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The Five Buildings of Solomon’s Palace Complex

It took Solomon thirteen years to finish building his whole palace complex.

The House of the Forest of Lebanon

He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was one hundred fifty feet long. It was seventy-five feet wide and forty-five feet high. It had four rows[a] of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on top of the pillars. It was roofed with cedar above the forty-five beams that rested on the pillars, fifteen beams in each row.[b]

There were three rows[c] of windows with recessed frames on each side of the building. All the doors and posts were made with square beams.[d] They were arranged in groups of three.

The Hall of Pillars

He built a pillared entry hall.[e] It was seventy-five feet wide and forty-five feet deep. There was another porch in front of the pillars, and more pillars and a canopy in front of them.

The Hall of Justice

He made another hall, named the Hall of Justice. The throne from which he judged cases was located there. The hall was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.[f]

Palaces for Solomon and Pharaoh’s Daughter

His house in which he lived was made the same way. It was on the other side of a courtyard behind the Hall of Pillars.[g] Solomon also made another house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

All of these were made of high-quality stone, precisely cut to the exact measure, trimmed with saws on both sides. Such stones were used from the foundation to the edge of the roof, from the outside of the complex to the great courtyard on the inside. 10 The foundation was made of high-quality stones, huge stones, twelve or fifteen feet long. 11 Above this were high-quality stones, precisely cut, with layers of cedar wood in between. 12 The great courtyard all the way around had three courses of cut stone and then a course of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the House of the Lord and the porch of that building.

The Chief Craftsman

13 King Solomon sent for Hiram[h] from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, but his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Hiram too was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill for all kinds of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and performed the work for him.

The Large Bronze Pillars

15 He cast two bronze pillars, each twenty-seven feet tall. Their circumference was eighteen feet.

16 He made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars. The height of one capital was seven and a half feet, and the height of the other capital was seven and a half feet. 17 The capitals that sat on top of the pillars were decorated with a latticework of interwoven chains. There were seven rows of decoration on one capital and seven rows on the other capital. 18 This is how he made the pillars: He made two rows of pomegranates to go above the latticework on the capitals that were on top of the pillars.[i] He did this for each pillar. 19 The capitals that were on top of the pillars for the porch were shaped like lilies, six feet tall. 20 On top of each pillar, above the bulge, beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranates arranged in rows all the way around.[j]

21 He set up the pillars on the porch of the temple building. He set up one pillar on the south and named it Jakin,[k] and he set up the other pillar on the north and named it Boaz.[l] 22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. In this way the work for the pillars was finished.

The Sea

23 He made the sea of cast metal. It was round, fifteen feet from rim to rim. It was seven and a half feet high. Its circumference was forty-five feet. 24 Under its rim all the way around there were round, gourd-shaped ornaments, one every two inches, all the way around the sea.[m] The ornaments were in two rows, cast as one piece with the sea. 25 The sea stood on twelve cattle, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them. All their hindquarters faced toward the center of the sea. 26 The sea was three inches[n] thick. Its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held twelve thousand gallons.[o]

The Carts

27 He made ten bronze carts. Each cart was six feet long and six feet wide and four and a half feet tall. 28 This is how the carts were constructed: They had side panels between supporting frames. 29 The panels between the frames were decorated with lions, cattle, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and cattle, there were wreaths hanging down.[p] 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and at each of the four corners of the cart there were supports for the basin, with wreaths beside each of them. 31 The opening on top of the cart within a crowning structure was a foot and a half deep. The opening was round. It had a supporting pedestal a little more than two feet tall.[q] Around the opening there were engravings, and the panel that surrounded the opening was square, not round.

32 The four wheels were underneath the side panels, and the axles for the wheels were inserted through the cart. The height of each wheel was twenty-seven inches. 33 The wheels were made like a chariot wheel. Their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal. 34 There were supports at each of the four corners of each cart. The supports were part of the cart itself. 35 In the top of the cart there was a round opening nine inches deep.[r] On top of the cart the supports and its panels were one piece with it. 36 On the panels between the supports he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees wherever there was room, with wreaths all around. 37 That is how he made the carts. All of them were cast with the same mold, so they had the same size and shape.

The Basins

38 He made ten bronze basins. Each basin contained two hundred forty gallons.[s] Each basin was six feet in diameter, and there was one basin for every one of the ten carts. 39 He placed five carts on the south side of the temple and five on the north side of the temple. He set the sea on the south side of the temple near the southeast corner.

40 Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls.

