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1Solomon took thirteen years to build his own palace.
2He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its width was fifty cubits, and its height was thirty cubits. The palace was built with four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars.
3The house was roofed with cedar that rested on beams. Those beams were supported by pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in a row.
4There were beams in three rows, and each window was opposite another window in three sets.
5All the doors and posts were made square with beams, and window was opposite window in three sets.
6There was a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front and pillars and a roof.
7Solomon built the hall of the throne where he was to judge, the hall of justice. It was covered with cedar from floor to floor.a
8Solomon's house in which he was to live, in another courtyard within the palace grounds, was similarly designed. He also built a house like this for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken as a wife.
9These buildings were adorned with costly hewn stones, precisely measured and cut with a saw and smoothed on all sides. These stones were used from the foundation to the stones on top, and also on the outside to the great court.
10The foundation was constructed with very large, costly stones of eight and ten cubits in length.
11Above were costly hewn stones precisely cut to size, and cedar beams.
12The great courtyard surrounding the palace had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the courtyard of the temple of Yahweh and the temple portico.
13King Solomon sent for Huram and brought him from Tyre.
14Huram was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali; his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to do great work with bronze. He came to King Solomon to work with bronze for the king.
15Huram fashioned the two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.
16He made two capitals of polished bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of each capital was five cubits.
17Checker latticework and wreaths of chain work for the capitals decorated the top of the pillars, seven for each capital.
18So Huram made two rows of pomegranates around the top of each pillar to decorate their capitals.
19The capitals on the tops of the portico pillars were decorated with lilies, four cubits high.
20The capitals on these two pillars also included, close to their very top, two hundred pomegranates in rows all around.
21He raised up the pillars at the temple portico. The pillar on the right was named Jakin, and the pillar on the left was named Boaz.
22On the top of the pillars were decorations like lilies. The fashioning of the pillars was done in this way.
23Huram made the round sea of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim. Its height was five cubits, and the sea was thirty cubits in circumference.
24Under the brim encircling the sea were gourds, ten in each cubit, cast in one piece with “The Sea,” when that basin was cast.
25“The Sea” stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east. “The Sea” was set on top of them, and all their hindquarters were toward the inside.
26The sea was as thick as the width of a hand, and its brim was forged like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. The sea held two thousand baths of water.
27Huram made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long and four cubits wide, and the height was three cubits.
28The work of the stands was like this. They had panels that stood between frames,
29and on the panels and on the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hammered work.
30Every stand had four bronze wheels and axles, and its four corners had supports beneath for the basin. The supports were cast with wreaths on the side of each one.
31The opening was round like a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide, and was within a crown that rose up a cubit. On the opening were engravings, and their panels were square, not round.
32The four wheels were underneath the panels, and the axles of the wheels and their housings were in the stand. The height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
33The wheels were forged like chariot wheels. Their housings, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast metal.
34There were four handles at the four corners of each stand, forged into the stand itself.
35In the top of the stands there was a round band half a cubit deep, and on the top of the stand its supports and panels were attached.
36On the surfaces of the supports and on the panels Huram engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees that covered the space available, and they were surrounded by wreaths.
37He made the ten stands in this manner. All of them were cast in the same molds, and they had one size, and the same shape.
38Huram made ten basins of bronze. One basin could hold forty baths of water. Each basin was four cubits across and there was one basin on each of ten stands.
39He made five stands on the south-facing side of the temple and five on the north-facing side of the temple. He set “The Sea” on the east corner, facing toward the south of the temple.
40Huram made the basins and the shovels and the sprinkling bowls. Then he finished all the work that he did for King Solomon in the temple of Yahweh:
41the two pillars, and the bowl-like capitals that were on top of the two pillars, and the two sets of decorative latticework to cover the two bowl like capitals that were on top of the pillars.
42He made the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of decorative latticework (two rows of pomegranates for each set of latticework to cover the two bowl-like capitals that were on the pillars);
43the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands.
44He made the large basin called “The Sea” with its twelve oxen under it;
45also the pots, shovels, basins, and all the other implements. Huram made them out of polished bronze, for King Solomon, for the temple of Yahweh.
46The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
47Solomon did not weigh all the utensils because there were too many to weigh, because the weight of the bronze could not be measured.
48Solomon had made all the furnishings that were in the temple of Yahweh out of gold: the golden altar and the table on which the bread of the presence was to be placed;
49the lampstands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner room, were of pure gold, and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs were of gold.
50Solomon also had made the cups, lamp trimmers, basins, spoons, and incense burners, all of which were made of pure gold; he had sockets of gold made for the doors of the inner room (which was the most holy place), and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
51In this way, all the work that King Solomon directed for the house of Yahweh was finished. So Solomon brought in the things that were set apart by David, his father, and the silver, the gold, and the furnishings, and put them into the storerooms of the house of Yahweh.
Footnotes:
7 aSome versions have, It was covered with cedar from the floor to the rafters .
Aspects of the City
By T. Austin-Sparks5.8K30:11Heaven1KI 7:13MAT 6:332CO 4:171PE 1:7REV 21:2In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the purpose of trials and adversity in the lives of believers. They suggest that these challenges are allowed by God to deepen and strengthen individuals, making them people of weight and endurance. The speaker emphasizes the importance of beauty and true value in the eyes of the Lord, and how these qualities are a combination of strength and grace. They also highlight the significance of the city described in the Bible, emphasizing its immense size and weightiness as a symbol of God's glory. Overall, the sermon encourages believers to embrace trials and strive for a mellow and gracious attitude as they fulfill God's purpose in their lives.
Building for God
By Walter Wilson1.1K29:30Christian Ministry1SA 8:141KI 7:262CH 4:5MAT 6:11In this sermon, Dr. Walter emphasizes the importance of education and studying the word of God. He encourages believers to learn about various aspects of the Bible, such as the seven great judgments, five kinds of forgiveness, and five kinds of kindness. Dr. Walter also highlights the significance of understanding the figures of speech used in the Bible, including comparisons made by Jesus himself. He shares a personal anecdote about a Scottish preacher who advised him to seek spiritual nourishment from heaven before going to bed each night. Additionally, Dr. Walter reflects on his past belief in earning salvation through good works and how he eventually realized the inadequacy of this approach.
Progress of Redemption #03
By David Shirley1.1K57:44Redemption1KI 6:71KI 7:11KI 12:241KI 13:11KI 14:212CH 36:17In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Solomon in the book of 1 Kings. He highlights how Solomon's disobedience to God's commands led to the decline and division of the nation of Israel. Solomon's accumulation of wealth, horses, and foreign wives went against God's instructions given in Deuteronomy. As a result, God became angry with Solomon and raised up adversaries against him. However, God showed mercy and spared Solomon's kingdom during his lifetime for the sake of his father David, but promised to take it away from his son. The sermon emphasizes the importance of obedience to God's commands and the consequences of sin.
Solomon's Temple a Figure of the Church; and the Two Pillars, Jachin and Boaz, Typical of Christ.
By John Gill0The ChurchChrist as Our Foundation1KI 7:21PSA 75:3ISA 26:4ISA 28:16ISA 40:29MAT 16:18JHN 2:191CO 3:16HEB 6:19REV 3:12John Gill preaches on the significance of Solomon's Temple as a representation of the Church, emphasizing the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which symbolize Christ. He explains that Jachin, meaning 'He shall establish,' signifies God's promise to establish His Church and believers, while Boaz, meaning 'In Him is strength,' represents the strength found in Christ. Gill draws parallels between the temple's structure and the spiritual body of believers, highlighting the importance of being part of the Church as a pillar of truth and support. He encourages the congregation to rely on Christ for strength and stability in their faith, assuring them that true believers are established and upheld by Him. The sermon concludes with a call to trust in the Lord for everlasting strength and to recognize Christ as the foundation of their faith.
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Tyndale
Introduction
Solomon builds his own house, and completes it in thirteen years, Kg1 7:1. He builds another called the house of the forest of Lebanon; and a house for Pharaoh's daughter, Kg1 7:2-12. He brings Hiram, a coppersmith, out of Tyre, who makes much curious work for the temple, Kg1 7:13-20. He makes the two pillars Jachin and Boaz, Kg1 7:21, Kg1 7:22. The molten sea, and the twelve oxen that bare it, Kg1 7:23-26. And ten brazen bases, and the ten lavers with pots, shovels, and basons, all of which he cast in the plain of Jordan, vv. 27-46. The quantity of brass too great to be weighed; and the vessels of the temple were all of pure gold, Kg1 7:47-50. Solomon brings into the house the silver and gold which his father had dedicated, Kg1 7:51.
Verse 1
Building his own house - This house is said to have been situated in Jerusalem, and probably was, what some call it, his winter's residence. It is called the king's house, Kg1 9:10.
Verse 2
The house of the forest of Lebanon - It was not built in Lebanon, but is thought to have been on Mount Sion. And why it was called the house of the forest of Lebanon does not appear; probably it was because it was built almost entirely of materials brought from that place. See the following verses.
Verse 7
A porch for the throne - One porch appears to have been devoted to the purposes of administering judgment, which Solomon did in person.
Verse 8
A house for Pharaoh's daughter - This appears to have been a third house; probably the whole three made but one building, and were in the same place, but distinguished from each other; the first as Solomon's palace, the second as a house of judgment, a court-house; the third, the harem, or apartments for the women.
Verse 13
Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre - This was not the Tyrian king, mentioned before, but a very intelligent coppersmith, of Jewish extraction by his mother's side, who was probably married to a Tyrian. In Ch2 2:14, this woman is said to be of the daughters of Dan, but here of the tribe of Naphtali. The king of Tyre, who gives the account as we have it in Chronicles, might have made the mistake, and confounded the two tribes; or she might have been of Naphtali by her father, and of Dan by her mother, and so be indifferently called of the tribe of Naphtali or of the daughters of Dan. This appears to be the best solution of the difficulty. The versions and MSS. give no help here.
Verse 15
He cast two pillars - eighteen cubits high - That is, about thirty feet in English measure. A line of twelve cubits - In circumference. It would be difficult even now to procure a founder who could cast such massive pillars, whether solid or hollow.
Verse 21
The right pillar - Jachin - That is, He shall establish. The left pillar - Boaz, that is, in strength. These were no doubt emblematical; for notwithstanding their names, they seem to have supported no part of the building.
Verse 27
He made ten bases - That is, pedestals, for the ten lavers to rest on.
Verse 38
Then made he ten lavers - These were set on the ten bases or pedestals, and were to hold water for the use of the priests in their sacred office, particularly to wash the victims that were to be offered as a burnt-offering, as we learn from Ch2 4:6; but the brazen sea was for the priests to wash in. The whole was a building of vast art, labor, and expense.
Verse 40
So Hiram made an end - It is truly surprising, that in so short a time one artist could design and execute works of such magnitude, taste, and variety, however numerous his assistants might be. The mere building of the house was a matter of little difficulty in comparison of these internal works.
Verse 46
Cast them, in the clay ground - In this place he found that particular kind of clay that was proper for his purpose. Some suppose that the place where Hiram had his foundry was on the other side, some on this side, of Jordan. Calmet supposes that it was near Bethshan.
Verse 51
Solomon brought in the things - It has been a question whether Solomon, in the structure of the temple, used any of the gold and silver which David had provided? And here it seems answered in the negative; for after the house was finished, with all its utensils and ornaments, with its immense profusion of gold, it is here said that Solomon brought in the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, which David his father had dedicated. It appears therefore that Solomon had employed four years to make preparation for the work before it was begun. During the whole time of the building, he was no doubt still appropriating a part of the public revenue for this purpose; and the provision made by his father he placed among the treasures of the house; but the temple was truly Solomon's, as he had provided all its materials, and borne every expense. As the temple was built in some measure on the model of the tabernacle, and dedicated to the same use, I wish to refer the reader to the description of the former, in Exodus 25-27 (note) and Exodus 35-39 (note).
Introduction
BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S HOUSE. (Kg1 7:1) Solomon was building his own house thirteen years--The time occupied in building his palace was nearly double that spent in the erection of the temple [Kg1 6:38], because neither had there been the same previous preparations for it, nor was there the same urgency as in providing a place of worship, on which the national well-being so much depended.
Verse 2
OF THE HOUSE OF LEBANON. (Kg1 7:2-7) He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon--It is scarcely possible to determine whether this was a different edifice from the former, or whether his house, the house of the forest of Lebanon, and the one for Pharaoh's daughter, were not parts of one grand palace. As difficult is it to decide what was the origin of the name; some supposing it was so called because built on Lebanon; others, that it was in or near Jerusalem, but contained such a profuse supply of cedar columns as to have occasioned this peculiar designation. We have a similar peculiarity of name in the building called the East India house, though situated in London. The description is conformable to the arrangement of Eastern palaces. The building stood in the middle of a great oblong square, which was surrounded by an enclosing wall, against which the houses and offices of those attached to the court were built. The building itself was oblong, consisting of two square courts, flanking a large oblong hall which formed the center, and was one hundred cubits long, by fifty broad. This was properly the house of the forest of Lebanon, being the part where were the cedar pillars of this hall. In front was the porch of judgment, which was appropriated to the transaction of public business. On the one side of this great hall was the king's house; and on the other the harem or royal apartments for Pharaoh's daughter (Est 2:3, Est 2:9). This arrangement of the palace accords with the Oriental style of building, according to which a great mansion always consists of three divisions, or separate houses--all connected by doors and passages--the men dwelling at one extremity, the women of the family at the other, while public rooms occupy the central part of the building.
Verse 10
the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones--Enormous stones, corresponding exactly with the dimensions given, are found in Jerusalem at this day. Not only the walls from the foundation to the roof beams were built of large hewn stones, but the spacious court around the palace was also paved with great square stones.
Verse 12
for the inner court of the house of the Lord--should be, as in the inner court of the house of the Lord; the meaning is, that in this palace, as in the temple, rows of hewed stones and the cedar beams formed the enclosing wall.
Verse 13
HIRAM'S WORKS. (1Ki. 7:13-51) Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre--The Tyrians and other inhabitants on the Phœnician coast were the most renowned artists and workers in metal in the ancient world.
Verse 14
He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali--In Ch2 2:14 his mother is said to have been of the daughters of Dan. The apparent discrepancy may be reconciled thus: Hiram's mother, though belonging to the tribe of Dan, had been married to a Naphtalite, so that when married afterwards to a Tyrian, she might be described as a widow of the tribe of Naphtali. Or, if she was a native of the city Dan (Laish), she might be said to be of the daughters of Dan, as born in that place; and of the tribe of Naphtali, as really belonging to it. a worker in brass--This refers particularly to the works described in this chapter. But in Ch2 2:13 his artistic skill is represented as extending to a great variety of departments. In fact, he was appointed, from his great natural talents and acquired skill, to superintend the execution of all the works of art in the temple.
Verse 15
two pillars of brass of eighteen cubits high--They were made of the brass (bronze) which was taken from the king of Zobah (Ch1 18:8). In Ch2 3:15 they are said to have been thirty-five cubits high. There, however, their joint lengths are given; whereas here the length of the pillars is given separately. Each pillar was seventeen and a half cubits long, which is stated, in round numbers, as eighteen. Their dimensions in English measure are as follows: The pillars without the capitals measured thirty-two and a half feet long, and seven feet diameter; and if hollow, as WHISTON, in his translation of JOSEPHUS, thinks (Jer 52:21), the metal would be about three and a half inches thick; so that the whole casting of one pillar must have been from sixteen to twenty tons. The height of the capitals was eight and three-fourths feet; and, at the same thickness of metal, would not weigh less than seven or eight tons each. The nature of the workmanship in the finishing of these capitals is described (Kg1 7:17-22). The pillars, when set up, would stand forty feet in height [NAPIER, Metal].
Verse 17
nets of checker work--that is, branch-work, resembling the branches of palm trees, and wreaths of chain-work--that is, plaited in the form of a chain, composing a sort of crown or garland. Seven of these were wound in festoons on one capital, and over and underneath them were fringes, one hundred in a row. Two rows of pomegranates strung on chains (Ch2 3:16) ran round the capital (Kg1 7:42; compare Ch2 4:12-13; Jer 52:23), which, itself, was of a bowl-like or globular form (Kg1 7:41). These rows were designed to form a binding to the ornamental work--to keep it from falling asunder; and they were so placed as to be above the chain work, and below the place where the branch-work was.
