1 Kings 7:1-17

Solomon Builds His Palace 1It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. 2He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, That is, about 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 45 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other.

5All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other. The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

6He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. That is, about 75 feet long and 45 feet wide or about 23 meters long and 14 meters wide In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. 7He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew floor

8And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. 9All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verse 23 and some eight. That is, about 12 feet or about 3.6 meters 11Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.

12The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the LORD with its portico.

The Temple’s Furnishings 13King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, Hebrew Hiram, a variant of Huram; also in verses 40 and 45

14whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. 15He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference 16He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 23 high. 17A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital.