1 Kings 7
7
1-5It took Solomon another thirteen years to finish building his own palace complex. He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. There were four rows of cedar columns supporting forty-five cedar beams, fifteen in each row, and then roofed with cedar. Windows in groupings of three were set high in the walls on either side. All the doors were rectangular and arranged symmetrically.
6He built a colonnaded courtyard seventy-five feet long and forty-five wide. It had a roofed porch at the front with ample eaves.
7He built a court room, the Hall of Justice, where he would decide judicial matters, and paneled it with cedar.
8He built his personal residence behind the Hall on a similar plan. Solomon also built another one just like it for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
9-12No expense was spared—everything here, inside and out, from foundation to roof was constructed using high-quality stone, accurately cut and shaped and polished. The foundation stones were huge, ranging in size from twelve to fifteen feet, and of the very best quality. The finest stone was used above the foundation, shaped to size and trimmed with cedar. The courtyard was enclosed with a wall made of three layers of stone and topped with cedar timbers, just like the one in the porch of The Temple of God.
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13-14King Solomon sent to Tyre and asked Hiram (not the king; another Hiram) to come. Hiram’s mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was a Tyrian and a master worker in bronze. Hiram was a real artist—he could do anything with bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all the bronze work.
15-22a First he cast two pillars in bronze, each twenty-seven feet tall and eighteen feet in circumference. He then cast two capitals in bronze to set on the pillars; each capital was seven and a half feet high and flared at the top in the shape of a lily. Each capital was dressed with an elaborate filigree of seven braided chains and a double row of two hundred pomegranates, setting the pillars off magnificently. He set the pillars up in the entrance porch to The Temple; the pillar to the south he named Security (Jachin) and the pillar to the north Stability (Boaz). The capitals were in the shape of lilies.
22b-24 When the pillars were finished, Hiram’s next project was to make the Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet tall, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim there were two bands of decorative gourds, ten gourds to each foot and a half. The gourds were cast in one piece with the Sea.
25-26The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the bulls faced outward supporting the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or like a lily. It held about 11,500 gallons.
27-33Hiram also made ten washstands of bronze. Each was six feet square and four and a half feet tall. They were made like this: Panels were fastened to the uprights. Lions, bulls, and cherubim were represented on the panels and uprights. Beveled wreath-work bordered the lions and bulls above and below. Each stand was mounted on four bronze wheels with bronze axles. The uprights were cast with decorative relief work. Each stand held a basin on a circular engraved support a foot and a half deep set on a pedestal two and a quarter feet square. The washstand itself was square. The axles were attached under the stand and the wheels fixed to them. The wheels were twenty-seven inches in diameter; they were designed like chariot wheels. Everything—axles, rims, spokes, and hubs—was of cast metal.
34-37There was a handle at the four corners of each washstand, the handles cast in one piece with the stand. At the top of the washstand there was a ring about nine inches deep. The uprights and handles were cast with the stand. Everything and every available surface was engraved with cherubim, lions, and palm trees, bordered by arabesques. The washstands were identical, all cast in the same mold.
38-40a He also made ten bronze washbasins, each six feet in diameter with a capacity of 230 gallons, one basin for each of the ten washstands. He arranged five stands on the south side of The Temple and five on the north. The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of The Temple. Hiram then fashioned the various utensils: buckets and shovels and bowls.
40b-45a Hiram completed all the work he set out to do for King Solomon on The Temple of God:
two pillars;
two capitals on top of the pillars;
two decorative filigrees for the capitals;
four hundred pomegranates for the two filigrees
(a double row of pomegranates for each filigree);
ten washstands each with its washbasin;
one Sea;
twelve bulls under the Sea;
miscellaneous buckets, shovels, and bowls.
45b-47 All these artifacts that Hiram made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were of burnished bronze. He cast them in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.
48-50Solomon was also responsible for all the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God:
the gold Altar;
the gold Table that held the Bread of the Presence;
the pure gold candelabras, five to the right and five to the left in front of the Inner Sanctuary;
the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;
the pure gold dishes, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers;
the gold sockets for the doors of the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, used also for the doors of the Main Sanctuary.
51That completed all the work King Solomon did on The Temple of God. He then brought in the items consecrated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the artifacts. He placed them all in the treasury of God’s Temple.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
1 Kings 7
7
Solomon's Palace Is Built
1Solomon's palace took 13 years to build.
2-3Forest Hall was the largest room in the palace. It was 44 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high, and was lined with cedar from Lebanon. It had 4 rows of cedar pillars, 15 in a row, and they held up 45 cedar beams. The ceiling was covered with cedar. 4Three rows of windows on each side faced each other, 5and there were three doors on each side near the front of the hall.
6Pillar Hall was 22 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. A covered porch supported by pillars went all the way across the front of the hall.
