Solomon's Construction Projects; 1 Kings
5:1-7:51
In 1 Kings 5, 6 and 7 the
focus is on Solomon’s construction projects. There is a building contract with
Hiram the king of Tyre. It is believed Hiram was a believer, a friend of
David’s and now of Solomon, and they worked together in a remarkable way. The
little that we know about this period in the ancient world it appears that they
were the most dominant power bloc on the face of the earth. Then we have the conscription
of labour. He organises his labour force for the building of the temple in 5:13-18.Then the construction of the temple is described
in 6:1-10, followed by the confirmation of the covenant with God. God appears to
Solomon a second time and confirms the Davidic covenant with him in 6:11-13. Then there is the conclusion of construction in 6:14-38. Other construction is described in 7:1-12,
specifically Solomon’s own royal palace, and then there is a description of all
of the articles and contents within the temple itself and how they were
constructed in 7:13.
We begin with the first
twelve verses of chapter five where learn about the contract that Solomon
entered into with Hiram for the purchase of the materials for building the
temple. In the first two verses we see that this comes as a result of Hiram’s
initiation. 1 Kings 5:1 NASB “Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his
servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of
his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.” Solomon and Hiram
want their respective kingdoms to grow and expand in dominance, yet without
military conquest. This is a fantastic alliance that develops because under
Hiram the Phoenicians controlled the seaway and all trade that took place on
the water. Israel controlled the land routes, so between them all trade
in the ancient world was controlled by either Phoenicia, Tyre or Israel. In verses 3-6 we see Solomon’s response to Hiram and
the negotiation of how this is going to work.
1 Kings 5:3 NASB
“You know that David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the LORD his God
because of the wars which surrounded him, until the LORD put them
under the soles of his feet. [4] But now the LORD my God has
given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune.
[5] Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as
the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your
throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ [6] Now
therefore, command that they cut for me cedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I
will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you
know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
Solomon is relying upon
the Davidic covenant which promised an eternal house, an eternal kingdom, and
an eternal throne. It was possible that the seed would go through Solomon but
because of his disobedience this does not happen—but it was potential at this
time. One thing that stands out in this is that Solomon doesn’t settle for
second best. It is not appropriate to go to passages like this and make a
direct application to the building of a church. A church is not the temple. The
temple was the dwelling place of God in Israel and so that is a unique structure, but the principle
is that we should not compromise with mediocrity in doing anything for the
Lord. We should always do the very best for the Lord and do everything to His
glory. Solomon wants the most skilled craftsmen he can get for the construction
of the temple.
When Hiram hears this he
rejoices. 1 Kings 5:7-9 NASB “When Hiram heard the words of
Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, ‘Blessed be the LORD today, who
has given to David a wise son over this great people.’ [8] So Hiram sent {word}
to Solomon, saying, ‘I have heard {the message} which you have sent me; I will
do what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber. [9] My
servants will bring {them} down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts {to go}
by sea to the place where you direct me, and I will have them broken up there,
and you shall carry {them} away. Then you shall accomplish my desire by giving
food to my household’.” The words “Blessed be Yahweh,” indicate that he understands who the Lord is.
1 Kings 5:11 NASB
“Solomon then gave Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food
for his household, and twenty kors of beaten oil;
thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year.” This equates to 125,000 bushels of
wheat per year and 115,000 gallons of olive oil a year. According to 2
Chronicles 2:10 this also included barley and wine. In verse we read
that this is a result of God’s wisdom. This is part of showing how Solomon’s
wisdom works itself out in all of these different areas—administration,
leadership of the people, as well as the way he designs and constructs the temple,
organising all the workers and everything related to that. David did the
architectural planning; Solomon carries it out.
Beginning in verse 13 we
see the conscription of labour. There is a levy of workers in vv. 13, 14:
30,000 men whom he sent to Lebanon in shifts, ten thousand each month. Solomon also set
aside 70,000 who carried burdens and 80,000 who quarried stone. Then, according
to v. 16, there were 3,300 who supervised the people. Their work is summarised
in vv. 17, 18 NASB “Then the king commanded, and they quarried great
stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. So
Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites
cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.” Nothing
is left today from the Solomonic temple. What we have
is what was left over from the foundation laid of the Herodian
temple.
When look at this section
where it talks about the different builders and the organization of their
labour there are some things that appear to be contradictory. It seems that the
verses 13 through 18 are contradicted in chapters nine in vv. 20-22, but in
those verses there are two different terms used in the Hebrew text that distinguishes
from the English text. The total number in the Chronicles passages and the
Kings passages works out to be the same, they just arrive at the number a
little differently, depending on whether they are focusing on the non-Israelite
and the Canaanites. There were 550 officials who led the work project,
according to 1 Kings 9:23,
150,000 non-Israelites, but there were 3,600 foremen. There were also 250
officials that supervised the labour force. When these are all added together
we still come up with the same basic total of 183,850 workers. The Scriptures do
not contradict each other. In Chronicles the Canaanite overseers are
distinguished from the Israelites’ in Kings the distinction is made between
superior and inferior—3,300 inferior supervisors and 550 superior supervisors—and
of those 250 are Israelites and 300 are Canaanites.
