Solomon's Palace Is Built
1 Solomon's palace took 13 years to build.
2-3 Forest Hall was the largest room in the palace. It was 44 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high, and was lined with cedar from Lebanon. It had 4 rows of cedar pillars, 15 in a row, and they held up 45 cedar beams. The ceiling was covered with cedar. 4 Three rows of windows on each side faced each other, 5 and there were three doors on each side near the front of the hall.
6 Pillar Hall was 22 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. A covered porch supported by pillars went all the way across the front of the hall.
7 Solomon's throne was in Justice Hall, where he judged cases. This hall was completely lined with cedar.
8 The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.
9 From the foundation all the way to the top, these buildings and the courtyard were made out of the best stones carefully cut to size, then smoothed on every side with saws. 10 The foundation stones were huge, good stones—some of them four and a half meters long and others three and a half meters long. 11 The cedar beams and other stones that had been cut to size were on top of these foundation stones. 12 The walls around the palace courtyard were made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams, just like the front porch and the inner courtyard of the temple.
Hiram Makes the Bronze Furnishings
(2 Chronicles 3.15-172 4.1-10)13-14 Hiram was a skilled bronze worker from the city of Tyre. His father was now dead, but he also had been a bronze worker from Tyre, and his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali.
King Solomon asked Hiram to come to Jerusalem and make the bronze furnishings to use for worship in the Lord's temple, and he agreed to do it.
15 Hiram made two bronze columns eight meters tall and almost two meters across. 16 For the top of each column, he also made a bronze cap just over two meters high. 17 The caps were decorated with seven rows of designs that looked like chains, 18 with two rows of designs that looked like pomegranates.
19 The caps for the columns of the porch were almost two meters high and were shaped like lilies.
20 The chain designs on the caps were right above the rounded tops of the two columns, and there were 200 pomegranates in rows around each cap. 21 Hiram placed the two columns on each side of the main door of the temple. The column on the south side was called Jachin, and the one on the north was called Boaz.
22 The lily-shaped caps were on top of the columns.
This completed the work on the columns.
23 Hiram also made a large bowl called the Sea. It was just over two meters deep, about 4.5 meters across, and 13.5 meters around. 24 Two rows of bronze gourds were around the outer edge of the bowl, ten gourds to every 45 centimeters. 25 The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions. 26 The sides of the bowl were 75 millimeters thick, and its rim was like a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about 40,000 liters.
27 Hiram made ten movable bronze stands, each one over a meter high, almost two meters long, and almost two meters wide. 28-29 The sides were made with panels attached to frames decorated with flower designs. The panels themselves were decorated with figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures. 30-31 Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles and a round frame 68 centimeters across, held up by four supports 45 centimeters high. A small bowl rested in the frame. The supports were decorated with flower designs, and the frame with carvings.
The side panels of the stands were square, 32 and the wheels and axles were underneath them. The wheels were about 68 centimeters high 33 and looked like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were made out of bronze.
34-35 Around the top of each stand was a 22-centimeter strip, and there were four braces attached to the corners of each stand. The panels and the supports were attached to the stands, 36 and the stands were decorated with flower designs and figures of lions, palm trees, and winged creatures. 37 Hiram made the ten bronze stands from the same mold, so they were exactly the same size and shape.
38 Hiram also made ten small bronze bowls, one for each stand. The bowls were almost two meters across and could hold about 800 liters.
39 He put five stands on the south side of the temple, five stands on the north side, and the large bowl at the southeast corner of the temple.
40 Hiram made pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.
A List of Everything inside the Temple
(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)This is a list of the bronze items that Hiram made for the Lord's temple: 41 two columns; two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of the columns; two chain designs on the caps; 42 400 pomegranates for the chain designs; 43 ten movable stands; ten small bowls for the stands; 44 a large bowl; twelve bulls that held up the bowl; 45 pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.
Hiram made these bronze things for Solomon 46 near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan by pouring melted bronze into clay molds.
47 There were so many bronze things that Solomon never bothered to weigh them, and no one ever knew how much bronze was used.
48 Solomon gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar; the table that held the sacred loaves of bread; 49 ten lampstands that went in front of the most holy place; flower designs; lamps and tongs; 50 cups, lamp snuffers, and small sprinkling bowls; dishes for incense; fire pans; and the hinges for the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple.
51 After the Lord's temple was finished, Solomon put into its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the Lord, including the gold and the silver.
Solomon's Palace
1 Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years. 2-3 The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three rows of cedar pillars, 15 in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over storerooms, which were supported by the pillars. 4 On each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows. 5 The doorways and the windows had rectangular frames, and the three rows of windows in each wall faced the opposite rows.
6 The Hall of Columns was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. It had a covered porch, supported by columns.
7 The Throne Room, also called the Hall of Judgment, where Solomon decided cases, had cedar panels from the floor to the rafters.
8 Solomon's own quarters, in another court behind the Hall of Judgment, were made like the other buildings. He also built the same kind of house for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.
9 All these buildings and the great court were made of fine stones from the foundations to the eaves. The stones were prepared at the quarry and cut to measure, with their inner and outer sides trimmed with saws. 10 The foundations were made of large stones prepared at the quarry, some of them twelve feet long and others fifteen feet long. 11 On top of them were other stones, cut to measure, and cedar beams. 12 The palace court, the inner court of the Temple, and the entrance room of the Temple had walls with one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of cut stones.
Huram's Task
(2 Chronicles 2.132 14)13 King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre, who was skilled in bronze work. 14 His father, who was no longer living, was from Tyre, and had also been a skilled bronze craftsman; his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was an intelligent and experienced craftsman. He accepted King Solomon's invitation to be in charge of all the bronze work.
The Two Bronze Columns
(2 Chronicles 3.15-17)15 Huram cast two bronze columns, each one 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference, and placed them at the entrance of the Temple. 16 He also made two bronze capitals, each one 7½ feet tall, to be placed on top of the columns. 17 The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains 18 and two rows of bronze pomegranates.
19 The capitals were shaped like lilies, 6 feet tall, 20 and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows around each capital.
21 Huram placed these two bronze columns in front of the entrance of the Temple: the one on the south side was named Jachin and the one on the north was named Boaz. 22 The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns.
And so the work on the columns was completed.
The Bronze Tank
(2 Chronicles 4.2-5)23 Huram made a round tank of bronze, 7½ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 24 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 25 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 26 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 10,000 gallons.
The Bronze Carts
27 Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. 28 They were made of square panels which were set in frames, 29 with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. 31 There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upward 18 inches from the top of the cart and 7 inches down into it. It had carvings around it. 32 The wheels were 25 inches high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts. 33 The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. 34 There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. 35 There was a 9-inch band around the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. 36 The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around. 37 This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape.
38 Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6 feet in diameter and held 200 gallons. 39 He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the southeast corner.
Summary List of Temple Furnishings
(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)40-45 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the Lord's Temple. This is what he made:
The two columnsThe two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columnsThe design of interwoven chains on each capitalThe 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of 100 each around the design on each capitalThe ten cartsThe ten basinsThe tankThe twelve bulls supporting the tankThe pots, shovels, and bowlsAll this equipment for the Temple, which Huram made for King Solomon, was of polished bronze. 46 The king had it all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zarethan, in the Jordan Valley. 47 Solomon did not have these bronze objects weighed, because there were too many of them, and so their weight was never determined.
48 Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar, the table for the bread offered to God, 49 the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north; the flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the cups, lamp snuffers, bowls, dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals; and the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the outer doors of the Temple. All these furnishings were made of gold.
51 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord—the silver, gold, and other articles.