Hebrew word · H4734
מִקְלַ֫עַת
mikla'at
engraving
Carved work or relief carving, from qala', 'to carve'. (A different root with the same letters means 'to sling'.) It is used only in 1 Kgs 6–7 for the temple's decoration.
Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
carving
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 1 Kings 6:18
- Range of meaning
Carved work or relief carving, from qala', 'to carve'. (A different root with the same letters means 'to sling'.) It is used only in 1 Kgs 6–7 for the temple's decoration.
- Against the English
'Carved' and 'carving' are fine. Most English versions turn the noun into a verb. YLT's 'carvings of' keeps the noun.
- Used elsewhere in the period
1 Kgs 6:29, 32 (cherubim, palms, flowers on the walls and doors); 7:31 (carvings on the stands).
Where it appears
1 Kings · 4
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1 Kings 6:18 מִקְלַ֣עַת carving of
The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.
Here: Relief carving cut into the wood. The same word describes the cherubim, palms and flowers on the walls and doors in 6:29, 32.
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1 Kings 6:29 מִקְלְעוֹת֙ carvings of
Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
Here: A noun built from the same root as 'he carved.' Stacking 'engravings of carvings' right after 'he carved' is deliberate repetition: the narrator is lingering over how richly worked the walls were.
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1 Kings 6:32 מִקְלְע֨וֹת carvings of
The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
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1 Kings 7:31 מִקְלָע֔וֹת carvings
The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.