The third division is the construction
of the temple, covered in 6:1-10. 1 Kings 6:1 NASB “Now it came
about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out
of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the
month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began
to build the house of the LORD.” This is one of the most significant chronological
notations in the Old Testament because we can date through various comparisons the
year of Solomon’s accession. He begins to build the temple in 966 BC, and if we
add 480 years to that we come up with 1446 for the date of the coming out of Egypt. Then we have the details of the construction. This
doesn’t give us the ability to write a blueprint but to give us a general
understanding of how the temple was structured. The writers were more
interested in the theological significance than in the archaeological details.
In vv. 11-13 is the
confirmation of the covenant. This is when God appears and speaks a second time
to Solomon. NASB “Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon saying,
‘{Concerning} this house which you are building, if you will walk in My
statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in
them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father.
I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My
people Israel’.” The words “if you walk” indicate a condition here.
The Abrahamic covenant was unconditional but whether
Solomon is going to be the line, the seed, or not is conditioned in his
obedience. Solomon became disobedient later on in life and the result was that
the Messiah did not come through his line but through the line of Nathan his
brother. Because of the sin of Manasseh eventually the Shekinah
will depart the temple just before they fall to the Babylonians.
Chapter 6:14-38 describes
the completion of the temple. There is a summary given in verse 14 NASB
“So Solomon built the house and finished it.” Verses 15-20 describe the
interior. The combination of wood and gold is the same kind of thing as with
the tabernacle: the acacia wood was covered with gold and this is a picture of
the hypostatic union. Just like the tabernacle everything in the temple speaks
of something about the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 23 is a
description of the cherub over the ark of the covenant.
Verses 31-35 is a description of the doors that went into the holy of holies.
They were of olive wood and on them was carved figures
of cherubim, palm trees, flowers, and overlaid with gold.
How heavy the doors must
have been; they were covered with gold. There is a foundation stone that is
under the door posts holding up those doors. That foundation stone is referred
to by a word that is a form of amen,
which is the word for trust. This gives us an idea of what is meant by the core
word with means that which is solid, stable and can’t be shaken. A form of amen is used to describe the foundation
stone of the doorposts in passages in Chronicles. 1 Kings 6:37 NASB
“In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid,
in the month of Ziv. [38] In the
eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the
eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to
all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.”
In chapter seven the focus
is on the construction of the royal palace, verses 1-12. 1 Kings 7:1 NASB
“Now Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.” He has really seven houses joined together:
meeting rooms, etc., and it is a much more complex construction and there is no
indication here that he is slighting the Lord or the building of the temple. The
building of the temple was a fairly simple construction project. The palace is
11,250 square feet and several buildings that are interconnected.
The last section is vv.
13-51 describing the contents of the temple. He begins by giving an indication
of who the craftsman is, another Hiram, one of the
most well-known craftsmen in Israel. Because of his abilities with wood and metal and
decoration Solomon is going to bring Hiram from Tyre, not far from the northern area of Galilee. 1 Kings 7:14 NASB “He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in
bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any
work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work.”
Verses 15-22 describe the
two pillars that are outside of the temple at the entry way. These were name the pillars of Jachin and
Boaz. They are placed at or near the porch, according to 7:21 and 2 Chronicles 3:17. It was typical of temples in the
ancient world at that time to have these kinds of free-standing pillars. The
terms are significant. Boaz means “he established,” which would refer to God
and to His initiative in establishing the kingdom. Boaz means “by him he is
mighty,” which expresses the dependence of the king upon God. So these two
pillars were a memorial to David and Solomon in their dependence upon the grace
of God for establishing the kingdom of Israel.
Then we have a description
of the molten sea, vv. 23-26. It was fifteen feet in diameter and seven and a
half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. According to Kings it
held about 11,500 gallons, but according 2 Chronicles 12:4 it held about 17,500
gallons, and perhaps the difference is explained by one is capacity and one is
how much they filled it with. Verses 27ff is a
description of the carts and the lavers. The carts were the wheeled mobile
stands that carried the lavers or basins for cleansing. They were about six
feet square and five feet high. The work is summarised in vv. 40-47.
1 Kings 7:47 NASB
“Solomon left all the utensils {unweighed,} because {they were} too many; the
weight of the bronze could not be ascertained. [48] Solomon made
all the furniture which {was in} the house of the LORD: the golden
altar and the golden table on which {was} the bread of the Presence;
[49] and the lampstands, five on the right side and
five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and the
flowers and the lamps and the tongs, of gold; [50] and the cups
and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and the firepans,
of pure gold; and the hinges both for the doors of the inner house, the most
holy place, {and} for the doors of the house, {that is,} of the nave, of gold.
[51] Thus all the work that King Solomon performed {in} the house of the LORD was
finished. And Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the
silver and the gold and the utensils, {and} he put them in the treasuries of
the house of the LORD.” All of this is significant. The lamps focus on
Jesus Christ as the Light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5). The bread represents the fact that Jesus is
the bread of life (John 6:35-48).
The altar of incense, not mentioned here, represents the continuous intercessory
ministry of Jesus Christ.