1st Kings Chapter 6 verse 29 Holy Bible

ASV 1stKings 6:29

And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, within and without.
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BBE 1stKings 6:29

And all the walls of the house inside and out were ornamented with forms of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers.
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DARBY 1stKings 6:29

And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved sculptures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers, within and without.
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KJV 1stKings 6:29

And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
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WBT 1stKings 6:29

And he carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers, within and without.
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WEB 1stKings 6:29

He carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, inside and outside.
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YLT 1stKings 6:29

and all the walls of the house round about he hath carved with openings of carvings, cherubs, and palm trees, and openings of flowers, within and without.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 29. - And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims [lit. openings, i.e., gravings or indentations of cherubim, פִּתּוּחִים is used of gravings in stone, Exodus 28:11; Exodus 39:6: in metal, 28:36; 39:30] and palm trees and open flowers [The open flowers may well have been lilies (1 Kings 7:19, 22, 26). It is uncertain whether there were one or more rows of cherubim and palms. Keil, arguing from the analogy of Egyptian temples, contends for two or three rows, but it is doubtful how far the Israelites, notwithstanding their new and intimate relations with the country, would take Egypt and its idolatrous shrines for a model. Ezekiel 41:18 tends to show that the palm trees alternated with the cherubs. The cherubim may have had two faces, such as he describes (ver. 19), the face of a man on the one side, and the face of a young lion on the other side; but if so, they must have differed in form from those of the oracle. Possibly the open flowers formed a border, or were sculptured in festoons, above, and the gourds (or buds) formed a border below (as in the Kouyunjik slab). But as to this the text is silent. But while we are ignorant of the precise form and of the arrangement of these ornamental carvings, we are not wholly in the dark as to their symbolism. For everything in the temple, we may be sure, had a meaning. Let us inquire, then, into the significance of the cherubim, the palms and the flowers. 1. The Cherubim have been regarded by some as symbols of the invisible Godhead, by others as "representations of the heavenly spirits which surround the Lord of glory and set forth psychical life at its highest stage" (Keil); but it seems best to view them as symbols of all animal life, including the highest and perhaps not excluding the thought of Him who is the source and spring of life, the Anima animantium (cf. ch. 12:28). Hence they are spoken of as הַחַיּות (Ezekiel 1:5, 13, 15, etc.) "the living things" (compare τὰ ζῶα, Revelation 4:6, 8, 9), and even as הַחַיָּה "the life" (Ezekiel 10:14, 15, etc.) The cherubim consequently speak of the great animal kingdom before its Creator. "Creaturely being reaches its highest degree in those which have an anima, and among these, the lion, the bull, the eagle, and the man are the highest and most complete" (Bahr). These shapes, accordingly, were not inappropriate or unmeaning in a temple raised by the creature to the glory of the Creator. 2. Just as the cherubim speak of animal, so do the Palms of vegetable life. They are "the princes of the vegetable kingdom" (Linnaeus) "Amongst trees there is none so lofty and towering, none which has such a fair majestic growth, which is so evergreen, and which affords so grateful a shade and such noble fruits - fruits which are said to be the food of the blessed in paradise - as the palm" (Bahr), who also adds that it is said to have as many excellent properties as there are days in the year, and cites Humboldt as designating it the "noblest of plants forms to which the nations have always accorded the meed of beauty." Judaea, he further remarks, is the fatherland of the palm, so much so that the palm in later days became the symbol of Palestine (as on the well known coin with the legend Judaea capta). The palms, therefore, tell of the vegetable world, and of Him who fashioned its noble and graceful forms. 3. And very similar was the testimony of the Flowers. "Flowers and bloom have been, from ancient times to our own, the usual symbols of lifefulness .... So then by the flower work, as well as by the cherubim and the palm trees, was the dwelling of Jehovah, which was adorned therewith, designated as an abode of life" (Bahr). On the earthly dwelling place of the Eternal, that is to say, were everywhere pourtrayed the various tokens of His Almighty power and goodness. And the significance of each is the same. "Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." They were graved] within and without. [These words, here and in ver. 30, are generally taken to mean "in the oracle and in the house." But it is worthy of consideration whether they do not rather signify, "in the house and in the porch." The latter was overlaid with gold (2 Chronicles 3:4). It is doubtful whether לַחִיצון on the outside, can be applied to any part of the interior, and here its application would be to the oracle (Thenius)].

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(29) And he carved.--If we take this literally, we must suppose that this carving of the cherubim and the palm-trees, in addition to the general decoration of the "gourds and open flowers," was spread over all the "walls of the house." Otherwise we might have supposed it confined to the Oracle "within," and to the partition "without," which would seem more appropriate, as the cherubim belonged especially to the Oracle.