Verse 19
lily work--beautiful ornaments, resembling the stalks, leaves, and blossoms of lilies--of large dimensions, as suited to the height of their position.
Verse 21
Jachin and . . . Boaz--These names were symbolical, and indicated the strength and stability--not so much of the material temple, for they were destroyed along with it (Jer 52:17), as of the spiritual kingdom of God, which was embodied in the temple.
Verse 23
he made a molten sea--In the tabernacle was no such vessel; the laver served the double purpose of washing the hands and feet of the priests as well as the parts of the sacrifices. But in the temple there were separate vessels provided for these offices. (See on Ch2 4:6). The molten sea was an immense semicircular vase, measuring seventeen and a half feet in diameter, and being eight and three-fourths feet in depth. This, at three and a half inches in thickness, could not weigh less than from twenty-five to thirty tons in one solid casting--and held from sixteen thousand to twenty thousand gallons of water. [See on Ch2 4:3.] The brim was all carved with lily work or flowers; and oxen were carved or cut on the outside all round, to the number of three hundred; and it stood on a pedestal of twelve oxen. These oxen must have been of considerable size, like the Assyrian bulls, so that their corresponding legs would give thickness or strength to support so great a weight for, when the vessel was filled with water, the whole weight would be about one hundred tons [NAPIER]. (See on Ch2 4:3).
Verse 27
he made ten bases of brass--These were trucks or four-wheeled carriages, for the support and conveyance of the lavers. The description of their structure shows that they were elegantly fitted up and skilfully adapted to their purpose. They stood, not on the axles, but on four rests attached to the axles, so that the figured sides were considerably raised above the wheels. They were all exactly alike in form and size. The lavers which were borne upon them were vessels capable each of holding three hundred gallons of water, upwards of a ton weight. The whole, when full of water, would be no less than two tons [NAPIER].
Verse 40
And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins--These verses contain a general enumeration of Hiram's works, as well as those already mentioned as other minor things. The Tyrian artists are frequently mentioned by ancient authors as skilful artificers in fashioning and embossing metal cups and bowls; and we need not wonder, therefore, to find them employed by Solomon in making the golden and brazen utensils for his temple and palaces.
Verse 46
In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them--Zarthan, or Zaretan (Jos 3:16), or Zartanah (Kg1 4:12), or Zeredathah (Ch2 4:17), was on the bank of the Jordan in the territories of western Manasseh. Succoth was situated on the eastern side of Jordan, at the ford of the river near the mouth of the Jabbok. One reason assigned by commentators for the castings being made there is, that at such a distance from Jerusalem that city would not be annoyed by the smoke and noxious vapors necessarily occasioned by the process. [Note in Bagster's Bible.] But the true reason is to be found in the nature of the soil; Margin, "the thickness of the ground." That part of the Jordan valley abounds with marl. Clay and sand are the moulding material still used for bronze. Such large quantities of metal as one of these castings would contain could not be fused in one furnace, but would require a series of furnaces, especially for such a casting as the brazen sea--the whole series of furnaces being filled with metal, and fused at one time, and all tapped together, and the metal let run into the mould. Thus a national foundry was erected in the plain of Jordan [NAPIER].
Verse 48
the altar of gold--that is, the altar of incense.
Verse 49
candlesticks of pure gold--made, probably, according to the model of that in the tabernacle, which, along with the other articles of furniture, were deposited with due honor, as sacred relics, in the temple. But these seem not to have been used in the temple service; for Solomon made new lavers, tables, and candlesticks, ten of each. (See further regarding the dimensions and furniture of the temple, in 2Ch. 3:1-5:14). Next: 1 Kings Chapter 8
Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7 This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, Kg1 7:1; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, Kg1 7:13; of the molten sea, Kg1 7:23; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, Kg1 7:27; with other utensils and ornaments, Kg1 7:40.
Verse 1
But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years,.... He made more haste with the house of God than with his own, for that was but seven years in building; which showed greater regard to the honour of God then to his own glory, or even convenience; nor was this built till after that: and finished all his house; or houses he undertook to build, the singular for the plural; even the house of God, his own palace, and that for the daughter of Pharaoh, and that which is next mentioned, which were in all twenty years building, Kg1 9:10.
Verse 2
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon,.... Besides the temple, his own palace, and the queen's; so called, not because it was built on Mount Lebanon, which lay at the northern border of the land, at a great distance from Jerusalem, whereas this was both a magazine of arms, and a court of judicature, Kg1 7:7; see Kg1 10:17; neither of which can be supposed to be far from Jerusalem; but because not only it was built of the cedars of Lebanon, but in a situation, and among groves of trees which resembled it; it seems to have been a summer house; and so the Targum calls it, a royal house of refreshment: the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty and the height thereof thirty cubits; so that it was in every measure larger than the temple; and, there was good reason for it, since into that only the priests entered; whereas into this went not only Solomon's family but his courtiers and nobles, and all foreign ambassadors, and whoever had any business with him, which required various rooms to receive them in: upon four rows of cedar pillars; or piazzas: with cedar beams upon the pillars; which laid the floor for the second story.
Verse 3
And it was covered with cedar above the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row. On the second floor were three rows of pillars, fifteen in a row, which made forty five, that stood to east, north, and south; and upon these pillars beams, which were the floor of the third story, over which was a roof of cedar wood. And it was covered with cedar above the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row. On the second floor were three rows of pillars, fifteen in a row, which made forty five, that stood to east, north, and south; and upon these pillars beams, which were the floor of the third story, over which was a roof of cedar wood. 1 Kings 7:4 kg1 7:4 kg1 7:4 kg1 7:4And there were windows in three rows,.... Both in the second and third stories, east, north, and south, there being none in the west, where the porch stood: and light was against light in three ranks; or the windows, through which light was let, answered to each other.
Verse 4
And all the doors and posts were square with the windows,.... The doors into the several stories and apartments, and the posts and lintel of them, and the windows over them, were all square: and light was against light in three ranks; they answered one another as before.
Verse 5
And he made a porch of pillars,.... At the west end of the house: and the length thereof was fifty cubits; answerable to the breadth of the house: and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: which, added to the length of the house, made it one hundred and thirty: and the porch was before them; the four rows of cedar pillars of the house, Kg1 7:2 this porch was either for his guards to keep watch in; or for his courtiers to walk in, sheltered from rain or the like; or perhaps only for grandeur and magnificence: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them; the pillars of the porch, on which were laid beams of cedar for a storey over them, and so on; these were before and right against, and answered to the pillars of the house.
Verse 6
Then he made a porch for the throne,.... The ivory throne on which he sat to hear and try causes, Kg1 10:18, where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: which had its name from thence; this was either in his house in the forest of Lebanon, or in his palace at Jerusalem; the former seems best: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor unto the other; that is, the whole floor.
Verse 7
And his house where he dwelt,.... Which was properly his dwellingplace, that part of the house where he usually resided: had another court within the porch, which was of the like work; a court between that and the porch, called the inner court, Kg2 20:4. Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife; see Kg1 3:1, like unto this porch: being built of the same sort of materials, though in a different form.
Verse 8
All these were of costly stones,.... Marble, porphyry, &c. according to the measure of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without; they were all hewed, and squared, and polished, and so they appeared both on the inside of the building, and without: even from the foundation unto the coping; from the bottom to the top: and so on the outside toward the great court: where the people used to assemble when they had causes to be tried, and was adjoining to the king's house.
Verse 9
And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,.... Of a great price, and very large: stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits some of one measure, and some of another; not so many cubits square, but of solid measure; they were so many in length.
Verse 10
And above were costly stones,.... Above the foundation, from thence to the top of the buildings; the whole walls were made of such right up to the ceiling: after the measure of hewed stones; which, according to the Rabbins, as Kimchi says, were five hands breadth: and cedars; beams of cedars over them, or these, both the foundation and the walls, were lined with them.
Verse 11
And the great court round about,.... Which surrounded Solomon's house: was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams; these rows were one upon another, and were a wall to the court, which were either topped with a row of cedar wood, or that was a lining to the stones for the inner court of the house of the Lord; or rather as, or like to that, as appears from Kg1 6:36, and for the porch of the house; not the temple, but Solomon's house.
Verse 12
And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. Not the king of Tyre, but an artificer in it, after described, whom Solomon had heard and upon his request Huram sent him to him, Ch2 2:13 his name is called Hyperon by Clemens of Alexandria (l). (l) Stromat. l. 1. p. 332.
Verse 13
He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali,.... In Ch2 2:14, his mother is said to be of the daughters of Dan, as she might be, and yet her son of the tribe of Naphtali; for either she was of the city of Dan, which is placed in the tribe of Naphtali (m), or her mother was of the tribe of Dan; and therefore she is said to be of the daughters of Dan, when her father was of the tribe of Naphtali, as it is expressed by the Targum on Ch2 2:14, and in which way most of the Jewish commentators reconcile this; or she was of Dan, and her husband of Naphtali besides, if there was any mistake, it must be ascribed, not to the sacred historians, but to the king of Tyre, whose words they are in the above place, and who might not be so well acquainted with the tribe this man and his parents were of: and his father was a man of Tyre; not a Tyrian by birth, but one who had dwelt there a while, and therefore so called, as Obededom, for a like reason, is called the Gittite: a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass; which might be true both of the father and of the son, and especially of the son, who had improved upon his father's knowledge and instructions; and who was skilful to work in other things besides brass, as gold, silver, iron, stone, timber, purple, blue and fine linen, crimson, and all sorts of engraving, and every device that could be put to him by the most ingenious workmen that either David or Solomon had, Ch2 2:14, but this is only mentioned, because it was in such work he was only employed by Solomon; and it seems, by the mode of expression, that, besides his natural genius, and his diligence and industry, he was filled with wisdom from God more immediately for this service, as Bezaleel and Aholiab were for the service of the tabernacle: and he came to King Solomon, and wrought all his work; in brass, as follows. (m) Vid. Adrichom. Theat. T. S. p. 105. Fuller's Pisgah-Sight, 107.
Verse 14
For he cast two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece,.... In Ch2 3:15 they are said to be thirty five cubits high, which must be understood of the length or height of them both; and whereas that would allow but seventeen cubits and a half to a pillar, either the round number of eighteen is used, or half a cubit in each may be allowed, either for the base or pedestal into which they were put; or the chapiter at the top of them, into which they might go such a length, and so only what was seen is described: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about; that was the circumference of them, and therefore their diameter must be four cubits. Eupolemus, an Heathen writer (n) speaks of these pillars, but he makes the circuit of them to be but ten cubits; and says they were equal in height with the temple, and stood on the right and left, and were made of brass, and covered with gold, the thickness of a finger. (n) Apud Euseb, Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 34. p. 450.
Verse 15
And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars,.... These were large ovals in the form of a crown, as the word signifies; or like two crowns joined together, as Ben Gersom; or bowls, as they are called, Kg1 7:41, the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits; in Kg2 25:17 they are said to be but three cubits high; but that is to be understood only of the ornamented part of them, the wreathen work and pomegranates on them, as there expressed; here it includes, with that, the part below unornamented.
Verse 16
And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars,.... These were the ornaments of the chapiters; the former being like thick branches of trees, with their boughs and leaves curiously wrought, as the word signifies, and the latter like fringes, such as the Jews wore at the skirt of their garments: seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter; perhaps with four rows of checker work, and three of chain work.
Verse 17
And he made the pillars,.... Or adorned them in this manner: and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates; that is, there were two rows of figures like pomegranates upon the net or branch work that covered the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars; and Kimchi owns, that some copies so read, on the top of the pillars, instead of pomegranates, though he thinks it a mistake: and so did he for the other chapiter; put two rows about that also.
Verse 18
And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch,.... Or such as was in the porch of the temple; the work was like that wrought in the form of the flower of lilies open: four cubits; of the five cubits of which the chapiters consisted, four of them were of lily work, the two rows of pomegranates taking up the other; though Dr. Lightfoot (o) thinks, that at the head of the pillar was a border or circle of lily work, that stood out four cubits under the chapiter, into and along the porch; a four cubit circle, after the manner of a spread lily. (o) Prospect of the Temple, c. 13. sect. 2. p. 1075.
Verse 19
And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network,.... The supplement is needless, according to Dr. Lightfoot; the sense being only, that the chapiters were above the lily work, which wrought out as far as the belly of the chapiters, or the middle cubit of them, which the pomegranates filled up: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other chapiter: there were so many in each, which in all made four hundred, as in Kg1 7:42. In Jer 52:23, it is said there were ninety six on a side, and yet one hundred round about; the meaning of which is, either that there were twenty four to every wind, as the word there is, and four on the four angles, and so in all one hundred; or, as the above learned writer, when the pillars were set to the wall, only ninety six appeared in sight in a row, the other four being hid behind them.
Verse 20
And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple,.... Not at the door or entrance into the temple, as Jarchi, but at the entrance into the porch: and he set up the right pillar; or the pillar on the right hand as you went in, which was on the north, the front being east: and called the name thereof Jachin; which signifies "he will establish", i.e. the house to which here was an entrance, so long as the pure worship of God should continue in it: and he set up the left pillar; or the pillar on the left hand, which was to the south, unless the position of them was as you come out: and called the name thereof Boaz; which signifies "in him", or "it is strength", namely, in the Lord that dwelt there; for this has no respect to Boaz, a prince of the house of Judah, from whom all its kings sprung, as the Targum, in Ch2 3:17 suggests. These names were given them not by Hiram the artificer, but by Solomon, and which were very expressive; not so much of the nobility of the kingdom of the house of David, as the Targum intimates; or of the church of God, the pillar and ground of truth; as of Christ himself, and the two natures in him, and of his royal dignity, signified by the crowns or chapiters on them, decorated as they were, whose legs are as pillars of marble, and in whom are righteousness and strength; which is no small encouragement to those who are entering into the church of God the temple was a type of; who, should they fear, being feeble and weak, that they should totter and fall, here stands Jachin, to let them know the Lord will establish and settle them; or that they should never hold out to the end, here is Boaz to direct them to Christ, in whom their strength lies, see Sol 4:15. Allusion is had to these, Rev 3:12.
Verse 21
And upon the top of the pillars was lily work,.... Which seems to be repeated from Kg1 7:19 and confirms that: and so was the work of the pillars finished; in the manner described.
Verse 22
And he made a molten sea,.... A large vessel made of molten brass, which, because of the great quantity of water it held, is called a sea; as it was usual with the Jews to call a large collection of waters a sea, as the sea of Tiberius and Galilee. This was made by the man of Tyre, as the pillars, by the order of Solomon, and answered to the brasen laver in the tabernacle, only larger than that; and was not only for the priests to wash their hands and feet in, but to dip upon occasion, and by the Jews (p) is expressly said to be a dipping place for the priests, see Ch2 4:6, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: which was the diameter of it: it was round all about; spherical or circular; not as an hemisphere, as Josephus (q), and Procopius Gazaeus, but rather cylindrical: and his height was five cubits; from the bottom of it, not including the pedestal of oxen on which it stood: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about; this was the circumference of it; which answers to the diameter of ten cubits, or near it, a round number being given not strictly mathematical. (Sceptics have ridiculed the Bible for saying that the mathematical constant is 3 instead of the more precise 3.14159. (This number is an "irrational number" and needs an infinite number digits to specify it exactly.) Two explanations for the apparent lack of precision in the measurement are given. 1) The circumference given may be for the inside circumference and the diameter may be the diameter including the thickness of the rim. This would yield a very accurate mathematical result for the inside circumference of thirty cubits. The outside circumference would be about 31.4 cubits giving a rim thickness of four inches or an hand breadth agreeing with Kg1 7:26. 2) In Kg1 7:26 we read the vessel "was wrought like the brim of a cup." That is the brim on the top of the vessel was wider than the main part of the vessel. The diameter would be given for the brim. If the brim or lip extended about four inches past the main body of the vessel then the outside circumference of the main part of the vessel would be exactly thirty cubits. In each case the mathematical ratio for circumference of the circle is d, where "d" is the diameter and is the number 3.14159 ..... For a more complete discussion on this see the article by Russel Grigg. (r). Editor.) (p) T. Hieros, Yema, fol. 41. 1 (q) Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect 5. (r) "Does the Bible say pi equals 3.0?", Russell Greg, page 24, "Ex Nihil", March-May Issue, Vol. 17. No. 2., Creation Science Foundation Ltd. Brisbane, Australia.
