Poole on 1 Kings 6:23-30: The Cherubim of the Holy of Holies

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Verse 23:[1]  And within the oracle (Ex. 37:7-9; 2 Chron. 3:10-12) he made two cherubims of olive (or, oily) tree (Heb. trees of oil[2]), each ten cubits high.

Two cherubims:  Besides those two made by Moses, Exodus 25:18, which were of gold, and far less than these, and fixed in another place and posture.

[Of trees of olives, ‎שָׁמֶן]  Of oil (Jonathan, Montanus), of olive (Jonathan in Vatablus, Munster), oily (Junius and Tremellius), oil-bearing (Strigelius); of pine trees (Pagnine, Tigurinus); of cypress wood (Castalio out of the Septuagint).  For Josephus names this among the materials of the Temple,[3] although there is no mention of it anywhere but here.  Pliny relates that oil is made from cypress.[4]  In Hebrew it is of the tree of oil, which some maintain to be the olive.  But in Nehemiah 8:15 (or Nehemiah 8:16 in the Dutch) olive (which without controversy ‎זַיִת is) is manifestly distinguished from the tree of oil[5] (Castalio).

Of olive tree, or, of oily trees, which sometimes are distinguished from the olive trees, as Isaiah 41:19.

[Of ten cubits of height, ‎קוֹמָתוֹ]  The height of it (Jonathan, Pagnine, Tigurinus, Vatablus), that is, the stature of each (Vatablus); the length (Munster, Syriac, Arabic); the stature of it (Montanus); the height of each of them (Junius and Tremellius).  A gigantic size, which nevertheless was pertaining to the estimation of God’s magnificence and magnitude (Menochius).

Verse 24:[6]  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.

[The wing of the Cherub]  No one saw the form of the Cherubim, nor was it able to be known what their appearance was (Josephus[7] in Sanchez).  Their form was human, which is taught in 1 Chronicles 13 (Sanchez, thus Ibn Ezra[8] in Martyr).  The form of a winged and beardless youth (Lapide).  I speak of these, not of those that Ezekiel saw, the figure and account of which was different (Sanchez).  To the Mosaic Cherubim [which, since they could not be separated from the Ark, they were placed necessarily in the Inner Chamber] Solomon added to others:  But these were differing from the Mosaic Cherubim, 1.  inasmuch as these were far greater than those, and with their body and wings they were covering the Mosaic Cherubim with the Ark:  2.  in situation; the Mosaic Cherubim were upon the Ark, grasping each other with wings stretched out from both sides; But these Solomonic Cherubim were standing on the pavement, standing upright, one next to the other, side-by-side (Lapide).  The Mosaic Cherubim were touching the Eastern and Western walls; but the Solomonic were touching the Northern and Southern walls, and they were having their faces turned toward the East, as if they would watch those coming and entering.  3.  With respect to material, which in the case of the Mosaic Cherubim was gold, but in the Solomonic wood of olive, which is incredibly hard and long-lasting (Martyr).

[From the tip of a wing…to the tip, וגו״ ‎מִקְצוֹת ]  From the extremities of his wings to the extremities of his wings (Vatablus, thus Jonathan, Munster, Pagnine).

Verse 25:[9]  And the other cherub was ten cubits:  both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.

[In equal measure, and the work was one, ‎וְקֶ֥צֶב אֶחָ֖ד [10]]  And the same cut (Jonathan, Montanus, Pagnine), size (Castalio), form (Tigurinus), stature (Syriac), engraving (Vatablus), carving (Munster), proportion (Junius and Tremellius).  The same work, made in the same way (Menochius).

Verse 26:[11]  The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.

Verse 27:[12]  And he set the cherubims within the inner house:  and (Ex. 25:20; 37:9; 2 Chron. 5:8) they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims (or, the cherubims stretched forth their wings[13]), 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.

[In the midst of the inner Temple]  That is, within the inner house, that is, in the oracle (Vatablus).

[Now, the cherubims were stretching forth their wings]  Hebrew:  the wings of the cherubims.[14]  The antecedent in the place of the relative (Vatablus).

