1 Kings 9:1

And it came to pass. — The obvious primâ facie meaning of this verse would land us in much difficulty. By 1 Kings 6:38; 1 Kings 7:1, we find that, while the Temple was built in seven years, the erection of the palace and the other buildings occupied thirteen years; and from 1 Kings 5:10 and 2 Chronicles 8:1 it appears that these works were successive, and therefore that the completion of the palace could not have taken place till thirteen years after the completion of the Temple. Hence we should have to conclude, either that the dedication was postponed for thirteen years, till all the buildings were finished — which is in itself infinitely improbable, and contradicts the express declaration of Josephus — or that a similar period intervened between Solomon’s prayer and the Divine answer to it, which is even more preposterous. The variation in 2 Chronicles 7:11 probably suggests the true key to the difficulty: viz., that the notice in this verse is merely a summary of the history of 1 Kings 6-8, which records the whole of the building works of Solomon, and is not intended to fix the date of the vision of 1 Kings 9:2.