Verse 23
And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it,.... Of an oval form, and therefore the Targum calls them figures of eggs; in Ch2 4:3 they are said to have the similitude of oxen, being like the heads of oxen, and the other parts oval; or these were in the form of gourds, as sometimes the word is rendered, Kg2 4:39 which had on them the figures of the heads of oxen, and might serve as cocks to let out the water: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about it; and as the circumference was thirty cubits, there must be three hundred of these in the circuit: the knops were cast in two rows when it was cast; for these were cast together with the sea, and being in two rows, there must be in all six hundred of them.
Verse 24
It stood upon twelve oxen,.... Figures of them in brass, of full proportion: three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and so turned to the four quarters of the world: and the sea was set above upon them; as it were on the backs of them, and their mouths served as spouts or cocks, to let water out of it on all sides: and all their hinder parts were inward; that they might not be seen, and which met in a centre; they that were north came against those that were south, and they in the east met with those to the west. The brass of the sea, according to Jacob Leon (r), weighed 1,800 arobas, and, with twelve oxen under, 33,500; each aroba being twenty five pounds weight. (r) Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 4. p. 21.
Verse 25
And it was an hand breadth thick,.... Or four fingers, as in Jer 52:21. and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies, embroidered and engraven on it for ornament sake: it contained 2,000 baths; which is reckoned about five hundred barrels of water; it was filled by the Gibeonites; in Ch2 4:5, it is said to receive and hold 3,000 baths, which the Jewish writers (s) thus reconcile; they suppose here it means so many baths of liquid, as the Targum expresses, there of dry measure, which might be heaped up, and so contain more; but as this was a vessel for water, and this distinction seems to answer no purpose, it may be better to observe, that in common, for the use of the priests, whether for washing their hands and feet, or dipping their bodies, it had no more than 2,000 baths in it, but, if filled up to the brim, it would hold 3,000. How a vessel of such dimensions should hold so much is difficult to account for; the Rabbins say (t), that in the two upper cubits of it it was circular, and in the three lower cubits square, by which they imagine it would hold more, and the position of it on the oxen seems to countenance this; but very probably it was wider, and bellied out in the lower part of it, and so more capacious; but of the contents of this, according to mathematical rules, see a treatise of Bishop Cumberland's (u). It is said (w) of a temple of Neptune's, in the fore part of it were two signs of him, and another of Amphitrite, and that was a brasen sea. This brasen sea of Solomon was typical of Christ, the fountain opened to wash in for uncleanness, by all that are made priests unto God; and this being larger than the laver in the tabernacle, may denote the greater efficacy of Christ's blood than in anything in the law of Moses to cleanse from sin; and the larger provision made for it, not only for Israel, but for all the people of God in the several nations of the world, in the four quarters of it; being published, and proclaimed, and directed to by the twelve apostles of Christ, and by all Gospel ministers since, signified by oxen for their laboriousness and strength. In the second temple there were no sea, nor bases, after mentioned, nor lavers, but one, which stood between the porch and the altar, which was for the priests to wash their hands and feet at (x). (s) Shilte Hagibborim, c. 27. fol. 23. 4. (t) T. Bab. Eruvin, fol. 14. 2. (u) Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 93, &c. (w) Pausaniae Corinthiaca, sive, l. 2. p. 87. (x) Shilte Hagibborim, c. 27. fol. 24. 2.
Verse 26
And he made ten bases of brass,.... Seats, stands, or settles for the ten lavers after mentioned: four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof; as broad as it was long, and so a square, that the laver might stand firm upon it: and three cubits the height of it; from the ground plates to the surface, that the priests might be able to reach the layers, and wash their sacrifices.
Verse 27
And the work of the bases was on this manner,.... The following was the form in which they were made: they had borders; plates of brass all around them, which enclosed them: and the borders were between the ledges; which were short staves or bars of brass, that stood upright all around, like the staves of a cart on each side, or the rails of a balcony, only in double rows; and between these were the borders or plates of brass.
Verse 28
And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims,.... The figures of them, for ornament sake; the cherubim, being distinguished from lions and oxen might be figures of men, or else of eagles, as Josephus (y), see Eze 1:10. and upon the ledges there was a base above; a flat piece of brass laid upon the top of the staves or bars: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work; these, according to Dr. Lightfoot (z), whom I chiefly follow in this account, were shelving plates of brass at the bottom of the borders and bars, where the priests washed the sacrifice; the filth of which ran off the easier, through the angle of them. (y) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 5.) (z) Prospect of the Temple, ch. 38. sect. 2.
Verse 29
And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass,.... Flat pieces or planks of brass, on which the wheels stood, and not on the bare floor; so that these wheels seem only to serve as supporters, not to carry the laver from place to place, as is usually said; for they were not like chariot wheels, on two sides of the carriage, but set one at each square; and besides, when the lavers were placed upon them, they were fixed in a certain place, Kg1 7:39. and the four corners thereof had undersetters; or "shoulders (a)", or pillars, which were placed on the plates of brass the wheels were; and served with them to support the lavers when laid upon the bases, and so were of the same use as men's shoulders, to bear burdens on them: under the layer were undersetters molten; cast as, and when and where, the bases were, and the plates on which they stood; this explains the use they were of, being under the laver; these pillars stood at the four corners of the base: at the side of every addition; made of thin work, Kg1 7:29 they stood by the side of, or within side, the sloping shelves. (a) "humeri", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
Verse 30
And the mouth of it within the chapiter, and above, was a cubit,.... On the lid of the base rose up a lesser base, called the chapiter, which was circular, like a coronet, as the word signifies, the inside of which was hollow, for the lower part of the layer to rest in; this ascended straight up half a cubit, and then widening, went up half a cubit more, and so in its whole height, as here a cubit; the circuit or circumference of which is called the mouth of the base, into which the feet of the layer were set, the measure of which is next given: but the mouth thereof was round, after the work of the base, a cubit and an half; which was either the circumference or the diameter of it; one should think the latter: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings, with their borders, four square, not round; though the mouth was round, the border of it was four square, which had figures engraved thereon, perhaps the same as on the other borders, lions, oxen, and cherubim.
Verse 31
And under the borders were four wheels,.... Not under the borders last mentioned, but those in Kg1 7:29, and the axle trees of the wheels were joined to the base; to the four sides of it: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit; that is, from the plate of brass on which it stood, to the axis or semicircle of it; so that the highest part of the ring being also a cubit and an half, reached to the top of the base, it being but three cubits high, Kg1 7:27.
Verse 32
And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel,.... In the same form and fashion as one of them; the Targum is, "like a chariot of glory;'' a splendid one, curiously wrought; unless reference is had in it to the chariot of Ezekiel's vision: their axle trees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten; cast together when the base was.
Verse 33
And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base,.... Or pillars, as in Kg1 7:30. and the undersetters were of the base itself; they were cast together, and of the same piece of metal with it.
Verse 34
And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high,.... The same with the chapiter, Kg1 7:31 which rose up straight half a cubit, and widening upwards half a cubit more, here called the round compass of it: and on the top of the base, the ledges thereof and the borders thereof, were of the same; of the same piece of brass with the base, all being cast together.
Verse 35
For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof,.... In this, and the preceding verse, a different word is used, translated "ledges", from that in Kg1 7:28, the Targum renders it axle trees; as if the axle trees of the wheels, and the borders, circumferences, and rings of them, were meant, in which were the following engravings: it literally signifies hands or handles; and Procopius Gazaeus says, that the bases had, in the upper part of them, forms of hands holding a circle like a crown: he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of everyone; these figures were made as large as the plates of the ledges, and the borders, would allow room for: and the addition round about; which were sloping shelves of brass around the base, Kg1 7:29 these were ornamented in like manner.
Verse 36
After this manner he made the ten bases,.... This was the form and fashion of them as above described: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size; they were all cast into the same mould, and were exactly alike in their form, figures, and size, and each weighed 2000 talents, and the weight of a talent was ninety three pounds and upwards, according to Jacob Leon (b). (b) Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, c. 4. p. 21.
Verse 37
Then made he ten lavers of brass,.... There was but one in the tabernacle of Moses, and what became of that is not known: some Jewish writers (c) say it was placed in Solomon's temple, and these lavers, five on the right and five on the left of it; however, here were enough provided for the purpose for the priests to wash their burnt offerings in, Ch2 4:6 and were typical of the large provision made in the blood of Christ for the cleansing of his people; whose works, services, and sacrifices, as well as persons and garments, need continual washing in that blood; see Rom 12:1, one laver contained forty baths; and a bath, according to Bishop Cumberland (d) held seven wine gallons, and two quarts and half a pint: and every laver was four cubits: that is, square; this was the diameter of it: and upon every of the ten bases one laver; for which they were made, even to set the lavers on, and were exactly of the same measure. (c) Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, in 2 Chron. iv. 6. (d) Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 70, 71.
Verse 38
And he put five bases on the right side of the house,.... On the south side, which is commonly understood; that is, of the courts of the priests, where they were placed for their use: and five on the left side of the house; on the north, as it must be, if the south is on the right; though as the entrance into the temple was at the east, when a man went in, the north must be on the right, and the south on the left; and this seems to be the position by what follows: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, over against the south; and therefore the right side must be the north, which is opposite to the south; the sea seems to have stood northeast, which was for the priests to wash in before they entered on divine service; see Gill on Exo 30:20 hence it became customary with the Heathens to wash before they performed any religious worship (e), particularly the hands and feet (f). (e) Vid. Virgil. Bucolic. Eclog. 8. "affer aquam", &c. Aeneid. 2. "attrectare nefas", &c. Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. l. (f) Vid. Sperling de Bapt. Ethnic. p. 88, 89, 101.
Verse 39
And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins,.... The lavers are not the ten before mentioned, of the make of which an account is before given; but these, according to Jarchi and Ben Gersom, are the same with the pots, Kg1 7:45 and so they are called in Ch2 4:11 the use of which, as they say, was to put the ashes of the altar into; as the "shovels", next mentioned, were a sort of besoms to sweep them off, and the "basins" were to receive the blood of the sacrifices, and sprinkle it; no mention is here made of the altar of brass he made, but is in Ch2 4:11, nor of the fleshhooks to take the flesh out of the pots, as in Ch2 4:16, so Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made King Solomon for the house of the Lord; what he undertook, and was employed in, he finished, which were all works of brass; of which a recapitulation is made in the following verses to the end of the forty fifth, where they are said to be made of "bright brass", free of all dross and rust; "good", as the Targum, even the best brass they were made of; the brass David took from Hadarezer, Ch1 18:8 which Josephus (g) too much magnifies, when he says it was better than gold. (g) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 3.
Verse 40
In the plain of Jericho did the king cast them in the clay ground,.... Which being thick, as the word signifies, and stiff and close, was fit for such a purpose as casting brass; of such clay, furnaces of earth used to be made to melt metals in; but here were large things to be cast, as the two pillars, the sea, the ten lavers, &c. moulds were made in the ground, and so the melted brass was poured into them, which gave it its different forms; this, no doubt, was done by Hiram, though said to be done by the king, because done by his orders: the place where it was done was a part of the plain of Jericho, which lay between Succoth and Zarthan; Succoth was in the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan; Zarthan was near it on this side, in the tribe of Manasseh, the same that is called Zartanah, Kg1 4:12 and Zaretan, Jos 3:16 and Zeredathah, Ch2 4:17. The first casters of brass are said (h) to be Theodorus and Rhaecus, both Samians. (h) Pausau. Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 479. & Boeotica, sive, l. 9. p. 607.
Verse 46
And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many,.... The vessels of brass before mentioned, being so large, at least some of them, and so numerous; the Targum is, he laid them up, or placed them; he brought them from whence they were cast, and put them in the sanctuary without weighing them: neither was the weight of the brass found out; or "searched" (i); it never was inquired into; or, as the Targum, there was no end of it, it was so much. (i) "nec invesigari potuerit", Tigurine version: "non pervestigatum est", Junius, Tremellius, Piscator.
Verse 47
And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord,.... That is, he ordered them to be made, even all that were in the tabernacle of Moses; all were newly made, excepting the ark, mercy seat, and cherubim: the altar of gold; the altar of incense, which was made of cedar, covered with gold, Kg1 6:20, hence called the golden altar, Rev 8:3. and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was; this includes all the tables, for there were ten of them, Ch2 4:8 where they are said to be placed, five on the right hand, and five on the left; which, according to the Jews (k), were not on the right and left of the temple, but on the right and left of the table of Moses, and which being placed on the north side, these must be also, Exo 40:22 there being more tables in the temple than in the tabernacle may denote the greater provision of spiritual food in the word and ordinances of the Gospel church, of which the temple was a figure, than under the legal dispensation. (k) T. Bab. Meuachot, fol. 98. Kimchi in loc. Targum in 2 Chron. iv. 8.
Verse 48
And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle,.... These stood in the holy place, where the shewbread tables did, right before the holy of holies; there were ten of these as of them, which were placed, as the same Jewish writers say, not on the right and left of the temple, but on the right and left of Moses's candlestick, which stood on the south side, Exo 40:24, these may denote the greater degree of spiritual light in the church of Christ under the Gospel dispensation than under the law: with the flowers; the figures of flowers, such as were wrought on the candlestick of Moses: and the lamps; which were seven to each candlestick, and so must be in all seventy; which may put us in mind of the seventy disciples of Christ, some of the first lights of the Gospel church: and the tongues of gold; which were used to take the wicks out of the oil, and put into the lamps.
Verse 49
And the bowls,.... To keep the oil in: and the snuffers; to trim the lamps with; though some interpret the word of musical instruments, as the Targum, of psalteries: and the basins; which were to receive the blood of the sacrifices; and, Ben Gersom thinks, particularly the blood of those that were brought into the sanctuary, see Heb 13:11, there were an hundred of them, Ch2 4:8. and the spoons; which held the incense: and the censers of pure gold; with which the coals were carried from one altar to another, on which the incense was burnt; not only those but all the other vessels were 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; the holy of holies and the holy place, the hinges of the doors of each, on which they were hung, and turned, were of gold; so grand and magnificent was this edifice, and so liberal Solomon in the building of it.
Verse 50
So was ended all the work that King Solomon made for the house of the Lord,.... Which he ordered to be made to be put into it, either for the ornament of it, or for the use and service of it; all was completely finished in the space of seven years: and Solomon had brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; had laid up for, and devoted to the building of the temple, and for the service of it; not all, but what was left; what was over and above there was a need of; though the Jews commonly say, that he made use of none of his father's, but built it and furnished it at his own expense; for which reason he did not begin to build as soon as he came to the throne, they suppose, but waited four years, until he had laid up a sufficiency of his own to defray the expense of it; but it is certain he made use of the brass his father reserved for this work, see Ch1 18:8 and which, perhaps it may be said, is the reason it is not mentioned here as laid up: even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord; he did not convert them to his own use, but laid them up in the treasury of the sanctuary, for the purchase of sacrifices, the repair of the house in future times, &c. Next: 1 Kings Chapter 8
Introduction
As, in the story of David, one chapter of wars and victories follows another, so, in the story of Solomon, one chapter concerning his buildings follows another. In this chapter we have, I. His fitting up several buildings for himself and his own use (Kg1 7:1-12). II. His furnishing the temple which he had built for God, 1. With two pillars (Kg1 7:13-22). 2. With a molten sea (Kg1 7:23-26). 3. With ten basins of brass (Kg1 7:27-37), and ten layers upon them (Kg1 7:38, Kg1 7:39). 4. With all the other utensils of the temple (Kg1 7:40-50). 5. With the things that his father had dedicated (Kg1 7:51). The particular description of these things was not needless when it was written, nor is it now useless.
