1 Kings 7:1-22

The Building of the Royal Palace

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

Solomon Commissions Hiram to Supply the Temple

7:13 King Solomon sent for Hiram of Tyre. 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.

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