1 Kings 7:1-2

The Building of the Royal Palace

7:1 Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. ¹  7:2 He named ²  it “The Palace of the Lebanon Forest”; ³  it was 150 feet ⁴  long, 75 feet ⁵  wide, and 45 feet ⁶  high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars.

1 Kings 7:8-12

7:8 The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. ⁷  He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. ⁸  7:9 All of these were built with the best ⁹  stones, chiseled to the right size ¹⁰  and cut with a saw on all sides, ¹¹  from the foundation to the edge of the roof ¹²  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. ¹³  7:11 Above the foundation ¹⁴  the best ¹⁵  stones, chiseled to the right size, ¹⁶  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. ¹⁷ 

[7:1]  ¹ tn Heb “His house Solomon built in thirteen years and he completed all his house.”

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “he built.”

[7:2]  ³ sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “one hundred cubits.”

[7:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “fifty cubits.”

[7:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “thirty cubits.”

[7:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and his house where he lived, the other court [i.e., as opposed to the great court], separated from the house belonging to the hall, was like this work [i.e., this style of architecture].”

[7:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a house he was making for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch.”

[7:9]  ⁹ tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “inside and out.”

[7:9]  ¹² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word טְפָחוֹת (tÿfakhot) is uncertain, but it is clear that the referent stands in opposition to the foundation.

[7:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits” (it is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured). If both numbers refer to the length of the stones (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT), then perhaps stones of two different sizes were used in some alternating pattern.

[7:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “on top,” or “above.”

[7:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

[7:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

[7:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the porch of the temple.”