The cedar within the house refers to the cedar panels mentioned in verse 15.
Was carved in the form of gourds renders two Hebrew nouns, which most likely mean “wood-carvings of gourd-shaped ornaments.” The passive verb was carved may be translated actively as “some workers had carved.” Gourds in Israel come from vines like melons and pumpkins. They are a round fruit with a neck. When they were split lengthwise, they were used for dipping liquids. It is the form of the fruit that is important in this context. In Africa a type of small calabash may be used here. If a specific word for gourds does not exist in the receptor language, a general word such as “plants” (New Century Version) may be used.
Open flowers translates two Hebrew words. The first word is a participle that comes from the root meaning “to break forth” or “to open” and refers to an early stage of flowering. The second word is a noun meaning “flower.” In New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh these two words are rendered “calyxes,” which is a technical English term for the external leafy part of a flower. New Jerusalem Bible uses the term “rosettes,” which is a technical term for a floral design used in artwork as a decorating motif. If such a technical term exists in the receptor language and is well known, it may be used here. If not, a more general expression such as “open flowers” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible) may be used.
The decorations of gourds and open flowers probably had religious significance, but whatever the meanings were is no longer known.
No stone was seen: The Temple was built from stone prepared at a quarry (verse 7), but all of these stones were covered inside the building with wood panels so that the stones were not visible. In situations where the passive is not an option, translators may say simply “people could not see any stone” or “no one could see the stones.”
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 .