And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:
Against the wall of the house he built chambers round about. The number of these chambers is not stated. Ezekiel (Ezekiel 41:6) in his visionary temple places thirty; and Jewish writers say this was the number in Solomon's temple. On three sides there were chambers - i:e., corridors or galleries, in three storeys, each storey wider than the one beneath it, as the walls were narrowed or made thinner as they ascended, by a rebate being made, on which the beams of the side floor rested, without penetrating the walls. Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 8:, ch. 3:, sec. 2) says that each of these side rooms was 20 cubits in height; otherwise there must have been a long unoccupied space between the lower chamber and that above it, with double floors, the one 6 cubits distance from the floor beneath it. These chambers were approached from the righthand side, in the interior of the under storey, by a winding staircase of stone, which led to the middle and upper storeys.
Of the temple, х heeykaal (H1964)] - the palace or temple of Yahweh, here used for that part of it which intervened between the entrance and the most holy place [Septuagint, too (G3588) naoo (G3485), the nave].
And of the oracle, х wªladªbiyr (H1687)] - the adytum, or inner sanctuary; called "the oracle" from its being the place where, on the erection of the temple, divine-responses were given. [The Septuagint retains the original term, too dabir; Vulgate, oraculum (cf. 1 Kings 8:6; 2 Chronicles 4:20).] 'From the particular way in which it is mentioned in these passages, there appears to be no ground for the opinion of Hales ('Analysis of Sacred Chronology, 2:, p. 210) and others, that this mode of revelation absolutely ceased after the construction of Solomon's temple. The very fact of its being then first mentioned under the name "oracle" implies that supernatural responses still continued to be given; though, in consequence of the institution of the prophetical order which had recently taken place, they were in all probability employed only on extraordinary emergencies, such as the death or absence of any of these accredited messengers of God, on which occasions it was found necessary to consult His will in this particular way. It must be observed, however, that it was only to the high priest for the time being that the special honour was conceded of receiving these oracular communications' (Henderson, 'On Inspiration,' p. 73).