What Does 1 Kings 6:2 Mean in the King James?
And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
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 temple’s breadth shares a root with the spacious place opened after distress, while its builder’s name carries the root of wholeness.
THE MEANING
A house for the LORD has measured length, breadth, and height; it is a formed, inhabitable space. Its breadth carries the root of spaciousness, and Solomon’s name carries the root of wholeness. The dimensions make the structure concrete, while its word-roots open it into roominess and completeness.
THE ROOT
רָחְבוֹ
rochbo
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ב
r-ḥ-b
To be wide or to make spacious.
English “breadth” can sound like a neutral measurement; Hebrew keeps it in a word-family for widening and open room. The temple’s width echoes the spacious place where the psalmist is set after distress.
ALSO GROWS
rachav: Wide, broad.
רָחָב
The word’s sense of breadth makes the temple’s measurement carry the feel of roominess.
merḥav: A broad or spacious place.
מֶרְחָב
This is the word for the “large place” in Psalm 118:5, linking the temple’s breadth with release into spaciousness.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete.
Solomon’s name comes from the root behind shalom, wholeness. The dimensions are given under a builder whose name evokes completeness, placing the measured house within the language of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being.
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar word carries the same root as the builder’s name.
shalem: Whole, complete.
שָׁלֵם
This form makes the root’s sense of completeness audible in Solomon’s name.
בָּנָה
banah
GROWS FROM
ב־נ־ה
b-n-h
To build or establish.
“built” in this verse is banah. Banah can describe both making a structure and establishing a household. The house here has exact physical dimensions, while the root keeps the broader sense of establishing a dwelling available beneath the image of its walls.
ALSO GROWS
boneh: Builder, one who builds.
בֹּנֶה
This form names the act behind the house’s measured shape.
mivneh: Structure, construction.
מִבְנֶה
It carries the same root into the resulting form that is built.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling for the LORD takes concrete form, while divine presence exceeds any structure and also dwells among people.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?THE THREAD
I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.The word translated “breadth” here and “large place” in the psalm share the root ר־ח־ב, the language of widening into room. The psalm sets distress against spaciousness, so the temple’s breadth echoes a movement from constriction toward room to stand.
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