But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years. The time occupied in building his palace was nearly double that spent in the erection of the temple, because neither had there been the same previous preparations for it, nor was there the same urgency, as in providing a place of worship, on which the national well-being so much depended. Solomon, who was at this time animated with strong feelings of piety, acted in the spirit of Christ's admonition (Matthew 6:33). On the other hand, the Jews who returned from the captivity were reproved for building their own habitations before the temple of God (Haggai 1:4; Haggai 2:9).