Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

6:1-10 he began to build the house of the Lord. After a note about the dates involved (v. 1), the description of the temple begins with its external structure. The authors describe its overall proportions and its basic form (vv. 2-3); its windows (v. 4); and the strange structure around it with its side chambers (vv. 5-6, 8, 10). The work was carried out with reverence, avoiding the use of iron tools at the temple site: neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron (see Ex. 20:25 and Deut. 27:5-6 for the prohibitions that appear to be in mind here). The dimensions of the temple in common cubits were 90 feet (27 m) long, 30 feet (9 m) wide, and 45 feet (14 m) high (see illustration).

6:1 The four hundred and eightieth year after Israel's release from slavery and the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel was around the year 966 b.c. This text is important in relation to the date of Israel's exodus from Egypt. Taken at face value, the figure of 480 years would support the traditional "early" date for the exodus, c. 1446 b.c. On the other hand, if one allows for some symbolism in understanding the 480-year figure (e.g., supposing it to result from 12 generations, with a generation taken symbolically to be 40 years, although it is actually about 25), one would arrive at a "late" date for the exodus of about 1260 b.c. (which some feel allows for greater agreement with Egyptian history). For further discussion concerning the date of the exodus, see The Date of the Exodus.

6:12-13 Concerning this house that you are building. The temple is placed firmly in its proper theological context. God will certainly dwell among his people once the temple is built (v. 13), but this "dwelling" will be on the same basis as before: the people's obedience to the law (cf. Lev. 26:11-12). The temple itself, for all its splendor, does not change anything about the nature of the divine-human relationship. This was something that the Israelites were apt to forget after the temple had been built and had become a centrally important aspect of national life (cf. Jer. 7:1-34). God is not as impressed with structures as he is with obedience, a point made later by Stephen in his speech to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7; and the beauty of temples is never any guarantee that God will not leave them or bring judgment on them (cf. Luke 21:5-6).

6:14-35 Solomon built the house and finished it. The repetition of v. 9a in v. 14 indicates a resumption of the main story line of vv. 1-10 after the digression of vv. 11-13, and also a change of focus. Now the inside of the temple is described. Most attention is paid to the inner sanctuary (vv. 16, 19-32), which is not surprising since it was the Most Holy Place (or "Holy of Holies") where the ark of the covenant was to be placed (v. 19). Compared to this place, the other parts of the temple were less significant, and they receive only the limited attention due them--although there is much interest in the splendor of the decoration. It was within the inner sanctuary that the Lord sat, enthroned on the cherubim (v. 23; see 1 Sam. 4:4; Ps. 80:1; 99:1). These were strange, winged creatures that could take various specific forms, combining features of different known earthly creatures, somewhat akin to the multifaceted beasts of Assyrian art. Cherubim thrones are well attested in Syria-Palestine. These particular Jerusalem cherubim dominated the sanctuary, reaching halfway to its ceiling and all the way across from wall to wall.

6:14-22 An inscribed ivory pomegranate has been found that was thought to have come from Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. The inscription reads, "Belonging to the temple of Yahweh, holy to the priests." However, the pomegranate is unprovenanced and first came to the attention of scholars after being found in an antiquities shop in Jerusalem. At the time of writing, scholars are undecided whether or not it is a forgery. The authenticity of the ivory pomegranate is not in doubt, but that of the inscription has yet to be determined.

6:36 Having toured the interior of the temple, the reader is again outside in the inner court that stands before it.

6:38-7:1 the house was finished. The Hebrew is "he completed [kalah] the temple [bayit]," and it is followed by: "he spent seven years building it [banah]. But his own house [bayit] Solomon spent thirteen years building [banah]; and he completed [kalah] the whole of his house [kol + bayit]." Two "houses" are in view here, and an emphatic contrast is being made between them. Solomon spent much more time building his own house or palace complex than he did building God's house, another indication of his divided heart. The likely emphasis of 7:1 is in fact as follows: "But his own house Solomon spent thirteen years building; and he completed the whole of his house." The temple is not really "complete" until all the work on its interior is complete and it is being worshiped in; and this is not the case until 7:51.

7:1-12 The only evidence for Solomon's palace complex (see illustration) comes from the Bible. It appears to have been built according to the plan of a neo-Hittite palace type called a bit hilani (Hb.). This type of palace has been found in northern Syria at the sites of Tell Ta’yinat and Zinjirli. Cf. note on 5:1-6.

