The second part of 1 Kings 6:6 is translated into English as “for around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house” or similar in English. For the translators into Cusco Quechua this presented an interesting challenge.

Bill Michell (in Omanson 2001, p. 433) explains: “Although their [Inca] ancestors constructed magnificent buildings, architechtural terminology is quite limited in the languages spoken by Andeans today. The typical house in the rural areas is a simple, mud brick structure, with a thatched roof, a low door and no windows. However, there are some very complex buildings in the Bible. Solomon’s Temple is one of these. 1 Kings 6.6b reads: Yupaychana wasi perqataqa anchotan qallarirqanku, kinsa kutitataq ithiykachirqanku muyuriq pata kurkukunata chayman chakanapaq, ahinapin perqata mana t’oqorqankuchu: “For-adoring house the wall wide they-began three times-and they-made-it-smaller-towards-inside that-which-surrounds level-place beams to-there to reach-across in this way the-wall not they-made-a-hole.”