1 Kings 7

Solomon spent thirteen years building his own palace, and he finished the whole thing.

1But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

NoteThe account of the temple in chapter 6 ended with the note that it took seven years to build; the thirteen years here are set against that figure. Solomon's "house" is the royal palace complex described in the verses that follow, not a private residence.

2He also built the building called the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. It rested on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams laid across the pillars.

2He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

NoteA cubit was about eighteen inches or forty-five centimetres, roughly the length of a forearm from elbow to fingertip, so this building was about 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It was called the House of the Forest of Lebanon because its rows of cedar columns stood inside it like a stand of trees; cedar was timber imported from the mountains of Lebanon to the north and was the prestige building material of the region.

3Above the beams that rested on the pillars, the roof was covered with cedar. There were forty-five beams in all, fifteen in each row.

3And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

4There were windows set in three rows, placed so that each opening faced another opening, in three levels.

4And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.

5All the doorways and their frames were rectangular, and so were the windows. Each opening faced another opening, in three levels.

5And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

6He made a hall of pillars fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. In front of it was a covered entrance, with pillars and an overhanging roof in front of that.

6And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.

NoteA "hall of pillars" is a colonnade, a roofed space whose roof rests on rows of free-standing columns rather than on solid walls.

7He also built a hall for his throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he would decide cases. It was paneled with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

7Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

NoteDeciding lawsuits was one of a king's basic duties in the ancient Near East; subjects could bring disputes directly to him. This hall was the public room set aside for that business.

8The palace where he himself lived was set back in another courtyard behind that hall, and it was built the same way. Solomon also built a house like that hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.

8And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.

NoteMarriage to a daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh (mentioned earlier at 3:1) was a diplomatic alliance between two royal houses, sealed by the marriage rather than a private matter.

9All these buildings were made of expensive stone, cut to exact size and trimmed with saws on the inside and the outside, from the foundation up to the top edge of the wall, and out to the great courtyard as well.

9All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.

10The foundation was made of expensive stone, huge stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long.

10And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11Above the foundation were more expensive stones, cut to exact size, along with cedar beams.

11And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.

12The great courtyard had a wall around it made of three rows of cut stone topped by a row of cedar beams. The inner courtyard of the LORD's house and the entrance hall of the house were built the same way.

12And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.

13King Solomon sent for a man named Hiram and brought him from the city of Tyre.

13And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

NoteTyre was a Phoenician port city on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel, famous for its traders and metalworkers. This Hiram is a craftsman; he is not the king Hiram of Tyre who supplied Solomon with timber in chapter 5, though they share a name. Chronicles spells the craftsman's name Huram.

14He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a man of Tyre who worked in bronze. Hiram was full of skill, understanding, and know-how for every kind of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work Solomon gave him.

14He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.

NoteWhere the King James Version says "brass" the metal meant is bronze, an alloy of copper and tin; brass in the modern sense was not made at this period. "Cunning" in 1611 English meant skilled or expert, with none of the modern sense of slyness. Naphtali was one of the northern tribes, whose territory lay near Phoenician country.

15He cast two bronze pillars. Each one was eighteen cubits high, and a measuring line of twelve cubits went all the way around it.

15For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.

NoteA line of twelve cubits around each pillar means a circumference of about eighteen feet, giving a pillar roughly six feet thick and twenty-seven feet tall.

16He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars. One capital was five cubits high, and the other capital was five cubits high.

16And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

NoteA capital (the King James word is "chapiter") is the decorative block or crown set on top of a column.

17For the capitals on top of the pillars he made lattice patterns like netting, with wreaths made of chainwork: seven for the one capital and seven for the other.

17And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.

18He made the pillars this way, with two rows of bronze pomegranates going around each piece of netting, covering the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for the other capital.

18And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.

NoteThe pomegranate is a round, thick-skinned red fruit packed with seeds, common in the region and a standard decorative motif in Israelite temple work and on priestly clothing.

19The capitals on top of the pillars in the entrance hall were shaped like lily blossoms, four cubits high.

19And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.

Note"Lily work" describes a flared, open blossom shape, a design motif widely used in Egyptian and Phoenician craftsmanship.

20The capitals on both pillars also had pomegranates above, just past the rounded bulge next to the netting. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows all the way around each capital.

20And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.

21He set the pillars up at the entrance hall of the temple. He set up the right-hand pillar and named it Jachin, and he set up the left-hand pillar and named it Boaz.

21And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

NoteThe two names are Hebrew words, and the text does not explain them. Jachin means something like "he establishes" or "he will set firm"; Boaz is usually read as "in him is strength" or "by strength." The pillars stood free at the entrance rather than holding up the roof; what exactly they signified is not stated.

22The tops of the pillars were shaped like lily blossoms. So the work on the pillars was finished.

22And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

23He made a large round basin of cast metal, called the Sea. It measured ten cubits from one rim straight across to the other, it was five cubits high, and a measuring line of thirty cubits went all the way around it.

23And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

Note"The Sea" was simply the name given to this enormous basin, from its size. "Cast" means the bronze was poured molten into a mold rather than hammered into shape. It measured about fifteen feet across and seven and a half feet high; 2 Chronicles 4:6 says it was for the priests to wash in.

24Below the rim, ornamental buds circled the whole basin, ten to every cubit, going all the way around. The buds were cast in two rows as part of the basin itself.

24And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.

NoteTen buds to every cubit means roughly ten ornaments in every eighteen inches around the rim.

25The basin rested on twelve metal oxen: three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin sat on top of them, and all their back ends pointed inward.

25It stood upon 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 above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

26The basin was as thick as the width of a hand. Its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, curved out like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

26And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.

NoteA handbreadth is the width of four fingers, about three inches or seven and a half centimetres. A bath was a liquid measure of roughly five or six gallons (about twenty-two liters), so two thousand baths is somewhere around eleven thousand gallons or forty-four thousand liters. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 4:5 gives the figure as three thousand baths.

27He also made ten movable stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.

27And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.

NoteThese stands were wheeled trolleys, bronze carts on which the washing basins sat, so that water could be moved about the temple courtyard.

28The stands were built like this: they had side panels, and the panels were set between the upright frames.

28And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges:

29On the panels between the uprights were figures of lions, oxen, and cherubim, which are winged creatures. On the uprights above was a support for the basin. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hammered work.

29And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.

NoteCherubim (the plural of cherub) were winged composite creatures, known across the ancient Near East as guardians of thrones and holy places, and often shown with the body of an animal. They bear no relation to the plump winged infants of later European art.

30Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At its four corners were supports, cast as part of the stand, that held up the basin, with a wreath beside each one.

30And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.

31The opening at the top, inside the crownlike rim, was a cubit deep. That opening was round, shaped like a pedestal, and a cubit and a half wide. Around the opening were engravings. The panels themselves were square, not round.

31And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.

32The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. Each wheel was a cubit and a half across.

32And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

33The wheels were made like chariot wheels. Their axles, hubs, rims, and spokes were all cast metal.

33And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten.

NoteWheels of this period were built up from a hub at the center, spokes radiating out, and a rim (the King James words are "naves" and "felloes"), here all cast in bronze rather than made of wood.

34Each stand had four supports, one at each corner, and the supports were cast as part of the stand itself.

34And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself.

35At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The uprights and panels at the top of the stand were cast as one piece with it.

35And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.

36On the flat surfaces of the uprights and on the panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, fitting each figure to the space it had, with wreaths all around.

36For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

37This is how he made all ten stands. They were all cast the same way, in the same measurements and the same shape.

37After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.

38Then he made ten bronze basins. Each basin held forty baths and measured four cubits across, and one basin sat on each of the ten stands.

38Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

NoteForty baths is roughly 230 gallons or 880 liters per basin. According to 2 Chronicles 4:6 these smaller basins were used for rinsing the parts of animals offered in sacrifice.

39He placed five stands on the right side of the temple and five on the left side. He set the great basin, the Sea, on the right side of the temple, toward the east, at the southern corner.

39And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

NoteHebrew describes direction as though facing east, the way the temple faced, so "right" means south and "left" means north. The verse is placing five stands along the south wall, five along the north, and the Sea at the south-eastern corner.

40Hiram also made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. So Hiram finished all the work he did for King Solomon on the house of the LORD:

40And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD:

NoteThe sprinkling bowls were used to catch the blood of sacrificed animals and throw it against the sides of the altar; the shovels were for clearing ash from the altar.

41the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the two pillars; the two pieces of netting that covered those two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

41The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;

42the four hundred pomegranates for the two pieces of netting, two rows of pomegranates for each piece of netting, covering the two bowl-shaped capitals on the pillars;

42And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars;

43the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands;

43And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;

44the one great basin, the Sea, and the twelve oxen under it;

44And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;

45and the pots, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. All of these objects that Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD were made of polished bronze.

45And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of bright brass.

Note"Bright brass" means bronze that has been burnished to a polish, so that it shone.

46The king had them cast in the flat land near the Jordan River, in molds made of the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.

46In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.

NoteSuccoth and Zarthan were towns in the Jordan valley. The heavy clay soil there held the shape of a mold under molten metal, which is why the casting was done at a distance from Jerusalem.

47Solomon left all these objects unweighed, because there were so many of them. No one ever found out how much the bronze weighed.

47And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.

NoteMetal was normally weighed and recorded when it entered a royal or temple store, so leaving it unweighed is the writer's way of saying the quantity was beyond accounting.

48Solomon also made all the objects for the house of the LORD: the gold altar; the gold table where the bread set out before the LORD was placed;

48And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was,

NoteThis gold altar is the small altar for burning incense that stood inside the temple building, not the large bronze altar for animal sacrifice out in the courtyard. The bread set out before the LORD (the King James "shewbread") was twelve loaves kept permanently on a table inside the temple, replaced with fresh loaves each sabbath, the old ones then being eaten by the priests.

49the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner room; and the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;

49And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,

NoteThe inner room is what the King James Version calls "the oracle", a word here meaning the innermost sanctuary at the back of the building, not a prophecy or a person who gives one. The tongs were for handling burning wicks and coals.

50the bowls, the wick trimmers, the sprinkling bowls, the dishes, and the pans for burning incense, all of pure gold; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner room, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

50And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

NoteThe Most Holy Place was the innermost windowless room, which held the ark; entry to it was restricted to the high priest, once a year. The "snuffers" were trimmers for lamp wicks, and censers were pans in which incense was burned over coals.

51So all the work King Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. Then Solomon brought in the things his father David had set apart for God: the silver, the gold, and the objects. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

51So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

Note"Dedicated" means set apart for God's exclusive use so that it could not be spent on anything else. According to 2 Samuel 8:11 these were spoils David took in his wars. The treasuries were storerooms attached to the temple, functioning as a national reserve.