BUILDING KING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
by Bro William Littlepage Jr., Hermitage Lodge #356, Grand
Lodge of Illinois
King, Chapter 7
1 But Solomon was building his
own house [g]thirteen
years, and he finished all his house.
[g]
How many men he used as workers on his house is not
stated, but it is significant that the Holy Spirit records the time it took
Solomon to build his own house in comparison to God's house. There must have
been more than the idea of time God wanted us to see from this. The king used
the same kind of stone, wood, and other materials, but covered his house with
gold on the inside. It was no doubt as beautiful and magnificent as the
temple. It plainly states in v 2 that he built it of the forest of Lebanon, and
in v 9-12 that he used great and costly stones and cedars for his large palace
which cared for many hundreds of wives, concubines, servants, and government
officers.
2 He built
[h]also the house of the
forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an [i]hundred
cubits, and the breadth thereof [j]fifty
cubits, and the height thereof [k]thirty
cubits, upon [l]four
rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
[h]
The word also here plainly reveals that the house of the forest of
Lebanon was a different part of the palace from his own house of v 1 (v 2).
Besides this there was the queen's house (v 8). Perhaps there was a long range
of buildings to the one palace of v 1.
[i]100 cubits - 208 ft. 4 in, counting
25 in. to the cubit.
[j]50 cubits - 104 ft. 2 in.
[k]30 cubits - 62 1/2 ft.
[l] This was certainly not the temple
described before. This building was 83 ft. 4 in. longer than the temple and 62
1/2 ft. wider. It had rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams upon them and a
roof covered with cedar above the beams. The pillars were 15 to a row, making 3
rows instead of the 4 mentioned here. The Sept. says 3 rows, which would
harmonize with 45 pillars and 15 to a row (v 2-3).
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
[m]windows in three rows, and
light was against light in three ranks.
[m]
There were 3 rows of windows on both sides of the building, facing each other,
and all the doors and posts were square with the windows (v 4-5)
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
{n]porch of pillars; the
length thereof was fifty [a]cubits,
and the breadth thereof [b]thirty
cubits; and the porch was before them; and the other pillars and the thick beams
were before them.
[n]
This porch was made with rows of pillars holding up the roof, all the way across
the width of the house, 50 cubits - 104 ft. 2 in. It was 30 cubits or 62 1/2
ft. wide (v 6). There was another porch, perhaps on the other end of the
building for the throne of judgment (v 7). Whether it was as large as the one
of v 7 is not stated, but most likely it was, and if so, it also measured 104
ft. 2 in. by 62 1/2 ft. It seems from v8 that the king had a dwelling attached
to these other buildings with another court and porch, and then at last the
house for the queen.
[a]50 cubits - 104 ft. 2 in.
counting 25 in. to the cubit
[b]30 cubits - 62 1/2 ft.
7 Then he made a porch for the
[c]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.
[c]It seems there was a series of
buildings and porches to the palace:
1 The house of the forest of Lebanon,
which perhaps was the harem in 3 stories measuring 208 ft. 4 in. by 104 ft. 2
in. (v 2-5)
2 The porch - 104 ft. 2 in. by 62 1/2
ft. on one end of the house (v 6).
3 The porch of the throne of judgment,
perhaps the same size as the one above and attached to the other end of the
harem (v 7)
4 The king's private house and porch and
court, perhaps connected with the porch of judgment (v 8)
5 The queen's house (v 8)
(4) The queen's house
8 And his house where he dwelt had
another court within the porch, which was of like work. Solomon made also an
house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.
(5) Materials for Solomon' houses and temple
9.[d]All
these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones,
[e]sawed with saws, within
and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside
toward the great court.
[d]
All these, the houses and porches of note c, above, were of costly stones
which made the walls and foundations. The stones were 10 cubits - 20 ft. 10 in.
by 8 cubits - 16 ft. 8 in. (v 9 - 10). Cedar beams and boards were used
throughout the palace and temple (v 11 - 12)
[e]Modern man is not the only generation
having tools to work with, for there were saws for cutting wood and stone this
far back - 1100 - 1000 B. C. (v 9).
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
hewed stones, and cedars.
12 And the great court round about was with three rows of
hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of
the Lord, and for the porch of the house.
(6) Brass work on the temple (7:13 - 47).
A work of Hiram
13 And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14 [f]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, and understanding, and cunning
to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon and wrought all his
work.
[f]
Though he bore the same name this Hiram was not the king of Tyre. He was a
metal worker and had charge of all the castings of pillars, brazen sea, and many
other things used in the temple furnishings (v 13 - 14; 2 Chr. 2:13; 4:16)
B. Two pillars of brass 37 ft. 6 in. high,
25 ft. round
15 For he cast two pillars of
brass, of [g]eighteen
cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them
about.
[g]2 brass pillars - 18 cubits or 37 1/2
ft. high by 12 cubits - 25 ft. around (v 15)
C. Two capitals of brass 10 ft. 5
in. high
16 And he made
[h]two chapiters of
[i]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 [j]five
cubits:
[h]2
capitals of brass were cast to be placed on top the 2 pillars of brass. These
were 5 cubits - 10 ft. 5 in. high (v 16)
[i]They had foundaries that far back in
ancient time and cast brass for the large pillars and pieces of furniture for
the temple mentioned in this chapter.
[j]5 cubits - 10 ft. 5 in. counting 25
in. to the cubit.
D. Brass net-work, 14 chain wreaths, 400
pomegranates and lily work for the capitals
17 And nets of checker work, and wreaths
of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; even
for the other chapiter.
18 And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network,
to [a]cover the chapiters
that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other
chapiters.
[a]The nets of
checker work, the wreaths of chain work, the pomegranates, and the lily work on
the capitals must have been beautiful beyond words to describe (v 17 - 22).
19 And the chapiters that were upon the top of the
pillars were of lily work in the porch, [b]four
cubits.
[b]4 cubits - 8 ft. 4
in. counting 25 in. to the cubit.
20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars had
pomegranates also , over against [c]the
belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were
[d]two hundred in rows round
about upon the other chapiter.
[c]The belly -
the swell or protuberance.
[d]200 pomegranates. In v 42 called 400 because
of 200 being reckoned to each, as in 2 Chr. 4:13. In 2 Chr. 3:16 they are said
to be 100 because of 100 to the row; and in Jer. 52:23 they are 96 on a side,
referring to those that were exposed, the rest being sheltered or covered.
21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the
temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the
[e]name thereof Jachin: and
he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Bo'az.
[e]The name of one
pillar was Jachin, meaning He (God) will establish; and the other Boaz,
meaning: In Him (God) is strength
22 And upon the top of the pillar was lily work: so
was the work finished.
E. Brass molten sea, 10 ft. 5 in. high, 20 ft. 10 in
across and 80 1/2 ft. around: 805 knobs and about 10 in. thick (2 Chr. 4:2 - 5)
23 And he made a [f]molten
sea, [g]ten cubits
from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height
[h]was five cubits: and a
line of [i]thirty
cubits did compass it round about.
[f]The brazen sea was
cast in the foundry like the pillars of v 16. It was 20 ft. 10 in. across from
brim to brim: 10 ft. 5 in. high; and 62 1/2 ft. around, it had 2 rows of knobs
around the rim of the bowl (v 24). It stood upon 12 brazen oxen cast of
brass; 3 looked in each of the 4 directions with their hinder parts inward and
under the brazen laver which was a hand breadth, or about 4 inches thick, with
the brim made like that of a cup with flowers of lilies (v 25 - 26). The brazen
sea was an immense vase of solid brass, 10 ft. 5 in. deep and weighing about 25
- 30 tons. Filled with 16,750 gallons of water the laver would weigh about 100
tons. The small lavers were supposed to contain 300 gallons of water, which
with the lavers would weigh about 2 tons each. Jewish writers say that the
water was changed daily, so as to be always pure for use in the ceremonial
worship.
[g]10 cubits - 20 ft.
10 in. counting 25 in, as a cubit.
[h]5 cubits - 10 ft.
5 in.
[i]30 cubits - 62 1/2 ft.
24 And under the brim of it round about there were
[j]knops compassing
it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two
rows, when it was cast.
[j] The knobs were
cast with the bowl itself, and no doubt the checker, chain, pomegranate, and
lily work on the capitals was likewise cast with the capitals of v 17 - 22.
25 And it 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.
26 And it was an hand breadth thick, and the
brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it
contained [k]two
thousand baths.
[k]2,000 baths -
16,750 gallons (v 26), a bath being 1 bu. 3 pt. or 67 pts.
In 2 Chr. 4:5 it reads 3,000 baths which would be 25,125
gallons. This is evidently how much it could possibly hold, while the usual
content was 16,750 gallons.
G. Ten bases on wheels, 8 ft. 4 in. square, 6 ft
3 in. high with engraved lions, oxen, cherubims and palm trees
27 And he made ten bases of brass;
[l]four cubits was the length
of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, [m]and
three cubits the height of it.
[l]4 cubits - 8 ft. 4 in.
[m]3 cubits - 6 ft. 3 in.
28 And the work of the bases was on this manner:
they had borders, and the borders between the ledges:
29 And on the borders that were between the ledges
[n]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.
[n]The lions, oxen,
and cherubim upon the borders between the ledges and the work upon the ledges
were of thin brass (v 29) instead of heavy work as in the case of the oxen
supporting the laver (v 25)
30 And every base had four brasen
[o]wheels, and
[p]plates of brass: and the
four corners thereof had [q]undersetters:
under the laver were undersetters molten, at [a]the
side of every addition.
