The language of 1 Kings 6:1ff echoes in a number of respects the language of Genesis 2:21f. To wit:
1) The word for the “side chambers” that Solomon builds on the temple is the same as the word for “rib” in Gen 2:21.
2) After taking a rib, the Lord closes up the flesh “underneath” (Gen 2:21), using the same word found in 1 Ki 6:6 (the ‘wing’ underneath).
3) Yahweh “builds” Eve (Gen 1:22), using a verb used repeatedly in 1 Ki 6.
What to make of this? It is commonly noted that the temple in some way represents a human form (cf. eg. Poythress, Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses . That is confirmed by the various anatomical terms that are used in the temple building texts ?Eface, rib, shoulder, etc. But the echoes of Gen 2:21-22 suggest that we can be more precise; the temple is not merely a “human” form, but more precisely a “female” form, a form of the bride for the new Adam, Solomon. How this figures into the theology of the temple remains a mystery to me at the moment.
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