1 Kings 7

Solomon’s Palace Complex

1 Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace. ‡ 1Ki 9:102Ch 8:1Ecc 2:4-5Mat 6:331Ki 3:1

2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, ¹ with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams. ‡ 1Ki 10:172Ch 9:161Ki 10:211Ki 9:19Sng 7:4

3 The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars—forty-five beams, fifteen per row. ‡ 1Ki 6:5 4 There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers. ‡ 1Ki 6:41Ki 7:5Ezk 40:16Ezk 40:22Ezk 40:25Ezk 40:29Ezk 40:33Ezk 40:36 +25 All the doorways ²had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers.

6 Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, ³ with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico. ‡ 1Ki 7:12Ezk 41:25-26

7 In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁴ ‡ Pro 20:8Psa 122:51Ki 3:28Isa 9:71Ki 10:18-201Ki 3:91Ki 6:15-161Ki 6:3

8 And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. ‡ 2Ch 8:111Ki 3:11Ki 9:242Ki 20:4

9 All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard. ‡ 1Ki 5:171Ki 7:10-11 10 The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long ⁵and some eight cubits long. ⁶ ‡ Rev 21:19-201Co 3:10-11Isa 28:16Isa 54:11 11 Above these were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. ‡ 1Pe 2:5Eph 2:20-22

12 The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD. ‡ 1Ki 6:361Ki 7:6Act 3:11Act 5:12Jhn 10:23

The Pillars and Capitals

(2 Chronicles 3:14–17)

13 Now King Solomon sent to bring Huram ⁷from Tyre. ‡ 2Ch 4:111Ki 7:402Ch 2:13-14 14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work. ‡ 2Ch 2:142Ch 4:16Exo 31:2-62Ch 4:11Exo 35:30Exo 36:8Isa 28:26

15 He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. ⁸ ‡ Jer 52:211Ki 7:212Ch 3:15-171Ki 7:412Ch 4:12-222Ki 25:16-17Jer 52:13 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars, each capital five cubits high. ⁹ ‡ 2Ch 4:12-13Exo 36:38Exo 38:17Exo 38:19Exo 38:28 17 For the capitals on top of the pillars he made a network of lattice, with wreaths of chainwork, seven for each capital. ¹⁰ ‡ 2Ki 25:17Exo 28:14Exo 28:22Exo 28:24-25Exo 39:15-18

18 Likewise, he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates around each grating to cover each capital atop the pillars. ‡ 2Ki 25:17Exo 28:14Exo 28:22Exo 28:24-25Exo 39:15-18 19 And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high. ¹¹ ‡ 1Ki 6:181Ki 6:32-351Ki 7:22 20 On the capitals of both pillars, just above the rounded projection next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows encircling each capital. ‡ 2Ch 3:162Ch 4:131Ki 7:422Ki 25:17Jer 52:22-23

21 Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, ¹² and the pillar to the north he named Boaz. ¹³ ‡ 2Ch 3:171Ki 6:31Ki 7:122Sa 7:12Ezk 40:48-49Gal 2:9Isa 45:24Isa 9:7 +322 And the tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work of the pillars was completed.

The Molten Sea

(2 Chronicles 4:1–5)

23 He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference. ¹⁴ ‡ 2Ch 4:22Ki 25:13Jer 52:171Ch 18:8Exo 30:18-21Exo 38:8Jer 52:202Ki 16:17 24 Below the rim, ornamental buds encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea. ‡ 1Ki 6:182Ch 4:3Exo 25:31-36Exo 37:17-22

25 The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center. ‡ Jer 52:202Ch 4:4-51Co 9:9Ezk 1:10Luk 24:47Mat 28:19Mrk 16:15-16Rev 4:6-7 26 It was a handbreadth thick, ¹⁵ and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths. ¹⁶ ‡ 2Ch 4:51Ki 6:181Ki 6:321Ki 6:351Ki 7:191Ki 7:38Ezk 45:14Jer 52:21

The Ten Bronze Stands

27 In addition, he made ten movable stands of bronze, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ¹⁷ ‡ 2Ch 4:142Ki 25:13Jer 52:171Ki 7:382Ki 25:16Jer 52:20

28 This was the design of the stands: They had side panels attached to uprights, 29 and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work. ‡ 1Ki 6:271Ki 7:251Pe 2:5Exo 25:18Exo 37:7Ezk 1:10Ezk 10:14Ezk 41:18-19 +5

30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and a basin resting on four supports, with wreaths at each side. ‡ Ezk 1:15-21Ezk 10:10-13Ezk 3:13 31 The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, ¹⁸ with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. ¹⁹ And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.

32 There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter. 33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal. ‡ Ezk 1:16Ezk 1:18

34 Each stand had four handles, one for each corner, projecting from the stand. 35 At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. ²⁰ The supports and panels were cast as a unit with the top of the stand.

36 He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around. ‡ 1Ki 7:291Ki 6:291Ki 6:321Ki 6:35Ezk 40:31Ezk 40:37Ezk 41:18-20Ezk 41:25-26 37 In this way he made the ten stands, each with the same casting, dimensions, and shape.

The Ten Bronze Basins

(2 Chronicles 4:6–8)

38 He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths ²¹and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands. ‡ 1Jn 1:72Ch 4:6-22Exo 30:17-21Exo 30:28Exo 38:8Exo 40:11-12Heb 10:22Heb 9:10 +2

39 He set five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north, and he put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. ‡ 2Ch 4:102Ch 4:6

Completion of the Bronze Works

(2 Chronicles 4:11–18)

40 Additionally, Huram made the pots, ²² shovels, and sprinkling bowls. ‡ 2Ch 4:11-161Ki 7:282Ch 4:82Ki 25:14-15Exo 24:6Exo 39:32-43Jer 52:18-19

So Huram finished all the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of the LORD:

41 the two pillars; ‡ 1Ki 7:15-222Ch 4:12

the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars;

the two sets of network covering both bowls of the capitals atop the pillars;

42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars); ‡ 1Ki 7:20

43 the ten stands;

the ten basins on the stands;

44 the Sea; ‡ 1Ki 7:231Ki 7:25

the twelve oxen underneath the Sea;

45 and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. ‡ Exo 27:32Ch 4:16Exo 38:31Sa 2:13-14Ezk 46:20-24Lev 8:31Zec 14:21

All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were made of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. ²³ ‡ Jos 3:162Ch 4:17Gen 33:17Jos 13:271Ki 4:12 47 Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined. ‡ 1Ch 22:141Ch 22:31Ch 22:162Ch 4:18

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 4:19–22)

48 Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD: ‡ 2Ch 4:8Exo 37:10-16Exo 39:361Co 10:212Ch 4:19Exo 25:23-30Exo 30:1-5Exo 37:25-29 +9

the golden altar;

the golden table on which was placed the Bread of the Presence;

49 the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left; ‡ 2Ch 4:72Ch 4:20Exo 25:31-40Exo 37:17-24Exo 39:37Exo 40:24-25Mat 5:14-16Num 4:9 +3

the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;

50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; ‡ 2Ch 4:21-22Exo 25:29Exo 27:3Lev 16:12Num 7:86

and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place ²⁴) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

51 So all the work that King Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed. ‡ 2Ch 5:12Sa 8:7-111Ch 18:10-111Ch 18:7-81Ch 26:26-281Ch 28:11-181Ch 29:2-8Exo 40:33 +2

Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.