The Building of the Royal Palace

7:1 Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. 

 

It took seven years to build the temple, but it took almost twice as long to build Solomon’s palace.

 

7:2 He named it “The Palace of the Lebanon Forest”; it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars. 7:3 The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row. 7:4 There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three. 7:5 All of the entrances were rectangular in shape and they were arranged in sets of three. 

 

The palace was built as a large rectangle. It was the size of half of a football field. It was built from the cedar trees of Lebanon. There are very few cedar trees left in Lebanon today. All of that country, including Israel, has been stripped of trees. At one time, both of these lands were heavily timbered.

 

7:6 He made a colonnade 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. 

 

The colonnade was the entrance into the Hall of Judgment.

 

7:7 He also made a throne room, called “The Hall of Judgment,” where he made judicial decisions. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. 

 

Solomon made his judicial decisions from the Hall of Judgment.

 

7:8 The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. 

 

An open court was build behind the Hall of Judgment. This court contained his personal living quarters, a palace for his 1,000 woman harem, and royal apartments for his Egyptian wife.

 

7:9 All of these were built with the best stones, chiseled to the right size and cut with a saw on all sides, from the foundation to the edge of the roof and from the outside to the great courtyard. 7:10 The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet. 7:11 Above the foundation the best stones, chiseled to the right size, were used along with cedar. 7:12 Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the hall of the palace.

 

The palace was built with the very best materials, making it a very expensive palace.

 

Solomon Commissions Hiram to Supply the Temple

7:13 King Solomon sent for Hiram of Tyre. 

 

This is not the same King Hiram of the Phoenician Tyre who sent Solomon the cedar trees. This skilled artisan may have been named after the Phoenician king. 

 

7:14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned.

 

Hiram's mother had originally been from the tribe of Dan, but her husband was from the tribe of Naphtali. She became a widow and then married a Phoenician from Tyre. Hiram was their son. Therefore, this Hiram was half-Jewish from the tribe of Naphtali. He was an expert in metallurgy.

 

7:15 He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference.

 

The parallel description in II Chronicles 3:15 recorded that these pillars were thirty-five cubits high. The apparent contradiction has been attributed to a copyist error in the Chronicles reference. 

 

7:16 He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was seven-and-a-half feet high. 7:17 The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments. 7:18 When he made the pillars, there were two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments around the latticework covering the top of each pillar. 7:19 The tops of the two pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies and were six feet high. 7:20 On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around. 7:21 He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right side and called it Jakin; he erected the other pillar on the left side and called it Boaz. 7:22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed.

 

Hiram built two bronze pillars which were placed on each side of the temple entrance. Lilly shaped bronze tops were placed on the tops of the two pillars. The pillars were decorated with pomegranate-shaped ornaments. Pomegranates were a popular fruit in Israel.  They were also used on the hem of Aaron’s priestly garment. 

 

The two bronze pillars were named Jakin and Boaz. Jakin means “He [Yahweh] establishes.” Boaz means “In Him [Yahweh] is strength.” These stood as a testimony to God’s security and strength available to the nation of Israel as she obeyed Him.

 

7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

 

Dr. Henry Morris wrote, "Critics who try to find scientific “mistakes” in Scripture nearly always settle on this verse as one of their prime examples. Solomon’s sea, ten cubits in diameter, had a circumference of thirty cubits, supposedly showing that the writer thought the value of p, or “pi,” (the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter) was exactly 3.0, instead of 3.1416. The critics do not understand the principle—always applied in careful scientific calculations—of “significant figures.” The dimensions as given were not intended as precisely 10 or 30, but were obviously round numbers. To say the diameter was 10 means only that it was somewhere between 9.5 and 10.5. Similarly the circumference was somewhere between 29.5 and 30.5. Thus the implied value of p was somewhere between 29.5/10.5 and 30.5/9.5—that is, between 2.81 and 3.21. The precise value of p is clearly within this range, and it would have been incorrect to try to specify a more precise value." (Online Defender's Study Bible, 2 Sam 7:23) 

 

7:24 Under the rim all the way around it were round ornaments arranged in settings 15 feet long. The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” 7:25 “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. 7:26 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons.

 

The Sea was a huge circular bronze basin, similar to that of the laver of the tabernacle. The basin was sitting on top of twelve oxen, with three oxen facing east, west, north, and south. The priests used this large basin to wash themselves and their sacrifices.

 

7:27 He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was six feet long, six feet wide, and four-and-a-half feet high. 7:28 The stands were constructed with frames between the joints. 7:29 On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths. 7:30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and four supports. Under the basin the supports were fashioned on each side with wreaths. 7:31 Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. 7:32 The four wheels were under the frames and the crossbars of the axles were connected to the stand. Each wheel was two and one-quarter feet high. 7:33 The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their crossbars, rims, spokes, and hubs were made of cast metal. 7:34 Each stand had four supports, one per side projecting out from the stand. 7:35 On top of each stand was a round opening three-quarters of a foot deep; there were also supports and frames on top of the stands. 7:36 He engraved ornamental cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of the supports and frames wherever there was room, with wreaths all around. 7:37 He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape.

 

There was only one bronze table at the tabernacle. Hiram made ten bronze movable stands. They were used for butchering sacrificial animals.

 

7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. Each basin was six feet in diameter; there was one basin for each stand. 

 

There was only one bronze basin at the tabernacle. Huram made ten bronze basins as water containers for the stands, each holding about 240 gallons of water. 

 

7:39 He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.

7:40 Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on the Lord’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. 

 

The shovels were used to scoop the ashes of the burnt sacrifices. The basins and bowls were used to cleanse the priests and the sacrifices. These were the same utensils which were used in the tabernacle.

 

7:41 He made the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 7:42 the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), 7:43 the ten movable stands with their ten basins, 7:44 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 7:45 and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord’s temple were made from polished bronze.

 

All of the temple items were made of polished bronze.

 

7:46 The king had them cast in earth foundries in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 

 

Succoth and Zarethan were located near each other on the east side of the Jordan River. This area abounded in clay, which was needed for molds. There was a forest nearby which provided a source of charcoal for heat. Excavations have shown that this area was a center of metallurgy.

 

7:47 Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze. 7:48 Solomon also made all these items for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence, 7:49 the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 7:50 the pure gold bowls, trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

 

Solomon made new furniture for the temple. Much of the old furniture may have worn out by this time. The tabernacle had only one lampstand, but the temple had ten lampstands. The one lamp stand pointed to Christ.

 

7:51 When King Solomon finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

 

Much of David’s plunder was dedicated to the treasury of the temple.