1 Kings 6:8

Middle chamber. Understood by some to mean the middle side chamber of the lower story. The LXX and the Targums read “lower chamber.” This seems to indicate that the entire lower story had only a single door, which was placed on the south side of the Temple. Whether this was in the middle or at the foremost apartment near the porch is not clear, but the latter is the more likely. There was no access to the Temple itself directly from the outer chambers.

Winding stairs. This is an unusual type of stairway, but archeological research has revealed a number of examples of such construction in the ancient East. The stairway seems to have been within the side structure, perhaps occupying the space that would otherwise have been taken by one of the chambers.