among kingdoms.
THE ROOT
מַעֲלוֹת
maʿalot
GROWS FROM
עלה
to go up, ascend, rise
The steps are named from the root for rising, so they carry the sense of successive ascents, not only a count of stairs. The same root appears in aliyah, an ascent, and olah, “that which goes up,” linking this approach to the throne with the language of rising.
ALSO GROWS
aliyah: ascent, going up
עֲלִיָּה
It makes the steps part of a movement upward toward the throne.
olah: that which goes up; burnt offering
עֹלָה
It shows how the same root can name something that rises, extending the image beyond the staircase.
עֹמְדִים
ʿomdim
GROWS FROM
עמד
to stand, remain, take one’s position
“stood” in this verse is ʿomdim. The lions are described as standing in place, from the same root that gives Hebrew its word for a pillar. Their fixed stance makes the ascent feel framed and held by strength.
ALSO GROWS
ʿamud: pillar, column
עַמּוּד
The shared root connects the lions’ upright stance with a structural support.
maʿamad: standing place, position
מַעֲמָד
It echoes the deliberate placement of the figures on either side of the steps.
THE PATTERN
Authority is made visible through ordered living figures around its throne.
Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.As for the likeness of their faces, all four had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side. All four had the face of an ox on the left side, and all four also had the face of an eagle.The first living creature is like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third has the face of a human, and the fourth is like a flying eagle.THE THREAD
Who climbs the mountain of the LORD? Who stands in his set-apart place?The Hebrew word for the steps comes from עלה, “to ascend,” the same root used in the psalm’s question, “Who shall ascend?” The staircase becomes more than a feature of the throne: it gives visible form to the question of approaching the LORD’s height.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us