What Does 1 Kings 10:20 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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 it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.THE THREAD
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy 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.
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