Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 6:36

"And he built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams." — 1 Kings 6:36 (ASV)

The inner court (probably the “higher court” of Jeremiah 35:10) is described as built around the Temple proper, evidently corresponding to the outer court of the Tabernacle. As this was 50 cubits by 100, it may be inferred that by a duplication similar to that of all dimensions of the Temple itself, Solomon’s Court was 100 cubits (or 150 feet) by 200 cubits (or 300 feet), covering a little more than an acre. The verse has been interpreted in two ways: either that the floor of the court was raised by three courses of stone, covered with a planking of cedar, or (as Josephus understands it) enclosed by a wall of three courses of stone, with a coping of cedar wood.

The latter interpretation seems more probable. In this court stood the altar of burnt offering and the laver, and all sacrifices took place here; this could hardly have been done on a wooden pavement. Besides this, we observe that the whole arrangement is compared with that of the great outer court of the palace (1 Kings 7:12), where a wooden pavement would be even more unsuitable. It was what was later called the “Court of the Priests,” and in it there appear to have been chambers for the priests.

The mention of the “inner court” suggests that there was an outer court as well. We find a reference in 2 Kings 21:5 and 2 Kings 23:12 to the “two courts” of the Temple, and in Ezekiel 40:17, Ezekiel 42:1, and Ezekiel 42:8, a mention of the “outward” or “utter court.” Josephus (Antt. viii. 3, § 3) declares that Solomon built a great quadrangle beyond the inner court. For this quadrangle, Solomon erected great and broad cloisters and closed it with golden doors, into which all who were “pure and observant of the laws” could enter. Even beyond this, Josephus indicates, though in rather vague and rhetorical language, an extension of the Temple area made by Solomon’s great substructures. This extension formed a court less perfectly enclosed, similar to the Court of the Gentiles in the later Temple.

The tradition of these outer courts and cloisters remained in the assignment of the title “Solomon’s Porch” to the eastern cloister of the later Temple. It has been thought that trees were planted in this outer court (despite the prohibition in Deuteronomy 16:21). This may have been the case until the association of these trees with idol worship made them seem unfit for the House of the Lord. However, the passages usually quoted to support this view are from the Psalms (Psalms 52:8; Psalms 92:13), of which the former certainly refers to the Tabernacle, and the latter may also do so.