1 Kings 6:7

7 The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.

1 Kings 6:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:7

And the house, when it was in building
And all the while it was building:

was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither;
being hewn or squared by the builders and stonesquarers of Solomon and Hiram, ( 1 Kings 5:18 ) ; wherefore the builders had nothing more to do than to lay them in their proper places in the building; it was built with these stones quite up to the ceiling, as Josephus says ^F20; and these so admirably polished, and so artificially joined together, that not the least sign of an axe, or of any working tool, could be discerned in them:

so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, [nor] any tool of iron,
heard in the house while it was in building;
the first of these observations shows, that none are to be laid in the spiritual building of the church, but such as are first hewed and squared by the Spirit, grace, and word of God: or who have an experience of the grace of God, are sound in the faith, and of becoming lives and good conduct; and the other denotes, that such as are therein, whether ministers or members, should do all they do for the edification of the church in a quiet and peaceable manner, without clamour, contention, fights, and tumults.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 2.

1 Kings 6:7 In-Context

5 He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building.

6 The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 feet wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves.

7 The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.

8 The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors.

9 After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks.