Bible Encyclopedias
Ceiled; Ceiling

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sēld , sēl´ing (the King James Version and the English Revised Version Cieled , Cieling; the Hebrew words for "ceiled" are חפה , ḥippāh , ספן , ṣāphan , שׂחיף , sāḥı̄ph ; for "ceiling," ספן , ṣippun ): Ceiling occurs only in 1 Kings 6:15 . It comes from the root ṣāphan , meaning "to cover." It has its common meaning of the upper surface of a room; there is, however, some doubt of the textual Ceiled is found in 2 Chronicles 3:5 (( ḥippāh ); Jeremiah 22:14; Haggai 1:4 ( ṣāphan in both); Ezekiel 41:16 ( sāḥı̄ph )), the text of the last passage being doubtful. In none of these cases does "ceiled" refer to the upper surface of a room, but to the covering or paneling of the inner walls of a house with cedar or other costly wood. This is in accordance with a common early use of the English word, no longer frequent.