Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 5:1
And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
Ch. 1Ki 5:1-12. Preparations of timber and stone for Solomon’s temple. League between Solomon and Hiram king of Tyre (2Ch 2:3-16)
1. Hiram king of Tyre ] The name of this king is spelt Hirom below in 1Ki 5:10 ; 1Ki 5:18, and in 2Ch 2:3 Huram. From the words of the latter narrative we should conclude that it was the same king who had ruled in Tyre in the days of David, to whom he is said to have sent timber for the building of his own house. Cp. 2Sa 5:11. But the events alluded to in Samuel were as it seems in the early part of David’s reign in Jerusalem, that is, between 30 and 40 years before the preparations spoken of in the present verse. It may therefore be that two kings in succession bore the same name, and this view is confirmed by 2Ch 2:13.
sent his servants unto Solomon ] Seemingly with a message of congratulation on his accession. Josephus ( Ant. viii. 2, 6) says so. ‘He saluted and congratulated him on his present prosperity.’ The Syriac has a clause to the same effect. The LXX. very strangely says ‘he sent his servants to anoint ( ) Solomon in the room of David.’ Hiram was no doubt the greatest independent prince near the land of Israel, but there is no trace of any authority of the Tyrian kings over Israel.
Hiram was ever a lover of David ] (Cf. 2Sa 5:11.) If this be not the same person as the Hiram in David’s reign, Hiram must be taken here merely as a synonym for the king of Tyre, just as Pharaoh is often for the king of Egypt.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hiram, king of Tyre – Menander of Ephesus, who wrote a history of Tyre in Greek, founded upon native Tyrian documents, about 300 B.C., mentioned this Hiram as the son of Abibaal king of Tyre, and said that he ascended the throne when he was nineteen; that he reigned thirty-four years, and, dying at the age of fifty-three, was succeeded by his son Baleazar. Menander spoke at some length of the dealings of Hiram with Solomon.
Sent his servants – This appears to have been an embassy of congratulation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Ki 5:1-18
Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon . . . to build the house.
The co-operation of Hiram
According to tradition, Hiram was a tributary or dependent monarch. The embassy which Hiram sent on this occasion was evidently meant to express the congratulations of the King of Tyre–in 2Ch 2:14-15, we find the words, My lord, My lord David thy father. There is a notable mixture of affection and reverence in the spirit which Hiram showed to Solomon; Hiram was ever a lover of David, and yet he speaks of David in terms which an inferior would use to a superior. Hiram preserved the continuity of friendship, and herein showed himself an example, not only to monarchs but to other men. Although Solomon was blessed with rest on every side, and was enabled to look upon a future without so much as the shadow of an adversary upon it, yet he was determined not to be indolent. Suppose a man to come into the circumstances which we have described as constituting the royal position of Solomon, and suppose that man destitute of an adequate and all-controlling purpose, it is easy to see how he would become the victim of luxury, and how what little strength he had would gradually be withdrawn from him. But at all events, in the opening of Solomons career, we see that the purpose was always uppermost, the soul was in a regnant condition, all outward pomp and circumstance was ordered back into its right perspective, and the king pursued a course of noble constancy as he endeavoured to realise the idea and intent of heaven. The same law applies to all prosperous men. To increase in riches is to increase in temptation, to indolence and self-idolatry: to external trust and vain confidence, to misanthropy, monopoly, and oppression; the only preventive or cure is the cultivation of a noble purpose, so noble indeed as to throw almost into contempt everything that is merely temporal and earthly. Even the noblest purpose needs the co-operation of sympathetic and competent men. Thus the Jew seeks assistance from the Gentile in building the house of the Lord. How wonderful are the co-operations which are continually taking place in life! so subtly do they interblend, and make up that which is lacking in each other, that it is simply impossible to effect an exhaustive analysis, Nor would it be desirable that such an analysis should be completed. We should fix our minds upon the great fact that no man liveth unto himself, that no man is complete in himself, that every man needs the help of every other man, and thus we shall see how mysteriously is built the great temple of life, and is realised before the eyes of the universe the great purpose of God. Co-operation is only another word for the distributions which God has made of talent and opportunity. In vain had Hiram responded in the language of generous sympathy if Israel itself had been a divided people. This must be the condition of the Church as a great working body in the world. It will be in vain that poetry, history, literature, music, and things which apparently lie outside the line of spiritual activity, send in their offers, tributes, and contributions, each according to its own kind, if the Church to which the offer is made is a divided and self-destroying body. When all Israel is one, the contributions of Tyre will be received with thankfulness and be turned to their highest uses. A beautiful picture is given in verse 14. The picture represents the difference between cutting down and setting up; in other words, the difference between destruction and construction. It was easier to cut down than it was to build up. The two operations should always go on together. The business of the Church is to pull down, and to build up; even to use the materials of the enemy in building up the temple of the living God. The picture has aa evident relation to the ease with which men can pull down faith and darken hope and unsettle confidence. Thus the work of foreign missions should help the work of missions at home. Every idolatry that is thrown down abroad should be turned into a contribution for the upbuilding and strengthening of the Church at home. The care shown of the foundation is another instance of the wisdom of Solomon. The stones which were used in the foundation were in no sense considered insignificant or worthless. The stones which Solomon used are described as great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones; the terms which are used to describe the foundation which was laid in Zion are these–A stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. We read also of the foundations of the wall of the city which John saw in vision–The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. A curious illustration of the union between the permanent and the temporary is shown in all earthly arrangements. Solomon laid foundations which might have lasted as long as the earth itself endured. Judging by the foundations alone, one would have said concerning the work of Solomon, This is meant for permanence; no thought of change or decay ever occurred to the mind of the man who laid these noble courses. It is the same with ourselves in nearly all the relations of life. We know that we may die to-day, yet we lay plans which will require years and generations to accomplish. Yet we often speak as having no obligation to the future, or as if the future would do nothing for us, not knowing that it is the future which makes the present what it is, and that but for the future all our inspiration would be lost because our hope would perish. Let us see that our foundations are strong. A beautiful illustration of contrast and harmony is to be found in the distribution which Solomon made of his workers and the labour they were required to undertake. Here we find burden-bearers, hewers in the mountains, officers, and rulers. There was no standing upon one level or claiming of one dignity. Each man did what he could according to the measure of his capacity, and each man did precisely what he was told to do by his commanding officer. It is in vain to talk about any equality that does not recognise the principle of order and the principle of obedience. Our equality must be found in our devotion, in the pureness of our purpose, in the steadfastness of our loyalty, and not in merely official status or public prominence. The unity of the Church must be found, not in its forms, emoluments, dignities, and the like, but in the simplicity of its faith and the readiness of its eager and affectionate obedience. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER V
Hiram, king of Tyre, sends to congratulate Solomon on his
accession to the kingdom, 1.
Solomon consults him on building a temple for the Lord, and
requests his assistance, 2-6.
Hiram is pleased and specifies the assistance which he will
afford, 7-9.
He sends cedars and fir trees, 10.
The return made by Solomon, 11.
They form a league, 12.
Solomon makes a levy of men in Israel to prepare wood and
stones, 13-18.
