1 Kings 7:1-12. The building of Solomon's own house, the house of the forest of Lebanon, and the house for Pharaoh's daughter (Not in Chronicles) 1. _his own house_ This includes all the buildings described in 1 Kings 7:1. The LXX. transfers all this section 1 12 to the end of the chapter. In Chron... [ Continue Reading ]
_He built also_ Better, FOR he built, as R.V. The verses that follow are not describing an addition to the work mentioned in 1 Kings 7:1, but only explaining the various parts thereof. _the house of the forest of Lebanon_ This building which is mentioned again in 1 Kings 10:17 and 2 Chronicles 9:16... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_it was _covered with cedar above upon the beams_ The word here rendered -beams" is the same which has been rendered -side-chambers" in 1 Kings 6:5. In two descriptions which are so closely related as that chapter and this, it is difficult to suppose that the word has a different sense in the tw... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_there were _windows_in _three rows_ This is not the usual word for -windows," but is that which in 1 Kings 6:4 describes the sloping woodwork, or lattice, used in the windows of the Temple. From its use in the two descriptions it may be supposed to indicate the like work here as there, and so -... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all the doors and posts_were _square_, with the _windows_ It is not easy to say how the last word of the Hebrew should be rendered. It is akin to that rendered -windows" by the A.V. in 1 Kings 7:4. Hence a like meaning has been assigned to it here. But there is nothing in the original to repres... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he made a_(R.V. THE) _porch of pillars_ This would seem to have been a separate building not connected with the house of the forest. In the same manner the porch for the throne in the next verse was unconnected with any other building. What was the purpose of the porch of pillars is not stated.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then he made a porch for the throne_ Better (with R.V.) -And he made THE porch OF the throne." As the pillars were the distinction of the former porch, so was the throne of this. On kings sitting in public to hear causes and give judgment, cf. 1 Kings 22:10; Psalms 122:5. _and_it was _covered with... [ Continue Reading ]
_And his house where he dwelt_had _another court within the porch_, which _was of the like work_ It is better to leave out the italics of A V. and translate -And his house WHERE HE MIGHT DWELL, THE OTHER COURT WITHIN THE PORCH, was of the like work." The description has apparently been carrying us,... [ Continue Reading ]
_All these_ i.e. The whole of the buildings described in the previous verses. _according to the measures of hewed stones_ Better not to be taken as in construction, but with R.V. EVEN HEWN STONES ACCORDING TO MEASURE. The word is literally -according to measures," and this the R.V. explains on the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the foundation_ Even that work which was to be buried out of sight was of the same quality. _ten cubits … eight cubits_ Probably we have here the greatest dimension, the length. We are left to imagine the breadth and thickness which would be proportional in stones of 15 feet and 12 feet long.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And above_ i.e. The courses which lay upon the foundations. _after the measures of hewed stones_ Render (as in 9) HEWN STONE ACCORDING TO MEASURE. _and cedars_ The noun is singular. It refers not to any beams that formed part of the wall, but to the cedar facings with which the interior stone wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the great court round about_ The words are the same as in 1 Kings 6:36. The great court was the hindmost part of all the palace grounds, and was apparently higher than the level of the front part. The way in which it was enclosed was by a low wall (sunk fence) as was done for the inner-court of... [ Continue Reading ]
Hiram a Tyrian worker in brass casts the pillars Jachin and Boaz (2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 3:15-17) 13. _sent and fet_ -Fet" is the old English past tense of the verb -fetch," and occurs several times in the version of 1611 (e.g. Genesis 18:7) but the more modern form has been introduced into... [ Continue Reading ]
_He was a widow's son_ The Hebrew says THE SON OF A WIDOW WOMAN and there is no reason why the literal expression should be relegated to the margin, as in A. V. _of the tribe of Naphtali_ In 2 Chronicles 2:14 he is called -the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan." The two may be reconciled if we... [ Continue Reading ]
_of eighteen cubits high apiece_ The Hebrew says -eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar." There can be very little doubt that this should be followed by -and eighteen cubits was the height of the other pillar." But the similarity of the words has caused the scribe to overlook them. And there... [ Continue Reading ]
and _nets of checker work_ The two nouns are from the same root, and indicate some kind of interlaced metalwork with which the bellying parts of the capitals were overlaid. This, with the chains next mentioned, and the two rows of pomegranates (1 Kings 7:18) formed the ornamentation of the lower por... [ Continue Reading ]
_upon the top_, with _pomegranates_ The Hebrew text means -upon the top of the pomegranates." But some authorities give -upon the top OF THE PILLARS," which has been adopted by the R.V. The first words of the verse must however surely be wrong. -And he made the pillars" is utterly out of place here.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and the chapiters that_were _upon the top of the pillars_ This verse refers to the four cubits of lily work, which was higher than the bellying portion of the capital, and formed the topmost part of the ornament. were _of lily work in the porch_ The R.V. transposes IN THE PORCH WERE OF LILY WORK,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the chapiters upon the two pillars_had pomegranates _also above_ The italics are without justification. The R.V. gives the sense; -And THERE WERE chapiters also above upon the two pillars." What is now being described is that portion of the capital which was below the lily work. But the writer... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he set up the pillars in the porch_ The preposition is not the same as in 1 Kings 7:19. Render here - AT the porch." _Jachin … Boaz_ These words are evidently given as proper names, and the LXX. transliterates them here, but translates them in the parallel passage of 2 Chronicles (1 Kings 3:17)... [ Continue Reading ]
_upon the top of the pillars_ The lily work is mentioned again because it was the topmost part of the ornament, and the pillars have been described from the bottom upwards. Hence it was fit to speak of it here, where it is said the work of the pillars was finished. We have already seen that it is n... [ Continue Reading ]
The Molten Sea which Hiram made (2 Chronicles 4:2-5) 23. _And he made a_(R.V. THE) _molten sea_ The definite article is expressed in the original, and the vessel itself was unique. It is called a -sea" because of its great capacity (see Josephus _Ant._viii. 3, 5). The Hebrew word is not confined in... [ Continue Reading ]
_knops_ The word is that which occurs in 1 Kings 6:18, and the knops were probably of a gourd-shape. See note there. The description in 2 Chronicles (1 Kings 4:3) says that _oxen_and not _knops_were the ornaments. _ten in a cubit_ This would make the number of knops to be 300. But the R.V. renders... [ Continue Reading ]
_the sea_was set _above upon them_ i.e. The bottom rested on the backs of the oxen. Thus the height from the ground to the rim would be five cubits, and the height of the oxen besides. Nothing is said of such a thing, but it is not unlikely that the water was drawn out through the mouths of the oxen... [ Continue Reading ]
_an handbreadth thick_ i.e. The metal of which it was made. with _flowers of lilies_ Rather (as R.V.) -LIKE THE FLOWER OF LILY." This is to indicate that the brim bent outward and not that lily-flowers were all round it. _it contained two thousand baths_ In 2 Chronicles 4:5 it is said -three thous... [ Continue Reading ]
Of the ten bases, and the lavers upon them (2 Chronicles 4:6) 27. _ten bases of brass_ These were stands for the ten lavers mentioned below. See 1 Kings 7:38.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they had borders_ From the description in the next verse, the word, which in its literal sense would apply to any surrounding or enclosure, must mean the side of the base, on which the figures mentioned in 29 were carved or cast. So that the PANELS of the R.V. (marg.) would be the most correct rend... [ Continue Reading ]
_and upon the ledges_there was _a base above_ The word here rendered -base" differs from that in the two previous verses and so the R.V. has rendered A PEDESTAL. It seems to denote some projection upward from the four shafts at the corners to act as a support for the lavers when they were put in pos... [ Continue Reading ]
_and plates of brass_ For -plates" read AXLES. _and the four corners thereof had undersetters_ The last word is that usually rendered -shoulders," (see R.V. margin), and the word translated -corners" means rather (1) a footstep, (2) a foot. It is used Exodus 25:12 for the corners (R.V. feet) of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the mouth of it_ Here the pronoun must, I think, be referred, as in -corners (feet) thereof" of 1 Kings 7:30, to the base. The bases appear to have had a circular orifice in the top, which is here called the mouth. This opening was, as it seems, surmounted and surrounded by a capital, which its... [ Continue Reading ]
