(The previous post covered David's last words, his death, Solomon's vengeance on Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei, and God granting Solomon madda.)
1 Kings 4
1 And king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;
(Solomon had priests, scribes, and a recorder.)
4 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
(Benaiah was the General.)
5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, and the king's friend;
6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to taskwork.
(Solomon's "princes" were his leaders. Solomon was a leader of leaders. Solomon was King of all (united) Israel.)
7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year.
8 And these are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill-country of Ephraim;
9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan;
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him pertained Socoh, and all the land of Hepher);
11 Ben-abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife);
12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam;
13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; even to him pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars);
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife);
16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer that was in the land.
(Solomon’s officers, also referred to as governors, were named.)
20 Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
21 And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
23 ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl.
(Solomon’s supplies for one day were recorded. This was a massive amount of food that supports the fact that this was food for Solomon's entire household and his royal court. It is believed that this amount of food could have fed over 15,000 people daily, more than his household. It was possible that Solomon was also having food prepared for those in need.)
24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking.
28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore.
(God gave Solomon understanding, wisdom, and largeness of heart. Largeness meant "breadth, width, expanse" and implied great understanding.)
30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about.
(Solomon was more wise than all men. Solomon was world famous. "Ethan" was the author of Psalm 89 and "Heman" the author of Psalm 88. The other names were only mentioned in this verse.)
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
(Aside from most of the Book of Proverbs, Solomon also wrote Psalms 72, Psalms 127, Psalms 132, and the Song of Solomon…and this was just a sampling of what Solomon spoke. Remember, Solomon's dad (David) was a master of words, had great faith, and was very wise.)
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he spake also of beasts, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
(Solomon's wisdom did not end with a focus on life as a man but also translated into the entire world around him. This is true because wisdom is based in understanding principles, which are foundational truths in which all of the world is affected.)
34 And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
1 Kings 5
1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house for the name of Jehovah his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet.
(Solomon told Hiram that David could not build the temple because he was a man of war. It was accurate that Solomon said this and he may have even believed it, but it was inaccurate that this was the reason David could not build the temple. David could not build the temple because he was the tenth generation of a bastard (Perez). According to Deuteronomy 23:2, a bastard to the tenth generation could not enter the temple. In 2 Samuel 7:1 David tried to build a house for God because he was at peace.)
4 But now Jehovah my God hath given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor evil occurrence.
5 And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build the house for my name.
(Solomon purposed to build God's house as God told to David.)
6 Now therefore command thou that they cut me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that knoweth how to cut timber like unto the Sidonians.
(Solomon made arrangements to receive supplies from Hiram.)
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.
9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
12 And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.
(Solomon and Hiram made arrangements regarding the supplies for the temple. The arrangements were established by a covenant (league). Hiram would supply the timber to build the temple. Apparently, Solomon did not have enough supplies to build the house of God.)
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
(A levy was a "labor force." This was a huge group of workers equaling 30,000 men.)
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to taskwork.
(Solomon was a great leader. He delegated work to other men, here Adoniram, instead of taking control of the whole project himself. Also, instead of making the Israelites work constantly away from Israel, he set up shifts.
15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;
16 besides Solomon's chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
(Again, it was a massive force of workers gathered to get this task done. It would eventually take seven years for the temple to be built.)
1 Kings 6
1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.
(480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt, Solomon began building the temple.)
(Verses 2-6: the basic dimensions of the temple.)
2 And the house which king Solomon built for Jehovah, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
(This commentary will assume that the ancient cubit was 18 inches.)
(The temple Solomon built was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.)
3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
(The porch, or entry room, at the front of the temple was 30 feet wide and it projected outward 15 feet from the front of the temple.)
4 And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work.
5 And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about.
6 The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the house.
(Solomon built a complex of rooms, three stories high, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. The bottom floor was 7½ feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10½ feet wide. Notice, the floors increased in size as they went up. These floors were supported by beams.)
(Verses 7-10: details of the construction.)
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
8 The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
10 And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
(Each of the three stories of the complex were 7½ feet high.)
11 And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying,
12 Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.
13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
(The Word of God went to Solomon. God said if Solomon walked in His ways, then He would perform His Word with Solomon and He would dwell among the Israelites.)
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
(Verses 15-38: the finished temple.)
15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.
(The entire inside of the temple, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood.)
16 And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls of the ceiling: he built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place.
(The Most Holy Place was partitioned 30 feet to the rear of the temple.)
17 And the house, that is, the temple before the oracle, was forty cubits long.
(The main room before the Most Holy Place was 60 feet long.)
18 And there was cedar on the house within, carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
19 And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.
20 And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: and he covered the altar with cedar.
(The oracle, or inner sanctuary, where the Ark of the Covenant rested was 30 feet squared and was overlaid with pure gold.)
21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten cubits high.
(Two cherubim made of olive-wood each stood 15 feet tall.)
24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.
(Each cherubim had a wing span of 15 feet, 7 ½ each wing. The two were identical to each other.)
27 And he set the cherubim within the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.
28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel and door-posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32 So he made two doors of olive-wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees.
33 So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;
34 and two doors of fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved thereon cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work.
36 And he built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Ziv.
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
(It took Solomon seven years to build the temple.)
(This post covered Solomon building the temple.)
Day 98
No comments:
Post a Comment