7:2-5 The House of the Forest of Lebanon, just the first of the several buildings of the palace complex, was much bigger than the temple (cf. 6:2). The temple had quite a bit of cedar of Lebanon in it (6:9-10, 15-16, 18, 20, 36); this building, however, had so much cedar (7:2-3, 7, 11, 12) that it could be named after the forest from which the cedar came--even though it was apparently designed only as a treasury or armory (cf. 10:17, 21; Isa. 22:8). This confirms that the king was much more concerned about his palace than about the Lord's temple.

7:6-12 the Hall of Pillars. The remaining buildings that formed part of the complex are described. Besides "the Hall of Pillars," which was almost as large as the temple, there was a throne hall, also called the Hall of Judgment or "Justice," and two palaces, one for Solomon and one for his Egyptian wife.

7:13-14 Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. After the important digression of vv. 1-12, the author returns to the temple to describe how that project was completed. This Hiram who makes the temple furnishings fashioned from bronze is not to be confused with the king of ch. 5. Although he is summoned from Tyre, the authors are in fact most careful to point out that it was only his father, from whom he had learned his trade, who is a native of that city. His mother was an Israelite widow of the tribe of Naphtali in the far north of the country, near the Phoenician coast. Therefore, Hiram, who had one Jewish parent, was not simply a Gentile with no Israelite roots. He is described in a way reminiscent of a famous Israelite with a similar job to do, Bezalel son of Uri, the chief craftsman involved in the construction of the tabernacle (Ex. 31:1-11; 35:30-35). Both men are said to be full of wisdom, understanding, and skill with regard to work in bronze.

7:15-21 two pillars of bronze. Two massive pillars, called Jachin and Boaz (v. 21), were positioned at the temple entrance, and along with their capitals stood 27 cubits (40 feet/12 m), almost as high as the temple itself (30 cubits [45 feet/14 m], according to 6:2). They may have been freestanding, though some temples from the ancient world had pillars supporting the roof of the porch. The pillars probably had double capitals: one with latticework, five cubits (7.5 feet/2.3 m) high (7:16; cf. 2 Chron. 3:15; Jer. 52:22), and the other with lily-work, four cubits (6 feet/1.8 m) high (1 Kings 7:19). When the temple was destroyed (2 Kings 25:17), however, there seems to have been only one 3-cubit (4.5-foot/1.4-m) capital of latticework, possibly from the renovations under Jehoash (2 Kings 12:6-16) or Josiah (2 Kings 22:3-7). Cf. note on 2 Chron. 3:15-17.

7:23-47 Cf. note on 2 Chron. 4:2-6. The sea of cast metal was a large metal basin designed to contain water, representing the forces of chaos subdued and brought to order by the Lord, who is Creator of the world (cf. Gen. 1:1-2:3; Ps. 74:12-17; 89:5-12; 93:1-5). Associated with the sea are ten stands of bronze (1 Kings 7:27), decorated with lions, oxen, and cherubim (v. 29), each designed to hold a basin smaller than the sea (vv. 30, 38). Five stands with their basins were placed on the south side of the temple along with the sea, and five on the north (v. 39). The basins of v. 40 are not those of vv. 38-39, but different utensils used in cleaning out the altar (cf. Ex. 27:3); the pots and shovels would also have been used for this purpose.

7:23 ten cubits from brim to brim . . . thirty cubits (in) circumference. The simplest explanation for these figures is that they are given in whole numbers, and are accurate to the degree of detail implied in such numbers. The authors were not trying to give a precise equivalent for pi (which for the ten-cubit diameter would yield a circumference of 31.46 cubits, or less if the diameter were a bit less than 10 cubits).

7:25 At Nimrud in Assyria was found a tiny ivory bull used to support a dish or tray on its top. It may have been an object of trade from Syria, and it was manufactured there in the eighth century b.c. It is reminiscent of the "sea of cast metal" that sat on 12 monumental metal oxen at the front of Solomon's temple.

7:48-51 Solomon made all the vessels. Hiram takes responsibility only for the work in bronze, while Solomon has charge of the work in gold. Hiram may himself have been "full of wisdom, understanding, and skill" (v. 14) and a worthy successor, to some extent, to Bezalel; but the authors are eager to portray Solomon as the one who preeminently embodies these qualities (cf. 3:4-15; 4:29).