1 Kings 7
7
1#The account of Solomon’s building of the Temple (the Lord’s “house”) is interrupted by an account of his building of the palace (Solomon’s “house”), which contained also the main buildings of public administration. The passage is anachronistic, since 6:38–7:1 and 9:10 imply that the palace was not begun until the Temple was completed. By placing the account here, the narrator highlights the fact that Solomon spent almost twice as long on his own “house” as on the Lord’s. #1 Kgs 9:10. To finish the building of his own house Solomon took thirteen years. 2He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon one hundred cubits long, fifty wide, and thirty high; it was supported by four rows of cedar columns, with cedar beams upon the columns. 3Moreover, it had a ceiling of cedar above the rafters resting on the columns; these rafters numbered forty-five, fifteen to a row. 4There were lattices in three rows, each row facing the next, 5and all the openings and doorposts were squared with lintels, each facing across from the next. 6He also made the Porch of Columns, fifty cubits long and thirty wide. The porch extended across the front, and there were columns with a canopy in front of them. 7He also made the Porch of the Throne where he gave judgment—that is, the Porch of Judgment; it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling beams. 8#1 Kgs 3:1; 9:24. The house in which he lived was in another court, set in deeper than the Porch and of the same construction. (Solomon made a house like this Porch for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.)#Solomon did not build the house for Pharaoh’s daughter until Temple and palace were finished (3:1). By mentioning this marriage, the narrator keeps before the reader a developing theme in the Solomon story: the king’s building activities for his foreign wives, which eventually implicate him in idolatry (3:1; 7:8; 9:24; 11:1–8). 9All these buildings were of fine stones, hewn to size and trimmed front and back with a saw, from the foundation to the bonding course and outside as far as the great court. 10The foundation was made of fine, large blocks, some ten cubits and some eight cubits. 11Above were fine stones hewn to size, and cedar wood. 12The great court had three courses of hewn stones all around and a course of cedar beams. So also were the inner court of the house of the Lord and its porch.
13King Solomon brought Hiram#Hiram: a craftsman, not the king of Tyre (5:15–26). from Tyre. 14He was a bronze worker, the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali; his father had been from Tyre. He was endowed with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge for doing any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his metal work.
15#The two bronze columns were called Jachin and Boaz (v. 21; also 2 Chr 3:17); the significance of the names is unclear. The columns stood to the right and left of the Temple porch, and may have been intended to mark the entrance to the building as the entrance to God’s private dwelling. Their extraordinary size and elaborate decoration would have made them the most impressive parts of the Temple visible to the ordinary viewer, who was not permitted into the nave, let alone into the innermost sanctuary. According to Jer 52:21, the columns were hollow, the bronze exterior being “four fingers thick.” #Jer 52:21–23. He fashioned two bronze columns, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. 16He also made two capitals cast in bronze, to be placed on top of the columns, each of them five cubits high. 17There were meshes made like netting and braid made like chains for the capitals on top of the columns, seven for each capital. 18#The Hebrew text is corrupt in many places here, and alternative readings attested in the ancient versions are secondary attempts to make sense of the text. A clearer description of the columns and their decoration is found in vv. 41–42. He also cast pomegranates, two rows around each netting to cover the capital on top of the columns. 19The capitals on top of the columns (in the porch) were made like lilies, four cubits high. 20And the capitals on the two columns, both above and adjoining the bulge where it crossed out of the netting, had two hundred pomegranates in rows around each capital. 21He set up the columns at the temple porch; one he set up to the south, and called it Jachin, and the other to the north, and called it Boaz.#Jachin…Boaz: see note on 7:15. 22The top of the columns was made like a lily. Thus the work on the columns was completed.
23Then he made the molten sea;#The molten sea: this was a large circular tank containing about twelve thousand gallons of water. it was made with a circular rim, and measured ten cubits across, five in height, and thirty in circumference. 24Under the brim, gourds encircled it for ten cubits around the compass of the sea; the gourds were in two rows and were cast in one mold with the sea. 25This rested on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east, with their haunches all toward the center; upon them was set the sea. 26It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim resembled that of a cup, being lily-shaped. Its capacity was two thousand baths.#Baths: see note on Is 5:10.
27He also made ten stands of bronze, each four cubits long, four wide, and three high. 28When these stands were constructed, panels were set within the framework. 29On the panels within the frames there were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames likewise, above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths in hammered relief. 30Each stand had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. The four legs of each stand had cast braces, which were under the basin; they had wreaths on each side. 31The mouth of the basin was inside, and a cubit above, the crown, whose opening was round, made like a receptacle, a cubit and a half in depth. There was carved work at the opening, on panels that were square, not circular. 32The four wheels were below the paneling, and the axletrees of the wheels and the stand were of one piece. Each wheel was a cubit and a half high. 33The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their axletrees, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast. 34The four braces reached the four corners of each stand, and formed part of the stand. 35At the top of the stand there was a raised collar half a cubit high, and the handles and panels on top of the stand formed part of it. 36On the flat ends of the handles and on the panels, wherever there was a bare space, cherubim, lions, and palm trees were carved, as well as wreaths all around. 37This was how he made the ten stands, all of the same casting, the same size, the same shape. 38He made ten bronze basins, each four cubits in diameter with a capacity of forty baths, one basin atop each of the ten stands.
39He placed the stands, five on the south side of the house and five on the north. The sea he placed off to the southeast from the south side of the house.
40When Hiram had made the pots, shovels, and bowls, he finished all his work for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: 41two columns; two nodes for the capitals on top of the columns; two pieces of netting covering the two nodes for the capitals on top of the columns; 42four hundred pomegranates in double rows on both pieces of netting that covered the two nodes of the capitals on top of the columns; 43ten stands; ten basins on the stands; 44one sea; twelve oxen supporting the sea; 45pots, shovels, and bowls. All these articles which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of burnished bronze. 46The king had them cast in the neighborhood of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarethan, in thick clay molds. 47Solomon did not weigh all the articles because they were so numerous; the weight of the bronze, therefore, was not determined.
48Solomon made all the articles that were for the house of the Lord: the golden altar; the table on which the showbread lay; 49the lampstands of pure gold, five to the right and five to the left before the inner sanctuary; their flowers, lamps, and tongs of gold; 50basins, snuffers, bowls, cups, and firepans of pure gold; hinges of gold for the doors of the innermost part of the house, or holy of holies, and for the doors of the outer room, the nave. 51#2 Sm 8:9–12. When all the work undertaken by King Solomon in the house of the Lord was completed,#The account of the Temple’s construction has been punctuated by references to “building” (banah) or “finishing” (killah) it (6:1b, 9a, 14, 38; 7:40). Here, at the end of the account, the narrator uses a different verb for its “completion,” shillem, which allows him to play on the name of Solomon (shelomo). he brought in the votive offerings of his father David, and put the silver, gold, and other articles in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
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1 Kings 7: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
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.