Bible dictionaries

Ceiled; Ceiling

What Bible dictionaries say about “Ceiled; Ceiling”, one article after the other.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Ceiling - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

The covering (1 Kings 7:3, 7) of the inside roof and walls of a house with planks of wood (2 Chr. 3:5; Jer. 22:14). Ceilings were sometimes adorned with various ornaments in stucco, gold, silver, gems, and ivory. The ceilings of the temple and of Solomon's palace are described 1 Kings 6:9, 15; 7:3; 2 Chr. 3:5, 9.

Ceiling - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CEILING, ppr. Covering the top of a room or building.

CEILING, n.

1. The covering which overlays the inner roof of a building, or the timbers which form the top of a room. This covering may be of boards, or of lath and plastering. Hence ceiling is used for the upper part of a room.

2. In ship building, the inside planks of a ship.

Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)

The article in Easton + Webster 1828

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)

seld, sel'-ing (the King James Version and the English Revised Version Cieled, Cieling; the Hebrew words for "ceiled" are chippah, caphan, sachiph; for "ceiling," cippun): Ceiling occurs only in 1Ki 6:15. It comes from the root caphan, 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 2Ch 3:5 ((chippah); Jer 22:14; Hag 1:4 (caphan in both); Eze 41:16 (sachiph)), 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.

George Ricker Berry

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2

The article in ISBE 1915

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

The descriptions of Scripture, (1 Kings 6:9,15; 7:3; 2 Chronicles 3:5,9; Jeremiah 22:14; Haggai 1:4) and of Josephus, show that the ceilings of the temple and the palaces of the Jewish kings were formed of cedar planks applied to the beams or joists crossing from wall to wall. "Oriental houses seem to have been the reverse of ours, the ceiling being of wood, richly ornamented, and the floor of plaster or tiles."

William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3

The article in Smith