1 Kings 3

1. K. 7 : 1** And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon ; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above over the forty and five beams, that were upon the pillars ; fifteen in a row. And there were prospects in three rows, and light was over against light in three ranks. And all the doors and posts were square in prospect : and light was over against light in three ranks. And he made the porch of pillars ; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits ; and a porch before them ; and pillars and thick beams before them. And he made the porch of the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment : and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. And his house where he might dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, (whom Solomon had taken to wife,) like unto this porch. All these were of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar wood. And the great court round about had three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams ; like as the inner court of the house of the LORD, and the porch of the house.

1. K. 3 : 1** And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father : only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

2. Chron. 8 : 11** And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her : for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

Then Solomon offered burnt-offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch, even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required : the doorkeepers also by their courses at every gate : for so had David the man of God commanded. And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures. Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

1. K. 9 : 25** Then did he build Millo. And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, burning incense therewith, upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.

The order in Solomon’s buildings is observable : God’s house first, for religion ; then his own, for his own convenience ; then a house for his wife, to which she removed, as soon as it was ready for her (verse 24) ; then Millo, the Townhouse, or Guildhall ; then the wall of Jerusalem, the royal city ; then some cities of note and strength in the country, which were decayed and unfortified, Hazor, Megiddo, etc. H.

Building of Solomon’s House.

1. K. 7 : 1. The thirteen years, according to 9 : 10, are to be reckoned from the completion of the temple. With verse 2 begins the description of this building. In what follows several buildings, as the house of the forest of Lebanon (2-5), the portico of pillars with a porch (6), the porch of the throne and of judgment (7), the dwelling-house of the king, and the house of the daughter of Pharaoh, were erected one after another. The question arises, whether all these buildings were different parts of one royal palace, or different buildings from it. The forest house of Lebanon cannot be a building different from the royal palace mentioned (verse 1), for this reason, that afterward (9 : 1, 10, 15 ; comp. 10 : 12) only one palace is always named among the buildings executed by Solomon, and here so large an account is given of this Lebanon house, while it has no further mention in the following chapters. Still more decisive, however, is the relation of the first verse of the chapter to the following. Verse 1 is a mere superscription ; with verse 2 begins the account of the erection of the building mentioned in verse 1 ; to be rendered, “he built, namely.” It necessarily follows from this that the collective buildings mentioned in verses 2-8 formed only the one royal palace, the several departments of which are described in succession, whereupon the section is concluded with a statement of the materials employed in the building (verses 9-12). But even after the unity of the building has been agreed upon, it is extremely difficult to draw an outline of the entire palace that will be intelligible and in conformity with the statements of the text. Keil.

