1.
But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
2.
He 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.
1 Kings 7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon— The house mentioned in the foregoing verse was in Jerusalem, the winter residence of Solomon. This was built in a cool shady mountain near Jerusalem for his summer residence. See chap. 1 Kings 14:25-26. It was called the house of the forest of Lebanon, because it was situated in a lofty place like Lebanon, and probably surrounded with many such fine cedars as grew there. Calmet is of opinion, that it was so called from the number of cedar pillars which supported it.
3.
And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4.
And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.
5.
And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.
6.
And 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.
7.
Then 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.
1 Kings 7:7. And it was covered with cedar— It deserves remark, that the eastern floors and ceilings are just the reverse of ours. Their ceilings are of wood, ours of plaister or stucco work; their floors are of plaister or painted tyles, ours of wood. This fully detects a mistake of Kimchi and R. Solomon, who, according to Buxtorff, supposed, that the floor of the porch of judgment which Solomon built was all of cedar; whereas the sacred writer undoubtedly meant, that its covering at the top, its ceiling, was of cedar. Indeed here in the west, where these Jewish rabbis lived, such places are usually built after the eastern mode, which makes their mistake so much the more strange. Westminster hall, for instance, is paved with stone and ceiled with wood, and such, without doubt, was the ceiling and the pavement of the porch for judgment which Solomon built, and which was erected in a much hotter climate. See Observations, p. 101. Concerning Solomon's throne, see chap. 1Ki 10:18-19 and and Servius on AEneid, vii. ver. 169.
Note; (1.) They who are great, may appear so; it is as fit that a king should dwell in a palace, as a peasant in a cottage. (2.) They who are occupied in building should take care not to lose, in the stone and mortar, their solicitude to secure a better house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
8.
And 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.
9.
All 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.
10.
And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
11.
And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.
12.
And 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.
13.
And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14.
He 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.
15.
For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
1 Kings 7:15. Two pillars—of eighteen cubits high— It is said, 2Ch 3:15 that these pillars were thirty and five cubits high, which relates to the height of both of them together without their pedestals, whereas the height of each is given here with its pedestal. These two pillars were called by the names of Jachin and Boaz, 1Ki 7:21 words which imply, that God alone gave stability, or was alone the support and strength of the temple. Various allegorical designations have been given to these pillars. The authors of the Universal History observe, by way of conjecture, that one might suppose there was an inscription in some such sense as that above, given upon the basis of each of the pillars; that on the one beginning with the word Jachin, and that on the other with the word Boaz, from whence the pillars might have their denomination; as we see the books of Moses called by the first words which they begin with. See Universal History, vol. 4: p. 206.
16.
And 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:
17.
And 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.
18.
And 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.
1 Kings 7:18. And he made the pillars, &c.— Thus he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about by the branch-work, which was to cover the chapiter, even that [part] which was above the pomegranates: [See Light. vol. i. 1075.] and so did he, &c.
19.
And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.
20.
And 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.
21.
And 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 he called the name thereof Boaz.
22.
And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.
23.
And 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.
1 Kings 7:23. And he made a molten sea— The Hebrews call any great collection of waters by the name of ים yam, a sea. So the lake of Genesareth and others are called in the Gospel; and here the original words, מוצק ים yam mutzak, signify a large vessel containing a great quantity of water, which served for the washing of the sacrifices, and of the priests and Levites, who washed their hands and feet not in it, but with water drawn out of it by pipes or conduits. It is said, 1Ki 7:26 to have contained two thousand baths: in 2 Chronicles 4:5 three thousand; which last reading Houbigant prefers. A bath was of the same contents with an ephah, 1:e. eight gallons. The reader may find an accurate description and a great variety of figures of this molten sea in Scheuchzer on the place.
24.
And 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.
25.
It 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.
26.
And 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.
27.
And 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.
1 Kings 7:27. He made ten bases of brass— That is, stands or tables, upon which the lavers mentioned, 1Ki 7:38 were to be placed; and which were to be so situated, 1Ki 7:39 that as soon as the priests entered they might have water to wash their hands and feet. For the other parts of the furniture of the temple, we refer to what has been said on the tabernacle furniture: see also Lightfoot on the temple, p. 228. The heathens had lustral water at the gate of their temples, to wash their hands before they offered their sacrifices. See Spencer de Leg. Heb. Diss. 3:
28.
And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges:
29.
And 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.
30.
And 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.
31.
And 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.
32.
And 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 a half a cubit.
33.
And 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.
34.
And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself.
35.
And 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.
36.
For 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.
37.
After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.
38.
Then 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.
39.
And 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.
40.
And 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:
41.
The 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;
42.
And 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;
43.
And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;
44.
And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45.
And 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.
46.
In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
47.
And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.
48.
And 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,
49.
And 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,
50.
And 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.
51.
So 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.
1 Kings 7:51. So was ended all the work— Concerning this temple, we may observe upon the whole, that the glory of it did not consist in its bulk or largeness, (for in itself it was but a small pile of building; no more than 150 feet in length, and 105 in breadth, taking the whole together, and is exceeded by many of our parish churches,) but its chief grandeur and excellency lay in its out-buildings and ornaments, in its workmanship, which was every where very curious, and in its overlayings, which were vast and prodigious. The overlaying of the Holy of Holies only, which was a room but thirty feet square, and twenty high, amounted to six hundred talents of gold, which comes to four millions three hundred and twenty thousand pounds of our sterling money. "The whole frame," says Josephus, "was raised upon stones, polished to the highest degree of perfection, and so artificially put together, that there was no joint to be discerned, no sign of any working tools having been upon them; but the whole looked more like the work of Providence and nature, than the product of art and human invention. And, as to the inside, what carving, gilding, embroidery, rich silks, and fine linen could do, of these there was the greatest profusion. The very floor of the temple was overlaid with beaten gold, the doors were large, and proportioned to the height of the walls, twenty cubits broad, and still gold upon gold." Antiq. lib. 8: chap. 2. In a word, it was gold all over, and nothing was wanting either within or without, that might contribute to the glory and magnificence of the work.