(for Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the middle of the court; and he stood on it, and knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven).
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 13. Scaffold, (basim.) The Hebrew (kiyor) is used for “a shell, (concha. Tirinus.) or bowl,” as the throne was probably of the same form, and was placed on a square pedestal, at the higher end of the court of the people, ( Calmet.) which is here styled the temple, (basilicæ) or “hall.” Calmet. 4:9. Septuagint αυλης. Hebrew chatsar, which denotes that great court where ( Bible.) the body of the people stood bare-headed, before the Lord, (Grot. and so forth Calmet. 20:5) in the open air. D.—We are assured that the king himself never sat in his tribune. Calmet.—Others reserve that privilege to him alone. Bible.—While he addressed the people, he turned towards them.
A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.