Bible Strands
1 Kings 7:36
He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the detailed craftsmanship of Solomon’s temple bronze supports during the building project’s final stages.
The words — The verb וַיְפַתֵּחַ (va/y.fa.Tach) denotes the act of carving or engraving, while כְּרוּבִים (ke.ru.Vim) and אֲרָיוֹת ('a.ra.Yot) identify the specific figures of cherubim and lions worked into the metal.
The thread — This decorative program appears elsewhere in the temple description, pairing cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the temple walls (1 Kings 6:29) and doors (1 Kings 6:32), as well as on the bronze panels (1 Kings 7:29).
Why it lands — The text records the exact placement of carved figures on the supports and panels wherever space allowed. It establishes the temple’s physical architecture as a unified field of repeated sacred motifs rather than isolated artistic choices.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 7:29 and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work.
- 1 Kings 6:29 Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
- 1 Kings 6:32 The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
- 1 Kings 6:35 He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
- Ezekiel 40:31 Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees. Eight steps led up to it.
- Ezekiel 40:37 Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.
- Ezekiel 41:18 were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces:
- Ezekiel 41:25 Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico.