The First Book of the Kings

Chapter 7

The building of Solomon's house, 1. Of the house of Lebanon, 2-5. Of the porch of pillars, 6. Of the porch of judgment, 7. Of the house for Pharaoh's daughter, 8-12. Hiram's work of the two pillars, 13-22. Of the molten sea, 23-26. Of the ten bases, 27-37. Of the ten basins, 38, 39, and all the vessels, 40-51.

1 But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 2 He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. 4 And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks. 5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows, and light was against light in three ranks.

6 And he made a porch of pillars. Its length was fifty cubits and its breadth thirty cubits. And the porch was before them, and the other pillars and the thick beams were before them.

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

8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of similar work. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married, like this porch.

9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stones, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and likewise 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 hewn stones, and cedars. 12 And the great court around was with three rows of hewn 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 brought 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, understanding, and skill 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, each of eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits encompassed each of them. 16 And he made two capitals of molten brass to set upon the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 And there were nets of checker-work and wreaths of chain-work for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other capital. 18 And he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates around upon one net-work to cover the capitals that were upon the top. And he did likewise for the other capital. 19 And the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily-work in the porch, four cubits. 20 And the capitals upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the net-work. And the pomegranates were two hundred in rows around upon the other capital. 21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And he set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz. 22 And upon the top of the pillars was lily-work. So the work of the pillars was finished.

23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from one brim to the other. It was entirely round and its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits encompassed it. 24 And under its brim around there were knobs compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea around. The knobs were cast in two rows when it was cast. 25 It stood upon twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east. And the sea was set above upon them, and all their hindquarters were inward. 26 And it was a hand-breadth thick, and its brim 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, four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height. 28 And the work of the bases was in 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 cherubim. And upon the ledges there was a base above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 30 And every base had four brazen wheels and plates of brass, and its four corners had supports. Under the basin were molten supports at the side of every addition. 31 And its mouth within the capital and above was a cubit, but its mouth was round after the work of the base, a cubit and a half. And also upon its mouth were engravings with their borders, square, not round. 32 And under the borders were four wheels. And the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel. Their axletrees, their rims, their hubs, and their spokes were all molten. 34 And there were four supports at the four corners of one base. And the supports were of one piece with the base itself. 35 And on the top of the base there was a round compass of half a cubit high, and on the top of the base its ledges and its borders were of the same. 36 For on the plates of its ledges and on its borders, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of each, and additions around. 37 After this manner he made the ten bases. All of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.

38 Then he made ten basins of brass. One basin contained forty baths, and every basin was four cubits. And upon each of the ten bases was one basin. 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 basins, the shovels, and the bowls. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he executed for king Solomon for the house of the LORD: 41 The two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two net-works to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars; 42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two net-works, even two rows of pomegranates for one net-work, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars; 43 And the ten bases, and ten basins on the bases; 44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; 45 And the pots, the shovels, and the basins. And all these vessels which Hiram made for king Solomon for the house of the LORD were of bright brass. 46 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan. 47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed because they were very numerous, neither was the weight of the brass ascertained.

48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained to the house of the LORD: the altar of gold; the table of gold, upon which was the show-bread; 49 The candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, before the oracle; the flowers, the lamps, the tongs of gold; 50 The bowls, the snuffers, the basins, 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, namely, of the temple.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry Commentary - 1st Kings, Chapter 7[➚]

Notes

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