Summary

So Hiram completed all the work that he had been assigned by King Solomon for the House of the Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two globe-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the two latticeworks that covered the two globe-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars, 42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks (two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the globe-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars), 43 the ten carts, the ten basins on the carts, 44 the one sea, the twelve cattle under the sea, 45 the pots, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. All these items, which Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord, were burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the ground, in the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh all the vessels, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze was never determined.

The Furnishings for the House

48 Solomon made all the furnishings that were in the House of the Lord: the gold altar and the table for the Bread of the Presence, which was also gold. 49 The lampstands were placed in front of the inner room of the sanctuary, five on the south side, and five on the north. They also were made of pure gold,[t] as were the flowers, the lamps, and the gold tongs, 50 the basins, the snuffers, the sprinkling bowls, the small dishes, and the fire pans of pure gold, and the gold hinges,[u] both those for the doors of the inner sanctuary, that is, the Most Holy Place, and also those for the doors of the front room. 51 In this way all the work that King Solomon did for the House of the Lord was finished. Solomon brought the things which David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the House of the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 7:2 Verses 2-6 are very difficult, and the translation is uncertain. In verse 2, the Hebrew text reads four rows of pillars. Some Greek texts read three rows of pillars.
  2. 1 Kings 7:3 Another interpretation of the Hebrew includes chambers on an upper level of the building: It was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row.
  3. 1 Kings 7:4 Or groups
  4. 1 Kings 7:5 Or with rectangular frames or with four recessed frames. See the footnote at 6:31.
  5. 1 Kings 7:6 Or colonnade
  6. 1 Kings 7:7 Ceiling is the reading of the Latin and Syriac. The Hebrew reads from floor to floor.
  7. 1 Kings 7:8 The meaning of this sentence is uncertain.
  8. 1 Kings 7:13 Called Huram in Chronicles. He is not to be confused with Hiram king of Tyre.
  9. 1 Kings 7:18 Pillars is the reading of the Syriac and many Hebrew manuscripts. Most Hebrew manuscripts read pomegranates.
  10. 1 Kings 7:20 The meaning of this sentence is uncertain.
  11. 1 Kings 7:21 Jakin means he establishes.
  12. 1 Kings 7:21 Boaz means in him is strength.
  13. 1 Kings 7:24 The meaning of this sentence is uncertain. The parallel in 2 Chronicles 4:3 says the ornaments were cattle.
  14. 1 Kings 7:26 A handbreadth
  15. 1 Kings 7:26 Literally two thousand baths. The reading in 2 Chronicles 4:5 is three thousand baths. They may have been using different standards for the size of a bath or rounding off.
  16. 1 Kings 7:29 A very different interpretation of this phrase is: On top of the framed sides there was a platform/pedestal/mounting stand. The mounting stand would be the structure that supported the basin that was inserted into the stand. The translation of the description of the carts is uncertain.
  17. 1 Kings 7:31 The meaning of this sentence is uncertain, and the interpretations in different translations vary.
  18. 1 Kings 7:35 The meaning of this sentence is uncertain.
  19. 1 Kings 7:38 Hebrew forty baths
  20. 1 Kings 7:49 Literally closed gold. Most translators think this means pure gold or solid gold, but it may mean gold plate.
  21. 1 Kings 7:50 The precise identification of some of these items is uncertain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Salomo bygger sitt palats

Sedan byggde Salomo sitt eget palats, som det däremot tog tretton år att färdigställa.

Ett av rummen i palatset kallades Libanonskogens sal. Det var mycket stort, fyrtiosex meter långt, tjugotre meter brett och tretton och en halv meter högt. De stora takbjälkarna av cederträ vilade på fyra rader av cederpelare,

3-4 fyrtiofem bjälkar, femton i varje rad. Fönster var placerade mitt emot varandra i rader om tre.

Alla dörröppningar var fyrkantiga, och i den främre delen fanns tre dörrar i varje grupp, mitt emot varandra.

Ett annat rum kallades Pelarhallen. Den var tjugotvå meter lång och tretton och en halv meter bred och hade ett förrum med en baldakin som hölls uppe av pelare.

Där fanns också tronrummet, eller domsalen, där Salomo satt när han utövade sitt ämbete att döma folket. Det hade panel av cederträ från golv till tak.

Rummen som han själv skulle bo i längre in i byggnaden var av liknande utseende. Han byggde också ett palats i samma stil åt Faraos dotter, som var en av hans hustrur.