Verse 1
Never had any man so much of the spirit of building as Solomon had, nor to better purpose; he began with the temple, built for God first, and then all his other buildings were comfortable. The surest foundations of lasting prosperity are those which are laid in an early piety, Mat 6:33. 1. He built a house for himself (Kg1 7:1), where he dwelt, Kg1 7:8. His father had built a good house; but it was no reflection upon his father for him to build a better, in proportion to the estate wherewith God had blessed him. Much of the comfort of this life is connected with an agreeable house. He was thirteen years building this house, whereas he built the temple in little more than seven years; not that he was more exact, but less eager and intent, in building his own house than in building God's. He was in no haste for his own palace, but impatient till the temple was finished and fit for use. Thus we ought to prefer God's honour before our own ease and satisfaction. 2. He built the house of the forest at Lebanon (Kg1 7:2), supposed to be a country seat near Jerusalem, so called from the pleasantness of its situation and the trees that encompassed it. I rather incline to think that it was a house built in the forest of Lebanon itself, whither (though far distant from Jerusalem) Solomon (having so many chariots and horses, and those dispersed into chariot-cities, which probably were his stages) might frequently retire with ease. It does not appear that his throne (mentioned Kg1 7:7) was at the house of the forest of Lebanon, and it was not at all improper to put his shields there as in a magazine. Express notice is taken of his buildings, not only in Jerusalem, but in Lebanon (Kg1 9:19), and we read of the tower of Lebanon, which looks towards Damascus (Sol 7:4), which probably was part of this house. A particular account is given of this house, that being built in Lebanon, a place famed for cedars, the pillars, and beams, and roof, were all cedar (Kg1 7:2, Kg1 7:3), and, being designed for pleasant prospects, there were three tiers of windows on each side, light against light (Kg1 7:4, Kg1 7:5), or, as it may be read, prospect against prospect. Those whose lost i cast in the country may be well reconciled to a country life by this, that some of the greatest princes have thought those the most pleasant of their days which they have spent in their country retirements. 3. He built piazzas before one of his houses, either that at Jerusalem or that in Lebanon, which were very famous - a porch of pillars (Kg1 7:6), perhaps for an exchange or a guard-house, or for those to walk in that attended him about business till they could have audience, or for state and magnificence. He himself speaks of Wisdom's building her house, and hewing out her seven pillars (Pro 9:1), for the shelter of those that, three verses before (Kg1 8:34), are said to watch daily at her gates and to wait at the posts of her doors. 4. At his house where he dwelt in Jerusalem he built a great hall, or porch of judgment, where was set the throne, or king's bench, for the trial of causes, in which he himself was appealed to (placita coram ipso rege tenenda - causes were to be adjusted in the king's presence), and this was richly wainscoted with cedar, from the floor to the roof, Kg1 7:7. He had there also another court within the porch, nearer his house, of similar work, for his attendants to walk in, Kg1 7:8. 5. He built a house for his wife, where she kept her court, Kg1 7:8. It is said to be like the porch, because built of cedar like it, though not in the same form; this, no doubt, was nearer adjoining to his own palace, yet perhaps if it had been as near as it ought to have been Solomon would not have multiplied wives as he did. The wonderful magnificence of all these buildings is taken notice of, Kg1 7:9, etc. All the materials were the best of their kind. The foundation-stones were costly for their size, four or five yards square, or at least so many yards long (Kg1 7:10), and the stones of the building were costly for the workmanship, hewn and sawn, and in all respects finely wrought, Kg1 7:9, Kg1 7:11. The court of his own house was like that of the temple (Kg1 7:12, compare Kg1 6:36); so well did he like the model of God's courts that he made his own by it.
Verse 13
We have here an account of the brass-work about the temple. There was no iron about the temple, though we find David preparing for the temple iron for things of iron, Ch1 29:2. What those things were we are not told, but some of the things of brass are here described and the rest mentioned. I. The brasier whom Solomon employed to preside in this part of the work was Hiram, or Huram (Ch2 4:11), who was by his mother's side an Israelite, of the tribe of Naphtali, by his father's side a man of Tyre, Kg1 7:14. If he had the ingenuity of a Tyrian, and the affection of an Israelite to the house of God (the head of a Tyrian and the heart of an Israelite), it was happy that the blood of the two nations mixed in him, for thereby he was qualified for the work to which he was designed. As the tabernacle was built with the wealth of Egypt, so the temple with the wit of Tyre. God will serve himself by the common gifts of the children of men. II. The brass he made use of was the best he could get. All the brazen vessels were of bright brass (Kg1 7:45), good brass, so the Chaldee, that which was strongest and looked finest. God, who is the best, must be served and honoured with the best. III. The place where all the brazen vessels were cast was the plain of Jordan, because the ground there was stiff and clayey, fit to make moulds of for the casting of the brass (Kg1 7:46), and Solomon would not have this dirty smoky work done in or near Jerusalem. IV. The quantity was not accounted for. The vessels were unnumbered (so it may be read, Kg1 7:47, as well as unweighed), because they were exceedingly numerous, and it would have been an endless thing to keep the account of them; neither was the weight of the brass, when it was delivered to the workmen, searched or enquired into; so honest were the workmen, and such great plenty of brass they had, that there was no danger of wanting. We must ascribe it to Solomon's care that he provided so much, not to his carelessness that he kept no account of it. V. Some particulars of the brass-work are described. 1. Two brazen pillars, which were set up in the porch of the temple (Kg1 7:21), whether under the cover of the porch or in the open air is not certain; it was between the temple and the court of the priests. These pillars were neither to hang gates upon nor to rest any building upon, but purely for ornament and significancy. (1.) What an ornament they were we may gather from the account here given of the curious work that was about them, chequer-work, chain-work, net-work, lily-work, and pomegranates in rows, and all of bright brass, and framed no doubt according to the best rules of proportion, to please the eye. (2.) Their significancy is intimated in the names given them (Kg1 7:21): Jachin - he will establish; and Boaz - in him is strength. Some think they were intended for memorials of the pillar of cloud and fire which led Israel through the wilderness: I rather think them designed for memorandums to the priests and others that came to worship at God's door, [1.] To depend upon God only, and not upon any sufficiency of their own, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. When we come to wait upon God, and find our hearts wandering and unfixed, then by faith let us fetch in help from heaven: Jachin - God will fix this roving mind. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. We find ourselves weak and unable for holy duties, but this is our encouragement: Boaz - in him is our strength, who works in us both to will and to do. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. Spiritual strength and stability are to be had at the door of God's temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace in the use of the means of grace. [2.] It was a memorandum to them of the strength and establishment of the temple of God among them. Let them keep close to God and duty, and they should never lose their dignities and privileges, but the grant should be confirmed and perpetuated to them. The gospel church is what God will establish, what he will strengthen, and what the gates of hell can never prevail against. But, with respect to this temple, when it was destroyed particular notice was taken of the destroying of these pillars (Kg2 25:13, Kg2 25:17), which had been the tokens of its establishment, and would have been so if they had not forsaken God. 2. A brazen sea, a very large vessel, above five yards in diameter, and which contained above 500 barrels of water for the priests' use, in washing themselves and the sacrifices, and keeping the courts of the temple clean, Kg1 7:23, etc. It stood raised upon the figures of twelve oxen in brass, so high that either they must have stairs to climb up to it or cocks at the bottom to draw water from it. The Gibeonites, or Nethinim, who were to draw water for the house of God, had the care of filling it. Some think Solomon made the images of oxen to support this great cistern in contempt of the golden calf which Israel had worshipped, that (as bishop Patrick expresses it) the people might see there was nothing worthy of adoration in those figures; they were fitter to make posts of than to make gods of. Yet this prevailed not to prevent Jerusalem's setting up the calves for deities. In the court of the tabernacle there was only a laver of brass provided to wash in, but in the court of the temple a sea of brass, intimating that by the gospel of Christ much fuller preparation is made for our cleansing than was by the law of Moses. That had a laver, this has a sea, a fountain opened, Zac 13:1. 3. Ten bases, or stands, or settles, of brass, on which were put ten lavers, to be filled with water for the service of the temple, because there would not be room at the molten sea for all that had occasion to wash there. The bases on which the lavers were fixed are very largely described here, Kg1 7:27, etc. They were curiously adorned and set upon wheels, that the lavers might be removed as there was occasion; but ordinarily they stood in two rows, five on one side of the court and five on the other, Kg1 7:39. Each laver contained forty baths, that is, about ten barrels, Kg1 7:38. Those must be very clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ's blood and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution, must cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. Plentiful provision is made for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault. 4. Besides these, there was a vast number of brass pots made to boil the flesh of the peace-offerings in, which the priests and offerers were to feast upon before the Lord (see Sa1 2:14); also shovels, wherewith they took out the ashes of the altar. Some think the word signifies flesh-hooks, with which they took meat out of the pot. The basins also were made of brass, to receive the blood of the sacrifices. These are put for all the utensils of the brazen altar, Exo 38:3. While they were about it they made abundance of them, that they might have a good stock by them when those that were first in use wore out and went to decay. Thus Solomon, having wherewithal to do so, provided for posterity.
Verse 48
Here is, 1. The making of the gold work of the temple, which it seems was done last, for with it the work of the house of God ended. All within doors was gold, and all made new (except the ark, with its mercy-seat and cherubim), the old being either melted down or laid by - the golden altar, table, and candlestick, with all their appurtenances. The altar of incense was still one, for Christ and his intercession are so: but he made ten golden tables, Ch2 4:8 (though here mention is made of that one only on which the show-bread was, Kg1 7:48, which we may suppose was larger than the rest and to which the rest were as side-boards), and ten golden candlesticks (Kg1 7:49), intimating the much greater plenty both of spiritual food and heavenly light which the gospel blesses us with than the law of Moses did our could afford. Even the hinges of the door were of gold (Kg1 7:50), that every thing might be alike magnificent, and bespeak Solomon's generosity. Some suggest that every thing was made thus splendid in God's temple to keep the people from idolatry, for none of the idol-temples were so rich and fine as this: but how little the expedient availed the event showed. 2. The bringing in of the dedicated things, which David had devoted to the honour of God, Kg1 7:51. What was not expended in the building and furniture was laid up in the treasury, for repairs, exigencies, and the constant charge of the temple-service. What the parents have dedicated to God the children ought by no means to alienate or recall, but should cheerfully devote what was intended for pious and charitable uses, that they may, with their estates, inherit the blessing.
Verse 1
Erection of the royal palace. - Kg1 7:1 is closely connected in form with Kg1 6:38, and contains a summary account of the building, which is more minutely described in Kg1 7:2-12. "And Solomon built his house (his palace) in thirteen years, and finished (in that time) all his house." The thirteen years are to be reckoned after the completion of the temple in seven years, so that the two buildings were executed in twenty years (Kg1 9:10). The expression כּל־בּיתו is used, because the palace consisted of several buildings connected together; namely, (1) the house of the forest of Lebanon (Kg1 7:2-5); (2) the pillar-hall with the porch (Kg1 7:6); (3) the throne-room and judgment-hall (Kg1 7:7); (4) the king's dwelling-house and the house of Pharaoh's daughter (Kg1 7:8). That all these buildings were only different portions of the one royal palace, and the house of the forest of Lebanon was not a summer residence of Solomon erected on Lebanon itself, as many of the earlier commentators supposed, is indisputably evident, not only from the first verse when correctly interpreted, but also and still more clearly from the fact that when the buildings of Solomon are spoken of afterwards (see Kg1 9:1, Kg1 9:10, Kg1 9:15, and Kg1 10:12), we only read of the house of Jehovah and the house of the king, that is to say, of the temple and one palace. The description of the several portions of this palace is so very brief, that it is impossible to form a distinct idea of its character. The different divisions are given in Kg1 7:1-8 in their natural order, commencing at the back and terminating with the front (Kg1 7:8), and there then follows in Kg1 7:9-12 the description of the stones that were used. Kg1 7:2-5 The house of the forest of Lebanon. - This building - so named because it was built, so to speak, of a forest of cedar pillars - is called in the Arabic the "house of his arms," because, according to Kg1 10:17, it also served as a keeping-place for arms:" it is hardly to be regarded, however, as simply an arsenal, but was probably intended for other purposes also. He built it "a hundred cubits its length, fifty cubits its breadth, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of cedar pillars, and hewn cedar beams (were) over the pillars." As the building was not merely a hall of pillars, but, according to Kg1 7:3, had side-rooms (צלעת, cf. Kg1 6:5) above the pillars, the construction of it can hardly be represented in any other way than this, that the rooms were built upon four rows of pillars, which ran round all four sides of the building, which was 100 cubits long and fifty cubits broad in the inside, and thus surrounded the inner courtyard on all sides. Of course the building could not rest merely upon pillars, but was surrounded on the outside with a strong wall of hewn square stones (Kg1 7:9), so that the hewn beams which were laid upon the pillars had their outer ends built into the wall, and were supported by it, so as to give to the whole building the requisite strength. (Note: Thenius therefore supposes that "the lower part of the armoury formed a peristyle, a fourfold row of pillars running round inside its walls and enclosing a courtyard, so that the Vulgate alone gives the true sense, quatuor deambulacra inter columnas cedrinas;" and he points to the court of the palace of Luxor, which has a double row of pillars round it. The number of pillars is not given in the text, but Thenius in his drawing of this building sets it down at 400, which would certainly present a forest-like aspect to any one entering the building. Nevertheless we cannot regard this assumption as correct, because the pillars,which we cannot suppose to have been less than a cubit in thickness, would have been so close to one another that the four rows of pillars could not have formed four deambulacra. As the whole building was only fifty cubits broad, and this breadth included the inner courtyard, we cannot suppose that the sides of the building were more than ten cubits deep, which would leave a breadth of thirty cubits for the court. If then four pillars, each of a cubit in thickness, stood side by side or one behind the other in a space of ten cubits in depth, the distance between the pillars would be only a cubit and a half, that is to say, would be only just enough for one man and no more to walk conveniently through. And what could have been the object of crowding pillars together in this way, so as to render the entire space almost useless? It is on this ground, probably that Hermann Weiss assumes that each side of the oblong building, which was half as broad as it was long, was supported by one row, and therefore all the sides together by four rows of cedar pillars, and the beams of the same material which rested upon them. But this view is hardly a correct one; for it not only does not do justice to the words