Solomon’s Palace Complex

1And his own house Solomon built thirteen years; and he finished all his house.

2And He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; a hundred cubits was its length, and fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height,† with four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams on the pillars.

3And it was covered with cedar above, on the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen in the row. 4And windows were in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. 5And all the doorways and the doorposts were squared framework, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

6And also he made the Hall of Pillars, fifty cubits its length and thirty cubits its width.† And a portico was before their faces with pillars, and a canopy was before their faces.

7And he made a hall for the throne where he would judge there, the Hall of Justice, and it was covered with the cedar from the floor up to the ceiling.†

8And the house where he dwelt there had another court inside the porch. It was of like workmanship as this and he made a house for the daughter of Pharaoh—whom Solomon had taken—like this porch.

9All these were of costly stones, cut to size, trimmed with saws inside and out, and from the foundation to the eaves, and on the outside up to the great court. 10And the foundation was of costly stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits† and stones of eight cubits.† 11And above were costly stones, hewn according to the measurement, and cedar wood.

12And the great court was three rows of hewn stones round about and a row of cedar beams, even for the inner court of the house of YHWH and the porch of the house.

The Pillars and Capitals
(2 Chronicles 3:14–17)

13And King Solomon sent and brought Huram† from Tyre. 14He was the son of a woman, a widow, from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a Tyrian man, a worker in bronze. And he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of work in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

15And he cast two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits compassed the second pillar.† 16And two capitals he made to set on the tops of the pillars, cast bronze, five cubits the height of the one capital, and five cubits the height of the second capital.† 17He made a network of lattice with wreaths of chainwork for the capitals that were on top of the pillars, seven for the one capital and seven for the second capital.†

18And he made the pillars and two rows all around above the one network, to cover the capitals that were on top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the second capital. 19And the capitals that were on top of the pillars were in the shape of lilies in the hall, four cubits.† 20And the capitals on the two pillars also above, from near the belly that was next to the network. And there were two hundred pomegranates in rows all around on the second capital.

21And he set up the pillars for the porch of the house. And he set up the pillar on the right and called its name Jachin,† and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.† 22And the tops of the pillars were the work of lilies. And the work of the pillars was finished.

The Molten Sea
(2 Chronicles 4:1–5)

23And he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten by the cubit from one brim to the other. It was perfectly round, and five by the cubit was its height, and a line of thirty by the cubit surrounded it all around.† 24And were ornamental buds beneath its brim round about surrounding it, ten by the cubit, all the way around the Sea. In two rows the ornamental buds were cast when it was cast.

25It stood on twelve oxen, three facing toward the north, and three facing toward the west, and three facing toward the south, and three facing toward the east; and the Sea was over them, and all their hindquarters were inward. 26And it was a handbreadth thick,† and its brim as the work of the brim of a cup, a lily blossom. It contained two thousand baths.†

The Ten Bronze Stands

27And He made ten carts of bronze, four by the cubit the length of the one cart, and four by the cubit its width, and three by the cubit its height.†

28And this was the design of the carts: Panels were unto them, and the panels between frames. 29And on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames was a pedestal on top; and beneath the lions and the oxen were wreaths of plaited work.

30And four bronze wheels were unto the one cart, and axles of bronze, and its four feet were supports to them; under the basin were supports of cast bronze beside each of the wreaths. 31And its opening inside the crown and at the top was a cubit,† and the opening was round shaped a pedestal, one and a half of the cubit,† and also on the opening were engravings, and the panels were square not round.

32And the four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were to the cart. And the height of one wheel was a cubit and a half a cubit. 33And the workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a wheel of a chariot. Their hubs, and their axles, and their spokes, and their rims were all of cast metal.

34And were four supports at the four corners of the one cart, its supports were of the cart itself. 35And on the top of the cart was half a cubit† at the height all around circular, and on the top of the cart were its hands and its rims of the same casting.

36And he engraved on the plates of its hands and on its rims cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the void space of each, with wreaths all around. 37Thus he made the ten carts; one casting, one measure, one shape was for all of them.

The Ten Bronze Basins
(2 Chronicles 4:6–8)

38And he made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths;† one basin was four by the cubit; one basin on one cart was to the ten carts.

39And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house, and the Sea he set on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.

Completion of the Bronze Works
(2 Chronicles 4:11–18)

40And Huram made the pots,† and the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls.

And Huram finished doing all the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of YHWH:

41The two pillars;

and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars;

and the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars;

42and four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars;

43and the ten carts;

and the ten basins on the carts;

44and the one Sea;

and the twelve oxen under the Sea;

45and the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls;

and all these vessels that Huram made for King Solomon for the house of YHWH were of polished bronze. 46In the plain of the Jordan the king had cast them in clay molds, between Succoth and between Zarethan.† 47And Solomon did not weigh all the articles; because of the exceedingly great abundance, the weight of the bronze was not determined.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings
(2 Chronicles 4:19–22)

48And Solomon had made all the furnishings that were for the house of YHWH:

The altar of gold;

and the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence;

49and five lampstands on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold;

and the flowers, and the lamps, and the wick trimmers, of gold;

50and the basins, and the trimmers, and the bowls, and the ladles, and the censers, of pure gold;

and the hinges for the doors of the inner house (for the Holy of the Holies),† and for the doors of the main hall of the house, of gold.

And was finished all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of YHWH.

And Solomon brought in the dedicated things of David his father—the silver, and the gold, and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of YHWH.

Footnotes:

2 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).
6 The colonnade was approximately 75 feet long and 45 feet wide (22.9 meters long and 13.7 meters wide).
7 Syriac and Vulgate; Hebrew from the floor up to the floor
10 10 cubits is approximately 15 feet or 4.6 meters.
10 8 cubits is approximately 12 feet or 3.7 meters.
13 Hebrew Hiram, a variant of Huram; also in verses 40 and 45; see 2 Chronicles 4:11. Note that this is not Hiram king of Tyre mentioned in 1 Kings 5:1.
15 Each pillar was approximately 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference (8.2 meters high and 5.5 meters in circumference).
16 5 cubits is approximately 7.5 feet or 2.3 meters.
17 Hebrew; LXX one for each capital
19 4 cubits is approximately 6 feet or 1.8 meters; also in verse 38.
21 Jachin probably means He establishes.
21 Boaz probably means in Him is strength.
23 The Sea was approximately 15 feet from rim to rim, 7.5 feet in height, and 45 feet in circumference (4.6 meters from rim to rim, 2.3 meters in height, and 13.7 meters in circumference).
26 A handbreadth is approximately 2.9 inches or 7.4 centimeters.
26 2,000 baths is approximately 11,600 gallons or 44,000 liters; LXX does not include this sentence.
27 The stands were approximately 6 feet in length and width, and 4.5 feet high (1.8 meters in length and width, and 1.4 meters high).
31 One cubit is approximately 18 inches or 45.7 centimeters.
31 A cubit and a half is approximately 2.25 feet or 68.6 centimeters wide; similarly in verse 32.
35 Half a cubit is approximately 9 inches or 22.9 centimeters high.
38 40 baths is approximately 232 gallons or 880 liters.
40 Many Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate (see also verse 45 and 2 Chronicles 4:11); many other Hebrew manuscripts basins
46 Zarethan is a variant of Zeredah; see 2 Chronicles 4:17.
50 Or the Most Holy Place