Alla dessa byggnader uppfördes av stora stenblock av dyrbar sten, som huggits ut efter mått.

10 Grundstenarna var tre till fyra meter långa.

11 Stenarna i murarna var också uthuggna efter mått, och över dem låg bommar av cederträ,

12 precis som på den inre förgårdsmuren vid templet och palatsets förhus.

Templets utrustning

13-14 Salomo lät sända bud efter Hiram från Tyrus, känd som en skicklig och begåvad konstnär, och han kom nu för att utföra alla kung Salomos arbeten som skulle göras i koppar. Han var son till en änka av Naftalis stam och en kopparsmed från Tyrus.

15 Hiram tillverkade två pelare av koppar, var och en åtta meter hög och med en omkrets av cirka fem meter.

16-22 På varje pelare gjorde han ett liljeformat kapitäl av gjuten koppar, två och en halv meter högt och två meter brett. Varje kapitäl var dekorerat med sju kedjor i form av hängprydnader och fyrahundra granatäpplen i två rader. Hiram ställde dessa pelare vid templets ingång. Den södra kallades Jakin och den norra Boas.

23 Sedan gjorde Hiram ett väldigt kopparfat, två och en halv meter högt, fem meter i diameter och femton meter i omkrets.

24 Runt dess kant fanns två rader av utsirningar med tre till sex centimeters mellanrum utmed hela fatet.

25 Det vilade på tolv oxar av koppar, tre vända mot norr, tre mot väster, tre mot söder och tre mot öster.

26 Fatets sidor var sju och en halv centimeter tjocka, och kanten var formad som kanten på en bägare. Fatet rymde 40.000 liter.

27-30 Därefter gjorde han tio flyttbara bäckenställ. De var ungefär två meter i fyrkant och en och en halv meter höga. Deras sidoplåtar var dekorerade med lejon, oxar och änglar. Under och över lejonen och oxarna fanns utsirade blomsterkransar. Vart och ett av dessa ställ hade fyra hjul av koppar med axlar av koppar.

31 Överst på varje ställ fanns en rund behållare, en halv meter hög. Dess mitt var skålformig, sjuttiofem centimeter djup, och utsidan var dekorerad med blomsterkransar.

32 Ställen hade fyra hjul, som satt under sidoplåtarna på hjulaxlar fästade i ställets hörn. Hjulen var sextiosex centimeter höga

33 och gjorda som vagnshjul, i alla delar gjutna i brons, axlar, ekrar, hjulringar och hjulnav.

34 I varje hörn fanns ett handtag, gjort i ett stycke med stället i övrigt.

35 Överst på varje ställ fanns en rund kant, tjugotvå centimeter hög, och hållare.

36 Keruber, lejon och palmträd omgivna av blomsterkransar var ingraverade på hållarnas ytor, där det fanns utrymme.

37 Alla tio ställen var gjutna exakt lika i samma form.

38 Till detta gjorde han tio fat av koppar som placerades på ställen. Varje fat var två meter i diameter och rymde 800 liter vatten.

39 Fem av ställen placerades i rummets södra del och fem i den norra. Det stora fatet stod i det hörn av templet som låg mot sydost.

40 Hiram gjorde dessutom öskar och skålar, och han slutförde allt det arbete med Herrens tempel som Salomo hade gett honom i uppdrag att göra.

41-46 Här följer en förteckning över de saker som Hiram tillverkade:Två pelare,ett kapitäl ovanpå varje pelare,nät som utsmyckning till de båda kapitälen,fyrahundra granatäpplen i två rader på nätet, för att täcka de båda kapitälen,tio rörliga ställ med tio fat, ett stort fat med tolv oxar som fot,kärl, skovlar och skålar.Allt detta tillverkades av polerad koppar och göts på Jordanslätten mellan Suckot och Saretan.

47 Den totala vikten av allt detta är obekant, för det var alldeles för mycket att kunna vägas.

48 Alla andra föremål som skulle finnas i templet gjordes av rent guld. Detta gällde alltså altaret, bordet för skådebröden,

49 ljusstakarna (fem på högra sidan och fem på vänstra och framför det allraheligaste), blommorna, lamporna, tängerna,

50 faten, knivarna, skålarna, fyrfaten, gångjärnen till dörrarna in till det allraheligaste och till templets huvudingång. Allt detta gjordes alltså av rent guld.

51 När templet slutligen var färdigt, tog Salomo silvret, guldet och alla de kärl som hans far David hade invigt för detta ändamål och lade dem i templets skattkammare.