of the text, "four rows of pillars," but it is insufficient in itself, for the simple reason that one row of pillars on each side would not have afforded the requisite strength and stability to the three stories built upon them, even if we should not suppose the rooms in these stories to be very broad, since the further three rows of pillars, which Weiss assumes in addition, according to Kg1 7:3, as the actual supporters of the upper building, have no foundation in the text. The words "four rows of cedar pillars" do not absolutely require the assumption that there were four rows side by side or one behind the other on every side of the building; for the assertion that טוּר does not denote a row in the sense of a straight line, but generally signifies a row surrounding and enclosing a space, is refuted by Exo 28:17, where we read of the four טוּרים of precious stones upon the breastplate of the high priest. - Is it not likely that the truth lies midway between these two views, and that the following is the view most in accordance with the actual fact, namely, that there were four rows of pillars running along the full length of the building, but that they were distributed on the two sides, so that there were only two rows on each side? In this case a person entering from the front would see four rows of pillars running the whole length of the building. In any case the rows of pillars would of necessity be broken in front by the entrance itself. The utter uncertainty as to the number and position of the four rows of pillars is sufficient in itself to render it quite impossible to draw any plan of the building that could in the slightest degree answer to the reality. Moreover, there is no allusion at all in the description given in the text to either entrance or exit, or to staircases and other things, and the other buildings are still more scantily described, so that nothing certain can be determined with regard to their relative position or their probable connection with one another. For this reason, after studying the matter again and again, I have been obliged to relinquish the intention to illustrate the description in the text by drawings.) Kg1 7:3-4 "And roofing in (of) cedar was above the over the side-rooms upon the pillars, five and forty; fifteen the row." ספן is to be understood of the roofing, as in Kg1 6:15 (compare ספּן, Kg1 6:15). The numbers "forty-five and fifteen the row" cannot refer to העמּוּדים, but must refer, as Thenius assumes, to הצּלעת as the main idea, which is more precisely defined by העמּוּדים על. If we took it as referring to the pillars, as I myself have formerly done, we should have to assume that there were only galleries or pillar-halls above the lower rows of pillars, which is at variance with הצּלעת. There were forty-five side-rooms, therefore, built upon the lower rows of pillars, in ranges of fifteen each. This could only be done by the ranges of rooms being built, not side by side, but one over the other, in other words, by the forty-five side-rooms forming three stories, as in the side buildings of the temple, so that each story had a "row" of fifteen side-rooms round it. This view receives support from Kg1 7:4 : "and beam-layers (שׁקפים, beams, as in Kg1 6:4) were three rows, and outlook against outlook three times;" i.e., the rows of side-rooms were built one over the other by means of layers of beams, so that the rooms had windows opposite to one another three times; that is to say, the windows looking out upon the court were so arranged in the three stories that those on the one side were vis vis to those on the opposite side of the building. The expression in Kg1 7:5, אל־מחזה מחזה מוּל, "window over against window," compels us to take אל־מחזה in the sense of "opposite to the window" (אל, versus), and not, as Thenius proposes, "outlook against outlook," according to which אל is supposed to indicate that the windows were only separated from one another by slender piers. מחזה, which only occurs here, is different from חלּון, the ordinary window, and probably denotes a large opening affording a wide outlook. Kg1 7:5 "And all the doorways and mouldings were square of beams" (שׁקף is an accusative of free subordination, denoting the material or the mode of execution; cf. Ewald, 284, a., β). "Square with a straight upper beam" (Thenius) cannot be the correct rendering of שׁקף רבעים. Thenius proposes to read והמּחזת for והמּזוּזת, after the reading αἱ χῶραι of the Seventy, who have also rendered מחזה in Kg1 7:4 by χῶρα, a broad space. It may be pleaded in support of this, that רבעים taht , is less applicable to the doorposts or mouldings than to the doorways and outlooks (windows), inasmuch as, if the doorways were square, the square form of the moulding or framework would follow as a matter of course. הפּתחים are both the doors, through which the different rooms were connected with one another, and also those through which the building and its stories were reached, of course by stairs, probably winding staircases, as in the side stories of the temple. The stairs were placed, no doubt, at the front of the building. The height given is thirty cubits, corresponding to that of the whole building (Kg1 7:2). If we reckon the height of the lower pillars at eight cubits, there were twenty-two cubits left for the stories; and assuming that the roofing of each was one cubit in thickness, there remained eighteen cubits in all for the rooms of the three stories; and this, if equally distributed, would give an internal height of six cubits for each story, or if arranged on a graduated scale, which would probably be more appropriate, a height of seven, six, and five cubits respectively. Kg1 7:6-8 The other buildings. - Kg1 7:6. "And he made the pillar-hall, fifty cubits its length, and thirty cubits its breadth, and a hall in front of them, and pillars and a threshold in front of them." With regard to the situation of this hall in relation to the other parts of the building, which is not precisely defined, we may infer, from the fact that it is mentioned between the house of the forest of Lebanon and the throne and judgment halls, that it stood between these two. The length of this building (fifty cubits) corresponds to the breadth of the house of the forest of Lebanon; so that, according to the analogy of the temple-hall (Kg1 6:3), we might picture to ourselves the length given here as running parallel to the breadth of the house of the forest of Lebanon, and might therefore assume that the pillar-hall was fifty cubits broad and thirty cubits deep. But the statement that there was a hall in front of the pillar-hall is irreconcilable with this assumption. We must therefore understand the length in the natural way, as signifying the measurement from back to front, and regard the pillar-hall as a portico fifty cubits long and thirty cubits broad, in front of which there was also a porch as an entrance. על־פּניהם, in front of them, i.e., in front of the pillars which formed this portico. The last words, "and pillars and threshold in front of them," refer to the porch. This had also pillars, probably on both sides of the doorway, which carried the roof; and in front of them was עב, i.e., according to the Chaldee סקפתא, the moulding or framework of the threshold, a threshold-like entrance, with steps. Kg1 7:7 "And the throne-hall, where he judged, the judgment-hall, he made and (indeed) covered with cedar, from floor to floor." The throne-hall and the judgment-hall are therefore one and the same hall, which was both a court of judgment and an audience-chamber, and in which, no doubt, there stood and splendid throne described in Kg1 10:18-20. But it is distinguished from the pillar-hall by the repetition of עשׂה. It probably followed immediately upon this, but was clearly distinguished from it by the fact that it was covered with cedar הקּרקע עד מהקּרקע. These words are very obscure. The rendering given by Thenius, "panelled from the floor to the beams of the roof," is open to these objections: (1) that ספן generally does not mean to panel, but simply to cover, and that בּארז ספן is particular cannot possibly be taken in a different sense here from that which it bears in Kg1 7:3, where it denotes the roofing of the rooms built above the portico of pillars; and (2) that the alteration of the second הקרקע into הקּורות has no critical warrant in the rendering of the Syriac, a fundamento ad coelum ejus usque, or in that of the Vulgate, a pavimento usque ad summitatem, whereas the lxx and Chald. both read הקּרקע עד. But even if we were to read הקּורות, this would not of itself signify the roof beams, inasmuch as in Kg1 6:16 הקּירות or הקּורות receives its more precise definition from the expression הסּפּן noisserpx קירות (קורות) in Kg1 7:15. The words in question cannot have any other meaning than this: "from the one floor to the other," i.e., either from the floor of the throne-hall to the floor of the pillar-hall (described in Kg1 7:6), or more probably from the lower floor to the upper, inasmuch as there were rooms built over the throne-room, just as in the case of the house of the forest of Lebanon; for קרקע may denote not only the lower floor, but also the floor of upper rooms, which served at the same time as the ceiling of the lower rooms. So much, at any rate, may be gathered from these words, with all their obscurity, that the throne-hall was not an open pillar-hall, but was only open in front, and was shut in by solid walls on the other three sides. Kg1 7:8 After (behind) the throne and judgment hall then followed the king's own palace, the principal entrance to which was probably through the throne-hall, so that the king really delivered judgment and granted audiences in the gate of his palace. "His house, where he dwelt, in the other court inwards from the (throne) hall was like this work," i.e., was built like the throne-hall; "and a (dwelling) house he made for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this hall." The construction of the dwelling-places of the king and queen cannot be ascertained from these words, because the hall with which its style is compared is not more minutely described. All that can be clearly inferred from the words, "in the other court inside the hall," is, that the abode of the king and his Egyptian wife had a court of its own, and when looked at from the entrance, formed the hinder court of the whole palace. The house of Pharaoh's daughter was probably distinct from the dwelling-place of the king, so that the palace of the women formed a building by itself, most likely behind the dwelling-house of the king, since the women in the East generally occupy the inner portion of the house. The statement that the dwelling-place of the king and queen formed a court by itself within the complex of the palace, warrants the further inference, that the rest of the buildings (the house of the forest of Lebanon, the pillar-hall, and the throne-hall) were united together in one first or front court. Kg1 7:9-12 "All these (viz., the whole of the buildings described in Kg1 7:2-8) were costly stones, after the measure of that which is hewn, sawn with the saw within and without (i.e., on the inner and outer side of the halls and buildings), and from the foundation to the corbels, and from without to the great court," הטּפחות, the corbels, upon which the beams of the roof rest. The lxx renders it ἕως τῶν γεισῶν. Thenius understands by this the battlements which protected the flat roofs, and therefore interprets טפחות as signifying the stone border of the roof of the palace. But γεῖσος, or γεῖσσος γεῖσον, merely signifies the projection of the roof, and, generally speaking, every projection in a building resembling a roof, but not the battlement-like protection or border of the flat roof, which is called מעקה in Deu 22:8. חוּץ, the outside in distinction from the great court, can only be the outer court; and as הגּדולה החצר is no doubt identical with האחרת חצר (Kg1 7:8), and therefore refers to the court surrounding the king's dwelling-house, חוּץ is to be understood as relating to the court-yard or fore-court surrounding the front halls. Kg1 7:10-11 "And the foundation was laid with costly, large stones of ten and eight cubits (sc., in length, and of corresponding breadth and thickness). And above (the foundation, and therefore the visible walls, were) costly stones, after the measure of that which is hewn, and cedars." Kg1 7:12 And (as for) the great court, there were found it three rows (i.e., it was formed of three rows) of hewn stones and a row of hewn cedar beams, as in the inner court of the house of Jehovah (see at Kg1 6:36) and the hall of the house. ולחצר signifies "and so with the court," Vav serving as a comparison, as in Pro 25:20, and frequently in Proverbs (see Dietrich in Ges. Lex. x.v. ,ו and Ewald, 340, b.), so that there is no necessity for the un-Hebraic conjecture of Thenius, כּלחצר. הבּית לאוּלם in all probability refers not to the temple-hall, but to the pillar-hall of the palace, the surrounding wall of which was of the same nature as the wall of the great, i.e., the other or hinder, court. (Note: The situation of this palace in Jerusalem is not defined. Ewald supposes (Gesch. iii. p. 317) that it was probably built on the southern continuation of the temple-mountain, commonly called Ophel, i.e., Hill. But "nothing more is needed to convince us that it cannot have stood upon Ophel, than a single glance at any geographical outline of Ophel on one of the best of the modern maps, and a recollection of the fact that, according to Neh 3:26, Neh 3:31, it was upon Ophel, where the king's palace is said to have stood, that the temple-socagers and shopkeepers had their places of abode after the captivity" (Thenius). The view held by earlier travellers and pilgrims to Zion, and defended by Berggren (p. 109ff.), namely, that the ancient Solomonian and Asmonaean palaces stood upon Moriah on the western side of the temple, is equally untenable. For the xystus, above which, according to Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 16, 3, the Asmonaean palace stood, was connected with the temple by a bridge, and therefore did not stand upon Moriah, but upon Zion or the ἄνω πόλις, since this bridge, according to Josephus, Bell. Jud. vi. 6, 2, connected the temple with the upper city. Moreover, it clearly follows from the passages of Josephus already noticed (pp. 61f.), in which he refers to the substructures of the temple area, that the temple occupied the whole of Moriah towards the west, and extended as far as the valley of the Tyropoeon, and consequently there was no room for a palace on that side. When Josephus affirms, therefore (Ant. viii. 5, 2), that Solomon's palace stood opposite to the temple (ἄντικρυς ἔχων ναόν), it can only have been built on the north-east side of Zion, as most of the modern writers assume (see W. Krafft, Topographie Jerus. p. 114ff., and Berggr. p. 110). This is sustained not only by the probability that the Asmonaeans would hardly build their palace anywhere else than on the spot where the palace of the kings of Judah built by Solomon stood, but also by the account of the elevation of Joash to the throng in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chron 23, from which it is perfectly obvious that the royal palace stood upon Zion opposite to the temple.)
Verse 13
The Metallic Vessels of the Temple (compare Ch2 2:13-14, and 3:15-5:1). - Kg1 7:13, Kg1 7:14. To make these vessels king Hiram had sent to Solomon, at his request (Ch2 2:6), a workman named Hiram of Tyre. Kg1 7:13 contains a supplementary remark, in which ויּשׁלח must be rendered in the pluperfect (compare the remarks on Gen 2:19). King Solomon had sent and fetched Hiram from Tyre. This artisan bore the same name as the king, חירם or חירום (Kg1 7:40), in Ch2 2:13 חוּרם (Huram), with the epithet אבי, i.e., my father, אב being a title of honour equivalent to master or counsellor, as in Gen 45:8. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was צרי אישׁ, i.e., a Tyrian by birth. According to Ch2 2:13, his mother was "of the daughters of Dan," i.e., of the tribe of Dan. Both statements may easily be united thus: she was a Danite by birth, and married into the tribe of Naphtali. When her husband died, she was married again as the widow of a Naphtalite, and became the wife of a Tyrian, to whom she bore a son, Hiram. This explanation is also adopted by Bertheau (on the Chronicles); and the conjecture of Lundius, Thenius, and others, that the mother was an Israelitish widow of the city of Dan in the tribe of Naphtali, which was quite close to Tyre, is less in harmony with the expression "of the daughters of Dan." נחשׁה חרשׁ, "a brass-worker," refers to הוּא (he), i.e., Hiram, and not to his father (Thenius). The skill of Hiram is described in almost the same terms as that of Bezaleel in Exo 31:3., with this exception, that Bezaleel's skill is attributed to his being filled with the Spirit of God, i.e., is described rather as a supernatural gift, whereas in the case of Hiram the more indefinite expression, "he was filled with wisdom, etc.," is used, representing it rather as a natural endowment. In the account given here, Hiram is merely described as a worker in brass, because he is only mentioned at the commencement of the section which treats of the preparation of the brazen vessels of the temple. According to Ch2 2:14, he was able to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, wood, purple, etc. There is nothing improbable in this extension of his skill to wood and to the art of weaving. Bezaleel also combined in himself all these talents. Of course Hiram was merely a foreman or leader of these different branches of art; and he certainly did not come alone, but brought several assistants with him, who carried out the different works under his superintendence. - The enumeration of them commences with the pillars of the temple-hall.