NOTES ON CHAP. V
Verse 1. Hiram king of Tyre] It must have been at the beginning of Solomon’s reign that these ambassadors were sent; and some suppose that the Hiram mentioned here is different from him who was the friend of David; but there seems no very solid reason for this supposition. As Hiram had intimate alliance with David, and built his palace, 2Sa 5:11, he wished to maintain the same good understanding with his son, of whose wisdom he had no doubt heard the most advantageous accounts; and he loved the son because he always loved the father, for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hiram sent his servants unto Solomon, to wit, as soon as he heard of his succession in the throne, as the following words show, he sent to congratulate with him, as the manner of princes is.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Hiram . . . sent his servantsunto Solomonthe grandson of David’s contemporary [KITTO];or the same Hiram [WINERand others]. The friendly relations which the king of Tyre hadcultivated with David are here seen renewed with his son andsuccessor, by a message of condolence as well as of congratulation onhis accession to the throne of Israel. The alliance between the twonations had been mutually beneficial by the encouragement of usefultraffic. Israel, being agricultural, furnished corn and oil, whilethe Tyrians, who were a commercial people, gave in exchange theirPhoelignician manufactures, as well as the produce of foreign lands.A special treaty was now entered into in furtherance of thatundertaking which was the great work of Solomon’s splendid andpeaceful reign.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Hiram king of Tyre sent servants unto Solomon,…. His ambassadors, to condole him on the death of his father, and congratulate him on his accession to the throne; this king is called by the Phoenician historians s Hirom, and by Eupolemus t Suron, as he is Huram in 2Ch 2:3; and by Theophilus of Antioch u Hierom the son of Abelmalus, in the twelfth year of whose reign the temple was built:
for he had heard that they had anointed him, king in the room of his father; that the Israelites had anointed him king:
for Hiram was ever a lover of David; a friend and ally of his; and we never read of the Tyrians being at war with him, or assisting any of his enemies.
s Apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 17, 18. t Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 33, 34. u Ad Antolyc. l. 3. p. 131, 132.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Solomon’s negotiations with Hiram of Tyre. – 1Ki 5:1. When king Hiram of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in the place of David, he sent his servants, i.e., an embassage, to Solomon, to congratulate him (as the Syriac correctly explains) on his ascent of the throne, because he had been a friend of David the whole time ( , i.e., as long as both of them David and Hiram were kings). On Hiram and the length of his reign, see the remarks on 2Sa 5:11. This is passed over in the Chronicles as having no essential bearing upon the building of the temple.
1Ki 5:2-3 Solomon thereupon communicated to Hiram, by means of an embassy, his intention to carry out the building of the temple which his father projected, and asked him for building wood from Lebanon for the purpose. From the words, “Thou knowest that my father David could not build,” etc., it is evident that David had not only been busily occupied for a long time with the plan for building a temple, but that he had already commenced negotiations with Hiram on the matter; and with this 1Ch 22:4 agrees. “To the name of Jehovah:” this expression is based upon Deu 12:5 and Deu 12:11: “the place which the Lord shall choose to put His name there, or that His name may dwell there.” The name of Jehovah is the manifestation of the divine nature in a visible sign as a real pledge of His presence (see at 1Ki 12:5), and not merely numen Jovae quatenus ab hominibus cognoscitur, colitur, celebratur (Winer, Thenius). Hence in 2 Sam 7, to which Solomon refers, (1Ki 5:5, 1Ki 5:7) alternates with (1Ki 5:13). On the obstacle which prevented it, “because of the war, with which they (the enemies) had surrounded me,” see at 2Sa 7:9. On the construction, with a double accusative, compare the very similar passage, Psa 109:3, which fully establishes the rendering we have given, so that there is no necessity to assume that , war, stands for enemies (Ewald, 317, b.).
1Ki 5:4 “And now Jehovah my God has given me rest roundabout,” such as David never enjoyed for a permanency (cf. 2Sa 7:1). “No adversary is there.” This is not at variance with 1Ki 11:14, for Hadad’s enterprise belonged to a later period (see the comm. on that passage). “And no evil occurrence:” such as the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba, the pestilence at the numbering of the people, and other events which took place in David’s reign.
1Ki 5:5 “Behold, I intend to build.” followed by an infinitive, as in Exo 2:14; 2Sa 21:16. “As Jehovah spake to David;” viz., 2Sa 7:12, 2Sa 7:13.
1Ki 5:6-7 “And now command that they fell me cedars from Lebanon.” We may see from 1Ki 5:8 that Solomon had also asked for cypresses; and according to the parallel passage 2Ch 2:6., he had asked for a skilful artist, which is passed over here, so that it is only in 1Ki 7:13-14 that we find a supplementary notice that Hiram had sent one. It is evident from this request, that that portion of Lebanon on which the cedars suitable for building wood grew, belonged to the kingdom of Hiram. The cedar forest, which has been celebrated from very ancient times, was situated at least two days’ journey to the north of Beirut, near the northernmost and loftiest summits of the range, by the village of Bjerreh, to the north of the road which leads to Baalbek and not far to the east of the convent of Canobin, the seat of the patriarch of the Maronites, although Seetzen, the American missionaries, and Professor Ehrenberg found cedars and cedar groves in other places on northern Lebanon (see Rob. Pal. iii. 440,441, and Bibl. Res. pp. 588ff.). The northern frontier of Canaan did not reach as far as Bjerreh (see at Num 34:8-9). “My servants shall be with thy servants,” i.e., shall help them in the felling of the wood. “And the wages of thy servants will I give to thee altogether as thou sayest.” “For thou knowest that no one among us is skilful in felling trees like the Sidonians.” This refers to the knowledge of the most suitable trees, of the right time for felling, and of the proper treatment of the wood. The expression Sidonians stands for Phoenicians generally, since Sidon was formerly more powerful than Tyre, and that portion of Lebanon which produced the cedars belonged to the district of Sidon. The inhabitants of Sidon were celebrated from time immemorial as skilful builders, and well versed in mechanical arts (compare Rob. Pal. iii. 421ff., and Movers, Phoenizier, ii. 1, pp. 86ff.).
Hiram rejoiced exceedingly at this proposal on the part of Solomon, and praised Jehovah for having given David so wise a son as his successor (1Ki 7:7). It must have been a matter of great importance to the king of Tyre to remain on good terms with Israel, because the land of Israel was a granary for the Phoenicians, and friendship with such a neighbour would necessarily tend greatly to promote the interests of the Phoenician commerce. The praise of Jehovah on the part of Hiram does not presuppose a full recognition of Jehovah as the only true God, but simply that Hiram regarded the God of Israel as being as real a God as his own deities. Hiram expresses a fuller acknowledgment of Jehovah in 2Ch 2:11, where he calls Jehovah the Creator of heaven and earth; which may be explained, however, from Hiram’s entering into the religious notions of the Israelites, and does not necessarily involve his own personal belief in the true deity of Jehovah.