Location of the Palace. Without referring to the various buildings which Solomon reared, it may be safely asserted that the city must have rapidly increased in population. Indeed, during the prosperous reign of Solomon it probably attained as large, if not larger, proportions than at any time before the Exile. The wealthier part of the population occupied the western terraces of the west hill—the Upper City—the streets running north and south. The eastern slopes of the west hill were covered by “the middle city” (2 K. 20 : 4, marginal rendering). It will have been noticed, that as yet only the southern parts of both the eastern and western hills of Jerusalem had been built over. King Solomon reared the Temple on Mount Moriah, which formed the northern slope of the eastern hill, while the increase of the population soon led to building operations on the side of the western hill opposite to it. Here the city extended beyond the old wall, north of “the middle city,” occupying the northern part of the Tyropœon. This was “the other” or “second part of the city” (2 K. 22 : 14 ; 2 Chron. 34 : 22 ; Neh. 11 : 9, the “maktesh” or “mortar” of Zeph. 1 : 11). Here was the real business quarter, with its markets, “fishgate,” “sheepgate,” and bazaars, such as the “Baker Street” (Jer. 37 : 21), the quarters of the goldsmiths and other merchants (Neh. 3 : 8, 32), the “valley of the cheesemongers,” etc. This suburb must have been soon enclosed by a wall. We do not know when or by whom the latter was commenced, but we have notices of its partial destruction (2 K. 14 : 13 ; 2 Chron. 25 : 23), and of its repair (2 Chron. 32 : 5). The particulars thus described will sufficiently explain the location of the great palace which Solomon built during the thirteen years after the completion of the Temple. Its site was the eastern terrace of the western hill, probably the same as that afterward occupied by the palace of the Asmonæans (Maccabees) and of Agrippa II. The area covered by this magnificent building was four times that of the Holy House (not including its courts). It stood right over against the Temple. A descent led from the Palace into the Tyropœon, and thence a special magnificent “ascent” (2 Chron. 9 : 4) to the royal entrance (2 K. 16 : 18), probably at the southwestern angle of the Temple. The site was happily chosen—protected by Fort Milo, and looking out upon the Temple-Mount, while south of it stretched the wealthy quarter of the city. Ascending from the Tyropœon, one would pass through a kind of ante-building into a porch, and thence into a splendid colonnade. This colonnade connected “the house of the forest of Lebanon,” so called from the costly cedars used in its construction, with “the porch for the throne,” where Solomon pronounced judgment (1 K. 7 : 6, 7). Finally, there was in the inner court, still further west, “the house where Solomon dwelt,” and “the house for Pharaoh’s daughter,” with, of course, the necessary side and outbuildings (1 K. 7 : 8). Thus, the royal palace really consisted of three separate buildings. Externally it was simply of “costly stones” (verse 9), the beauty of its design only appearing in its interior. Here the building extended along three sides. The ground-floor consisted of colonnades of costly cedar, the beams being fastened into the outer walls. These colonnades would be hung with tapestry, so as to be capable of being formed into apartments.

Above these rose, on each side of the court, three tiers or chambers, fifteen on each tier, with large windows looking out upon each other. Here were the State apartments for court feasts, and in them were kept, among other precious things, the golden targets and shields (1 K. 10 : 16, 17). Passing through another colonnade, one would next reach the grand Judgment and Audience-halls, with the magnificent throne of ivory, described in 1 K. 10 : 18-20; 2 Chron. 9 : 17-19. And, lastly, the innermost court contained the royal dwellings themselves. A. E.

1. K. 7 : 1-12. The description is conformable to the arrangement of Eastern palaces. The building stood in the middle of a great oblong square, which was surrounded by an enclosing wall, against which the houses and offices of those attached to the court were built. The building itself was oblong, consisting of two square courts, flanking a large oblong hall which formed the centre, and which, being 100 cubits long, by 50 broad, was properly the house of the forest of Lebanon, being the part where were the cedar pillars of this hall. In front was the porch of judgment, which was appropriated to the transaction of public business. On the one side of this great hall was the king’s house; and on the other the harem or royal apartments for Pharaoh’s daughter (Esther 2 : 3, 9). This arrangement of the palace accords with the Oriental style of building, according to which a great mansion always consists of three divisions, or separate houses—all connected by doors and passages—the men dwelling at one extremity, the female portion of the family at the other, while public rooms occupy the central part of the building. Jamieson.

The principal building situated within the Palace was, as in all Eastern palaces, the great hall of state and audience, here called the “House of the Forest of Lebanon.” Its dimensions were 100 cubits, or 150 feet long, by half that, or 75 feet in width. Next in importance is the hall or porch of judgment, which Josephus distinctly tells us was situated opposite to the centre of the longer side of the great hall. Its dimensions were 50 cubits, or 75 feet square (Josephus says 30 in one direction, at least), and its disposition can easily be understood by comparing the descriptions we have with the remains of the Assyrian and Persian examples. It must have been supported by four pillars in the centre, and had three entrances—the principal opening from the street and facing the judgment-seat; a second from the court-yard of the Palace, by which the councillors and officers of state might come in; and a third from the