Verse 28:[15]  And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.

Verse 29:[16]  And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers (Heb. openings of flowers[17]), within and without.

[And all the walls of the Temple]  Hebrew:  of the house;[18] that is, both the דְּבִיר/debir/oracle and the הֵיכָל/hechal/temple, as it is evident out of 2 Chronicles 3:7.  Others translate it, the walls of that house, namely, of the inner sanctuary, of which he has been hitherto speaking since verse 19 (Malvenda).

[Round about he carved (thus Pagnine), ‎מֵסַ֣ב׀ קָלַ֗ע]  He, drawing around, carved out (Tigurinus), or fashioned (Montanus); he encircled with figures (Jonathan, similarly the Syriac); with the circuit engraved; Hebrew, incisions (Junius, Piscator).

[With various engravings and turned work, ‎פִּתּוּחֵי֙ מִקְלְעוֹת֙ [19]]  Openings of engravings (Montanus); with carvings of incisions (Junius and Tremellius); with engravings of carvings (Pagnine, Vatablus), that is, with engravings and carvings (Vatablus).

[Of Cherubims and palm trees (thus Pagnine, Montanus, Tigurinus, etc.)]  Situated alternately.  The Cherubim did not have four heads, as a great many think; that would be a monster unworthy of the holy place:  but four forms, or figures, of animals; he was appearing as a man in the face, arms, hands, legs, and erect body; as a lion in the nape, shoulders, and chest crested with a mane; as an eagle in the wings; a calf in the cloven hooves of the feet.  Thus Villalpando and Salian (Menochius).  Moreover, in the Cherubim are understood celestial spirits, who are total in divine praises; in the palm trees, the Israelites:  now, that the Palm Tree was a symbol of Judea, is proven both by the nature of the place, which abounds in palm trees; and by the nobility of the palm, which must have been a symbol of a most noble region.  Hence Vespasian expressed his victory over the Jews in a palm tree, as if now subdued[20] (Sanchez).  Here, Cherub is put for an engraving of boughs and flowers (Ibn Ezra in Munster).  He made Cherubim, namely, carved, which the Law does not forbid.  See verse 32 below, and Ezekiel 41:18, 20, 25 (Grotius).

Carved figures of cherubims, as signs of the presence and protection of the angels vouchsafed by God to that place.  Palm trees; emblems of that peace and victory over their enemies which the Israelites duly serving God in that place might expect.

[Projecting, etc.]  Hebrew:  within and without;[21] that is, in the inner part in the Oracle, and in the external part in the Temple and Holy Place.  Thus verse 30 (Vatablus).  Thus in the following verse.  Others thus:  within, namely, all the walls within the inner sanctuary; and without, namely, the wall that was separating the inner sanctuary from the Temple, that is, in the exterior part of it, which was facing the Temple (Malvenda out of Junius).

Within and without; within the oracle and without it, in the holy place.

Verse 30:[22]  And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

[Within and without]  Both in the inner sanctuary, and (which appears less likely) in the Temple (Piscator, similarly Junius, Vatablus, Lapide, Menochius, Malvenda, etc.).  This word without is not to be taken for the external face of the walls of the Temple, but of the internal walls of the Vestibule and Chambers around the Temple; for with respect to the Holy Place and Holy of Holies (which two are properly called the Temple) those were external parts (Louis Cappel’s Threefold Sketch of the Jerusalem Temple[23] 42, Villalpando).

[1] Hebrew:  ‎וַיַּ֣עַשׂ בַּדְּבִ֔יר שְׁנֵ֥י כְרוּבִ֖ים עֲצֵי־שָׁ֑מֶן עֶ֥שֶׂר אַמּ֖וֹת קוֹמָתֽוֹ׃

[2] Hebrew:  ‎עֲצֵי־שָׁמֶן.

[3] Antiquities 8:54.

[4] Natural History 13:2; 23:45.