1Ki 5:8-11 Hiram then sent to Solomon, and promised in writing ( , 2Ch 2:10) to comply with his wishes. , “that which thou hast sent to me,” i.e., hast asked of me by messenger. are not firs, but cypresses. “My servants shall bring down (the trees) from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts (i.e., bind them into rafts and have them floated) upon the sea to the place which thou shalt send (word) to me, and will take them (the rafts) to pieces there, and thou wilt take (i.e., fetch them thence).” The Chronicles give Yafo, i.e., Joppa, Jaffa, the nearest harbour to Jerusalem on the Mediterranean Sea, as the landing-place (see at Jos 19:46). “And thou wilt do all my desire to give bread for my house,” i.e., provisions to supply the wants of the king’s court. “The mentioned in 1Ki 5:6 was also to be paid” (Thenius). This is quite correct; but Thenius is wrong when he proceeds still further to assert, that the chronicler erroneously supposed this to refer to the servants of Hiram who were employed in working the wood. There is not a word of this kind in the Chronicles; but simply Solomon’s promise to Hiram (1Ki 5:9): “with regard to the hewers (the fellers of the trees), I give thy servants wheat 20,000 cors, and barley 20,000 cors, and wine 20,000 baths, and oil 20,000 baths.” This is omitted in our account, in which the wages promised in 1Ki 5:6 to the Sidonian fellers of wood are not more minutely defined. On the other hand, the payment for the wood delivered by Solomon to Hiram, which is not mentioned in the Chronicles, is stated here in 1Ki 5:11. “Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food ( , a contraction of , from ; cf. Ewald, 79, b.) for his house (the maintenance of his royal court), and 20 cors of beaten oil; this gave Solomon to Hiram year by year,” probably as long as the delivery of the wood or the erection of Solomon’s buildings lasted. These two accounts are so clear, that Jac. Capp., Gramt., Mov., Thenius, and Bertheau, who have been led by critical prejudices to confound them with one another, and therefore to attempt to emend the one from the other, are left quite alone. For the circumstance that the quantity of wheat, which Solomon supplied to Hiram for his court, was just the same as that which he gave to the Sidonian workmen, does not warrant our identifying the two accounts. The fellers of the trees also received barley, wine, and oil in considerable quantities; whereas the only other thing which Hiram received for his court was oil, and that not common oil, but the finest olive oil, namely 20 cors of , i.e., beaten oil, the finest kind of oil, which was obtained from the olives when not quite ripe by pounding them in mortars, and which had not only a whiter colour, but also a purer flavour than the common oil obtained by pressing from the ripe olives (cf. Celsii Hierobot. ii. pp. 349f., and Bhr , Symbolik, i. p. 419). Twenty cors were 200 baths, i.e., according to the calculations of Thenius, about ten casks (1 cask = 6 pails; 1 pail = 72 cans). If we bear in mind that this was the finest kind of oil, we cannot speak of disproportion to the quantity of wheat delivered. Thenius reckons that 20,000 cors of wheat were about 38,250 Dresden scheffeln (? sacks).
1Ki 5:12 The remark that “the Lord gave Solomon wisdom” refers not merely to the treaty which Solomon made with Hiram, through which he obtained materials and skilled workmen for the erection of the house of God (Thenius), but also to the wise use which he made of the capacities of his own subjects for this work. For this verse not only brings to a close the section relating to Solomon’s negotiations with Hiram, but it also forms an introduction to the following verses, in which the intimation given by Solomon in 1Ki 5:6, concerning the labourers who were to fell wood upon Lebanon in company with Hiram’s men, is more minutely defined.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram. | B. C. 1014. |
1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. 2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. 5 And, behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build a house unto my name. 6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. 7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. 8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. 9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
We have here an account of the amicable correspondence between Solomon and Hiram. Tyre was a famous trading city, that lay close upon the sea, in the border of Israel; its inhabitants (as should seem) were none of the devoted nations, nor ever at enmity with Israel, and therefore David never offered to destroy them, but lived in friendship with them. It is here said of Hiram their king that he was ever a lover of David; and we have reason to think he was a worshipper of the true God, and had himself renounced, though he could not reform, the idolatry of his city. David’s character will win the affections even of those that are without. Here is,
I. Hiram’s embassy of compliment to Solomon, v. 1. He sent, as is usual among princes, to condole with him on the death of David, and to renew his alliances with him upon his succession to the government. It is good keeping up friendship and communion with the families in which religion is uppermost.
II. Solomon’s embassy of business to Hiram, sent, it is likely, by messengers of his own. In wealth, honour, and power, Hiram was very much inferior to Solomon, yet Solomon had occasion to be beholden to him and begged his favour. Let us never look with disdain on those below us, because we know not how soon we may need them. Solomon, in his letter to Hiram, acquaints him,
1. With his design to build a temple to the honour of God. Some think that temples among the heathen took their first rise and copy from the tabernacle which Moses erected in the wilderness, and that there were none before that; however there were many houses built in honour of the false gods before this was built in honour of the God of Israel, so little is external splendour a mark of the true church. Solomon tells Hiram, who was himself no stranger to the affair, (1.) That David’s wars were an obstruction to him, that he could not build this temple, though he designed it, v. 3. They took up much of his time, and thoughts, and cares, were a constant expense to him and a constant employment of his subjects; so that he could not do it so well as it must be done, and therefore, it not being essential to religion, he must leave it to be done by his successor. See what need we have to pray that God will give peace in our time, because, in time or war, the building of the gospel temple commonly goes on slowly. (2.) That peace gave him an opportunity to build it, and therefore he resolved to set about it immediately: God has given me rest both at home and abroad, and there is no adversary (v. 4), no Satan (so the word is), no instrument of Satan to oppose it, or to divert us from it. Satan does all he can to hinder temple work (1Th 2:18; Zec 3:1), but when he is bound (Rev. xx. 2) we should be busy. When there is no evil occurrent, then let us be vigorous and zealous in that which is good and get it forward. When the churches have rest let them be edified, Acts ix. 31. Days of peace and prosperity present us with a fair gale, which we must account for if we improve not. As God’s providence excited Solomon to think of building the temple, by giving him wealth and leisure, so his promise encouraged him. God had told David that his son should build him a house, v. 5. He will take it as a pleasure to be thus employed, and will not lose the honour designed him by that promise. It may stir us up much to good undertakings to be assured of good success in them. Let God’s promise quicken our endeavours.
2. With his desire that Hiram would assist him herein. Lebanon was the place whence timber must be had, a noble forest in the north of Canaan, particularly expressed in the grant of that land to Israel–all Lebanon, Josh. xiii. 5. So that Solomon was proprietor of all its productions. The cedars of Lebanon are spoken of as, in a special manner, the planting of the Lord (Ps. cix. 16), being designed for Israel’s use and particularly for temple service. But Solomon owned that though the trees were his the Israelites had not skill to hew timber like the Sidonians, who were Hiram’s subjects. Canaan was a land of wheat and barley (Deut. viii. 8), which employed Israel in the affairs of husbandry, so that they were not at all versed in manufactures: in them the Sidonians excelled. Israel, in the things of God, are a wise and understanding people; and yet, in curious arts, inferior to their neighbours. True piety is a much more valuable gift of heaven than the highest degree of ingenuity. Better be an Israelite skilful in the law than a Sidonian skilful to hew timber. But, the case being thus, Solomon courts Hiram to send him workmen, and promises (v. 6) both to assist them (my servants shall be with thy servants, to work under them), and to pay them (unto thee will I give hire for thy servants); for the labourer, even in church-work, though it be indeed its own wages, is worthy of his hire, The evangelical prophet, foretelling the glory of the church in the days of the Messiah, seems to allude to this story, Isa. 60, where he prophesies, (1.) That the sons of strangers (such were the Tyrians and Sidonians) shall build up the wall of the gospel temple, v. 10. Ministers were raised up among the Gentiles for the edifying of the body of Christ. (2.) That the glory of Lebanon shall be brought to it to beautify it, v. 13. All external endowments and advantages shall be made serviceable to the interests of Christ’s kingdom.
3. Hiram’s reception of, and return to, this message.
(1.) He received it with great satisfaction to himself: He rejoiced greatly (v. 7) that Solomon trod in his father’s steps, and carried on his designs, and was likely to be so great a blessing to his kingdom. In this Hiram’s generous spirit rejoiced, and not merely in the prospect he had of making an advantage to himself by Solomon’s employing him. What he had the pleasure of he gave God the praise of: Blessed be the Lord, who has given to David (who was himself a wise man) a wise son to rule over this great people. See here, [1.] With what pleasure Hiram speaks of Solomon’s wisdom and the extent of his dominion. Let us learn not to envy others either those secular advantages or those endowments of the mind wherein they excel us. What a great comfort it is to those that wish well to the Israel of God to see religion and wisdom kept up in families from one generation to another, especially in great families and those that have great influence on others! where it is so, God must have the glory of it. If to godly parents be given a godly seed (Mal. ii. 15), it is a token for good, and a happy indication that the entail of the blessing shall not be cut off.
(2.) He answered it with great satisfaction to Solomon, granting him what he desired, and showing himself very forward to assist him in this great and good work to which he was laying his hand. We have here his articles of agreement with Solomon concerning this affair, in which we may observe Hiram’s prudence. [1.] He deliberated upon the proposal, before he returned an answer (v. 8): I have considered the things. It is common for those that make bargains rashly afterwards to wish them unmade again. The virtuous woman considers a field and then buys it, Prov. xxxi. 16. Those do not lose time who take time to consider. [2.] He descended to particulars in the articles, that there might be no misunderstanding afterwards, to occasion a quarrel. Solomon had spoken of hewing the trees (v. 6), and Hiram agrees to what he desired concerning that (v. 8); but nothing had been said concerning carriage, and this matter therefore must be settled. Land-carriage would be very troublesome and chargeable; he therefore undertakes to bring all the timber down from Lebanon by sea, a coasting voyage. Conveyance by water is a great convenience to trade, for which God is to have praise, who taught man that discretion. Observe what a definite bargain Hiram made. Solomon must appoint the place where the timber shall be delivered, and thither Hiram will undertake to bring it and be responsible for its safety. As the Sidonians excelled the Israelites in timber-work, so they did in sailing; for Tyre and Sidon were situate at the entry of the sea (Ezek. xxvii. 3): they therefore were fittest to take care of the water-carriage. Tractant fabrilia fabri–Every artist has his trade assigned. And, [3.] If Hiram undertake for the work, and do all Solomon’s desire concerning the timber (v. 8), he justly expects that Solomon shall undertake for the wages: “Thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household (v. 9), not only for the workmen, but for my own family.” If Tyre supply Israel with craftsmen, Israel will supply Tyre with corn, Ezek. xxvii. 17. Thus, by the wise disposal of Providence, one country has need of another and is benefited by another, that there may be mutual correspondence and dependence, to the glory of God our common parent.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
1 Kings 5 AND 2 Chronicles 2
Building Plans, 1Ki 5:1-12; AND 2Ch 2:1; 2Ch 2:3-16
The two accounts of Kings and Chronicles are very similar, but that of Chronicles is more detailed, mainly because of the addition of things especially important to the priests and Levites, who were influential in preservation of the Chronicles account. Whereas the Chronicles account launches immediately into the planning for the building of the temple, the Kings account begins by telling of the sending of an embassy of condolence to Solomon upon the death of his father. Then it proceeds with the account of Solomon’s request to Hiram for materials and workmen for building of the temple which David had desired to build, but was forbidden by the Lord. The close friendship of David and Hiram is stressed by Kings.
In his request Solomon reviewed the circumstances of the Lord’s refusal to allow David to build the temple because of his many wars. Now that the Lord had given Solomon a kingdom at peace, as He promised, and in keeping with the instructions of his father, Solomon proposes to erect the temple. The Chronicles account emphasizes the purpose of the temple with reference to the incense, shewbread, burnt offerings, sabbaths, feasts, etc. It is to be a great house because it is for a great God. And Solomon is unworthy to build such a house, which cannot actually contain a God, whom even the heavens cannot contain.
The Chronicles account is also much more detailed in the materials and the terms of agreement between Solomon and Hiram. (The. king of Tyre is called Huram in Chronicles because of a different vowel pointing in the ancient Hebrew.) Solomon requested a skilled artisan to be over the cunning, or skilled work, which would be done to embellish and beautify the temple structure. He should be adept in all kinds of metals from the precious gold to the sturdy iron. He should oversee the work of the cunning workmen whom David had already trained for the work in Jerusalem. He further desired that Hiram’s workmen work in the forests of Lebanon to provide an abundance of timber, as cedar, fir (thought to be cypress), and algum (probably sandalwood). The men of Solomon would work in the forests with the skilled timber cutters of Hiram. In payment for all this Solomon proposed to furnish Hiram yearly twenty thousand measure each of wheat flour and barley and twenty thousand baths each of wine and oil. In English measure this would be about 13,480 bushels each of the grain products and.about 120,000 gallons each of wine and oil.
Chronicles states that Hiram wrote a message of commendation which he sent to Solomon in which he blessed the Lord for having so loved His people as to give them such a wise and prudent man to rule over them. He stated also what a credit to David his son Solomon was. He proceeds then to agree to the required things for which Solomon asked that he might build the magnificent temple. In keeping with the request he was sending a man very skilled in the things for which Solomon asked to work in the metals, stone, timber, and textiles which would go into the construction. He was the son of a Danite woman of Israel and a man of Tyre. His name was also Hiram, or Huram-abi. (In Chronicles the “-abi” is translated “my father’s” incorrectly. It should have been left as a suffix of respect affixed to his name.) King Hiram agreed to the payment, suggested by Solomon, of the wheat, barley, wine, and oil. The timber was to be cut, brought down out of the mountains to the sea, and there arranged in floats to be sent by sea south to the port of Joppa. Here it would be broken up and conveyed overland to Jerusalem.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
SOLOMON AND THE SACRED TEMPLE
1 Kings 1-11.
IN previous discussions, we have called attention to the chronology of the Old Testament, and have shown that the Books are correctly placed from the standpoint of history. Certainly the Books of the Kings belong where found in the Sacred Canon. David has held the field of view in the Books of Samuel, and I Kings opens with a record of his age, infirmity and approaching death.
The Books of Biblical history make up, for the most part, an unbroken series. The events reported as attending the kings death are at once natural, in keeping with the times and customs of that far-off century. The scramble between the sons as to succession in office and the inheritance of riches and honor, are easily believable because they belong to every century, and abate not. The methods of Adonijah, amounting to merely a repetition of Absoloms abortive attempt, reveal the mental inability and moral and political incapacity of that ambitious boy. His neglect to take Nathan, the Prophet, into counsel, or to seek advice from Benaiah and other mighty men, or even regard his brother Solomons claims, reveal the fact that he knew himself to be indulging a political plot that could succeed only in shadows and secrecy.
The opening chapter makes clear the fact that the Prophet of God is a capital statesman, for it was Nathan who brought this whole matter to the attention of Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon; and through her, reached the king and settled the question, and seated Bathshebas son on the throne.