7Solomon's throne was in Justice Hall, where he judged cases. This hall was completely lined with cedar.
8 #
1 K 3.1. The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.
9From the foundation all the way to the top, these buildings and the courtyard were made out of the best stones#7.9 From … best stones: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. carefully cut to size, then smoothed on every side with saws. 10The foundation stones were huge, good stones—some of them four and a half meters long and others three and a half meters long. 11The cedar beams and other stones that had been cut to size were on top of these foundation stones. 12The walls around the palace courtyard were made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams, just like the front porch and the inner courtyard of the temple.
Hiram Makes the Bronze Furnishings
(2 Chronicles 3.15-17; 4.1-10)
13-14Hiram was a skilled bronze worker from the city of Tyre.#7.13,14 Hiram … city of Tyre: This is not the same person as “King Hiram of Tyre” (see 5.1). His father was now dead, but he also had been a bronze worker from Tyre, and his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali.
King Solomon asked Hiram to come to Jerusalem and make the bronze furnishings to use for worship in the Lord's temple, and he agreed to do it.
15Hiram made two bronze columns eight meters tall and almost two meters across. 16For the top of each column, he also made a bronze cap just over two meters high. 17The caps were decorated with seven rows of designs that looked like chains,#7.17 seven rows … chains: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 18with two rows of designs that looked like pomegranates.#7.18 pomegranates: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18. A pomegranate is a bright red fruit that looks like an apple. In ancient times, it was a symbol of life.
19The caps for the columns of the porch were almost two meters high and were shaped like lilies.#7.19 lilies: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 19.
20The chain designs on the caps were right above the rounded tops of the two columns, and there were 200 pomegranates in rows around each cap. 21Hiram placed the two columns on each side of the main door of the temple. The column on the south side was called Jachin,#7.21 Jachin: Or “He makes secure.” and the one on the north was called Boaz.#7.21 Boaz: Or “He is strong.”
22The lily-shaped caps were on top of the columns.
This completed the work on the columns.
23Hiram also made a large bowl called the Sea. It was just over two meters deep, about 4.5 meters across, and 13.5 meters around. 24Two rows of bronze gourds were around the outer edge of the bowl, ten gourds to every 45 centimeters. 25The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions. 26The sides of the bowl were 75 millimeters thick, and its rim was like a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about 40,000 liters.
27Hiram made ten movable bronze stands, each one over a meter high, almost two meters long, and almost two meters wide. 28-29The sides were made with panels attached to frames decorated with flower designs. The panels themselves were decorated with figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures. 30-31Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles and a round frame 68 centimeters across, held up by four supports 45 centimeters high. A small bowl rested in the frame. The supports were decorated with flower designs, and the frame with carvings.
The side panels of the stands were square, 32and the wheels and axles were underneath them. The wheels were about 68 centimeters high 33and looked like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were made out of bronze.
34-35Around the top of each stand was a 22-centimeter strip, and there were four braces#7.34,35 braces: Or “handles.” attached to the corners of each stand. The panels and the supports were attached to the stands, 36and the stands were decorated with flower designs and figures of lions, palm trees, and winged creatures. 37Hiram made the ten bronze stands from the same mold, so they were exactly the same size and shape.
38 #
Ex 30.17-21. Hiram also made ten small bronze bowls, one for each stand. The bowls were almost two meters across and could hold about 800 liters.
39He put five stands on the south side of the temple, five stands on the north side, and the large bowl at the southeast corner of the temple.
40Hiram made pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.
A List of Everything inside the Temple
(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)
This is a list of the bronze items that Hiram made for the Lord's temple: 41two columns; two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of the columns; two chain designs on the caps; 42400 pomegranates#7.42 pomegranates: A pomegranate is a bright red fruit that looks like an apple. In ancient times, it was a symbol of life. for the chain designs; 43ten movable stands; ten small bowls for the stands; 44a large bowl; twelve bulls that held up the bowl; 45pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.
Hiram made these bronze things for Solomon 46near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan by pouring melted bronze into clay molds.
47There were so many bronze things that Solomon never bothered to weigh them, and no one ever knew how much bronze was used.
48 #
Ex 30.1-3;
Ex 25.23-30. Solomon gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar; the table that held the sacred loaves of bread;#7.48 sacred loaves of bread: This bread was offered to the Lord and was a symbol of the Lord's presence in the temple. It was put out on a special table, and was replaced with fresh bread each week (see Leviticus 24.5-9). 49#Ex 25.31-40. ten lampstands that went in front of the most holy place; flower designs; lamps and tongs; 50cups, lamp snuffers, and small sprinkling bowls; dishes for incense; fire pans; and the hinges for the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple.
51 #
2 S 8.11; 1 Ch 18.11. After the Lord's temple was finished, Solomon put into its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the Lord, including the gold and the silver.
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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.