Palace, reserved for the sole entrance of the king and his household. The third edifice is merely called “the Porch.” Its dimensions were 50 by 30 cubits, or 75 feet by 45. It was an indispensable adjunct to an Eastern palace. It was the ordinary place of business of the palace, and the reception-room where the king received ordinary visitors, and sat, except on great state occasions, to transact the business of the kingdom. Behind this, we are told, was the inner court, adorned with gardens and fountains, and surrounded by cloisters for shade; and besides this were other courts for the residence of the attendants and guards, and in Solomon’s case, for the three hundred women of his harem. Apart from this palace, but attached, as Josephus tells us, to the Hall of Judgment, was the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter. The recent discoveries at Nineveh have enabled us to understand many of the architectural details of this palace, which were before almost wholly inexplicable. We are told—e.g., that the walls of the halls of the palace were wainscoted with three tiers of stone, apparently versicolored marbles, hewn and polished, and surmounted by a fourth course, elaborately carved with representations of leafage and flowers. Above this the walls were plastered and ornamented with colored arabesques. At Nineveh the walls were, like these, wainscoted to a height of about eight feet, but with alabaster, a peculiar product of the country, and these were separated from the painted space above by an architectural band; the real difference being that the Assyrians revelled in sculptural representations of men and animals. These modes of decoration were forbidden to the Jews by the Second Commandment. Dic. B.

The new Palace was built on massive substructions of enormous stones, carefully hewn, and was enclosed within a large court. It included several edifices within itself. The chief was a long hall, which, like the Temple, was encased in cedar; whence, probably, its name, “the House of the Forest of Lebanon.” In front of it ran a pillared portico. Between this portico and the palace itself was a cedar porch,—sometimes called the Tower of David. In this tower, apparently hung over the walls outside, were a thousand golden shields, which gave the whole palace the name of the Armory. With a splendor that outshone any like fortress, the tower with these golden targets glittered far off in the sunshine like the tall neck, as it was thought, of a beautiful bride, decked out after the manner of the East, with strings of golden coins. Five hundred of them were made by

Solomon’s orders for the royal guard, but the most interesting were the older five hundred, which David had carried off in his Syrian wars from the guard of Hadadezer, as trophies of arms and ornaments, in which the Syrians specially excelled. It was these which, being regarded as spoils won in a sacred cause, gave, in all probability, occasion to the expression: “The shields of the earth belong unto God” (Ps. 47 : 9). This porch was the gem and centre of the whole Empire; and was so much thought of that a smaller likeness to it was erected in another part of the royal precinct for the Queen. Within the porch itself was to be seen the King in state. On a throne of ivory, brought from Africa or India, the throne of many an Arabian legend, the Kings of Judah were solemnly seated on the day of their accession. From its lofty seat, and under that high gateway, Solomon and his successors after him delivered their solemn judgments. That “porch” or “gate of justice” still kept alive the likeness of the old patriarchal custom of sitting in judgment at the gate; exactly as the Gate of Justice still recalls it to us at Granada and the Sublime Porte—“the Lofty Gate” at Constantinople. He sat on the back of a golden bull, its head turned over its shoulder, probably the ox or bull of Ephraim; under his feet, on each side of the steps, were six golden lions, probably the lions of Judah. This was “the seat of judgment.” This was “the throne of the House of David.” Stanley.

The appearance of this grand hall and of the Porch of the Throne, when the king dispensed justice or received ambassadors from his gold and ivory chair of state, must have been imposing. His 500 guards, standing round with their golden shields, inspired respect and awe, if litigants brought their suits before him, or tributary states presented their tokens of homage. Between two and three centuries after Solomon, Isaiah the prophet refers to the House of the Forest of Lebanon as the arsenal of the kingdom of Judah (Is. 22 : 8). Sime.—Even the imaginations of the Oriental romancers and poets have scarcely conceived a more splendid pageant than Solomon, seated on his throne of ivory, receiving the homage of distant princes who came to admire his magnificence, and put to the test his noted wisdom. This throne was of pure ivory, covered with gold; six steps led up to the seat, and on each side of the steps were twelve lions carved. All the vessels of his palace were of pure gold, silver was thought too mean: his armory was furnished with gold; 200 targets and 300 shields of beaten gold were suspended in the house of Lebanon. Milman.

