1 Kings chapter 7
The laborers build Solomon’s giant palace. Huram builds the furnishings for the temple.
THE LABORERS BUILD SOLOMON’S GIANT PALACE
VERSE 1. Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
building his own house. At first glance, this section seems to describe one building.
But it can be interpreted as describing several smaller buildings, interconnected to make one palace complex.
thirteen years. Solomon spent almost twice as many years building his own house as he did building the temple.
Reference: In the previous chapter, we learned that the construction of the temple took 7.5 years.
VERSE 2. For he built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Solomon’s palace had that name because it was mostly built from Lebanese cedar.
Based on the dimensions given in this verse, the palace was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. That makes for 11,250 square feet.
In the previous chapter, we learned that the temple was 2,700 square feet.
So Solomon’s palace was four times bigger than the temple.
Real estate is never cheap. It must be carefully allocated. So how you allocate your real estate reveals your priorities.
Solomon allocated four times more real estate for his own palace than he did for the temple of the Most High God.
one hundred cubits. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
VERSE 3. It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams that were on the pillars, fifteen in a row.
VERSE 4. There were beams in three rows, and window was facing window in three ranks.
VERSE 5. All the doors and posts were made square with beams; and window was facing window in three ranks.
VERSE 6. He made the hall of pillars. Its length was fifty cubits and its width thirty cubits, with a porch before them, and pillars and a threshold before them.
VERSE 7. He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment; and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.
the porch of judgment. This is Solomon’s throne hall. It is also called the Hall of Justice.
VERSE 8. His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh’s daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.
His house where he was to dwell. Within the palace structure, Solomon had his own house.
He made also a house for Pharaoh’s daughter. Within the palace structure, Pharaoh’s daughter had her own house.
VERSE 9. All these were of costly stones, even of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.
the great court. This central courtyard united all these individual buildings into one palace complex.
VERSE 10. The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.
VERSE 11. Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.
VERSE 12. The great court around had three courses of cut stone with a course of cedar beams, like the inner court of the LORD’s house and the porch of the house.
HIRAM BUILDS THE FURNISHINGS FOR THE TEMPLE
VERSE 13. King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre.
Hiram out of Tyre. This is not Hiram, the king of Tyre. Rather, it is Huram.
VERSE 14. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to work all works in bronze. He came to king Solomon and performed all his work.
skill to work all works in bronze. Huram’s special talent is working with bronze.
VERSE 15. For he fashioned the two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them.
eighteen cubits high. The pillars are 27 feet high.
a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them. The pillars are 18 feet in circumference. Therefore they are approximately six feet in diameter.
VERSE 16. He made two capitals of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
VERSE 17. There were nets of checker work and wreaths of chain work for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars: seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.
VERSE 18. So he made the pillars; and there were two rows of pomegranates around the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and he did so for the other capital.
VERSE 19. The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.
VERSE 20. There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around the other capital.
VERSE 21. He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple. He set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz.
VERSE 22. On the tops of the pillars was lily work. So the work of the pillars was finished.
VERSE 23. He made the molten sea ten cubits from brim to brim, round in shape. Its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.
the molten sea. It corresponds to the laver of the tabernacle.
VERSE 24. Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.
VERSE 25. It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hindquarters were inward.
It stood on twelve oxen. The molten sea was a huge basin resting on the backs of 12 sculptured bulls.
VERSE 26. It was a hand width thick. Its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.
VERSE 27. He made the ten bases of bronze. The length of one base was four cubits, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height.
VERSE 28. The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;
VERSE 29. and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.
VERSE 30. Every base had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze; and its four feet had supports. The supports were cast beneath the basin, with wreaths at the side of each.
VERSE 31. Its opening within the capital and above was a cubit. Its opening was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its opening were engravings, and their panels were square, not round.
VERSE 32. The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base. The height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.
VERSE 33. The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast metal.
VERSE 34. There were four supports at the four corners of each base. Its supports were of the base itself.
VERSE 35. In the top of the base there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its supports and its panels were the same.
VERSE 36. On the plates of its supports and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, each in its space, with wreaths all around.
VERSE 37. He made the ten bases in this way: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.
VERSE 38. He made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths. Every basin measured four cubits. One basin was on every one of the ten bases.
forty baths. One bath is one tenth of a cor, or about 5.6 U. S. gallons or 21 liters, so 40 baths was about 224 gallons or 840 liters.
VERSE 39. He set the bases, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house. He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward and toward the south.
VERSE 40. Hiram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the LORD’s house:
VERSE 41. the two pillars; the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;
VERSE 42. the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;
VERSE 43. the ten bases; the ten basins on the bases;
VERSE 44. the one sea; the twelve oxen under the sea;
VERSE 45. the pots; the shovels; and the basins. All of these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon in the LORD’s house, were of burnished bronze.
VERSE 46. The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
VERSE 47. Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.
VERSE 48. Solomon made all the vessels that were in the LORD’s house: the golden altar and the table that the show bread was on, of gold;
VERSE 49. and the lamp stands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;
VERSE 50. the cups, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold.
VERSE 51. Thus all the work that king Solomon did in the LORD’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the LORD’s house.
1 KINGS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Corrupt Leaders, Miracles
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