1 Kings 7
7
Solomon builds palaces
1Now as for Solomon’s palace, it took thirteen years for him to complete its construction. 2He built the Forest of Lebanon Palace one hundred fifty feet in length, seventy-five feet in width, and forty-five feet in height. It had four rows of cedar columns with cedar engravings above the columns. 3The palace’s cedar roof stood above forty-five beams resting on the columns, fifteen beams to each row. 4Three sets of window frames faced each other. 5All the doorframes were rectangular, facing each other in three sets. 6He made a porch with columns that was seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide. Another porch was in front of these with roofed columns in front of them.#7.6 Heb uncertain 7He made the throne room the Hall of Justice, where he would judge. It was covered with cedar from the lower to the upper levels. 8The royal residence where Solomon lived was behind this hall. It had a similar design. Solomon also made a similar palace for his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter. 9He built all these with the best stones cut to size, sawed with saws, back and front, from the foundation to the highest points and from the outer boundary to the great courtyard. 10The foundation was laid with large stones of high quality, some of fifteen feet and some of twelve feet. 11Above them were high-quality stones cut to measure, as well as cedar. 12The surrounding great courtyard had three rows of cut stones and a row of trimmed cedar just like the inner courtyard of the LORD’s temple and its porch.
Solomon’s temple equipment
13Then King Solomon sent a message and brought Hiram from Tyre. 14Hiram’s mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was a Tyrian skilled in bronze work. He was amazingly skillful in the techniques and knowledge for doing all kinds of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.
15He#7.15 Either Solomon or Hiram; this ambiguity continues in the following verses, but cf 1 Kgs 7:1, 8, 13; 1 Kgs 7:40. cast two bronze pillars. Each one was twenty-seven feet high and required a cord of eighteen feet to reach around it.#7.15 Or the second; cf Jer 52:21 16He made two capitals of cast bronze for the tops of the columns. They were each seven and a half feet high. 17He made an intricate network of chains for the capitals on top of the columns, seven for each capital. 18He made the pillars and two rows of pomegranates for each network to adorn each of the capitals. 19The capitals on top of the columns in the porch were made like lilies, each six feet high. 20Above the round-shaped part and next to the network were two hundred pomegranates. These were placed in rows around both of the capitals on top of the columns. 21He set up the columns at the temple’s porch. He named the south column Jachin. The north column he named Boaz. 22After putting the lily shapes on top of the columns, he was finished with the columns.
23He also made a tank of cast metal called the Sea. It was circular in shape, fifteen feet from rim to rim, seven and a half feet high, forty-five feet in circumference. 24Under the rim were two rows of gourds completely encircling it, ten every eighteen inches, each cast in its mold. 25The Sea rested on twelve oxen with their backs toward the center, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. 26The Sea was as thick as the width of a hand. Its rim was shaped like a cup or an open lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.#7.26 One bath is approximately twenty quarts or five gallons.
27He also made ten bronze stands. Each was six feet long, six feet wide, and four and a half feet high. 28This is how each stand was made: There were panels connected between the legs. 29Lions, bulls, and winged otherworldly creatures appeared on the panels between the legs. On the legs above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths on panels hanging off the stands. 30There were four bronze wheels with bronze axles for each stand. There were four feet and supports cast for each basin with wreaths on their sides.#7.30 Heb uncertain 31Inside the bowl was an opening eighteen inches deep. The opening was round, measuring twenty-seven inches, with engravings. The panels of the stands were square rather than round. 32There were four wheels beneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. Each wheel was twenty-seven inches in height. 33The construction of the wheels resembled chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all made of cast metal. 34There was a handle on each of the four corners of every stand, projecting from the side of the stand. 35The top of the stand had a band running around the perimeter that was nine inches deep. The stand had its own supports and panels. 36On the surfaces of the supports and panels he carved winged otherworldly creatures, lions, and palm trees with wreaths everywhere.#7.36 Heb uncertain 37In this manner he made ten stands, each one cast in a single mold of the same size and shape.
38He made ten bronze washbasins, each able to hold forty baths.#7.38 One bath is approximately twenty quarts or five gallons. Every washbasin was six feet across, and there was one for each of the ten stands. 39He placed five stands on the south of the temple and five on the north of the temple. He placed the Sea at the southeast corner of the temple.
40Hiram made the basins, shovels, and bowls.
And so Hiram finished his work on the LORD’s temple for King Solomon:
41two columns;
two circular capitals on top of the columns;
two networks, adorning the two circular capitals on top of the columns;
42four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, with two rows of pomegranates for each network that adorned the two circular capitals on top of the columns;
43ten stands with ten basins on them;
44one Sea;
twelve oxen beneath the Sea;
45and the pots, shovels, and bowls.
All the equipment that Hiram made for King Solomon for the LORD’s temple was made from polished bronze. 46The king cast it in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47Due to the very large number of objects, Solomon didn’t even try to weigh the bronze.