An interesting study is excited by those verses in this same first chapter which reveal two things; first, that the dying man is far more interested in things eternal than in things temporal (1kings 1:29); more deeply concerned in permanent Israel than in his own passing throne (1 Kings 1:30); more alive to the moral and spiritual interests of his country than to its material and political supremacy; and in proportion to that interest, anxious to be succeeded in office by the one man to whom he could intrust both Gods people and Gods truth (1Ki 2:2 fol.).
With this introduction, we come naturally to three themes that compass somewhat clearly the chapters of our text: Solomons Succession to the Throne; Solomons Greatest Single Achievement; The Secrets of Solomons Signal Failure.
SOLOMONS SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE
Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly (1Ki 2:12).
In coming to this office, he came as his fathers favorite. In the establishment of Israel, Isaac desired the line through Esau, and Rebecca contrived to secure it through her favorite, Jacob; but in this instance, father and mother agree as to the son who shall stand in the fathers stead. It is not at all likely that this choice was wholly a result of the certain influence exerted over the king by the beautiful Bathsheba. That impulse was doubtless present, but the controlling sentiment of the matter rested upon a firmer foundation. A father knows his own children. He knows their weaknesses and their strength; their abilities and their disabilities; their traits of dependableness and their habits of deceit. As between Adonijah and Solomon, David did not need to debate. From the days when as infants they lay in his arms until now, he had studied them, and doubtless often with this very hour in view; and his judgment was already made and had been communicated to both Bathsheba and the Prophet. It is difficult for children to imagine that their parents understand them, properly estimate them, justly judge them; but practically every family furnishes a positive proof that the best judges of character are the very people who have sought to control conduct and direct endeavor. The after history of Solomon is not all the Christian reader could wish. Had David lived on for two-score more years, feeble, infirm, having surrendered the reigns of rule into Solomons hands, he would have seen much come to pass that would have grieved his aged soul; but in spite of all that, he still would have gone to his grave, convinced beyond debate that Adonijah would have fallen shorter still, and Israels interests suffered more deeply in his hands.
These facts are the basis of a second reason why the rulership went to Solomon.
He was the Lords chosen. Men easily make mistakes in judging their fellows. Fathers even fall short in truly estimating the worth or worthlessness of their own, but God, who looketh on the heart rather than on the outward appearance, and who knows what is in man, as against what man imagines and announces himself to be, makes no such mistake. With the discernment of an infinite wisdom, Jehovah saw in Solomon mental traits, moral convictions, spiritual aspirations, that led Him, as He was led in the case of David, the father, to elect this man from among many sons.
The reaction in my mind, on reading the first chapters of I Kings, was a revolt. In my haste I came near questioning the wisdom of God to set such a man as Solomon on the throne, or to lend His approval to his methods of government. That grew out of the slaughters recorded in chapter 2. My soul sickened when he sent his servant Benaiah to slay his brother, and he fell upon him that he died (1Ki 2:25); when Joab was taken from the horns of the altar and slain without mercy (1Ki 2:30-34); when Shimei perished at Benaiahs hands and by the kings command (1Ki 2:39-41), I confess I came to the phrase, And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, with a sickening sense, asking myself, Can one cement the foundations of a true throne with the blood of his brothers, and be under a Divine benediction?
But I am glad for further study. Our judgments are often immature; our speech is often hasty, and when we take issue with the Divine will, our way is always mistaken. I had overlooked for the time that each of these men had not only courted death, but practically compelled it, and had compelled it by the violation of the Law of the Lord. For instance, the one of them to whom the readers sympathy goes out most quickly is Joab, the warrior, the man who had once favored David and fought for him; but alas, when one reviews the history of Joab, he consents to the justice of his fate. How many he had slain, and with what perfidy he had performed these slaughters! Guile had been his brutal instrument. He took Abner aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died (2Sa 3:27). He concealed his sword while whispering in Amasas ear and yet ripped him until his bowels fell to the ground (2Sa 20:10). The Law of the Lord was, If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die (Exo 21:14); and the Law of the Lord is living still and Solomons servant is merely executing the same.
Slaughter is horrible; battle and death wound and offend our spirits; but battle and death and slaughter are not, when all are combined, the undermining factors of civilization, the fiends of successful rebellion against all moral worth, that disregard of Divine law and disobedience to the same, surely effect. It is important, I grant you, that men shall live their natural days, but far more important is it that the law of God shall live. In the last analysis, death is the natural incident of disobedience, so that the brutal features of Solomons reign are features intended to end the shedding of blood. It was a war against war; it was a just judgment against unjust judgments; it was a capital punishment of most capital crimes.
Solomon also became the choice of the people.
And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them (1Ki 1:39-40).
It is a great sequence when the public acclaims the will of the Lord. The government chosen of God and clearly accepted by the people has magnificent promise, and holds momentous prospects. It is fairly evident from the whole text that Solomon had those personal traits that rendered Absalom popular in his daythe traits of physical beauty and prowess; but in Solomons case, intellectual acumen and even a certain spiritual power added to his acceptance with the people. It may be true that the designing politician easily deceives the public and often experiences undeserved popularity; but few uninspired sentences are more true than Abraham Lincolns, You cannot fool all the people all of the time.
We are not enamored of the notion of the old Latin proverb, Vox populi, vox Dei, for it is a rule that has more exceptions than applications! But on the other hand, the final judgment of man is compelled to conform to the judgment of God, for what God sees and understands by His infinite wisdom becomes increasingly evident by the action that makes history; and sooner or later the voice of the people will second the voice of God.
Victory ought to be comparatively easy for a young man entering upon an important office with the backing of a kingly father, an infinite Lord and the will of the people. At many points Solomon witnessed success; his rule was long continued; his material prosperity became the amazement of the age; his political powers rapidly increased, while his mental and spiritual perceptions were the envy of kings and queens.
I think, however, it is well to dwell upon
SOLOMONS GREATEST SINGLE ACHIEVEMENT
This was not his alliance with Pharaoh, nor his marriage into the kings house, nor the political supremacy to which he attained, nor the luxurious living in which he indulged himself, nor the splendors of his court! On the other hand, it was the creation of the temple of God. That achievement is as easily linked up, however, with some facts of his mental and spiritual existence as it is with his political and religious supremacy.
He laid for lifes fabric a true foundation. When God appeared to him in Gibeon in a dream at night, and said, Ask what I shall give thee (1Ki 3:5), the answer revealed the soul of the youth. Give * * Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad (1Ki 3:9). A prayer like that could result only in the Divine favor; yea, even in the Divine affection. So far as the record goes, the boy Solomon had been a beautiful lad, his life clean, his conduct upright, his character above reproach; and now to have such a prayer emanate from his lips invites both human and Divine love. We are compelled to think that the principles which compel Gods love are not wholly different from those which control human affection. When the rich young ruler, white-souled, intellectually accomplished, spiritually enthusiastic, fell at the feet of Jesus to inquire what good thing he could do to inherit eternal life, Christ looked upon him to love him. It may be true that by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God; but it is not true that God disregards the deeds of the Law, looks with contempt or indifference upon high human conduct, takes no vital concern in beautiful character. The whole Scripture seems to clearly intimate that upright conduct linked with spiritual expression is lovely in the sight of God.
Neither the Bible nor Spirit-instructed men imagine, with the author of a certain University textbook, that the human intellect is merely a brute mind greatly developed, nor do they hold with another author, compulsory upon students study in some institutions, that the soul is accounted for by the development of the social in brute life.
On the contrary, the Bible teaches that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, including intellect and spirit, his reasoning powers and his capability of receiving revelation.
If Solomon lived now and was a student in certain departments of the University, they would be teaching him that the only possible way of having wisdom is to evolve the ape intellectuality to a higher plane; but suffering the misfortune of living and dying before Darwins day, the great soul of the worlds wisest man knew no better than to look upward instead of downward for such acquisition, and pray, Give * * Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad (1Ki 3:9).
There are some of us who are perfectly willing to be regarded as belonged to Mediaeval times, if Mediaevalism takes the Scripture against the speculation of man and looks above for true wisdom instead of back, beneath, or below. If I could have my personal choice for every child born into my home, concerning the whole matter of education, I would rather have him or her begin the real battle of life begging for such a blessing and believing that God is capable of granting it, than to have him made familiar with all the sophistries and speculations of those modern text-books that turn men to believing that they are a big improvement on brute ancestors, and boasting the same. One thing is fairly clear, namely, that men who believe God and build life according to the laws of His Book, are the simple men of the centuries to which they belong, and become the inspiring examples to children born of later days.
He built not for self alone, but he remembered God. It is not difficult to believe, if one follows the personal history of this potentate, that his steps are determined by definite objectives. When all Israel had come under his sway, he appointed twelve officers, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision (1Ki 4:7). In other words, he was a man who organized government and who organized finances, and witnessed the fruits of his organization in both fields by bringing the entire people to subjection and creating a palace of such splendor and attendants as the world has seldom seen. Forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen (1Ki 4:26), sound almost as extravagant as the years of Methuselahs life, and yet there is far less doubt of the latter than of the former. That he was not a mere indolent, daddled in the lap of a daily luxury wrung from unwilling taxpayers, is everywhere apparent. He was a man among men, a prince among thinkers, a king among courtiers. His fame was in all the nations. He spake 3,000 proverbs; he wrote 1,005 songs; he made all nature to contribute in illustration, and he compelled admiration from all the kings of the earth (1Ki 4:29-34). His banqueting halls assembled the worlds elite, his wisdom astonished the worlds wise.
His alliance with King Hiram, however, was made, not that he might further extend his kingly power, nor that he might exercise a wider world influence, but in the interest of A TEMPLE OF GOD. In the realms of Hiram were the cedars of Lebanon coveted for that sanctuary. In the able-bodied men of his own kingdom were the thousands he proposed to set at the task. He laid upon these competent builders a tax of time, tithing every three months, and builders in wood and stone wrought together that the temple might rise. And what a temple it was!
That sanctuary, glorious as is this description, requires many another line to do it justice. 2 Chronicles 3, 4 tells of the same great subject. The tabernacle was the prophecy of it, and the New Jerusalem to be let down from Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, is the final substance of which this was the symbol. It arose without sound of a hammer; it excelled all the sanctuaries that the world had ever seen or has yet seen; its appointments were the most expensive and yet intended in every case to turn the mind to God, to teach the heart to pray, the feet to walk in the path of the just, and the tongue to sing.
There are some extravagances that are justified. It pays to put great sacrifice into the proper education of your child, for when the preparation days are over, life is to follow; and it pays to put thousands of dollars into a sanctuary, because when the men who sacrificed to erect it sleep in the dust, the sanctuary will live and pour upon the world streams of sacred influence.
There is, however, in the first verse of the 7th chapter a significant remark, But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. In other words, while he built for himself, he at the same time and on a vaster scale, built for God. There are people who think when they build for themselves that is all they can do. Gods house must wait until mine is finished! Divinely sacred obligations must be delayed until the domestic and secular are discharged. God cannot receive a gift until the grocer is fully paid. How strangely men reason! How quickly they forget revelation. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness?. It would be an interesting thing to investigate history to find whether Israel was impoverished by the erection of the Temple, or whether she was not enriched instead, to discover whether those were days of financial reverses or the one period of Israels material prosperity.
The reign of Solomon remains forever glorious and stands as a symbol of all material success. Sacrifices for the sanctuary do not impoverishthey enrich; they do not bleedthey bless! The only man who suffers when the sanctuary is going up is the man who withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
But an equally significant thing is found in another statement from this Scripture.
Solomon knew that an elegant Temple was inadequate without God. One no sooner reads, So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord (1Ki 7:51), than he finds the same king exercising some of the wisdom that had come in answer to his prayer. That wisdom voiced itself in the decision to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. That ark of the covenant represented the Divine Presence and the expression of the Divine favor. Until it came into the Temple, the Temple itself, with all its splendid proportions and appointments, was destitute of spiritual power. There is no advantage resident in an elegant house called a church of God. There are many fanes that are cold, ceremonious, spiritually dead. In all their splendid precincts there is not the sound of an angels wing, nor the sense of a spiritual presence. The most pathetic sight in the world is the stately sanctuary out of which God has gone, or into which He has never come.
I have seen, in the Old World, cathedrals that were merely show-houses open to the eyes of American visitors; but few folk ever gathered in their spacious halls, and even those who came had not sufficient spiritual life to start one sleepy rivulet of praise, and the consequence was that a vested choir of boys were salaried to provide a substitute. They are elegant sarcophagi, enshrining the dead forms of a former faith; and we rehearse all of this to remind those who worship in this house of God and by whose splendid and heroic sacrifices these buildings are rising at this city centerhouses better adapted to Divine worship than any I have ever seen besidethat they could and would become mausoleums and empty ones at that, if out of them we lost God, or into them we failed to bring the ark of the covenant with its Shekinah glory, symbol of the Presence of God, and its typical content, Aarons rod that budded, sign of life coming out of death; the pot of manna, type of the bread from Heaven, and the tables of the Law, a faithful transcription of the Divine Word.
I say it solemnly and with the profoundest conviction that these buildings will mean to us and to our children and to our city and country and to the world, exactly as much as may be measured by the Divine presence in them, and the emanation of the Word of God from them. They are not an end in themselves, but a medium instead; and the medium of a message Divine. If God be here, and here His Word be preached and believed and practised, then the untold ages will unfold the influences of this sanctuary and the nations of the world will feel it.
SOLOMONS SECRETS OF SIGNAL FAILURE
The Bible is unique in that it as faithfully presents the secrets of failure as it does those of achievement. Its photographic effects reveal blemishes as surely as beauty, and make as evident the sins of men as they make clear the sanctity of God. Through these same chapters there runs an undertone, a minor key, a note set to sobs, and Solomon is the subject of this as well.
He started wrong by a compromise of his convictions. Life is a composite! Conduct is paradoxical! Character itself is unnatural compromise! The good and bad mix together. Successes and failures are sometimes so interwoven that the lesser is not seen in the light of the greater.
In the 3rd chapter we read, And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaohs daughter (1Ki 3:1). That is a significant step. Its original objective may have been political, but politics and morals cannot be divorced; life and religion cannot be separated. We are told that Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, but there must be added, only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places (1Ki 3:3). How significant! An unholy alliance results in disloyalty to the Divinest, and in partial departure from the plain Word of God. Thereby a question is raised, Which of these elements will conquer at last? As Joseph Parker says: There may be but a semi-colon between that one path of life and the other in the verbal record of the two, and yet that semi-colon is finally swelled to an infinity of distance and only time will tell which triumphed the statutes of the Lord or the incense of idolatry. When one leaves the incense of idolatry for the statutes of the Lord, he faces away from the morning twilight to a perfect day; but when one leaves the statutes of the Lord for the incense in high places, he is faced from the evening twilight toward utter and increasing darkness.
