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.
Illustrations