1 Kings 7:1-2

The Building of the Royal Palace

7:1 Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace.¹ 7:2 He named² it “The Palace of the Lebanon Forest”;³ it was 150 feet⁴ long, 75 feet⁵ wide, and 45 feet⁶ high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars.

1 Kings 7:8-12

7:8 The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way.⁷ He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.⁸ 7:9 All of these were built with the best⁹ stones, chiseled to the right size¹⁰ and cut with a saw on all sides,¹¹ from the foundation to the edge of the roof¹² and from the outside to the great courtyard. 7:10 The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet.¹³ 7:11 Above the foundation¹⁴ the best¹⁵ stones, chiseled to the right size,¹⁶ were used along with cedar. 7:12 Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the hall of the palace.¹⁷

¹tn Heb “His house Solomon built in thirteen years and he completed all his house.”

²tn Heb “he built.”

³sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.

⁴tn Heb “one hundred cubits.”

⁵tn Heb “fifty cubits.”

⁶tn Heb “thirty cubits.”

⁷tn Heb “and his house where he lived, the other court [i.e., as opposed to the great court], separated from the house belonging to the hall, was like this work [i.e., this style of architecture].”

⁸tn Heb “and a house he was making for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch.”

⁹tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

¹⁰tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

¹¹tn Heb “inside and out.”

¹²tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word טְפָחוֹת (tÿfakhot) is uncertain, but it is clear that the referent stands in opposition to the foundation.

¹³tn Heb “stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits” (it is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured). If both numbers refer to the length of the stones (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT), then perhaps stones of two different sizes were used in some alternating pattern.

¹⁴tn Heb “on top,” or “above.”

¹⁵tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

¹⁶tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

¹⁷tn Or “the porch of the temple.”