Verse 15
The brazen pillars of the porch (compare Ch2 3:15-17). - He formed the two brazen pillars, which were erected, according to Ch2 3:15, "before the (temple) house, i.e., in front of the hall of the temple. One was eighteen cubits high, and a thread of twelve cubits surrounded (spanned) the other pillar." The statement of the height of the one pillar and that of the circumference of the other is to be understood as an abbreviated expression, signifying that the height and thickness mentioned applied to the one as well as to the other, or that they were alike in height and circumference. According to the Chronicles, they were thirty-five cubits long; which many expositors understand as signifying that the length of the two together was thirty-five cubits, so that each one was only 17 1/2 cubits long, for which the full number 18 is substituted in our text. But this mode of reconciling the discrepancy is very improbable, and is hardly in harmony with the words of the Chronicles. The number 35 evidently arose from confounding the numeral letters יח = 18 with לה = 35. The correctness of the number 18 is confirmed by Kg2 25:17 and Jer 52:21. The pillars were hollow, the brass being four finger-breadths in thickness (Jer 52:21); and they were cast in the Jordan valley (Kg1 7:46). Kg1 7:16 "And he made two capitals (כּתרות), to set them on the heads of the pillars, cast in brass, five cubits the height of the one and of the other capital." If, on the other hand, in Kg2 25:17 the height of the capital is said to have been three cubits, this discrepancy cannot be explained on the supposition that the capitals had been reduced two cubits in the course of time; but the statement rests, like the parallel passage in Jer 52:22, upon an error of the text, i.e., upon the substitution of ג (3) for ה (5). Kg1 7:17 "Plait (i.e., ornaments of plait), plait-work and cords (twist, resembling) chain-work, were on the capitals, which were upon the heads of the pillars, seven on the one capital and seven on the other capital." Consequently this decoration consisted of seven twists arranged as festoons, which were hung round the capitals of the pillars. Kg1 7:18 "And he made pomegranates, and indeed two rows round about the one twist, to cover the capitals which were upon the head of the pillars; and so he did with the other capital." In the Masoretic text the words העמּוּדים and הרמּנים are confused together, and we must read, as some of the Codd. do, in the first clause את־הרמּנים for את־העמּוּדים, and in the middle clause העמּוּדים על־ראשׁ for הרמּנים על־ראשׁ. This is not only required by the sense, but sustained by a comparison with Kg1 7:19. The relation between the two rows of pomegranates and the plaited work is indeed not precisely defined; but it is generally and correctly assumed, that one row ran round the pillars below the plaited work and the other above, so that the plaited work, which was formed of seven cords plaited together in the form of festoons, was enclosed above and below by the rows of pomegranates. If we compare with this the further statements in Kg1 7:41, Kg1 7:42, Ch2 3:16 and Ch2 4:12-13, and Jer 52:23, הכּתרת is there more precisely designated הכּתרת גּלות, "bowls of the capitals," from which it is evident that the lower portion of the capitals, to which the braided work was fastened, was rounded in the form of a pitcher or caldron. the number of the pomegranates on the two festoons is given at 400, so that there were 200 on each capital, and consequently each row contained 100 (Ch2 3:16); and according to Jer. (l.c.) there were 96 רוּחה, "windwards," and in all 100 on the braided work round about. רוּחה, "windwards," can hardly be taken in any other sense than this: in the direction of the wine, i.e., facing the four quarters of the heavens. This meaning is indisputably sustained by the use of the word רוּח, to denote the quarters of the heavens, in statements of the aspect of buildings (Eze 42:16-18), whereas there is no foundation whatever for such meanings as "airwards = uncovered" (Bttcher, Thenius), or hanging freely (Ewald). (Note: It is hardly necessary to observe, that the expression רוּח שׁאף, to gasp for air, in Jer 2:24; Jer 14:6, does not warrant our giving to רוּחה the meaning open or uncovered, as Bttcher supposes. But when Thenius follows Bttcher (Proben, p. 335) in adducing in support of this the fact "that the tangent, which is drawn to any circle divided into a hundred parts, covers exactly four of these parts," the fact rests upon a simple error, inasmuch as any drawing will show that a tangent only touches one point of a circle divided into a hundred parts. And the remark of Bttcher, "If you describe on the outside of a circle of twelve cubits in circumference a hundred small circles of twelve-hundredths of a cubit in diameter, a tangent drawn thereupon will cover to the eye exactly four small circles, although mathematically it touches only one of them in one point," is not correct according to any measurement. For if the tangent touches one of these smaller circles with mathematical exactness, to the eye there will be covered either three or five half circles, or even seven, but never four.) Kg1 7:19-20 In Kg1 7:19 and Kg1 7:20 a second decoration of the capitals of the pillars is mentioned, from which we may see that the rounding with the chain-like plaited work and the pomegranates enclosing it did not cover the capital to the very top, but only the lower portion of it. The decoration of the upper part is described in Kg1 7:19 : "And capitals, which were upon the top of the pillars, were (or, Hiram made) lily-work after the manner of the hall, four cubits." The lily-work occupied, according to Kg1 7:20, the upper portion of the capitals, which is here called כּתרת, as a crown set upon the lower portion. It was lily-work, i.e., sculpture in the form of flowering lilies. The words אמּות ארבּע בּאוּלם are obscure. According to Bttcher and Thenius, בּאוּלם is intended to indicate the position of the pillars within the hall, so that their capitals sustained the lintel of the doorway. But even if בּאוּלם were rendered, within the hall, as it is by Bttcher, it is impossible to see how this meaning could be obtained from the words "capitals upon the head of the pillars lily-work within the hall." In that case we must at least have "the pillars within the hall;" and בּאוּלם would be connected with העמּוּדים, instead of being separated from it by שׁוּשׁן מעשׂה. Even if we were to introduce a stop after שׁוּשׁן and take בּאוּלם by itself, the expression "in (or at) the hall" would not in itself indicate the position of the pillars in the doorway, to say nothing of the fact that it is only in Kg1 7:21 that anything is said concerning the position of the pillars. Again, the measurement "four cubits" cannot be understood, as it is by Thenius, as denoting the diameter of the capitals of the pillars; it must rather indicate the measure of the lily-work, that is to say, it affirms that there were four cubits of lily-work on the capitals, which were five cubits high, - in other words, the lily-work covered the four upper cubits of the capitals; from which it still further follows, that the plaited work which formed the decoration of the lower portion of the capitals was only one cubit broad or high. Consequently בּאוּלם cannot be understood in any other sense than "in the manner of or according to the hall," and can only express the thought, that there was lily-work on the capitals of the pillars as there was on the hall. For the vindication of this use of בּ see Ges. Lex. by Dietrich, s.v. בּ. (Note: This is the way in which the earlier translators appear to have understood it: e.g., lxx ἕργον κρίνου κατὰ τὸ αὐλὰμ τεσσάρων πηχῶν ("lily-work according to the hall four cubits"); Vulg. Capitella... quasi opere lilii fabricata erant in porticu quatuor cubitorum; Chald. ארבע אמּין עובד שׁושׁנתא לקיט בוּלמּא (opus liliaceum collectum in porticu quatuor cubitorum); Syr. opus liliaceum idem fecit (Syr. wa-(ekad ke)set[a4wa4)) in porticu quatuor cubitis. These readings appear to be based upon the view supported by Rashi (בּאוּלם for כּאוּלם): lily-work as it was in the hall.) There is no valid objection to the inference to which this leads, namely, that on the frontispiece of the temple-hall there was a decoration of lily-work. For since the construction of the hall is not more minutely described, we cannot expect a description of its decorations. - In Kg1 7:20 a more precise account is given of the position in which the crowns consisting of lily-work were placed on the capitals of this columns, so that this verse is to be regarded as an explanation of Kg1 7:19 : namely, capitals upon the pillars (did he make) also above near the belly, which was on the other side of the plait-work." הבּטן, the belly, i.e., the belly-shaped rounding, can only be the rounding of the lower portion of the capitals, which is called גּלה in Kg1 7:41, Kg1 7:42. Hence השּׂבכה לעבר (Keri), "on the other side of the plaited work," can only mean behind or under the plait, since we cannot suppose that there was a belly-shaped rounding above the caldron-shaped rounding which was covered with plaited work, and between this and the lily-work. The belly-shaped rounding, above or upon which the plaited work lay round about, might, when looked at from without, be described as being on the other side of it, i.e., behind it. In the second half of the verse: "and the pomegranates two hundred in rows round about on the second capital," the number of the pomegranates placed upon the capitals, which was omitted in Kg1 7:18, is introduced in a supplementary form. (Note: Hermann Weiss (Kostmkunde, i. p. 367) agrees in the main with the idea worked out in the text; but he assumes, on the ground of monumental views, that the decoration was of a much simpler kind, and one by no means out of harmony with the well-known monumental remains of the East. In his opinion, the pillars consisted of "a shaft nineteen cubits in height, surrounded at the top, exactly after the fashion of the ornamentation of the Egyptian pillars, with seven bands decorated like plaited work, which unitedly covered a cubit, in addition to which there was the lily-work of five cubits in height, i.e., a slender capital rising up in the form of the calyx of a lily, ornamented with pomegranates." Our reasons for dissenting from this opinion are given in the exposition of the different verses.) Kg1 7:21 "And he set up the pillars at the hall of the Holy Place, and set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin, and ... the left...Boaz." Instead of ההיכל לאוּלם we have in Ch2 3:15 הבּית לפני, and in Ch2 3:17 ההיכל על־פּני, "before the house," "before the Holy Place." This unquestionably implies that the two brazen pillars stood unconnected in front of the hall, on the right and left sides of it, and not within the hall as supporters of the roof. Nevertheless many have decided in favour of the latter view. But of the four arguments used by Thenius in proof that this was the position of the pillars, there is no force whatever in the first, which is founded upon Amo 9:1, unless we assume, as Merz and others do, that the words of the prophet, "Smite the capital, that the thresholds may shake, and break them (the capitals of the pillars), that they may fall upon the head of all," refer to the temple at Jerusalem, and not, as Thenius and others suppose, to the temple erected at Bethel for the calf-worship. For even if the temple at Bethel had really had a portal supported by pillars, it would by no means follow that the pillars Jachin and Boaz in Solomon's temple supported the roof of the hall, as it is nowhere stated that the temple of Jeroboam at Bethel was an exact copy of that of Solomon. And even with the only correct interpretation, in which the words of Amos are made to refer to the temple at Jerusalem, the argument founded upon them in support of the position of the pillars as bearers of the hall rests upon the false idea, that the ספּים, which are shaken by the smiting of the capital, are the beams lying upon the top of the pillars, or the superliminaria of the hall. It is impossible to prove that סף has any such meaning. The beam over the entrance, or upon the doorposts, is called משׁקוף in Exo 12:7, Exo 12:22-23, whereas סף denotes the threshold, i.e., the lower part of the framework of the door, as is evident from Jdg 19:27. The words of the prophet are not to be interpreted architecturally, but to be taken in a rhetorical sense; "so that by the blow, which strikes the capital, and causes the thresholds to tremble, such a blow is intended as shakes the temple in all its joints" (Baur on Amo 9:1). "הכּפתּור, a kind of ornament at the top of the pillars, and הסּפּים, the thresholds, are opposed to one another, to express the thought that the building is to be shaken and destroyed a summo usque ad imum, a capite ad calcem" (Hengstenberg, Chrisol. i. p. 366 transl.). The other arguments derived from Eze 40:48 and Eze 40:49, and from Josephus, Ant. viii. 3, 4, prove nothing at all. From the words of Josephus, τούτων τῶν κιόνων τὸν μέν ἕτερον κατὰ τὴν δεξιὰν ἔστησε τοῦ προπυλαίου παραστάδα...τὸν δὲ ἕτερον κ.τ.λ., it would only follow "that the pillars (according to the view of Josephus) must have stood in the doorway," if it were the case that παραστάς had no other meaning than doorpost, and προπύλαιον could be understood as referring to the temple-hall generally. But this is conclusively disproved by the fact that Josephus always calls the temple-hall πρόναον (l.c., and viii. 3, 2 and 3), so that προπύλαιον can only denote the fore-court, and παραστάς a pillar standing by itself. Consequently Josephus regarded the pillars Jachin and Boaz as propylaea erected in front of the hall. We must therefore adhere to the view expressed by Bhr (d. Tempel, p. 35ff.), that these pillars did not support the roof of the temple-hall, but were set up in front of the hall on either side of the entrance. In addition to the words of the text, this conclusion is sustained (1) by the circumstance that the two pillars are not mentioned in connection with the building of the temple and the hall, but are referred to for the first time here in the enumeration of the sacred vessels of the court that were made of brass. "If the pillars had formed an essential part of the construction and had been supporters of the hall, they would certainly have been mentioned in the description of the building, and not have been placed among the articles of furniture" (Schnaase); and moreover they would not have been made of metal like the rest of the vessels, but would have been constructed of the same building materials as the hall and the house, namely, of stone or wood (Bhr). And to this we may add (2) the monumental character of the pillars, which is evident from the names given to them. No architectural portion of the building received a special name. (Note: Stieglitz (Gesch. der Baukunst, p. 127) aptly observes in relation to this: "The architect cannot subscribe to Meyer's view (that the pillars were supporters of the hall), since it was only through their independent position that the pillars received the solemn character intended to be given to them, and by their dignity subserved the end designed, of exalting the whole building and calling attention to the real purpose of the whole.") Jachin (יכין): "he establishes," stabiliet templum (Simonis Onom. p. 430); and Boaz (בּעז), ex עז בּו in illo, sc. Domino, robur (Sim. p. 460). Kimchi has correctly interpreted the first name thus: "Let this temple stand for ever;" and the second, "Solomon desired that God would give it strength and endurance." The pillars were symbols of the stability and strength, which not only the temple as an outward building, but the kingdom of God in Israel as embodied in the temple, received from the Lord, who had chosen the temple to be His dwelling-place in the midst of His people. (Note: There is no necessity to refute the fanciful notion of Ewald, that these pillars, "when they were erected and consecrated, were certainly named after men who were held in estimation at that time, probably after the younger sons of Solomon," and that of Thenius, that בּעז יכין, "He (the Lord) establishes with strength," was engraved upon them as an inscription.) Kg1 7:22 In Kg1 7:22 it is stated again that there was lily-work upon the head of the pillars, - a repetition which may be explained from the significance of this emblem of the capitals of the pillars; and then the words, "So was the work of the capitals finished," bring the account of this ornament of the temple to a close.
Verse 23
The brazen sea (cf. Ch2 4:2-5). - "He made the molten sea - a water-basin called ים (mare) on account of its size - ten cubits from the one upper rim to the other," i.e., in diameter measured from the upper rim to the one opposite to it, "rounded all round, and five cubits its (external) height, and a line of thirty cubits encircled it round about," i.e., it was thirty cubits in circumference. The Chethib קוה is to be read קוה here and in Zac 1:16 and Jer 31:39, for which the Keri has קו in all these passages. קוה or קו means a line for measuring, which is expressed in Kg1 7:15 by חוּט. The relation of the diameter to the circumference is expressed in whole numbers which come very near to the mathematical proportions. The more exact proportions would be as 7 to 22, or 113 to 355. Kg1 7:24 Any colocynths (gourds) ran round it under its brim, ten to the cubit, surrounding the sea in two rows; the colocynths "cast in its casting," i.e., cast at the same time as the vessel itself. Instead of פּקעים, gourds (see at Kg1 6:18), we find בּקרים דּמוּת, figures of oxen, in the corresponding text of the Chronicles, and in the last clause merely הבּקר, an evident error of the pen, בקרים being substituted by mistake for פקעים, and afterwards interpreted בקרים דמות. The assumption by which the early expositors removed the discrepancy, namely, that they were casts of bullocks' heads, is not to be thought of, for the simple reason that בקרים signifies oxen and not the heads of oxen. How far apart the two rows of gourd-like ornaments were, it is impossible to decide. Their size may be estimated, from the fact that there were ten within the space of a cubit, at a little over two inches in diameter. Kg1 7:25 This vessel stood (rested) upon twelve brazen oxen, three turning to the north, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the east, "and the sea above upon them, and all their backs (turned) inwards;" i.e., they were so placed that three of their heads were directed towards each quarter of the heavens. The size of the oxen is not given; but we must assume that it was in proportion to the size and height of the sea, and therefore about five cubits in height up to the back. These figures stood, no doubt, upon a metal plate, which gave them a fixed and immoveable position (see the engraving in my bibl. Archol. Taf. iii. fig. 1). Kg1 7:26 "And its thickness (i.e., the thickness of the metal) was a handbreadth" = four finger-breadths, as in the case of the brazen pillars (see at Kg1 7:15), "and its upper rim like work of a goblet (or of a goblet-rim, i.e., bent outwards), lily-blossom," i.e., ornamented with lily-flowers. It held 2000 baths; according to the Chronicles, 3000 baths. The latter statement has arisen from the confusion of ג (3) with ב (2); since, according to the calculation of Thenius, the capacity of the vessel, from the dimensions given, could not exceed 2000 baths. This vessel, which took the place of the laver in the tabernacle, was provided for the priests to wash themselves (Ch2 4:6), that is to say, that a supply of water might be kept in readiness to enable the priests to wash their hands and feet when they approached the altar to officiate, or were about to enter the Holy Place (Exo 30:18.). There were no doubt taps by which the water required for this purpose was drawn off from the sea. (Note: For the different conjectures on this subject, see Lundius, jud. Heiligthmer, p. 356. Thenius supposes that there was also a provision for filling the vessel, since the height of it would have rendered it a work of great labour and time to fill it by hand, and that there was probably a pipe hidden behind the figures of the oxen, since, according to Aristeas, histor. lxx Interp., Oxon. 1692, p. 32 (also Eusebii praep. evang. ix. 38), there were openings concealed at the foot of the altar, out of which water was allowed to run at certain seasons for the requisite cleansing of the pavement of the court from the blood of the sacrifices; and there is still a fountain just in the neighbourhood of the spot on which, according to Kg1 7:39, the brazen sea must have stood (see Schultz's plan); and in the time of the Crusaders there was a large basin, covered by a dome supported by columns (see Robinson, Pal. i. 446). But even if the later temple was supplied with the water required by means of artificial water-pipes, the Solomonian origin of these arrangements or designs is by no means raised even to the rank of probability.) - The artistic form of the vessel corresponded to its sacred purpose. The rim of the basin, which rose upwards in the form of a lily, was intended to point to the holiness and loveliness of that life which issued from the sanctuary. The twelve oxen, on which it rested, pointed to the twelve tribes of Israel as a priestly nation, which cleansed itself here in the persons of its priests, to appear clean and holy before the Lord. Just as the number twelve unquestionably suggests the allusion to the twelve tribes of the covenant nation, so, in the choice of oxen or bullocks as supporters of the basin, it is impossible to overlook the significance of this selection of the first and highest of the sacrificial animals to represent the priestly service, especially if we compare the position of the lions on Solomon's throne (Kg1 10:20).