There is a wonderful psychology in one of Davids prayers, Who can understand his errors? cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression (Psa 19:12-13). There is no doubt whatever that that very utterance describes the intimate and progressive relation between a mere error in judgment or thought, and that final sin described as the great transgression or the iniquity unpardonable.
A second secret of his failure was pride in culture and possessions. His wisdom went on exhibit (1Ki 4:34). The kings and queens of the earth came to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10), not merely to study and admire the material possessions of King Solomon, but to sit under his scintillating genius, give audience to his matchless moral maxims known as proverbs and applaud his superior and almost unnumbered songs. The most insidious temptations of modern times take those two identical forms, the exhibit of wisdom on the one side, and of wealth on the other. It is a serious question now which pride is the more arrogant, that of culture or of wealth. Through the first, men reject God and set themselves above the stars. Through the second, men neglect God and degrade themselves below demons.
Criticism is easy and men can be found who pass unsparing censure upon Solomon, but when we see the millions going down before one or the other of these temptations, why should we be surprised that Solomons feet slid under the shove of both?
Education is a great thing, but when education brings a man to be wise above what is written, it converts him into a cultured fool.
Material wealth has its advantages, but when riches result in luxuries that pander only to lust, then indeed they prove themselves the root of all evil.
I shall not stop now to elaborate on the dedication of the Temple, to remark upon the prayers made in the place, and the promises of God uttered for its good. The service of dedication, in which we now engage together, affords us further opportunity for such study.
But I want to conclude by calling your attention to the contents of the 11th chapter. It might be named The Eclipse of Solomons Sun!
Through unholy alliances he lost out with God. The chapter not only records his love of many strange women, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, Hittites, etc., but as one author has said, lays emphasis upon the fact that they were strange women, not in the ordinary sense of scarlet, but in the Bible sense, strangers to God and His Word. The alliance was not so much a personal one, with wives and concubines, as it was an irreligious one with false systems.
The Lord had warned the Children of Israel concerning the nations about, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods; and yet it is written, Solomon clave unto these in love; and again, his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel. No wonder it was said, And the Lord was angry with Solomon, nor yet further theatened concerning his kingdom, I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
Whatever the alliance is that turns one from God and His Word, that is unholy, and in the end, destined to destroy.
The 11th chapter of I Kings is pathetic in that it records the down-going of Solomon. He not only worshipped at false shrines but even consented to construct the same (1Ki 11:7). To turn from God is eventually to turn against God. To admit a false shrine into your life is to cease from worship at the true one, and who will tell the final result? With Solomon the foundations crumbled. His religion wrong, his kingdom rent; his religion wrong, his friends turned to enemies, and his lovers sought his life, and when the day broke that personal, political, fraternal and domestic disaster swept over his soul, wave upon wave, it was the same day in which he must prepare to meet his God, for the record concludes, And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead (1Ki 11:43).
It will forever remain a question as to what that sleep meant for the soul of the matchless man. Theologians will always dispute whether he was saved or lost and whether he went to his grave in calm confidence or with cringing and justifiable fear.
But human judgment is inadequate, superficial, even censorious. How blessed the circumstance that Divine judgment is after another manner! If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Personally, I believe that Solomon was a saved man, whose weaknesses, incidental to the flesh, never wholly eclipsed his faith in God, and whose disloyal acts were Divinely judged, and sentence executed even while he lived, whose soul was saved; yet so as by fire, and many of whose works were burned even before his very eyes. The pathos of his death is not in the danger that for him to be dead is to be in hell. It is in the failure to so fight the battle of life as to come to a victorious close, to a triumphant entry, to the shout of a Paul, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day (2Ti 4:7-8).
It is worth an eternal contest against the adversary and his multiplied forms of temptation, to be able to come to the last hour as Dwight L. Moody met the last enemy, when, silencing his daughters prayers, he said, No, no, Emma; dont ask that. The earth is receding; the heavens are opening; God is calling. I am going!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TYRIAN KING
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
1Ki. 5:1. Hiram, king of Tyre, called Hirom (1Ki. 5:7; 1Ki. 5:9), Huram (2Ch. 2:3), and by Josephus , the same who bad sent David timbers for his palace (2Sa. 5:11; 1Ch. 14:1). This embassy to Solomon was a declaration that he desired to maintain equally friendly relations with Davids successor Solomon took the incident as an opportunity to negociate for cedar trees out of Lebanon (1Ki. 5:6) with which to build the temple.
1Ki. 5:3. Wars which were about him on every sideDavid was not prevented from erecting Gods temple because wars allowed him no leisure (see 2Sa. 7:1, Lord had given him rest, &c.); he was free from military claims to do this work, but not free from military stains; his had been a career of war, and Jehovahs temple must be reared by one who should prefigure the Prince of Peace (cf. 1Ch. 28:8). Note: Solomon assumes that Hiram knew Davids intention to build the temple (cf. 1Ch. 27:1-4).
1Ki. 5:4. Neither adversary nor evil occurrent means an unhappy event, e.g., plague, rebellion, famine. David had such evil occurrent in Absaloms rebellion, and in the plague following his numbering the people.
1Ki. 5:6. Cedar trees out of LebanonOnly from the forests of Lebanon could Solomon have procured such timber for the temple. These forests belonged to the Phnicians, who carried on extensive trade in both cedars and cypresses. The best cedars grew on the north-west of the mountain range. The Sidonians were at this time expert shipbuilders and good navigators; it would, therefore, be an easy part of their contract to convey by sea their merchandize (1Ki. 5:9). Robinson says the famous cedar forests lie two days journey north of Beirut, near the highest mountain peak, distant from Jebul Sunnin six or eight hours north.
1Ki. 5:7. Hiram said, Blessed be the LORDThe Septuagint here reads , not ; yet this recognition of JEHOVAH might indicate in Hiram nothing more than a polytheistic acceptance of the God of Israel as one of many deities. In the parallel passage (2Ch. 2:12) Hiram calls him Jehovah, God of Israel, and adds, that made heaven and earth. Yet this may only imply his assent to the religious views of the Israelites.
1Ki. 5:8. Cedar and fir more probably denotes the cypress, not fir, although the pine, larch, and cypress are all found at this day in the Lebanon; and by berosh may be intended either tree.
1Ki. 5:9. Convey them by sea in floatslit., I will make them into floats on the sea. Thus they could be brought down the river, probably the Dog River, to the sea coast, and by sea to Joppa (2Ch. 2:16).
1Ki. 5:11. Wheat for food, and pure oilPhnicia was poor in agricultural produce, but rich in umbrageous growth. The land of Israel was poor in trees, rich in corn and oil. This exchange was, therefore, mutually advantageous. The pure oil, beaten, i.e., finest oil, was obtained from olives not fully ripe, and pounded in mortars; had a white colour, as well as a better flavour; and yielded a purer and clearer light than the ordinary olive oil obtained through the press.Keil
1Ki. 5:12. The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, &c., means that, guided by wisdom profitable to direct, Solomon entered into a friendly alliance and commercial treaty with Hiram.