[o]indicating that
the bases were movable (v 30)
[p]The plates were really brazen axletrees for the
wheels
[q]The undersetters were no doubt shoulders -
brackets or bars proceeding from the 4 corners of the bases and stretching
upward to the outer rim of the small laver being supported
[a]The opposite side
31 And the [b]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 a half: and also upon
the mouth of it were gravings with their [c]borders,
foursquare, not round.
[b]The mouth of it and the chapiter that was above
no doubt refers to the open bowl and cap or lid for each of the 10 lavers on
wheels (2 Chr. 4:6)
[c]Borders - panels. They were removed by
Ahaz (2 Ki. 16:17), and replaced by Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29:19), being in the temple
when taken by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 5217, 20)
32 And under the borders were
[d]four wheels: and the
axletree of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel
was a cubit and half a cubit.
[d]The wheels were 1
1/2 cubits high - 3 ft. 1 1/2 in. (v 32); and they were made like chariot
wheels, of molten brass (v 33)
33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of
the chariot wheels: their axletrees and their [e]naves,
and their [f]felloes,
and their spokes, were all molten.
[e]Naves -
hubs of the wheels
[f]Felloes - the rims of the wheels
34 And there were four undersetters to the four
corners of the base: and the [g]unersetters
were of the very base itself.
[g]The undersetters -
shoulders to hold the laver, were cast with the vase (v 34)
35 And the [h]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.
[h]A circular
elevation, half a cubit (12 1/2 in.) high on which the laver sat, rather than a
depression that deep. It is called the base above, in v 29
36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on
the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to
the [i]proportion of
every one, and additions round about.
[i]Gravings of
cherubim, lions, and palm trees were made according to the space (v 36)
37 After this manner he made the
[j]ten bases: one measure,
and one size.
[j]The 10 bases for
the 10 lavers were all of one casting, one measure, and one size (v 37). The 10
lavers were the same in size and contained 40 bathes (v 38)
H. Ten brass lavers
8 ft. 4 in. square for boiling peace offerings (vs. 45; 2 Chr. 4:11)
38 Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver
[k]contained forty
baths: and every laver was [l]four
cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.
[k[40 baths.
One bath being equal to 1 bu. and 3 pts. (or 67 pts.), 40 would be 335 gallons.
[l]4 cubits - 8 ft. 4 in. counting 25 in, to the
cubit.
39 And [m]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.
[m]Here we have the
placing of the 10 small lavers and the large one, called the molten sea (v 39).
5 small ones were put on the left. The molten sea was put on the right side of
the house eastward over toward the south; that is, nearer the south side of the
house than the north side, or toward the southeast corner (v 39)
I. Summary of the brazen
works.
40 And Hiram [n]made
[o]the lavers, and the
shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made end of doing all the work that he made
king Solomon for the house of the Lord:
[n] Summary of brazen castings
1 Lavers (pots or cauldrons, v 40)
2 Shovels
3 Basons
4 The 2 pillars (v 41)
5 The 2 bowls of the chapiters for the pillars
6 The 2 networks to cover the bowls of the
chapiters upon the pillars
7 400 pomegranates for the 2 networks, even 2
rows for each network, to cover the bowls of the chapiters upon the pillars (v
42)
8 The 10 bases for the water lavers
9 The 10 lavers to hold water (v 43)
10 A molten sea or water reservoir
11 12 oxen to hold the molten sea (v 44)
12 The pots, shovels, and basons (v 45).
There must have been a difference between these and those of point 1 which were
for the boiling places, for these were for the brazen altar of sacrifice.
[o]The cauldrons for boiling the sacrifices, not
the lavers for water, as in v 38 - 39.
41 The 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;
42 And 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;
43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;
44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons:
and all these vessels, which Hiram made for king solomon for the house of the
Lord, were [a]of
bright brass.
[a]Heb. marat, to polish; make bright;
furbish (v 45). Then, as now, they had a way of giving brass a fine bright
polishing instead of making rough castings.
46 [b]In
the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Suc'coth
and Zar'than.
[b]In the plain of
Jordan where there was clay ground suitable for castings and cores used in
making the various shapes from melted metal poured into forms (v 46). In
Succoth and Zarthan they had clay and sand. It took a large foundry and many
furnaces to make enough metal to pour so many bronze castings, and the large
molten sea. Tons of metal had to be melted and poured at the same time to keep
the great castings from being faulty and in pieces. So much brass was used that
it was almost impossible to keep a record of the weight (v 47).
47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed,
because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found
out.
(7) Gold work of
the temple
48 And Solomon [c]made
[d]all the vessels
that pertained unto the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the
table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was.
