1 Kings 6:8
ESV
The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.
NIV
The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.
NASB
The doorway for the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by a winding staircase to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.
CSB
The door for the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the temple. They went up a stairway to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third.
NLT
The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors.
KJV
The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.
NKJV
The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.
What does 1 Kings 6:8 mean?
The temple complex has four parts. In the front, facing east, is the "vestibule" or porch. Through the doors is the nave where the priests tend to the candles, the altar of incense, and the bread of the Presence. At the back of the nave is the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant will sit (1 Kings 6:1–4).A three-story structure wraps along the sides and back of the nave and the holy of holies. The temple's outer wall is the structure's interior wall. The walls are stepped, so the floor platforms rest on the steps; the lower room is narrowest, and the upper room is widest (1 Kings 6:5–6). The stone steps are carved at the quarry, so the temple site remains quiet (1 Kings 6:7).
The entrance is on the south side, closest to the strip of land called the City of David. The roof is made of cedar planks and beams; timbers join it to the temple. A staircase, probably a spiral staircase, climbs to each floor which are probably 7.5 feet / 2.3 meters tall (1 Kings 6:9–10).
About 320 years later, Josiah, a good man, will be king of the southern kingdom of Judah. He'll collect money from the remnant of Israel and from Judah to repair the temple, to buy "quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin" (2 Chronicles 34:11). While they work, they'll find a copy of the Mosaic law. The king, the priests, and the officials will mourn when they realize they have neglected the Law even more than they have the temple building (2 Chronicles 34:14–19).
