1 Kings 10:12

pillars for the house of the Lord The noun signifies -a prop," and it may be that some ornamental work like that indicated in the margin of the R.V. -a railing" is intended. It was some later addition, not any part of the fabric, which was already completed. In the parallel place of 2 Chron. (1 Kings 9:11) there is a different word in the Hebrew, and one usually applied to a -highway." Both A. V. and R.V. have -terraces" in that passage. If we combine the two narratives it may be that what is intended is a staircase with handrail and balustrade. The former word would suit in Chronicles, where A. V. has -stairs" on the margin, and the latter here.

for singers The word is definite, the singers. Cf. Ecclesiastes 2:8.

almug trees Here the LXX. adds -unto the land," and the thought is perhaps of the things brought by the fleet of Hiram. In all their voyages they could not find the like.