[c]He made them in the same way that God makes or
does many things - not personally, but by having the work done by various
agencies.
[d]Summary of the gold work
1The altar of gold (v 48)
2The table of showbread
3The 10 candlesticks (v 49)
4The tongs
5The bowls (v 50)
6The snuffers
7The basons
8The spoons
9The hinges for the doors of the holy and
most holy places
49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the
right side, and five on the left, before the oracles, with the flowers, and the
lamps, and the tongs of gold.
50 And 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.
51 So 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 8
(8) Dedication of the temple (8:1 - 9:9; 2 Chr.
5:2 - 7:22).
A. Ark brought in: glory appears (2 Chr. 5:2 -
14)
1 [e]Then Solomon assembled
the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers
of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring
up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
[e]Then - when
the temple and furnishings were completed, Solomon assembled the elders, the
heads of the tribes, and all the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, to bring up
the ark of the covenant from the city of David, which is Zion (v 1).
2 And [f]all
the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the
month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
[f]All the men of
Israel were also gathered to the feast of tabernacles in the 7th month, October,
which was 11 months after the temple proper was finished (6:38).
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the
[g]priests took up the ark.
[g]The priests alone
could be set apart to carry the ark. Solomon did not make the mistake his
father did by seeking to bring it to Jerusalem on a cart instead of being
carried by the priests, as God had commanded (2 Sam. 6. Cp. Num.3:39 - 41; 4:4,
15; Dt. 10:8; 1 Chr. 15:2, 15)
4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord,
[h]and the tabernacle of the
congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those
did the priests and the Levites bring up.
[h]The tabernacle of
Moses was located in Gibeon (v 4; 2 Chr. 1:3 - 4)
5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of
Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing
sheep and oxen, [i]that
could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
[i]There were so many
that they did not try to keep account of them (v 5)
6 And the priest brought in the ark of the covenant
of the Lord unto [j]his
place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under
the wings of the cherubims.
[j]His place - into
the most holy place, under the wings of the great cherubim that Solomon had made
which stretched out their wings until two of them touched the outer walls (v 7 -
11; 6:23 - 28)
7 For the cherubims spread forth their
[a]two wings over the place
of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
[a]The two wings covering the ark were the inner
wings of the cherubim that touched each other in the center of the room. The
outside wings reached to the outer walls. The wing spread of each was 10
cubits - 20 ft. 10 in; and the cherubim were set side by side. This gave
plenty of space for the ark under the wings. The cherubim measured 10 cubits or
20 ft. 10 in. high, so the wings could have been 10 - 15 ft. above the ark which
no doubt rested on a table which sat on the floor (v 7; 6:23 - 28)
8 And they [b]drew
out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place
before [c]the oracle,
and they were not seen [d]without;
and there they are [e]unto
this day.
[b[The staves were
partially taken out of the rings of the ark by which it was carried, so that the
ends could be seen from the holy place but not from the porch outside the holy
place (v8). In this way the ark never needed to be handled, as the staves could
be easily put back into the rings without even touching the ark. It seems that
it was unlawful to take them wholly out of the rings. Pulling the staves out so
the ends could be seen indicated the ark had found its resting place in the
temple and was not to be borne any more. It had a permanent house, not a tent
as before.
[c]The most holy place where the ark was kept (v
8)
[d]Outside the holy place from the porch
[e]Unto this day, proving that this part of
the book of Kings was written while the temple was still standing. This would
mean before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and before the capacity (Cp. 2
Chr. 5:9; 2 Ki. 8:22; 10:27)
9 There was nothing in the ark
[f]save the two tables of
stone, which Mo'ses put there at Ho'reb, when the Lord made a covenant
with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
[f]At this time there was nothing in the ark but
the 10 commandments (v 9). When, in Heb. 9:4 Paul mentioned the golden pot of
manna and Aaron's rod, he was speaking of the ark while in the tabernacle
instead of the temple. It is not known when these two things were removed; it
could have been when the Philistines had the ark, or when many men were killed
for looking into it, as in 1 Sam. 5-6. We know that the original stones on
which the 10 commandments were written were in existence at this time.
10 And it came to pass,
[g]when the priests were come
out of the holy place, that the clouds filled the house of the Lord,
[g]When the priests
had taken the ark into the temple, into the most holy place, had finished
arranging the furniture, and had left never to enter this place again, except
for the high priest once a year, the glory cloud filled the temple so that the
priests could not minister because of it (v 10 - 11). This glory was a symbol
of the divine presence of God, which had been promised before the ark was begun
(Ex. 29:43); had filled the tabernacle as soon as it was completed (Ex. 40:34);
and had been seen on the journeys of the children of Israel (Ex. 13:21 - 22;
14:24; 19:18; 40:38; Num. 14:14)
11 So that the priests could not stand to
minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house
of the Lord.
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