[5] Nehemiah 8:15:  “And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches (‎עֲלֵי־זַיִת), and pine branches (‎וַעֲלֵי־עֵ֣ץ שֶׁ֔מֶן, and branches of the tree of oil), and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

[6] Hebrew:  ‎וְחָמֵ֣שׁ אַמּ֗וֹת כְּנַ֤ף הַכְּרוּב֙ הָֽאֶחָ֔ת וְחָמֵ֣שׁ אַמּ֔וֹת כְּנַ֥ף הַכְּר֖וּב הַשֵּׁנִ֑ית עֶ֣שֶׂר אַמּ֔וֹת מִקְצ֥וֹת כְּנָפָ֖יו וְעַד־קְצ֥וֹת כְּנָפָֽיו׃

[7] Antiquities 8:73.

[8] Abraham Ibn Ezra (c. 1089-1164) was a renowned Spanish Rabbi.  At the heart of his work is his commentary on the Hebrew Bible.  He commented on most of the books, and his exegesis manifests a commitment to the literal sense of the text, even at the expense of traditional interpretations.

[9] Hebrew:  ‎וְעֶ֙שֶׂר֙ בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה הַכְּר֖וּב הַשֵּׁנִ֑י מִדָּ֥ה אַחַ֛ת וְקֶ֥צֶב אֶחָ֖ד לִשְׁנֵ֥י הַכְּרֻבִֽים׃

[10] קֶצֶב/cut/shape/size is related to the verbal root קָצַב, to cut off.

[11] Hebrew:  ‎קוֹמַת֙ הַכְּר֣וּב הָֽאֶחָ֔ד עֶ֖שֶׂר בָּֽאַמָּ֑ה וְכֵ֖ן הַכְּר֥וּב הַשֵּׁנִֽי׃

[12] Hebrew: ‎וַיִּתֵּ֙ן אֶת־הַכְּרוּבִ֜ים בְּת֣וֹךְ׀ הַבַּ֣יִת הַפְּנִימִ֗י וַֽיִּפְרְשׂוּ֘ אֶת־כַּנְפֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִים֒ וַתִּגַּ֤ע כְּנַף־הָֽאֶחָד֙ בַּקִּ֔יר וּכְנַף֙ הַכְּר֣וּב הַשֵּׁנִ֔י נֹגַ֖עַת בַּקִּ֣יר הַשֵּׁנִ֑י וְכַנְפֵיהֶם֙ אֶל־תּ֣וֹךְ הַבַּ֔יִת נֹגְעֹ֖ת כָּנָ֥ף אֶל־כָּנָֽף׃

[13] Hebrew:  ‎וַֽיִּפְרְשׂוּ֘ אֶת־כַּנְפֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִים֒.

[14] Hebrew:  אֶת־כַּנְפֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִים֒.

[15] Hebrew: ‎וַיְצַ֥ף אֶת־הַכְּרוּבִ֖ים זָהָֽב׃ .

[16] Hebrew:  ‎וְאֵת֩ כָּל־קִיר֙וֹת הַבַּ֜יִת מֵסַ֣ב׀ קָלַ֗ע פִּתּוּחֵי֙ מִקְלְעוֹת֙ כְּרוּבִ֣ים וְתִֽמֹרֹ֔ת וּפְטוּרֵ֖י צִצִּ֑ים מִלִּפְנִ֖ים וְלַחִיצֽוֹן׃

[17] Hebrew:  ‎וּפְטוּרֵ֖י צִצִּ֑ים.

[18] Hebrew:  ‎כָּל־קִיר֙וֹת הַבַּ֜יִת.

[19] פָּתַח can signify to engrave, or to open.

[20] After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Vespasian issued a series of coins depicting a palm tree with a mourning Jewish woman beneath it, and an inscription reading, “Judæa Capta”.

[21] Hebrew:  ‎מִלִּפְנִ֖ים וְלַחִיצֽוֹן׃.

[22] Hebrew:  ‎וְאֶת־קַרְקַ֥ע הַבַּ֖יִת צִפָּ֣ה זָהָ֑ב לִפְנִ֖ימָה וְלַחִיצֽוֹן׃

[23] Templi Hierosolymitani Delineatio Triplex.