Verse 27
The Brazen Stands and Their Basins. (Note: The description which follows will be more easily understood by comparing it with the sketch given in my biblische Archologie, Taf. iii. fig. 4.) - He made ten stands of brass, each four cubits long, four cubits broad, and three cubits high. מכנות, stands or stools (Luther), is the name given to these vessels from their purpose, viz., to serve as supports to the basins which were used for washing the flesh of the sacrifices. They were square chests cast in brass, of the dimensions given. Kg1 7:28-29 Their work (their construction) was the following: they had מסגּרות, lit., surroundings, i.e., panels of flat sides, and that between שׁלבּים, commissurae, i.e., frames or borders, which enclosed the sides, and were connected together at the angles; and upon the panels within the borders (there were figures of) lions, oxen, and cherubim. The statement in Josephus, that each centre was divided into three compartments, has nothing to support it in the biblical text, nor is it at all probable in itself, inasmuch as a division of this kind would have rendered the figures placed upon them insignificantly small. "And upon the borders was a base above." כּן is a noun, and has been rendered correctly by the Chaldee כנתא, basis. The meaning is, above, over the borders, there was a pedestal for the basin upon the chest, which is more fully described in Kg1 7:31. To take כּן as an adverb does not give a suitable sense. For if we adopt the rendering, and upon the corner borders (or ledges) likewise above (De Wette and Ewald), - i.e., there were also figures of lions, oxen, and cherubim upon the corner borders, - it is impossible to tell what the meaning of ממּעל can be, to say nothing of the fact that on the corner borders there could hardly be room for such figures as these. This last argument also tells against the rendering adopted by Thenius: "and upon the corner borders, above as well as below the lions and oxen, (there were) wreaths;" in which, moreover, it is impossible to attach any supportable meaning to the כּן. When, on the other hand, Thenius objects to our view that the pedestal in question is spoken of for the first time in Kg1 7:31, and that the expression "above the corner borders (ledges)" would be extremely unsuitable, since the pedestal in question was above the whole stand; the former remark is not quite correct, for Kg1 7:31 merely contains a more minute description of the character of the pedestal, and the latter is answered by the fact that the pedestal derived its strength from the corner borders or ledges. "And below the lions and oxen were wreaths, pendant work." ליות, here and at Kg1 7:36, is to be explained from לויה in Pro 1:9 and Pro 4:9, and signifies twists or wreaths. מורד מעשׂה is not "work of sinking," i.e., sunken work (Thenius), which never can be the meaning of מורד, but pendant work, festoons, by which, however, we cannot understand festoons hanging freely, or floating in the air. Kg1 7:30 "Every stool had four brazen wheels and brazen axles, and the four feet thereof had shoulder-pieces; below the basin were the shoulder-pieces cast, beyond each one (were) wreaths." The meaning is that the square chests stood upon axles with wheels of brass, after the style of ordinary carriage wheels (Kg1 7:33), so that they could be driven or easily moved from one place to another; and that they did not rest directly upon the axles, but stood upon four feet, which were fastened upon the axles. This raised the chest above the rim of the wheels, so that not only were the sides of the chest which were ornamented with figures left uncovered, but, according to Kg1 7:32, the wheels stood below the panels, and not, as in ordinary carriages, at the side of the chest. With regard to the connection between the axles and the wheels, Gesenius (Thes. p. 972) and Thenius suppose that the axles were fastened to the wheels, as in the Roman plaustra and at the present day in Italy, so as to turn with them; and Thenius argues in support of this, that להם is to be connected not only with what immediately precedes, but also with נהשׁת סרני. But this latter is unfounded; and the idea is altogether irreconcilable with the fact that the wheels had naves (חשּׁקים, Kg1 7:33), from which we must infer that they revolved upon the axles. The words להם כּתפת פעמתיו וארבּעה are ambiguous.They may either be rendered, "and its four feet had shoulder-pieces," or, as Thenius supposes, "and its four feet served as shoulder-pieces." פּעמת means stepping feet, feet bent out as if for stepping (Exo 25:12). The suffix attached to פעמתיו refers to מכונה, the masculine being often used indefinitely instead of the feminine, as in להם in Kg1 7:28. Thenius compares these feet to the ἁμαξόποδες of the Greeks, and imagines that they were divided below, like fork-shaped upright contrivances, in which, as in forks, the wheels turned with the axles, so that the axle-peg, which projected outwards, had a special apparatus, instead of the usual pin, in the form of a stirrup-like and on the lower side hand-shaped holder (יד), which was fastened to the lower rim of the מכונה, and descended perpendicularly so as to cover the foot, and the general arrangement of the wheels themselves received greater strength in consequence. These feet, which were divided in the shape of forks, are supposed to be called כּתפת (shoulders), because they were not attached underneath at the edge of the stand, but being cast with the corner rims passed down in the inner angles, so that their uppermost portion was under the basin, and the lowest portion was under the stand, which we are to picture to ourselves as without a bottom, and projecting as a split foot, held the wheel, and so formed its shoulder-pieces. But we cannot regard this representation as either in accordance with the text, or as really correct. Even if להם כּתפת could in any case be grammatically rendered, "they served them (the wheels and axles) as shoulders," although it would be a very questionable course to take להם in a different sense here from that which it bears in the perfectly similar construction in Kg1 7:28, the feet which carried the stand could not possibly be called the shoulders of the wheels and their axles, since they did not carry the wheels, but the מכונה. Moreover, this idea is irreconcilable with the following words: "below the basin were the shoulder-pieces cast." If, for example, as Thenius assumes, the mechonah head a cover which was arched like a dome, and had a neck in the centre into which the basin was inserted by its lower rim, the shoulder-pieces, supposing that they were cast upon the inner borders of the chest, would not be below the basin, but simply below the corners of the lid of the chest, so that they would stand in no direct relation whatever to the basin. We must therefore give the preference to the rendering, which is grammatically the most natural one, "and its feet had shoulder-pieces," and understand the words as signifying that from the feet, which descended of course from the four corner borders of the chest down to the axles, there ascended shoulder-pieces, which ran along the outside of the chest and reached to the lower part of the basin which was upon the lid of the chest, and as shoulders either supported or helped to support it. According to Kg1 7:34, these shoulder-pieces were so cast upon the four corners of the chest, that they sprang out of it as it were. ליות אישׁ מעבר, opposite to each one were wreaths. Where these festoons were attached, the various senses in which מעבר is used prevent our deciding with certainty. At any rate, we must reject the alternation proposed by Thenius, of ליות into לאחת, for the simple reason that לאחת אישׁ in the sense of "one to the other" would not be Hebraic. Kg1 7:31-34 In Kg1 7:31 we have a description of the upper portion of the mechonah, which formed the pedestal for the basin, and therewith an explanation of לכּיּר מתּחת. "And the mouth of it (the basin) was within the crown and upwards with a cubit, and the mouth of it (the crown) was rounded, stand-work, a cubit and a half (wide), and on its mouth also there was engraved work, and its panels were square, not round." To understand this verse, we must observe that, according to Kg1 7:35, the mechonah chest was provided at the top with a dome-shaped covering, in the centre of which there was an elevation resembling the capital of a pillar (הכּתרת, the crown), supporting the basin, which was inserted into it by its lower rim. The suffix in פּיהוּ (its mouth) is supposed by Thenius to refer to the mechonah chest, and he questions the allusion to the basin, on the ground that this was so flat that a mouth-like opening could not possibly be spoken of, and the basins were never within the mechonah. But however correct these two remarks may be in themselves, they by no means demonstrate the necessity of taking פּיהוּ as referring to the mechonah chest. For פּה (the mouth) is not necessarily to be understood as denoting a mouth-like opening to the basin; but just as ראשׁ פּי in Exo 28:32 signifies the opening of the clothes for the head, i.e., for putting the head through when putting on the clothes, so may פּיהוּ (its mouth) be the opening or mouth for the basin, i.e., the opening into which the basin fitted and was emptied, the water in the basin being let off into the mechonah chest through the head-shaped neck by means of a tap or plug. The mouth was really the lower or contracted portion of the shell-shaped basin, which was about a cubit in height within the neck and upwards, that is to say, in all, inasmuch as it went partly into the neck and rose in part above it. The פּיה (the mouth thereof) which follows is the (upper) opening of the crown-like neck of the lid of the mechonah. This was rounded, מעשׂה־כן, stand-work, i.e., according to De Wette's correct paraphrase, formed after the style of the foot of a pillar, a cubit and a half in diameter. "And also upon the mouth of it (the mechonah) was carved work." The גּם (also) refers to the fact that the sides of the mechonah were already ornamented with carving. מסגּרתיהם, the panels of the crown-like neck (כּתרת) and its mouth (פּיה) were square, like the panels of the sides of the mechonah chest. The fact that panels are spoken of in connection with this neck, may be explained on the assumption that with its height of one cubit and its circumference of almost five cubits (which follows from its having a diameter of a cubit and a half) it had stronger borders of brass to strengthen its bearing power, while between them it consisted of thinner plates, which are called fillings or panels. - In Kg1 7:32, Kg1 7:33, the wheels are more minutely described. Every stool had four wheels under the panels, i.e., not against the sides of the chest, but under them, and ידות, hands or holders of the wheels, i.e., special contrivances for fastening the wheels to the axles, probably larger and more artistically worked than the linch-pins of ordinary carriages. These ידות were only required when the wheels turned upon the axles, and not when they were fastened to them. The height of the wheel was a cubit and a half, i.e., not half the height, but the whole. For with a half height of a cubit and a half the wheels would have been three cubits in diameter; and as the chest was only four cubits long, the hinder wheels and front wheels would almost have touched one another. The work (construction) of the wheels resembled that of (ordinary) carriage wheels; but everything about them (holders, felloes, spokes, and naves) was cast in brass. - In Kg1 7:34 the description passes to the upper portion of the mechonah. "And he made four shoulder-pieces at the four corners of one (i.e., of every) stand; out of the stand were its shoulder-pieces." כּתפות are the shoulder-pieces already mentioned in Kg1 7:30, which were attached to the feet below, or which terminated in feet. They were fastened to the corners in such a way that they seemed to come out of them; and they rose above the corners with a slight inclination (curve) towards the middle of the neck or capital, till they came under the outer rim of the basin which rested upon the capital of the lid of the chest, so as to support the basin, which turned considerably outwards at the top. Kg1 7:35-36 "And on the upper part of the stand (the mechonah chest) half a cubit high was rounded all round, and on the upper part were its holders, and its panels out of it. המּכונה ראשׁ is the upper portion of the square chest. This was not flat, but rounded, i.e., arched, so that the arching rose half a cubit high above the height of the sides. This arched covering (or lid) had ידות, holders, and panels, which were therefore upon the upper part of the מכונה. The holders we take to be strong broad borders of brass, which gave the lid the necessary firmness; and the fillings or panels are the thinner plates of brass between them. They were both ממּנּה, "out of it," out of the upper part of the mechonah, i.e., cast along with it. With regard to the decoration of it, Kg1 7:36 states that "he cut out (engraved) upon the plates of its holders, and upon its panels, cherubim, lions, and palms, according to the empty space of every one, and wreaths all round." We cannot determine anything further with regard to the distribution of these figures. Kg1 7:37-38 "Thus he made the ten stools of one kind of casting, measure, and form, and also ten brazen basins (כּיּרות), each holding forty baths, and each basin four cubits." In a round vessel this can only be understood of the diameter, not of the height or depth, as the basins were set upon (על) the stands. על־המּכונה אחד כּיּור is dependent upon ויּעשׂ: he made ten basins, ... one basin upon a stand for the ten stands, i.e., one basin for each stand. If then the basins were a cubit in diameter at the top, and therefore their size corresponded almost exactly to the length and breadth of the stand, whilst the crown-like neck, into which they were inserted, was only a cubit and a half in diameter (Kg1 7:31), their shape must have resembled that of widespreading shells. And the form thus given to them required the shoulder-pieces described in Kg1 7:30 and Kg1 7:34 as supports beneath the outer rim of the basins, to prevent their upsetting when the carriage was wheeled about. (Note: The description which Ewald has given of these stands in his Geschichte, iii. pp. 311,312, and still more elaborately in an article in the Gttingen Gelehrten Nachr. 1859, pp. 131-146, is not only obscure, but almost entirely erroneous, since he proposes in the most arbitrary way to make several alterations in the biblical text, on the assumption that the Solomonian stands were constructed just like the small bronze four-wheeled kettle-carriages (hardly a foot in size) which have been discovered in Mecklenburg, Steyermark, and other places of Europe. See on this subject G. C. F. Lisch, "ber die ehernen Wagenbecken der Bronzezeit," in the Jahrbb. des Vereinsf. Mecklenb. Geschichte, ix. pp. 373,374, where a sketch of a small carriage of this kind is given.) Kg1 7:39 And he put the stands five on the right side of the house and five on the left; and the (brazen) sea he put upon the right side eastwards, opposite to the south. The right side is the south side, and the left the north side. Consequently the stands were not placed on the right and left, i.e., on each side of the altar of burnt-offering, but on each side of the house, i.e., of the temple-hall; while the brazen sea stood farther forward between the hall and the altar, only more towards the south, i.e., to the south-east of the hall and the south-west of the altar of burnt-offering. The basins upon the stands were for washing (according to Ch2 4:6), namely, "the work of the burnt-offering," that is to say, for cleansing the flesh and fat, which were to be consumed upon the altar of burnt-offering. By means of the stands on wheels they could not only easily bring the water required near to the priests who were engaged in preparing the sacrifices, but could also let down the dirty water into the chest of the stand by means of a special contrivance introduced for the purpose, and afterwards take it away. As the introduction of carriages for the basins arose from the necessities of the altar-service, so the preparation of ten such stands, and the size of the basins, was occasioned by the greater extension of the sacrificial worship, in which it often happened that a considerable number of sacrifices had to be made ready for the altar at the same time. The artistic work of these stands and their decoration with figures were intended to show that these vessels were set apart for the service of the sanctuary. The emblems are to some extent the same as those on the walls of the sanctuary, viz., cherubim, palms, and flowers, which had therefore naturally the same meaning here as they had there; the only difference being that they were executed there in gold, whereas here they were in brass, to correspond to the character of the court. Moreover, there were also figures of lions and oxen, pointing no doubt to the royal and priestly characters, which were combined, according to Exo 19:6, in the nation worshipping the Lord in this place.
