📖WEB · 1 Kings 6:34
What does 1 Kings 6:34 mean?
"and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding."
— 1 Kings 6:34 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.
So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
He also did so for the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;
and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.
The foundation of Yahweh’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv.
Explanation
First Kings 6:34 describes a small architectural detail in the construction of Solomon's Temple: the doors made of cypress wood (sometimes translated "fir" or "juniper," depending on the version) that led into the temple's main hall. The verse specifies that each door was not a single solid panel but was built with two folding leaves — essentially a bifold design, allowing each door to fold back on itself for opening and closing. This is a straightforward, technical note about carpentry and design, not a statement of doctrine.
The context is the extended, highly detailed account in 1 Kings 6 of how Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, drawing on skilled craftsmen, imported materials like cedar and cypress from Lebanon, and precise measurements. This chapter reads almost like a construction record, listing dimensions, materials, and carvings (verses
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