1 Kings 7:2

2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, ^[a] with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.

1 Kings 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.

1 Kings 7:2 In-Context

1 Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.

2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.

3 The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars—forty-five beams, fifteen per row.

4 There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers.

5 All the doorways had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers.

Footnotes

• [a]. The house was approximately 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high (45.7 meters long, 22.9 meters wide, and 13.7 meters high).