What Does 1 Kings 7:22 Mean in the King James?

And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

1 Kings 7:22 · 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 pillars are not complete when they merely stand; they are complete when their crowns bloom.

THE MEANING

The pillars reach completion with lily-shaped work at their crowns: the supporting form is finished in a blossom. Strength and delicacy meet at the top, where the work flowers.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the idea that a structure is finished as soon as it can stand; here, completion includes the flowering form at its crown.

THE ROOT

וַתִּתַּם

vattittam

GROWS FROM

תמם

t-m-m

To be complete, whole, or brought to its end.

The word translated “finished” comes from a root that also names wholeness and integrity. The pillars’ completion is more than the end of construction: their whole form includes the lily-shaped crown.

ALSO GROWS

tamim: Whole, complete, sound; also translated “perfect.”

תָּמִים

This branch shows the root can describe a whole person as well as completed work.

tom: Integrity, completeness.

תֹּם

It shows that completion can name a condition of wholeness, not only the stopping point of a task.

THE PATTERN

Scripture carries forms of living growth into crafted sacred spaces.

And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

Exodus 25:31 · KJVThe lampstand’s branches, bowls, and flowers give a crafted sacred object the form of a growing plant.

And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

1 Kings 6:18 · KJVThe temple’s carved flowers carry the same growth forms through its interior.

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

Matthew 6:28 · KJVThe living lilies of the field show the natural growth echoed in the sanctuary’s crafted flowers.

THE THREAD

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:9 · KJV

The word translated “perfect” is ⁨תָּמִים⁩ (tamim), “whole, complete,” from the same root ⁨תמם⁩ (t-m-m) as “finished” here. The shared root lets the pillars’ completion and Noah’s integrity meet in the idea of wholeness.

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