What Does 1 Kings 6:26 Mean in the King James?

The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.

1 Kings 6:26 · KJV

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 two guardians stand at the same height, so neither is raised above the other.

THE MEANING

The two cherubim share one measure: each stands ten cubits high. They remain distinct figures, yet the sanctuary gives them equal stature.

THE ROOT

קוֹמַת

qomat

GROWS FROM

קום

To rise, stand, or be established.

Qomah, “height” or “stature,” grows from the word for rising or standing. The verse repeats the same measure for both cherubim: each is equally raised, and neither stands higher than the other.

ALSO GROWS

qûm: Rise; stand.

קוּם

This is the verb beneath “height,” bringing the sense of standing or rising into the shared stature of the two cherubim.

maqom: Place; location.

מָקוֹם

This related word for “place” shares the root of standing, adding the sense of where something stands to the verse’s image of equal stature.

heqim: Raise; establish.

הֵקִים

This form shows the same root expressing the act of raising or setting something in place, echoing the cherubim’s equal elevation.

THE PATTERN

The sanctuary’s paired cherubim share equal measure and span the space between them.

And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.

1 Kings 6:23 · KJVThe two figures are given the same ten-cubit height, making their shared stature explicit.

And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

1 Kings 6:24 · KJVEach cherub’s wings share the same measure and together span ten cubits.

And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

Exodus 25:20 · KJVThe paired cherubim face one another and extend their wings across the space between them.

THE THREAD

And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

1 Kings 6:27 · KJV

Verse 26 gives both cherubim the same ten-cubit height; this verse shows their wings reaching to opposite walls and touching in the middle. Their equal stature belongs to a paired design that spans the room.

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