48Solomon also made all the equipment for the LORD’s temple: the gold altar; the gold table for the bread of the presence; 49the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold; 50the cups, wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers of pure gold; and the gold sockets for the doors to the most holy place and for the doors to the main hall. 51When all King Solomon’s work on the LORD’s temple was finished, he brought the silver, gold, and all the objects his father David had dedicated and put them in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple.
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1 Kings 7: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 7
7
Solomon's Palace
1Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years. 2-3The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon#7.2–3 Hall of the Forest of Lebanon: A large ceremonial hall in the palace, probably so called because it was panelled in cedar. was 44 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 13.5 metres high. It had three#7.2–3 One ancient translation three; Hebrew four. rows of cedar pillars, fifteen in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over storerooms, which were supported by the pillars. 4In each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows. 5The doorways and the windows#7.5 One ancient translation windows; Hebrew doorposts. had rectangular frames, and the three rows of windows in each wall faced the opposite rows.
6The Hall of Columns was 22 metres long and 13.5 metres wide. It had a covered porch, supported by columns.
7The Throne Room, also called the Hall of Judgement, where Solomon decided cases, had cedar panels from the floor to the rafters.#7.7 Some ancient translations rafters; Hebrew floor.
8 #
1 Kgs 3.1
Solomon's own quarters, in another court behind the Hall of Judgement, were made like the other buildings. He also built the same kind of house for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.
9All these buildings and the great court were made of fine stones from the foundations to the eaves. The stones were prepared at the quarry and cut to measure, with their inner and outer sides trimmed with saws. 10The foundations were made of large stones prepared at the quarry, some of them 3.5 metres long and others four metres long. 11On top of them were other stones, cut to measure, and cedar beams. 12The palace court, the inner court of the Temple, and the entrance room of the Temple had walls with one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of cut stones.
Huram's Task
13King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre, who was skilled in bronze work. 14His father, who was no longer living, was from Tyre, and had also been a skilled bronze craftsman; his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was an intelligent and experienced craftsman. He accepted King Solomon's invitation to be in charge of all the bronze work.
The Two Bronze Columns
(2 Chr 3.15–17)
15Huram cast two bronze columns, each one eight metres tall and 5.3 metres in circumference,#7.15 Some ancient translations each one… circumference; Hebrew the first column was 8 metres tall and the second column was 5.3 metres in circumference. and placed them at the entrance of the Temple. 16He also made two bronze capitals, each one 2.2 metres tall, to be placed on top of the columns. 17The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains,#7.17 Verse 17 in Hebrew is unclear. 18and two rows of bronze pomegranates.
19The capitals were shaped like lilies, 1.8 metres tall, 20and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows round each#7.20 One ancient translation each; Hebrew the second. capital.
21Huram placed these two bronze columns in front of the entrance of the Temple: the one on the south side was named Jachin,#7.21 Jachin: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “he (God) establishes”. and the one on the north was named Boaz.#7.21 Boaz: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “by his (God's) strength”. 22The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns.
And so the work on the columns was completed.
The Bronze Tank
(2 Chr 4.2–5)
23Huram made a round tank of bronze, 2.2 metres deep, 4.4 metres in diameter, and 13.2 metres in circumference. 24All round the outer edge of the rim of the tank#7.24 Probable text All round… tank; Hebrew unclear. were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 25The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outwards, three facing in each direction. 26The sides of the tank were 75 millimetres thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outwards like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 40,000 litres.
The Bronze Carts
27Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 1.8 metres long, 1.8 metres wide, and 1.3 metres high. 28They were made of square panels which were set in frames, 29with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. 30Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. 31There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upwards 45 centimetres from the top of the cart and eighteen centimetres down into it. It had carvings round it. 32The wheels were 66 centimetres high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts. 33The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. 34There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. 35There was a 22 centimetre band round the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. 36The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all round. 37This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape.
38 #
Ex 30.17–21
Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 1.8 metres in diameter, and held about 800 litres. 39He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the south-east corner.
Summary List of Temple Furnishings
(2 Chr 4.11—5.1)
40-45Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the LORD's Temple. This is what he made:
The two columns
The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
The design of interwoven chains on each capital
The 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of a hundred each round the design on each capital
The ten carts
The ten basins
The tank
The twelve bulls supporting the tank
The pots, shovels, and bowls.
All this equipment for the Temple, which Huram made for King Solomon, was of polished bronze. 46The king had it all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zarethan, in the Jordan Valley. 47Solomon did not have these bronze objects weighed, because there were too many of them, and so their weight was never determined.
48 #
Ex 25.23–30; 30.1–3 Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar, the table for the bread offered to God, 49#Ex 25.31–40the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north; the flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50the cups, lamp snuffers, bowls, dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals; and the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the outer doors of the Temple. All these furnishings were made of gold.
51 #
2 Sam 8.11; 1 Chr 18.11 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the LORD — the silver, gold, and other articles.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.