1 Kings 6:4

Contextual Overview

¹In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD . ¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord . ¹Now it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Yahweh. ¹ Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. ¹ And it came to passe, that in the foure hundred & fourescore yere, after the childre of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and in the fourth yere of the rayne of Solomon vpon Israel, & in the moneth Zif, which is the second moneth, he began to build the house of the Lorde. ¹ And it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year from the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Zif, it is the second month, in the reigning of Solomon over Israel he built the house for Jehovah. ¹ So in the month of Ziv, the second month of the year, during Solomon's fourth year as king, he began work on the Temple. This was 480 years after the Israelites left Egypt. ¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD. ¹ It happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Yahweh. ¹ And it came to passe in the foure hundred and fourescore yeere after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth yere of Solomons reigne ouer Israel, in the moneth Zif, which is the second moneth, that he began to build the house of the Lord.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

windows of narrow lights: or, windows broad within, and narrow without; or, skewed and closed, 1 Kings 6:4, Song of Solomon 2:9, Ezekiel 40:16, Ezekiel 41:26

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 7:4 - windows Ezekiel 41:16 - narrow

Cross-References

Genesis 6:15
This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

Genesis 6:15
This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.

Genesis 6:15
Now this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

Genesis 6:15
"This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

Genesis 6:15
And of this fashion shalt thou make it: The length of the arke [shalbe] three hundreth cubites, the breadth of it fiftie cubites, & the height of it thirtie cubites.

Genesis 6:15
"This is the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

Genesis 6:15
This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

Genesis 6:15
And so thou schalt make it. The lengthe of the schip schal be of thre hundrid cubitis, the brede schal be of fifti cubitis, and the hiynesse therof schal be of thretti cubitis.

Genesis 6:15
And this is the fashion, which thou shalt make it of: the length of the arke shalbe three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirtie cubits.

Genesis 6:15
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. Or "open, shut" o, which could be both, having shutters to them, to open or shut at pleasure; windows which they could open, and look through at them, or shut when they pleased; the Targum is,

"open within, and shut without;''

or, as others understand it, they were wide within, and narrow without; by being narrow without, the house was preserved from bad weather, as well as could not so easily be looked into by those without; and by being broader within, the light that was let in spread itself within the house; which some interpret only of the holy place, the most holy place having, as they suppose, no windows in it, which yet is not certain: now these windows may denote the word and ordinances of the church of God, whereby light is communicated to men; which in the present state is but narrow or small, in comparison of the new Jerusalem church state, and the ultimate glory; and especially so it was under the legal dispensation, which was very obscure; see Song of Solomon 2:9

Isaiah 55:8.

o אטמים שקפים "apertas clausas", Vatablus; "perspectui accommodas, clausas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Windows of narrow lights - Either (as in the margin) windows, externally mere slits in the wall, but opening wide within, like the windows of old castles: or, more probably, “windows with fixed lattices.” The windows seem to have been placed high in the walls, above the chambers spoken of in 1 Kings 6:5-8.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 6:4. Windows of narrow lights. — The Vulgate says, fenestras obliquas, oblique windows; but what sort of windows could such be?

The Hebrew is חלוני שקפים אטמים challoney shekuphim atumim, windows to look through, which shut. Probably latticed windows: windows through which a person within could see well; but a person without, nothing. Windows, says the Targum, which were open within and shut without. Does he mean windows with shutters; or, are we to understand, with the Arabic, windows opening wide within, and narrow on the outside; such as we still see in ancient castles? This sense our margin expresses. We hear nothing of glass or any other diaphanous substance. Windows, perhaps originally windore, a door to let the wind in, in order to ventilate the building, and through which external objects might be discerned.