53 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7 This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1 Kings 7:1; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1 Kings 7:13; of the molten sea, 1 Kings 7:23; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1 Kings 7:27; with other utensils and ornaments, 1 Kings 7:40.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years,.... He made more haste with the house of God than with his own, for that was but seven years in building; which showed greater regard to the honour of God then to his own glory, or even convenience; nor was this built till after that: and finished all his house; or houses he undertook to...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
As, in the story of David, one chapter of wars and victories follows another, so, in the story of Solomon, one chapter concerning his buildings follows another. In this chapter we have, I. His fitting up several buildings for himself and his own use, ver. 1-12. II. His furnishing the temple which he had built for God, 1. With two pillars, ver....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon,.... Besides the temple, his own palace, and the queen's; so called, not because it was built on Mount Lebanon, which lay at the northern border of the land, at a great distance from Jerusalem, whereas this was both a magazine of arms, and a court of judicature, 1 Kings 7:7; see 1 Kings 10:17;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it was covered with cedar above the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row. On the second floor were three rows of pillars, fifteen in a row, which made forty five, that stood to east, north, and south; and upon these pillars beams, which were the floor of the third story, over which was a roof of cedar wood.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there were windows in three rows,.... Both in the second and third stories, east, north, and south, there being none in the west, where the porch stood: and light was against light in three ranks; or the windows, through which light was let, answered to each other.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the doors and posts were square with the windows,.... The doors into the several stories and apartments, and the posts and lintel of them, and the windows over them, were all square: and light was against light in three ranks; they answered one another as before.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he made a porch of pillars,.... At the west end of the house: and the length thereof was fifty cubits; answerable to the breadth of the house: and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: which, added to the length of the house, made it one hundred and thirty: and the porch was before them; the four rows of cedar pillars of the house, 1 Kings 7:2...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then he made a porch for the throne,.... The ivory throne on which he sat to hear and try causes, 1 Kings 10:18, where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: which had its name from thence; this was either in his house in the forest of Lebanon, or in his palace at Jerusalem; the former seems best: and it was covered with cedar from one side...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his house where he dwelt,.... Which was properly his dwellingplace, that part of the house where he usually resided: [had] another court within the porch, which [was] of the like work; a court between that and the porch, called the inner court, 2 Kings 20:4. Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife; see 1...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
All these were of costly stones,.... Marble, porphyry, c. according to the measure of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without they were all hewed, and squared, and polished, and so they appeared both on the inside of the building, and without: even from the foundation unto the coping; from the bottom to the top: and so on the outside...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,.... Of a great price, and very large: stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits some of one measure, and some of another; not so many cubits square, but of solid measure; they were so many in length.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And above were costly stones,.... Above the foundation, from thence to the top of the buildings; the whole walls were made of such right up to the ceiling: after the measure of hewed stones; which, according to the Rabbins, as Kimchi says, were five hands breadth: and cedars; beams of cedars over them, or these, both the foundation and the walls,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the great court round about,.... Which surrounded Solomon's house: [was] with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams; these rows were one upon another, and were a wall to the court, which were either topped with a row of cedar wood, or that was a lining to the stones for the inner court of the house of the Lord; or rather as, or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. Not the king of Tyre, but an artificer in it, after described, whom Solomon had heard and upon his request Huram sent him to him, 2 Chronicles 2:13 his name is called Hyperon by Clemens of Alexandria (l). (l) Stromat. l. 1. p. 332.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali,.... In 2 Chronicles 2:14, his mother is said to be of the daughters of Dan, as she might be, and yet her son of the tribe of Naphtali; for either she was of the city of Dan, which is placed in the tribe of Naphtali (m), or her mother was of the tribe of Dan; and therefore she is said to be of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he cast two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece,.... In 2 Chronicles 3:15 they are said to be thirty five cubits high, which must be understood of the length or height of them both; and whereas that would allow but seventeen cubits and a half to a pillar, either the round number of eighteen is used, or half a cubit in each may be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars,.... These were large ovals in the form of a crown, as the word signifies; or like two crowns joined together, as Ben Gersom; or bowls, as they are called, 1 Kings 7:41, the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars,.... These were the ornaments of the chapiters; the former being like thick branches of trees, with their boughs and leaves curiously wrought, as the word signifies, and the latter like fringes, such as the Jews wore at the skirt of their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he made the pillars,.... Or adorned them in this manner: and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates; that is, there were two rows of figures like pomegranates upon the net or branch work that covered the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars; and Kimchi owns, that...