1 Kings 7:9-19

9 All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court.

10 The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits.

11 And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar.

12 ¹The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and ²the vestibule of the house.

The Temple Furnishings

13 And King Solomon sent and brought ³Hiram from Tyre.

14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And ⁴he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

15 ⁵He cast ⁶two pillars of bronze. ⁷Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same. ^[a]

16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and ⁸the height of the other capital was five cubits.

17 There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice^[b] for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital.

18 Likewise he made pomegranates^[c] in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital.

19 Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits.

1 Kings 7:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7

This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1Ki 7:1-12; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1Ki 7:13-22; of the molten sea, 1Ki 7:23-26; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1Ki 7:27-39; with other utensils and ornaments, 1Ki 7:40-51.

Cross References

• 1. 7:12 ch. 6:36
• 2. 7:12 [ver. 6]
• 3. 7:13 [2 Chr. 2:14]
• 4. 7:14 [Ex. 31:3-5; 35:31]
• 5. 7:15 For ver. 15-21, see 2 Chr. 3:15-17
• 6. 7:15 2 Kgs. 25:17; 1 Chr. 18:8; 2 Chr. 4:12; Jer. 52:21-23
• 7. 7:15 ver. 41
• 8. 7:16 [See ver. 15 above]

Footnotes

• [a] 7:15 Targum, Syriac (compare Septuagint and Jeremiah 52:21); Hebrew 'fingers. And a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of the second pillar'
• [b] 7:17 Septuagint; Hebrew 'seven'; twice in this verse
• [c] 7:18 Two manuscripts (compare Septuagint); Hebrew 'pillars'