The Building Of Solomon's Own Palace (1 Kings 7:1-12).
The building of Solomon's palace complex comes between the description of the building of the Temple and the further details of the completion of the Temple in 1 Kings 7:13-51). This may well have been because they were all included within the wall of the Great Court (1 Kings 7:9; 1 Kings 7:12). But a more patent reason is that the writer was bringing out how much longer the time was that was spent on Solomon's palace complex than on the Temple, and how much larger his palace was. This is emphasised by the fact that 1 Kings 7:1 immediately follows 1 Kings 6:37, making the contrast specific and explicit. It fits in with the fact that while continually expanding on the glory of Solomon the writer also constantly draws attention to where Solomon failed (compare 1 Kings 3:3; 1 Kings 5:13-16 in the context of what follows). He was not wearing rose-tinted spectacles. You can almost hear him saying, ‘Solomon was undoubtedly splendid, wealthy and wise, BUT ---.'
The Palace was probably built on the north east side of the Temple mount, adjacent to the Temple. But once again we are faced with technical words and technical descriptions, all of which would have been plain at the time, but are not so plain to us now. Very little detail is actually given and we do not intend to give the various alternative possibilities, as in the end all are necessarily speculative. The aim of what information was given was to bring out its grandeur and luxuriousness, not to give detailed specifications. To the Israelites, unaccustomed to such buildings, it must have appeared as one of the wonders of the world.
Analysis.
a And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house (1 Kings 7:1).
b For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars, and it was covered with cedar above, over the forty and five beams, that were on the pillars, fifteen in a row (1 Kings 7:2-3).
c And there were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks, and all the doors and posts were made square with beams, and window was over against window in three ranks (1 Kings 7:4-5).
d And he made the hall of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth was thirty cubits, and a porch before them, and pillars and a threshold before them (1 Kings 7:6).
e And he made the hall of the throne where he was to judge, even the hall of judgment, and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor (1 Kings 7:7).
d And his house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken to wife), which was like this porch (1 Kings 7:8).
c All these were of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court (1 Kings 7:9).
b And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits, and above were costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar-wood (1 Kings 7:10-11).
a And the great court round about had three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beam, in a similar fashion to the inner court of the house of YHWH, and the porch of the house (1 Kings 7:12).
Note that in ‘a' he built and finished his house, and in the parallel he built around it the great court. In ‘b' the emphasis is on the largeness of the building, and in the parallel the emphasis is on the largeness of the foundation. In ‘c' more of the detail is given and in the parallel details of the method of working are supplied. In ‘d' we have a description of the hall of pillars, and in the parallel a description of the two palaces. Centrally in ‘e' we have the hall of justice where the righteousness of the Law would be applied.
‘ And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.'
Together with the building of the Temple the whole project took twenty years, that is, twenty years of hard labour for the Israelites and the Canaanites (and they were not even finished then for there would be much further building work - 1 Kings 9:17-19). The contrast between seven years for the Temple and thirteen years here has been made impossible to avoid. It is a reminder that, although Solomon gloried in the Lord, he gloried in Solomon more.
‘ For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.'
Solomon's palace complex was divided up into sections, although those sections were probably in one huge building. Such large palace complexes were a common feature of the ancient world. Some such complexes were found at Ebla in Syria around 2300 BC. Compare also the huge complexes at Mari, Nineveh, Babylon, Alalakh and Ugarit, and also later at Samaria. It was made up of the house of the forest of Lebanon (so named after its rows of huge cedar pillars), which was among other things a treasury and armoury (1 Kings 10:17; Isaiah 22:8); the hall of pillars, which was probably where people waited who wanted to attend on the king; the hall of justice, which was where he openly dispensed justice; and his own living quarters; and the spacious living quarters of Pharaoh's daughter, his Egyptian wife. It would no doubt also have included space for a number of his harem (1 Kings 11:3). Others of his large harem were probably quartered in different cities around the country, living in luxury and available for whenever he visited.
The measurements of the house of the Forest of Lebanon dwarf the Temple, a contrast that the writer no doubt intended us to observe. It was one hundred cubits long (compared with sixty), fifty cubits wide (compared with twenty), and thirty cubits high, and was especially notable for the four rows of huge cedar pillars around which it was constructed. The pillars, which would have looked like a forest of cedars, were what gave the house its name, and they were necessary so as to bear its massive roof, and possibly a second story. There were apparently fifteen pillars in each row.
That the house was built ‘on the pillars' simply indicates that the pillars held the house up, and must not be overpressed (as though the house was on stilts).
‘ And it was covered with cedar above over the forty and five beams, that were on the pillars, fifteen in a row.'
The four rows of pillars were connected at the top by huge beams, forty five in all, stretching across from pillar to pillar, on which the massive roof, or possibly an upper story, would rest. (The word for ‘beams' can, however, mean either beams or side chambers, as in 1 Kings 6:5; 1 Kings 6:8; 1 Kings 6:15-16)
‘ And there were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks.'
The beams were in three rows, lying on top of the four rows of pillars, and in each of the side walls were three rows of windows, paralleled on each side. Alternately we may see this as indicating side chambers on three stories, as with the Temple.
‘ And all the doors and doorposts were made square with beams, and window was over against window in three ranks.'
All the doors and door posts were made square with the beams, thus providing strength to the construction, and to the doors, and it is again repeated that the windows were opposite each other in three ranks. It is being emphasised that the whole place was light and airy.
‘ And he made the hall (porch) of pillars. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them, and pillars and a threshold before them.
This large ‘hall of pillars' may have been built on to the front of the house of the forest of Lebanon, stretching across its width of fifty cubits. It may have been where people who were seeking audience to the king waited. This hall too had its own porch, with pillars and a threshold in front of it.
1 Kings 7:7 And he made the hall (porch) of the throne where he was to judge, even the hall (porch) of judgment, and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.'
He also built a hall where he could dispense justice, which contained his throne of judgment. This was covered with cedar ‘from floor to floor' i.e. from the floor below to the ‘floor' above (we would say from floor to ceiling).
‘ And his house where he was to dwell, the other court within the building (porch), was of similar work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken to wife), which was like this building (porch).'
Solomon's house was built in a similar way, of stone and cedar, with its own court, while, probably on the other side of the courtyard, a house was built for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had taken as his wife. This was built in a similar way. All the buildings may in fact have been built around this central court, but the descriptions are too vague for us to be certain. It would be necessary for Pharaoh's daughter to have her own special apartments because of her unique status, but parts of the harem were no doubt also housed close by. The writer is simply bringing out that the people of highest status were given accommodation suitable to their status, and reminding us that Solomon had married Pharaoh's daughter. All who heard it would have been suitably impressed.
‘ All these were of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.'
All these building were built with valuable stonework from top to bottom, stones which had been cut out of the mountains and hewn with saws, to careful measurement so as to fit into their place in the complex. They would be made of the soft limestone which, on having been cut out of the hills, would gradually harden naturally on exposure to the air. The great court probably surrounded the whole, including the Temple (which as we have seen had its own inner court).
‘ And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.'
The foundations of the buildings were made of massive stones, some of which were ten cubits long, and some of eight cubits. These were not overlarge compared with building stones found in similar buildings elsewhere, but would have appeared huge to the Israelites.
‘ And above were costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar-wood.'
On top of the foundation the remainder of the building was of valuable stonework, made to measure, and of cedar wood. The aim was to bring out how carefully it was built, and how massive and luxurious was the whole.
‘ And the great court round about had three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams, like as the inner court of the house of YHWH, and the porch of the house.'
The great court probably contained all the buildings including the Temple, and it was surrounded by a wall made up of three courses of stone to one of cedar wood, in a similar way to the wall of the inner court of the Temple. This was a common construction with buildings found elsewhere (including at Ugarit) and was probably in order to enable it to withstand earthquakes.