Kings I 7:2

2 And it came to pass from the time that the ark was in Cariathiarim, the days were multiplied, and was twenty years; and all the house of Israel looked after the Lord.

Kings I 7:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:2

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 ) ( Isaiah 22:8 ) ; neither of which can be supposed to be far from Jerusalem; but because not only it was built of the cedars of Lebanon, but in a situation, and among groves of trees which resembled it; it seems to have been a summer house; and so the Targum calls it, a royal house of refreshment:

the length thereof [was] an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof
fifty and the height thereof thirty cubits;
so that it was in every measure larger than the temple; and, there was good reason for it, since into that only the priests entered; whereas into this went not only Solomon's family but his courtiers and nobles, and all foreign ambassadors, and whoever had any business with him, which required various rooms to receive them in:

upon four rows of cedar pillars;
or piazzas:

with cedar beams upon the pillars;
which laid the floor for the second story.

Kings I 7:2 In-Context

1 And the men of Cariathiarim come, and bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord: and they bring it into the house of Aminadab in the hill; and they sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

2 And it came to pass from the time that the ark was in Cariathiarim, the days were multiplied, and was twenty years; and all the house of Israel looked after the Lord.

3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do with all your heart return to the Lord, take away the strange gods from the midst of you, and the groves, and prepare your hearts to the Lord, and serve him only; and he shall deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.

4 And the children of Israel took away Baalim and the groves of Astaroth, and served the Lord only.

5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Massephath, and I will pray for you to the Lord.