He built the structure against the whole house, each story five cubits high: As noted above in verse 5, since Good News Translation understands that the structure and the “annex” are the same thing, it has moved forward there the information from this verse that each story of the annex was seven and a half feet (five cubits) high. In order for readers to have a clearer understanding of this structure, Good News Translation may serve as a good model for other languages.

The Hebrew says literally that the annex was five cubits high (so Bible de Jérusalem). In terms of the metric system, the equivalent of five cubits would be “two and a half meters” (Bible en français courant). Since it is hard to imagine a three-storied annex only seven and a half feet tall, Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation add the words “each story [of the annex].” If translators follow the Hebrew in saying that the annex was five cubits high, they may wish to add a note like the one in Nouvelle Bible Segond, which says “five cubits per story, so fifteen cubits in all” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).

However, it should be recalled from the discussion on verse 5 that it is not certain that the structure is to be identified with the three-storied annex. The Masoretic Text says only that the structure was five cubits high. If the structure refers to a platform or terrace on which the three-storied annex was built, then it is certainly reasonable that this platform was only five cubits high. For the whole verse Gray (similarly De Vries) says:

• And he built the platform all round against the Temple, its height being five cubits, and it was bonded to the Temple by cedar beams.

Compare also Revised English Bible, which combines verses 9 and 10:

• So Solomon built the house and finished it, having constructed the terrace five cubits high against the whole building, braced the house with struts of cedar, and roofed it with beams and coffering of cedar.

It was joined to the house with timbers of cedar: The Hebrew verb translated joined is the same as the verb rendered “inserted” in verse 6. Its meaning here is not clear, so there are several interpretations possible for this whole clause: (1) The timbers of cedar may have been the means by which the structure was attached to the Temple (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). (2) The Hebrew verb here may be related to an Akkadian word meaning “to cover” an object. If this is the intended meaning, then the structure attached to the Temple was covered with cedar panels. (3) New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “it [the three-storied structure] encased the House with timbers of cedar,” which means the structure was made of cedar. The first interpretation is the most commonly accepted one.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .