1 Kings 7

KJV · Chapter 7/22

1But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2He 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.

3And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

4And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.

5And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

6And 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.

7Then 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.

8And 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.

9All 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.

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

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

12And 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.

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

14He 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.

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

16And 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:

17And 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.

18And 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.

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

20And 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.

21And 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.

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

23And 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.

24And 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.

25It 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.

26And 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.

27And 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.

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

29And 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.

30And 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.

31And 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.

32And 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.

33And 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.

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

35And 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.

36For 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.

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

38Then 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.

39And 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.

40And 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:

41The 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;

42And 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;

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

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

45And 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.

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

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

48And 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,

49And 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,

50And 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.

51So 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.

📖 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 7:3The ceiling of that hall was made of cedar, supported by forty-five columns arranged in three rows of fifteen.
  4. 1 Kings 7:4The building had three rows of windows, arranged so that one row faced another.
  5. 1 Kings 7:5All the doors and doorframes were square and followed the same pattern, with the windows lined up in three opposite rows.
  6. 1 Kings 7:6He also built a porch of columns as an entrance, with thick beams resting in front of the columns.
  7. 1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 7:9All these buildings used fine stones, cut to measure and sawed both inside and out, from the foundation to the roof.
  10. 1 Kings 7:10The foundation itself was made of huge, costly stones, some of ten cubits and others of eight.
  11. 1 Kings 7:11Above them came more fine stones, cut to the exact measure, and cedar beams.
  12. 1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 7:16He cast two bronze capitals to place on top of the pillars, each five cubits high.
  17. 1 Kings 7:17The capitals had an interwoven network and twisted chains, seven for each capital.
  18. 1 Kings 7:18He covered each capital with two rows of pomegranates around the network, decorating both in the same way.
  19. 1 Kings 7:19The capitals on top of the porch pillars were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.
  20. 1 Kings 7:20Besides the lily shape, each capital also carried two hundred pomegranates arranged in rows around it.
  21. 1 Kings 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 Kings 7:22On top of the pillars was the lily-shaped work, completing that part of the project.
  23. 1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 7:27He also made ten bronze stands, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
  28. 1 Kings 7:28These stands had panels set within frames — a structure to hold the basins of water used in the rituals.
  29. 1 Kings 7:29On the panels were carved lions, oxen, and cherubim, with decorative interlaced work above and below the figures.
  30. 1 Kings 7:30Each stand had four bronze wheels with axles, and cast supports at the four corners to hold the basin on top.
  31. 1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 7:33Those wheels were made like chariot wheels: axles, rims, spokes, and hubs, all cast in bronze.
  34. 1 Kings 7:34Each stand had four supports coming out of its four corners, forming the frame.
  35. 1 Kings 7:35On top of each stand was a rounded band half a cubit high, with handles and panels attached to it.
  36. 1 Kings 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 Kings 7:37So the ten stands were made, all cast alike, with the same measurements and the same design.
  38. 1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 7:42More specifically: four hundred pomegranates, in two rows for each of the two networks that covered the capitals of the pillars.
  43. 1 Kings 7:43The list continues with the ten stands and the ten basins that sat on them.
  44. 1 Kings 7:44And also the great bronze basin, along with the twelve bronze oxen that supported it underneath.
  45. 1 Kings 7:45The pots, the shovels, and the basins — all these utensils Hiram made for King Solomon were of polished bronze.
  46. 1 Kings 7:46The king had these pieces cast in clay molds on the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarthan.
  47. 1 Kings 7:47Solomon did not even bother weighing all these bronze pieces — there were so many that the total weight was never calculated.
  48. 1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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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