Verse 40
Summary enumeration of the other vessels of the temple. - In Kg1 7:40 the brazen vessels of the court are given. In Kg1 7:41-47 the several portions of the brazen pillars, the stands and basins, the brazen sea and the smaller vessels of brass, are mentioned once more, together with notices of the nature, casting, and quantity of the metal used for making them. An din Kg1 7:48-50 we have the golden vessels of the Holy Place. This section agrees almost word for word with 2 Chron 4:11-5:1, where, moreover, not only is the arrangement observed in the previous description of the temple-building a different one, but the making of the brazen altar of burnt-offering, of the golden candlesticks, and of the table of shew-bread, and the arrangement of the great court (Ch2 4:7-9) are also described, to which there is no allusion whatever in the account before us; so that these notices in the Chronicles fill up an actual gap in the description of the building of the temple which is given here. Kg1 7:40 The smaller brazen vessels. - Hiram made the pots, shovels, and bowls. הכּיּרות is a slip of the pen for הסּירות, pots, as we may see by comparing it with Kg1 7:45 and the parallel passages Ch2 4:11 and Kg2 25:14. The pots were used for carrying away the ashes; היּעים, the shovels, for clearing the ashes from the altar; המּזרקות were the bowls used for catching the blood, when the sacrificial animals were slaughtered: compare Exo 27:3 and Num 4:14, where forks and fire-basins or coal-pans are also mentioned. Kg1 7:40 introduces the recapitulation of all the vessels made by Hiram. יהוה בּית, in the house of the Lord (cf. Ewald, 300, b.); in Ch2 4:11 more clearly, יי בּבית; we find it also in Kg1 7:45, for which we have in Ch2 4:16 יהוה לבית, for the house of Jehovah. The several objects enumerated in Kg1 7:41-45 are accusatives governed by לעשׂות. Kg1 7:41-42 Kg1 7:41-44, the brazen pillars with the several portions of their capitals; see at Kg1 7:15-22. The inappropriate expression העמּדים על־פּני (upon the face of the pillars) in Kg1 7:42 is probably a mistake for הע על־שׁני, "upon the two pillars," for it could not properly be said of the capitals that they were upon the surface of the pillars. Kg1 7:43-45 The ten stands and their basins: see at Kg1 7:27-37; Kg1 7:44, the brazen sea: vid., Kg1 7:23-26; lastly, Kg1 7:45, the pots, etc., as at Kg1 7:40. The Chethb האהל is a mistake for האלּה (Keri). (Note: After האלּה כּל־הלּלים ואת the lxx have the interpolation, καὶ οἱ στῦλοι τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τοῦ οἴκου Κυρίου, which is proved to be apocryphal by the marvellous combination of the king's house and the house of God, though it is nevertheless regarded by Thenius as genuine, and as an interesting notice respecting certain pillars in the enclosure of the inner court of the temple, and in the king's palace!) ממרט נהשׁת, of polished brass - accusative of the material governed by עשׂה. Kg1 7:46 "In the Jordan valley he cast them - in thickened earth between Succoth and Zarthan," where the ground, according to Burckhardt, Syr. ii. p. 593, is marly throughout. האדמה בּמעבה, "by thickening of the earth," the forms being made in the ground by stamping together the clayey soil. Succoth was on the other side of the Jordan, - not, however, at the ford near Bethsean (Thenius), but on the south side of the Jabbok (see at Jdg 8:5 and Gen 33:17). Zarthan or Zereda was in the Jordan valley on this side, probably at Kurn Sartabeh (see at Jdg 7:22 and Jos 3:16). The casting-place must have been on this side of the Jordan, as the (eastern) bank on the other side has scarcely any level ground at all. The circumstance that a place on the other side is mentioned in connection with one on this side, may be explained from the fact that the two places were obliquely opposite to one another, and in the valley on this side there was no large place in the neighbourhood above Zarthan which could be appropriately introduced to define the site of the casting-place. Kg1 7:47 Solomon left all these vessels of excessive number unweighed. ויּנּח does not mean he laid them down (= set them up: Movers), but he let them lie, i.e., unweighed, as the additional clause, "the weight of the brass was not ascertained," clearly shows. This large quantity of brass, according to Ch1 18:8, David had taken from the cities of Hadadezer, adding also the brass presented to him by Toi. Kg1 7:48-49 The golden vessels of the Holy Place (cf. Ch2 4:19-22). The vessels enumerated here are divided, by the repetition of סגוּר זהב in Kg1 7:49, Kg1 7:50, into two classes, which were made of fine gold; and to this a third class is added in Kg1 7:50 which was made of gold of inferior purity. As סגוּר זהב is governed in both instances by ויּעשׂ as an accusative of the material, the זהב (gold) attached to the separate vessels must be taken as an adjective. "Solomon made all the vessels in the house of Jehovah (i.e., had them made): the golden altar, and the golden table on which was the shew-bread, and the candlesticks ... of costly gold (סגוּר: see at Kg1 6:20). The house of Jehovah is indeed here, as in Kg1 7:40, the temple with its courts, and not merely the Holy Place, or the temple-house in the stricter sense; but it by no means follows from this that כּל־הלּלים, "all the vessels," includes both the brazen vessels already enumerated and also the golden vessels mentioned afterwards. A decisive objection to our taking the כּל (all) as referring to those already enumerated as well as those which follow, is to be found in the circumstance that the sentence commencing with ויּעשׂ is only concluded with סגוּר זהב in Kg1 7:49. It is evident from this that כּל־הלּלים is particularized in the several vessels enumerated from סגוּר את onwards. These vessels no doubt belonged to the Holy Place or temple-house only; though this is not involved in the expression "the house of Jehovah," but is apparent from the context, or from the fact that all the vessels of the court have already been enumerated in Kg1 7:40-46, and were made of brass, whereas the golden vessels follow here. That there were intended for the Holy Place is assumed as well known from the analogy of the tabernacle. יהוה בּית אשׁר merely affirms that the vessels mentioned afterwards belonged to the house of God, and were not prepared for the palace of Solomon or any other earthly purpose. We cannot infer from the expression "Solomon made" that the golden vessels were not made by Hiram the artist, as the brazen ones were (Thenius). Solomon is simply named as the builder of the temple, and the introduction of his name was primarily occasioned by Kg1 7:47. The "golden altar" is the altar of incense in the Holy Place, which is called golden because it was overlaid with gold-plate; for, according to Kg1 6:20, its sides were covered with cedar wood, after the analogy of the golden altar in the tabernacle (Exo 30:1-5). "And the table, upon which the shew-bread, of gold." זהב belongs to השּׁלחן, to which it stands in free subjection (vid., Ewald, 287, h), signifying "the golden table." Instead of השּׁלחן we have השּׁלחנות in Ch2 4:19 (the tables), because there it has already been stated in Ch2 4:8 that ten tables were made, and put in the Holy Place. In our account that verse is omitted; and hence there is only a notice of the table upon which the loaves of shew-bread generally lay, just as in Ch2 29:18, in which the chronicler does not contradict himself, as Thenius fancies. The number ten, moreover, is required and proved to be correct in the case of the tables, by the occurrence of the same number in connection with the candlesticks. In no single passage of the Old Testament is it stated that there was only one table of shew-bread in the Holy Place of Solomon's temple. (Note: Nothing can be learned from Ch2 29:18 concerning the number of the vessels in the Holy Place. If we were to conclude from this passage that there were no more vessels in the Holy Place than are mentioned there, we should also have to assume, if we would not fall into a most unscientific inconsistency, that there was neither a candlestick nor a golden altar of incense in the Holy Place. The correct meaning of this passage may be gathered from the words of King Abiam in Ch2 13:11 : "We lay the shew-bread upon the pure table, and light the golden candlestick every evening;" from which it is obvious that here and there only the table and the candlestick are mentioned, because usually only one table had shew-bread upon it, and only one candlestick was lighted.) The tables were certainly made of wood, like the Mosaic table of shew-bread, probably of cedar wood, and only overlaid with gold (see at Exo 25:23-30). "And the candlesticks, five on the right and five on the left, before the back-room." These were also made in imitation of the Mosaic candlestick (see Exo 25:31.), and were probably placed not near to the party wall in a straight line to the right and left of the door leading into the Most Holy Place, but along the two longer sides of the Holy Place; and the same with the tables, except that they stood nearer to the side walls with the candlesticks in front of them, so that the whole space might be lighted more brilliantly. The altar of burnt-offering, on the contrary, stood in front of and very near to the entrance into the Most Holy Place (see at Kg1 6:20). In the following clause (Kg1 7:49, Kg1 7:50) the ornaments of the candlesticks are mentioned first, and then the rest of the smaller golden vessels are enumerated. הפּרח, the flower-work, with which the candlesticks were ornamented (see Exo 25:33). The word is evidently used collectively here, so that the גּביעים mentioned along with them in the book of Exodus (l.c.) are included. הגּרת, the lamps, which were placed upon the shaft and arms of the candlestick (Exo 25:37). המּלקחים, the snuffers (Exo 25:38). ספּות, basins in Exo 12:22, here probably deep dishes (Schalen). מזמּרות, knives. מזרקות, bowls (Schalen) or cans with spouts for the wine for the libations; according to Ch2 4:8, there were a hundred of these made. כּפּות, small flat vessels, probably for carrying the incense to the altar. מחתּות, extinguishers; see at Exo 25:38. Kg1 7:50-51 The פּתות were also of gold, possibly of inferior quality. These were either the hinges of the doors, or more probably the sockets, in which the pegs of the doors turned. They were provided for the doors of the inner temple, viz., the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. We must supply Vv before לדלתי. All the vessels mentioned in Kg1 7:48, Kg1 7:49 belonged to the Holy Place of the temple, and were the same as those in the tabernacle; so that the remarks made in the Comm. on Exo 25:30, Exo 25:39, and Exo 30:1-10, as to their purpose and signification, apply to them as well. Only the number of the tables and candlesticks was ten times greater. If a multiplication of the number of these two vessels appeared appropriate on account of the increases in the size of the room, the number was fixed at ten, to express the idea of completeness by that number. No new vessel was made for the Most Holy Place, because the Mosaic ark of the covenant was placed therein (Kg1 8:4 : compare the remarks on this at Exo 25:10-22). - The account of the vessels of the temple is brought to a close in Kg1 7:51 : "So was ended all the work that king Solomon made in the house of the Lord; and Solomon brought all that was consecrated by his father, (namely) the silver and the gold (which were not wrought), and the vessels he placed in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah." As so much gold and brass had already been expended upon the building, it might appear strange that Solomon should not have used up all the treasures collected by his father, but should still be able to bring a large portion of it into the treasuries of the temple. But according to Ch1 22:14, Ch1 22:16, and Ch1 29:2., David had collected together an almost incalculable amount of gold, silver, and brass, and had also added his own private treasure and the freewill offerings of the leading men of the nation (Ch1 29:7-9). Solomon was also able to devote to the building of the temple a considerable portion of his own very large revenues (cf. Kg1 10:14), so that a respectable remnant might still be left of the treasure of the sanctuary, which was not first established by David, but had been commenced by Samuel and Saul, and in which David's generals, Joab and others, had deposited a portion of the gold and silver that they had taken as booty (Ch1 26:20-28). For it is evident that not a little had found its way into this treasure through the successful wars of David, from the fact that golden shields were taken from the generals of Hadadezer, and that these were consecrated to the Lord along with the silver, golden, and brazen vessels offered as gifts of homage by king Toi of Hamath, in addition to the gold and silver which David had consecrated from the defeated Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, and Amalekites (Sa2 8:7, Sa2 8:11-12; Ch1 18:7, Ch1 18:10-11). (Note: The amazing extent to which this booty may possibly have reached, may be inferred from the accounts we have concerning the quantity of the precious metals in Syria in the Macedonian age. In the gaza regia of Damascus, Alexander found 2600 talents of gold and 600 talents of uncoined silver (Curt. iii. 13, 16, cf. Arrian, ii. 11, 10). In the temple of Jupiter at Antioch there was a statue of this god of solid silver fifteen cubits high (Justin, xxxix. 2, 5. 6); and in the temple at Hierapolis there was also a golden statue (Lucian, de Dea Syr. 31). According to Appian (Parth. 28, ed. Schweigh.), this temple was so full of wealth, that Crassus spent several days weighing the vessels of silver and gold. And from the unanimous testimony of the ancients, the treasures of the palaces and temples of Asia in the earlier times were greater still. Of the many accounts which Bhr (Symbolik, i. p. 258ff.) and Movers (Phnizier, ii. 3, p. 40ff.) have collected together on this subject, we will mention only a few here, the credibility of which cannot be disputed. According to Varro (in Plin. 33:15), Cyrus had taken 34,000 pounds of gold as booty after the conquest of Asia, beside the gold wrought into vessels and ornaments, and 500,000 talents of silver. In Susa, Alexander took 40,000, or, according to other accounts, 50,000, talents from the royal treasury; or, as it is still more definitely stated, 40,000 talents of uncoined gold and silver, and 9000 talents of coined dariks. Alexander had these brought to Ecbatana, where he accumulated 180,000 talents. Antigonus afterwards found in Susa 15,000 talents more in vessels and wrought gold and silver. In Persepolis, Alexander took 120,000 talents, and in Pasargada 6000 talents. For the proofs, see Movers, pp. 42, 43.)
Verse 1
7:1-12 Before describing the Temple’s furnishings, the writer mentions the construction of Solomon’s palace complex. The multiple buildings within this complex took nearly twice as long to build (thirteen years) as the Temple (seven years, 6:38). The entire building project took twenty years (9:10). Although construction details are brief, archaeological discovery of two of Solomon’s buildings provides an idea of how this palace might have looked. Despite its grandeur, Solomon’s palace is not the author’s focus; his interest is in the Temple, God’s dwelling place.
Verse 2
7:2-5 The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon was named for the abundant use of cedar in its construction. It would house 300 gold shields (10:16-17) and possibly served as both treasury and armory (see 12:25-28; Isa 22:8). The Egyptian pharaoh Shishak later carried away the shields as booty (1 Kgs 14:27).
Verse 6
7:6-8 The Hall of Pillars was apparently a colonnaded entry to the Hall of Justice, where Solomon sat to hear legal matters (see also 10:18-20). Similar throne rooms have been found in Syria and Mesopotamia. • Solomon erected separate living quarters for Pharaoh’s daughter (see 3:1; 9:24; 2 Chr 8:11).
Verse 9
7:9-11 As with the Temple, the stones for Solomon’s palace complex were high-quality stone, cut . . . and trimmed to exact specifications. Similar stonework has been found at Megiddo. Cedar beams between the courses of the wall provided better protection against earthquakes.
Verse 12
7:12 The great courtyard that encircled the Temple and palace complex provided a gathering place for the people (see Jer 7:1-2; 36:10).
Verse 13
7:13-14 Huram: Like his father, he was a master craftsman in bronze and other materials (2 Chr 2:12-14). His skillful metal work is detailed in the following verses (1 Kgs 7:15-50). • skillful and talented (literally filled with wisdom and understanding and knowledge): The Israelites placed great emphasis on practical skills and considered them a form of wisdom (Prov 22:29).
Verse 15
7:15-22 The two bronze pillars were probably free-standing since the narrator describes them here rather than in the earlier discussion of the Temple structure (6:3-6).
Verse 23
7:23-26 The giant bronze basin called the Sea replaced the smaller bronze washbasin used in the Tabernacle service (see Exod 30:17-21). The Sea was cast as one solid piece, excluding the twelve bronze oxen on which it sat. The oxen were placed so that three faced each direction, perhaps to remind priests that they served God on behalf of all twelve tribes of Israel. Ahaz later replaced the oxen with a stone base (2 Kgs 16:17). The priests used the Sea, like the bronze washbasin before it, for ceremonial washing (2 Chr 4:6) as they prepared to minister before God (see Exod 30:17-21). The apparent discrepancy in the volume of water it could hold (see 2 Chr 4:5) is probably due to standards of measurement that varied according to place and time.
Verse 27
7:27-39 The ten bronze water carts each held a basin for rinsing burnt offerings (2 Chr 4:6). Five stood on either side of the Temple. Because they had wheels, they could be moved as needed.
Verse 40
7:40-45 Huram had great skill in casting items of varying size and complexity. He also made the bronze altar for the inner court that was used for burnt offerings (2 Chr 4:1).
Verse 46
7:46-47 between Succoth and Zarethan: This area east of the Jordan River (see Josh 3:16; Judg 8:4-5) was known for metallurgy. Abundant clay for molds, wood for fuel, and a prevailing north wind facilitated the casting process.
Verse 48
7:48-49 The gold altar replaced the altar for burning incense used in the Tabernacle (Exod 30:1-10). The one table and one lampstand used in the Tabernacle (Exod 25:23-40) were replaced by ten such sets in the Temple. Although the author lists a single gold table for the Bread of the Presence, the Chronicler reports ten tables, five on each side of the Temple’s main room (cp. 2 Chr 4:8), along with ten lampstands of solid gold. The bread represented God’s provision for his people, and the lampstand characterized God as the source of life and truth. Both symbols pointed to Christ, the bread of life (John 6:35) and the light of the world (John 8:12).
Verse 50
7:50-51 The writer emphasizes Solomon’s abundant use of gold in furnishing the Temple. David and the people had collected an enormous amount of gold to be used for the Temple (1 Chr 29:1-9), and Solomon also amassed gold annually (1 Kgs 10:14), so he had a ready supply (see 10:21).