_And under the borders_[PANELS] _were four wheels_ Better, - THE four wheels." They were so fixed that they might not hide by their upper part any portion of the ornamental panels. _and the axletrees of the wheels_were joined _to the base_ More literally, WERE IN THE BASE. That is they formed a por... [ Continue Reading ]
_their axletrees_ Literally, -hands" as in the previous verse. _their naves_ By etymology the original word must refer to some curved part of the wheel. It seems better therefore to render, with R.V., FELLOES here, and transfer the word -naves" to translate the last of the four nouns, which by its... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_there were _four undersetters to_, &c. Literally, -shoulders at &c." The mention of these -shoulder-pieces" again immediately after the wheel seems, if we may rely on the correct order of the text, to shew that they belonged to the wheel-work. _of one base_ That is, of each one. _of the very... [ Continue Reading ]
_the ledges thereof_ Literally, -the hands thereof." Probably some kind of prop or holder is intended. R.V. gives STAYS, both here and in the next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about_ The word rendered -proportion" means rather any -bare space." Hence the sense is that the graving was such as the space admitted. So, and to harmonize the final words with the previous verse, we should render -according to THE SPA... [ Continue Reading ]
_one size_ Better, -one FORM." See on 1 Kings 6:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then made he_ It is only the simple copulative AND.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he put_ The verb is the same which later on in the verse is translated SET. It is better to adhere to the same rendering in the same verse. It would also be more in accordance with the Hebrew to translate -And he set the bases, five on the right side (_Heb_. shoulder) of the house &c." _eastwa... [ Continue Reading ]
Summary of Hiram's work. Completion of the Temple (2 Chronicles 4:11-22; 2 Chronicles 5:1) 40. _And Hiram made the lavers_ Many ancient authorities (see R.V. marg.) read POTS instead of -lavers," and this is given in 2 Chronicles 4:11. The difference is so slight between כירות = lavers, and סירות =... [ Continue Reading ]
_and the_two _bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars_ The numeral in the original belongs to -bowls" and therefore should not be in italics in the first place, but should be omitted in the second.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and four hundred pomegranates_ The original is definite. Read, -and THE four hundred." The italic -even" can be omitted without detriment to the sense.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and ten lavers_ The Hebrew has, -and THE ten lavers," and this definiteness is natural in such an enumeration. So in the next verse we should have - THE one sea and THE twelve oxen.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and all these vessels_ Better, at the close of the list, -even all these." The Heb. text has consonants which would be rendered -the vessels of the Tent" i.e. the tabernacle. But this is corrected by a marginal reading to -these vessels," which is most certainly the true text. The variation comes a... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the clay ground_ As the margin of A.V. explains, the literal rendering is -in the thickness of the ground." The Hebrews had a paucity of adjectives and were obliged to express in such wise what we mean by -stiff ground" and which is excellently rendered by the English version. _between Succoth a... [ Continue Reading ]
_neither was the weight of the brass found out_ The R.V. gives -COULD NOT BE found out." The verb, which signifies literally -to investigate," -to search out," seems employed to indicate that no attempt was made to discover it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that_pertained unto _the house of the Lord_ The construction is like that in 1 Kings 7:45. Hence R.V. has -that WERE IN the house of the Lord." _the altar of gold_ R.V. THE GOLDEN ALTAR, i.e. the altar of incense made of cedar wood and overlaid with gold.... [ Continue Reading ]
_pure gold_ See on 1 Kings 6:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and the bowls_ This is the word which is usually rendered -basons." See 2 Samuel 17:28, &c. A different word is translated -bowl" elsewhere, see Judges 6:38. As -basons" occurs later on in the verse, the R.V. has changed -bowls" here to -CUPS," a rendering given for this word sometimes on the margi... [ Continue Reading ]
_So was ended_, &c. The changes of order and words in this verse made by R.V. (_viz_. THUS ALL THE WORK THAT KING SOLOMON WROUGHT IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD WAS FINISHED.) are such as to bring as nearly as possible this passage and 2 Chronicles 5:1 into accord. Where the Hebrew words are the same ther... [ Continue Reading ]