1 Kings 8:8

Good News Translation

The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.)

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today.

Hebrew Names Version
The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there they are to this day.

King James Version
And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

English Standard Version
And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.

New Century Version
The carrying poles were so long that anyone standing in the Holy Place in front of the Most Holy Place could see the ends of the poles, but no one could see them from outside the Holy Place. The poles are still there today.

New English Translation
The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day.

Amplified Bible
The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were visible from the Holy Place that was in front of the Holy of Holies, but they were not visible from the outside; they are there to this day (the date of this writing).

New American Standard Bible
But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they drewe out the barres, that the endes of the barres might appeare out of the Sanctuarie before the oracle, but they were not seene without: and there they are vnto this day.

Legacy Standard Bible
But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and they are there to this day.

Contemporary English Version
The poles were so long that they could be seen from right outside the most holy place, but not from anywhere else. And they stayed there from then on.

Complete Jewish Bible
The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day.

Darby Translation
And the staves were long, so that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle, but they were not seen without. And there they are to this day.

Easy-to-Read Version
The poles are still there today. They are too long for the Most Holy Place, so anyone standing in the Holy Place can see the ends of the poles, although no one outside can see them.

George Lamsa Translation
And the staves were so long that the ends of them were seen from the holy place before the inner house, but they were not seen outside; and there they are to this day.

Lexham English Bible
The poles were long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside, and they are there until this day.

Literal Translation
And they lengthened the staves, and the heads of the staves were seen from the holy place on the front of the Holy of Holies, and were not seen outside; and they are there to this day.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the staues were so loge, that ye knoppes of them were sene from the Sanctuary before ye quere, but on the outsyde were they not sene, and they were there vnto this daye.

American Standard Version
And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

Bible in Basic English
The rods were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place, in front of the inmost room; but they were not seen from outside: and there they are to this day.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they drew out the staues, that the endes of them might appeare out of the holy place within the quier, but they were not seene without, and there they haue ben vnto this day.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place, even before the Sanctuary; but they could not be seen without; and there they are unto this day.

King James Version (1611)
And they drew out the staues, that the ends of the staues were seene out in the Holy place before the Oracle, and they were not seene without: and there they are vnto this day.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the holy staves projected, and the ends of the holy staves appeared out of the holy places in front of the oracle, and were not seen without.

English Revised Version
And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there they are, unto this day.

Berean Standard Bible
The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne the barris stoden forth, and the hiynesse of tho apperiden with out the seyntuarye, bifor `Goddis answerynge place, tho apperyden no ferther with outforth; whiche barris also weren there `til in to present day.

Young's Literal Translation
and they lengthen the staves, and the heads of the staves are seen from the holy [place] on the front of the oracle, and are not seen without, and they are there unto this day.

Update Bible Version
And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there they are to this day.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they drew out the staffs, that the ends of the staffs were seen out in the holy [place] before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are to this day.

World English Bible
The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there they are to this day.

New King James Version
The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.

New Living Translation
These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day.

New Life Bible
The carrying pieces were so long that the ends of them could be seen from the holy place in front of the most holy place. But they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day.

New Revised Standard
The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they drew out the staves, and the heads of the staves were seen from the holy place, in front of the shrine, although they were not seen on the outside, - and they have remained there until this day.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day.

Revised Standard Version
And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day.

Contextual Overview

¹ Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem in order to take the Lord 's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. ² They all assembled during the Festival of Shelters in the seventh month, in the month of Ethanim. ³ When all the leaders had gathered, the priests lifted the Covenant Box ⁴ and carried it to the Temple. The Levites and the priests also moved the Tent of the Lord 's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. ⁵ King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle—too many to count. ⁶ Then the priests carried the Covenant Box into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. ⁷ Their outstretched wings covered the box and the poles it was carried by. ⁸ The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) ⁹ There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt. ¹⁰ As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

drew out the staves: Exodus 25:14, Exodus 25:15, Exodus 37:4, Exodus 37:5, Exodus 40:20

ends: Heb. heads

holy place: or, ark, as, 2 Chronicles 5:9

unto this day: Joshua 4:9, Matthew 28:15

Reciprocal: Numbers 4:6 - the staves Numbers 4:20 - the holy things Deuteronomy 10:5 - there they 1 Chronicles 15:15 - bare the ark

Cross-References

Genesis 8:10
He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again.

Genesis 8:11
It returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water had gone down.

Genesis 8:12
Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove once more; this time it did not come back.

Song of Solomon 1:15

The Man

How beautiful you are, my love; how your eyes shine with love!

Song of Solomon 2:14
You are like a dove that hides in the crevice of a rock. Let me see your lovely face and hear your enchanting voice.

Matthew 10:16
"Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they drew out the staves,.... Not made them larger, as Ben Gersom, than those in the tabernacle of Moses, this place being larger than that; nor did they draw them wholly out, and lay them up in the sanctuary, there being no further use for them, the ark having now a fixed place, and not to be removed; which would have been contrary to

Exodus 25:15 but they drew them out some little way:

that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle; not in that part of the temple commonly called the holy place, in distinction from the most holy, for that seems to be denied in the next clause; nor could they be seen there, since there was a wall and a vail between them; though some think they might be seen when the door was opened, and the vail turned aside; and these also pushing against the vail, might be seen prominent, like the breasts of a woman under a covering, as the Jews express it; but the sense is, that the ends of these were seen out of the ark from under the wings of the cherubim, being a little drawn, in that part of the most holy place which is before the oracle or mercy seat:

and they were not seen without; neither quite out of the ark, nor without the most holy place, nor in the holy place; but were only seen by the high priest when he went in on the day of atonement, and served as a direction to him to go between them before the ark, and there perform his work t; which, through the darkness of the place, and the ark being covered with the wings of the cherubim, he could not otherwise discern the exact place where it stood:

and there they are unto this day: when the writer of this book lived, even in the same situation.

t Vid. Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It was forbidden to withdraw the staves wholly from the rings (margin reference); but they appear to have been now drawn forward in such a way that their ends or heads could be seen from the holy place, or great chamber of the temple, though without their being visible from the porch or vestibule. Either the doorway into the holy of holies was not exactly opposite the ark, but a little on one side; or, though that doorway was in the middle, opposite the ark, the doorway from the porch into the main chamber was not opposite to it. In Assyrian temples the arrangement of the outer door, the inner door, and the sanctuary, seems to have been designedly such that a mere passer-by on the outside should not obtain even a glimpse of the shrine. It is suggested that the withdrawal of the staves was intended as a sign that the ark had reached “the place of its rest,” and was not to be borne about anymore.

There they are unto this day - This is a quotation from an author who lived while the temple was still standing. See also 1 Kings 9:21.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 8:8. And there they are unto this day. — This proves that the book was written before the destruction of the first temple, but how long before we cannot tell.