1. K. 3 : 1. Pharaoh king of Egypt. This is the first notice since the Exodus of any connection of Israel with Egypt. It is impossible to decide with certainty which Pharaoh it was whose daughter Solomon took to wife. The twenty-second Egyptian dynasty commenced with Sheshonk I. (the Shishak of the Bible), about n.c. 990. This monarch did much to advance the Egyptian power, which under the previous Tanite sovereigns of the twenty-first dynasty had sunk very low. We shall find Shishak (1 K. 11 : 40) receiving Jeroboam when he fled from Solomon. The wife of Solomon must therefore have been a daughter of a king in the previous dynasty, the kings of which would be likely to welcome an alliance with so powerful a monarch. Pharaoh is used in the Bible as the royal title of the Egyptian kings, and not as the proper name of any single person. This wife of Solomon probably embraced Judaism, as we find no reproach against him for this marriage, nor is any Egyptian deity mentioned among those for whom Solomon at a later time built high places when strange women turned away his heart after other gods. Lumby.—This marriage of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh—to which, from its frequent mention, so much political importance seems to have been attached—took place in the first years of his reign, although some time after the building of the Temple and of his own palace had commenced. Such a union was not forbidden by the law, nor was the daughter of Pharaoh apparently implicated in the charge brought against Solomon’s other foreign wives of having led him into idolatry (1 K. 11 : 1-7). In fact, according to Jewish tradition, the daughter of Pharaoh actually became a Jewish proselyte. Still, Solomon seems to have felt the incongruity of bringing her into the palace of David, within the bounds of which “the Ark of the Lord” appears to have been located (2 Chron. 8 : 11), and she occupied a temporary abode “in the City of David,” till the new palace of Solomon was ready for her reception. A. E.

1. K. 3 : 3. Solomon began well. He “loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father,” and almost his first care is to accomplish the desire, inherited from his father, of building “the house of the Lord,” for which David had long since been collecting materials. But even at this early date, when all seems so fair, the germs of evil are not wanting. There is something astounding in finding that one of his first acts was to seek a wife out of Egypt, the house of bondage. Since the Israelites “spoiled the Egyptians” there had been no intercourse between the two nations. Solomon’s marriage was probably a diplomatic one, to gain the aid of Pharaoh against Edom, or at least to withhold him from helping Edom. It was the beginning of those many unions with strange wives who in the end led him into abominable idolatries. But he is nowhere said to have built altars to any Egyptian god, so that we may conclude that Pharaoh’s daughter became a proselyte, and that for this reason the marriage was not specially condemned. But the connection with Egypt, if it did not lead to idolatry, led to another violation of the law. In direct contravention of De. 17 : 17, Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt (1 K. 10 : 28). Plummer.

2. Chron. 8 : 12-15. After the building of the temple and of his own house, Solomon continued for a time faithful to the worship and legislation of his people. For the first twenty-four years of his reign there was no change in the principles with which he set out in public life. Sime.

1. K. 9 : 25. Three times in a year he offered burnt-offerings extraordinary : namely, at the three yearly feasts, the Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles, in honor of the Divine institution ; beside what he offered at other times, both statedly, and upon special occasions. With his sacrifices he burned incense, not himself (that was King Uzziah’s crime), but the priest for him, at his charge, and for his particular use. It is said, he offered on the altar which he himself built. He took care to build it, and then himself made use of it. Many will assist the devotions of others that neglect their own. H.

CITIES BUILT BY SOLOMON. HIS ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS, ECCLESIASTICAL, MILITARY, AND CIVIL. HIS CHARIOTS, HORSEMEN, AND HORSES.