1 Reis 7

ARC · Chapter 7/22

1Porém a sua casa edificou Salomão em treze annos: e acabou toda a sua casa.

2Tambem edificou a casa do bosque do Libano de cem covados de comprimento, e de cincoenta covados de largura, e de trinta covados de altura, sobre quatro ordens de columnas de cedro, e vigas de cedro sobre as columnas.

3E por cima estava coberta de cedro sobre as costas, que estavam sobre quarenta e cinco columnas, quinze em cada ordem.

4E havia tres ordens de janellas; e uma janella estava defronte da outra janella, em tres ordens.

5Tambem todas as portas e hombreiras quadradas eram d'uma mesma vista; e uma janella estava defronte da outra, em tres ordens.

6Depois fez um portico de columnas de cincoenta covados de comprimento e de trinta covados de largura; e o portico estava defronte d'ellas, e as columnas com as grossas vigas defronte d'ellas.

7Tambem fez o portico para o throno onde julgava, para portico do juizo, que estava coberto de cedro de soalho a soalho.

8E em sua casa em que morava havia outro pateo por dentro do portico, de obra similhante a este: tambem para a filha de Pharaó, que Salomão tomara por mulher, fez uma casa similhante áquelle portico.

9Todas estas coisas eram de pedras finissimas, cortadas á medida, serradas á serra por dentro e por fóra; e isto desde o fundamento até ás beiras do tecto, e por fóra até ao grande pateo.

10Tambem estava fundado sobre pedras finas, pedras grandes; sobre pedras de dez covados e pedras de oito covados.

11E em cima sobre pedras finas, lavradas segundo as medidas, e cedros.

12E era o pateo grande em redor de tres ordens de pedras lavradas, com uma ordem de vigas de cedro: assim era tambem o pateo interior da casa do Senhor e o portico d'aquella casa.

13E enviou o rei Salomão, e mandou trazer a Hirão de Tyro.

14Era este filho d'uma mulher viuva, da tribu de Naphtali, e fôra seu pae um homem de Tyro, que trabalhava em cobre; e era cheio de sabedoria, e de entendimento, e de sciencia para fazer toda a obra de cobre: este veiu ao rei Salomão, e fez toda a sua obra.

15Porque formou duas columnas de cobre: a altura de cada columna era de dezoito covados, e um fio de doze covados cercava cada uma das columnas.

16Tambem fez dois capiteis de fundição de cobre para pôr sobre as cabeças das columnas: de cinco covados era a altura d'um capitel, e de cinco covados a altura do outro capitel.

17As redes eram de obra de rede, as ligas de obra de cadeia para os capiteis que estavam sobre a cabeça das columnas, sete para um capitel e sete para o outro capitel.

18Assim fez as columnas, juntamente com duas fileiras em redor sobre uma rede, para cobrir os capiteis que estavam sobre a cabeça das romãs; assim tambem fez com o outro capitel.

19E os capiteis que estavam sobre a cabeça das columnas eram de obra de lirios no portico, de quatro covados.

20Os capiteis pois sobre as duas columnas estavam tambem defronte, em cima da barriga que estava junto á rede; e duzentas romãs, em fileiras em redor, estavam tambem sobre o outro capitel.

21Depois levantou as columnas no portico do templo: e levantando a columna direita, chamou o seu nome Jachin; e levantando a columna esquerda, chamou o seu nome Boaz.

22E sobre a cabeça das columnas estava a obra de lirios: e assim se acabou a obra das columnas.

23Fez mais o mar de fundição, de dez covados d'uma borda até á outra borda, redondo ao redor, e de cinco covados de alto; e um cordão de trinta covados o cingia em redor.

24E por baixo da sua borda em redor havia botões que o cingiam; por dez covados cercavam aquelle mar em redor; duas ordens d'estes botões foram fundidas na sua fundição.

25E firmava-se sobre doze bois, tres que olhavam para o norte, e tres que olhavam para o occidente, e tres que olhavam para o sul, e tres que olhavam para o oriente: e o mar em cima estava sobre elles, e todas as suas partes posteriores para a banda de dentro.

26E a grossura era d'um palmo, e a sua borda como a obra da borda d'um copo, ou de flor de lirios; elle levava dois mil batos.

27Fez tambem as dez bases de cobre: o comprimento d'uma base de quatro covados, e de quatro covados a sua largura, e tres covados a sua altura.

28E esta era a obra das bases: tinham cintas, e as cintas estavam entre as molduras.

29E sobre as cintas que estavam entre as molduras havia leões, bois, e cherubins, e sobre as molduras uma base por cima: e debaixo dos leões e dos bois junturas d'obra estendida.

30E uma base tinha quatro rodas de metal, e laminas de cobre; e os seus quatro cantos tinham hombros: debaixo da pia estavam estes hombros fundidos, da banda de cada uma das junturas.

31E a sua bocca estava dentro da corôa, e d'um covado por cima: e era a sua bocca redonda da obra da base de covado e meio: e tambem sobre a sua bocca havia entalhes, e as suas cintas eram quadradas, não redondas.

32E as quatro rodas estavam debaixo das cintas, e os eixos das rodas na base: e era a altura de cada roda de covado e meio.

33E era a obra das rodas como a obra da roda de carro: seus eixos, e suas caibras, e seus cubos, e seus raios, todos eram fundidos.

34E havia quatro hombros aos quatro cantos de cada base: seus hombros sahiam da base.

35E no alto de cada base havia uma altura redonda de meio covado ao redor: tambem sobre o alto de cada base havia azas e cintas, que sahiam d'ellas.

36E nas planchas das suas azas e nas suas cintas lavrou cherubins, leões, e palmas, segundo o vazio de cada uma, e junturas em redor.

37Conforme a esta fez as dez bases: todas tinham uma mesma fundição, uma mesma medida, e um mesmo entalhe.

38Tambem fez duas pias de cobre: em cada pia cabiam quarenta batos, e cada pia era de quatro covados, e sobre cada uma das dez bases estava uma pia.

39E poz cinco bases á direita da casa, e cinco á esquerda da casa: porém o mar poz ao lado direito da casa para a banda do oriente, da parte do sul.

40Depois fez Hirão as pias, e as pás, e as bacias: e acabou Hirão de fazer toda a obra que fez para o rei Salomão, para a casa do Senhor:

41A saber: as duas columnas, e os globos dos capiteis que estavam sobre a cabeça das duas columnas: e as duas redes, para cobrir os dois globos dos capiteis que estavam sobre a cabeça das columnas.

42E as quatrocentas romãs para as duas redes, a saber: duas carreiras de romãs para cada rede, para cobrirem os dois globos dos capiteis que estavam em cima das columnas;

43Juntamente com as dez bases, e as dez pias sobre as bases;

44Como tambem um mar, e os doze bois debaixo d'aquelle mar;

45E os caldeirões, e as pás, e as bacias, e todos estes vasos que fez Hirão para o rei Salomão, para a casa do Senhor, todos eram de cobre burnido.

46Na planicie do Jordão, o rei os fundiu, em terra barrenta: entre Succoth e Zarthan.

47E deixou Salomão de pezar todos os vasos, pelo seu excessivo numero: nem se averiguou o peso do cobre.

48Tambem fez Salomão todos os vasos que convinham á casa do Senhor: o altar de oiro, e a mesa d'oiro, sobre a qual estavam os pães da proposição.

49E os castiçaes, cinco á direita e cinco á esquerda, diante do oraculo, d'oiro finissimo; e as flores, e as lampadas, e os espivitadores, tambem d'oiro.

50Como tambem as taças, e os apagadores, e as bacias, e os perfumadores, e os brazeiros, de oiro finissimo: e as couceiras para as portas da casa interior para o logar sanctissimo, e as das portas da casa do templo, tambem d'oiro.

51Assim se acabou toda a obra que fez o rei Salomão para a casa do Senhor: então trouxe Salomão as coisas sanctas de seu pae David; a prata, e o oiro, e os vasos poz entre os thesouros da casa do Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Solomon builds his own palace, which takes thirteen years. The craftsman Hiram of Tyre makes the bronze elements of the temple: the pillars Jachin and Boaz, the cast bronze 'sea,' the movable stands, and all the sacred utensils.

Explanation

The contrast between the seven years spent on the temple and the thirteen years on Solomon's palace is noted by commentators as a subtle sign of shifting priorities over the course of the reign — even though both projects were legitimate. The technical skill described in casting the bronze pieces (the 'sea' alone was about 4.5 meters/15 feet in diameter) reveals an advanced level of metallurgy. The pillars with their own names (Jachin, 'he will establish,' and Boaz, 'in him is strength') were not merely decorative but carried symbolic meaning about the firmness of God's commitment to his people.

Fun facts

  • The 'molten sea' functioned as a giant basin for the ritual purification of the priests, with an estimated capacity of thousands of liters, resting on twelve bronze oxen facing the four cardinal directions.
  • Hiram the craftsman (namesake of the king of Tyre) was the son of an Israelite mother from the tribe of Naphtali and a Phoenician father — a craftsman of mixed heritage symbolizing the international collaboration behind the temple.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 7:1Solomon’s palace took almost twice as long as the Temple to finish, thirteen years against seven. It is a detail that has caught readers’ attention since ancient times, as if the king had invested more time in his own residence than in the house he claimed to be building for God.
  2. 1 Reis 7:2Solomon also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon, an enormous hall resting on rows of cedar columns so numerous they resembled a forest — hence the name.
  3. 1 Reis 7:3The ceiling of that hall was made of cedar, supported by forty-five columns arranged in three rows of fifteen.
  4. 1 Reis 7:4The building had three rows of windows, arranged so that one row faced another.
  5. 1 Reis 7:5All the doors and doorframes were square and followed the same pattern, with the windows lined up in three opposite rows.
  6. 1 Reis 7:6He also built a porch of columns as an entrance, with thick beams resting in front of the columns.
  7. 1 Reis 7:7He also made the Hall of the Throne, where he judged the cases of the kingdom — covered in cedar from floor to ceiling, it was essentially the king’s courtroom.
  8. 1 Reis 7:8His own residence had another court behind the porch, built the same way; he also made a similar house for Pharaoh’s daughter, his wife.
  9. 1 Reis 7:9All these buildings used fine stones, cut to measure and sawed both inside and out, from the foundation to the roof.
  10. 1 Reis 7:10The foundation itself was made of huge, costly stones, some of ten cubits and others of eight.
  11. 1 Reis 7:11Above them came more fine stones, cut to the exact measure, and cedar beams.
  12. 1 Reis 7:12The great court had three rows of cut stone and one row of cedar beams — the same pattern used for the inner court and the porch of the Temple, tying the style of the two complexes together.
  13. 1 Reis 7:13This Hiram, sharing a name with the king of Tyre, was the son of an Israelite widow and a Phoenician father, and inherited the trade of working with metal. It is a detail that shows how Israel’s skilled labor depended on connections with its Phoenician neighbors.
  14. 1 Reis 7:14This Hiram (a craftsman, not the king of Tyre) was the son of a widow from Naphtali and a father from Tyre who worked with bronze; full of wisdom and skill, he was the one who carried out all the metalwork of the Temple.
  15. 1 Reis 7:15The two bronze pillars at the entrance of the Temple received proper names — Jachin, something like “he establishes,” and Boaz, whose exact meaning scholars still debate. They functioned more as monuments loaded with meaning than as structural support for the roof.
  16. 1 Reis 7:16He cast two bronze capitals to place on top of the pillars, each five cubits high.
  17. 1 Reis 7:17The capitals had an interwoven network and twisted chains, seven for each capital.
  18. 1 Reis 7:18He covered each capital with two rows of pomegranates around the network, decorating both in the same way.
  19. 1 Reis 7:19The capitals on top of the porch pillars were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.
  20. 1 Reis 7:20Besides the lily shape, each capital also carried two hundred pomegranates arranged in rows around it.
  21. 1 Reis 7:21Solomon set up the two pillars at the entrance of the Temple and gave each one a name: the one on the right he called Jachin (“he establishes”), the one on the left he called Boaz (“in it is strength”) — names loaded with meaning right at the entrance.
  22. 1 Reis 7:22On top of the pillars was the lily-shaped work, completing that part of the project.
  23. 1 Reis 7:23The so-called molten sea was a giant bronze basin, about fifteen feet across, resting on twelve carved oxen. It was used by the priests to wash before service, and was the largest single cast-metal object in the whole Temple.
  24. 1 Reis 7:24Around the rim of the great bronze basin were two rows of gourd-shaped ornaments, cast together with the main piece, ten to a cubit.
  25. 1 Reis 7:25The basin rested on twelve bronze oxen, three facing each direction — north, south, east, and west — all facing outward, with the basin resting on top of them.
  26. 1 Reis 7:26The rim of this basin was shaped like the brim of a cup or a lily flower, as thick as a handbreadth, and it held an enormous amount of water — about two thousand baths.
  27. 1 Reis 7:27He also made ten bronze stands, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
  28. 1 Reis 7:28These stands had panels set within frames — a structure to hold the basins of water used in the rituals.
  29. 1 Reis 7:29On the panels were carved lions, oxen, and cherubim, with decorative interlaced work above and below the figures.
  30. 1 Reis 7:30Each stand had four bronze wheels with axles, and cast supports at the four corners to hold the basin on top.
  31. 1 Reis 7:31The opening at the top of each stand, where the basin fit in, was about a cubit and a half, round, with carvings around it, while the panels of the stand were square.
  32. 1 Reis 7:32The four wheels were under the panels, with the axles fixed to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half high.
  33. 1 Reis 7:33Those wheels were made like chariot wheels: axles, rims, spokes, and hubs, all cast in bronze.
  34. 1 Reis 7:34Each stand had four supports coming out of its four corners, forming the frame.
  35. 1 Reis 7:35On top of each stand was a rounded band half a cubit high, with handles and panels attached to it.
  36. 1 Reis 7:36On these handles and panels, the craftsman engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees wherever there was space, with interlaced borders around them.
  37. 1 Reis 7:37So the ten stands were made, all cast alike, with the same measurements and the same design.
  38. 1 Reis 7:38He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits — one basin for each of the ten stands.
  39. 1 Reis 7:39Five stands were placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side; the great basin was set at the southeast corner.
  40. 1 Reis 7:40Hiram, the craftsman, also made the pots, the shovels, and the sprinkling basins, finishing all the work King Solomon had commissioned for the house of the Lord.
  41. 1 Reis 7:41Summary of the work: the two pillars, the bowl-shaped capitals on top of them, and the two networks that covered those capitals.
  42. 1 Reis 7:42More specifically: four hundred pomegranates, in two rows for each of the two networks that covered the capitals of the pillars.
  43. 1 Reis 7:43The list continues with the ten stands and the ten basins that sat on them.
  44. 1 Reis 7:44And also the great bronze basin, along with the twelve bronze oxen that supported it underneath.
  45. 1 Reis 7:45The pots, the shovels, and the basins — all these utensils Hiram made for King Solomon were of polished bronze.
  46. 1 Reis 7:46The king had these pieces cast in clay molds on the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarthan.
  47. 1 Reis 7:47Solomon did not even bother weighing all these bronze pieces — there were so many that the total weight was never calculated.
  48. 1 Reis 7:48This list of furnishings — the table for the bread, the lampstands, basins, all in gold — describes the interior furniture of the Temple. Each piece was tied to a specific ritual, such as offerings, perpetual light, or incense, which the priests kept running every day.
  49. 1 Reis 7:49He also made the pure gold lampstands, five on each side in front of the inner sanctuary, along with the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs that went with them.
  50. 1 Reis 7:50And more: cups, snuffers, basins, spoons, and censers of pure gold, plus the gold hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the main hall.
  51. 1 Reis 7:51With that, all the work on the Temple was finished; Solomon then brought in the sacred objects his father David had set apart — silver, gold, and utensils — and stored everything in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

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