1Ki. 5:13. Raised a levylit., caused to go up (see note on 1Ki. 4:6), to take out 30,000 men. These were Israelites, in distinction from Canaanitish bondservants (1Ki. 9:20; 2Ch. 8:7-9), and prisoners taken by David in war, numbering 153,600; and these levied Israelites are employed on lighter terms than the bondslaves, serving in detachments of 10,000 for one month, and then resting for two months at home, while the other two detachments take their turn.
1Ki. 5:14. Adoniram was over the levy (cf. note on 1Ki. 4:6).
1Ki. 5:15. Threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, &c70,000 carriers and 80,000 cutters of wood; or, more probably, of stone being more strictly used of a cutter of stone (2Ki. 12:12), although used of both in this instance (Gesenius). This total of 150,000 were strangers in the land of Israel (2Ch. 2:17). not Israelites.
1Ki. 5:16. Officers over the work, 3,300These were over the bondmen; other 550 captains were over the 30,000 Israelites (1Ki. 9:23).
1Ki. 5:18. The stone squarers The Giblim (Jos. 13:5), i.e., inhabitants of These Giblites (see Eze. 27:9) were specially skilful in shipbuilding. Thenius suggests that the slightly changed word be accepted, and then reads, they wreathed the stones, put a border round them. i.e., And Solomons builders and Hirams builders did hew them and bevel them. Such grooved or bevelled stones, twenty or thirty feet long by six feet, are now visible to Palestine explorers as the basement stones of the ancient temple, and are probably the original stones used to lay the foundation of the house (1Ki. 5:17).W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki. 5:1-18
PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT WORK
I. That the preparations for a great work are facilitated where a genuine friendship exists.
1. The friendship of a worthy father it often continued to his posterity. For Hiram was ever a lover of David (1Ki. 5:1). The friendships formed by a good man are a precious legacy to his children. He may have many and bitter enemies; but the faithful few will love him to the end of his days, and after his death will honour his memory even in his offspring. A son will sometimes receive signal advantages in life, for his fathers sake. David rejoiced to show kindness to Mephibosheth, the crippled son of his friend Jonathan (2Sa. 9:3; 2Sa. 9:13). A fast friend is a rare bird. Most friends now-a-days are like Joabs dagger, as soon in and as soon out. The love of foster-brothers in Ireland far surpassethsaith one, but I believe him notall the loves of all men. They only love truly that love one another out of a pure heart fervently (1Pe. 1:22). This love lasteth.Trapp.
2. A genuine friendship it strengthened and perpetuated by mutual acts of courtesy and service (1Ki. 5:3-11). Solomon responds with great cordiality to the congratulatory embassage of Hiram, and, at the same time, suggests the way in which the Tyrian king can help in his great work of building a house for the Lord. Hiram cheerfully falls in with the arrangement, and the terms of contract are speedily and satisfactorily settled. A friendship where the giving is all on one side, and the receiving all on the other, will soon come to an irreparable breach. The quid pro quo may not always be the same in kind; but a true courtesy will ever be ready to acknowledge the preponderance of obligation.
II. That in the preparation for a great work the choicest materials should be obtained (1Ki. 5:6; 1Ki. 5:10; 1Ki. 5:17, compared with 2Ch. 2:7-8). Cedar, gold, and costly stonesthe choicest timber, the choicest metal, and the choicest stonewere to be used in the building of the temple. Many wonderful properties are ascribed to the cedar, such as resisting putrefaction, destroying noxious insects, remaining sound for a thousand years, yielding an oil famous for preserving books and writings, &c. The wood is extremely hard, which caused the ancients to believe it incapable of decay. In whatever work we do for God, the best material should be used. Nothing is too good for Him. Some men will spend enormous sums on jewelry, on house furnishing, or on architectural decoration, and yet be content to see the ugliest and shabbiest material used in the service of God. David spared neither time, nor pains, nor expense in gathering together the costliest materials for the projected building, though he well knew he would not be permitted to take part in its erection. Let us not grudge to do the preparatory work by which posterity will principally benefit. He who does something to enrich the future of humanity has not lived in vain.
III. That in the preparation for a great work the best talent should be sought. There is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians (1Ki. 5:6 compared with 1Ki. 5:18). Sidon was a part of the territories of Hiram, and its inhabitants appear to have been the most expert workmen. Much skill is needed in the felling and treatment of timber. According to Vitruvius, a contemporary of Julius Csar, and author of a celebrated treatise on architecture, timber must be cut in the autumn or in the winter, when it is free from a moisture which is apt to make it rot, and it should be cut in such a manner as to allow the sap to distil away. It should never be exposed to a hot sun, high winds, or rain, nor drawn through the dew; and it should be in like manner guarded for three years before being used in building. Probably these and other similar precautions gave the Sidonians their fame for skill in felling timber. They were also celebrated as builders, and as dextrous in the working of all kinds of metals. Strabo ascribes to them great knowledge in philosophy, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, navigation, and in all the fine arts. Sidon had glass works, linen, and other manufactures, that furnished very ingenious and far-sought commodities. Homer represents the most precious and valuable of the great metal wine bowls, in which the Greeks of the heroic age delighted, as imported from Sidon (Odyss. iv. 614618; xv. 425), and made by Sidonian workmen (Iliad. xxiii. 743, 741). He also ascribes to Sidonian women the production of the beautifully embroidered robes which were worn by Asiatic ladies of the first rank (ib. vi. 289295). Both Herodotus and Homer attest the general nautical skill of the Phnicians; and the former assigns the palm to Sidon. Talent is the gift of Heaven, and its best efforts and most masterly productions should be consecrated to the noblest ends. The work of God affords scope for the exercise of the most accomplished and fertile genius.
IV. That in the preparations for a great work respect should be had to the condition and wants of the workers. (Compare 1Ki. 5:6; 1Ki. 5:9; 1Ki. 5:11; 1Ki. 5:13-16.) The labourers were well officered, and the toil and drudgery mitigated by a methodised system of relays (1Ki. 5:14). Without some such system so vast a number of workers would relapse into a confused, tyrannical mob, and inflict on each other much oppression and suffering. Organisation lightens labour, while it consolidates it. The wants of the workers were supplied. In addition to the provisions sent to the royal court of Tyre (1Ki. 5:9; 1Ki. 5:11), Solomon furnished to the servants of Hiram 20,000 cors (about 222,000 bushels) of beaten wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil (2Ch. 2:10). The land of Israel was rich in grain and oil, while in this respect Phoenicia was poor, the steep mountain ranges of Lebanon affording very little space for arable land. Honest labour should be honestly recompensed. In all work for God the utmost diligence and fidelity are demanded; but He will take care the humblest labourer shall not go unrewarded. No house, even though it be the church and temple of God, should be built to the hurt and oppression of ones fellow-creatures. Every country has its staple commodity, by exchange of which intercourse is maintained with its neighbours. It is the happiness of a nation when, with the corn of Canaan, it possesses also the shipping of Tyre.
V. That in the preparations for a great work help may be obtained from all available sources (1Ki. 5:6; 1Ki. 5:8-10; 1Ki. 5:12; 1Ki. 5:18). The world may be used as the servant of the church. The unbeliever is often called upon to contribute to a work the spiritual significance and end of which he does not apprehend. The Tyrians, though Gentiles, were employed about the work of the Temple, and thus prefigured the vocation of the Gentiles and their future helping to build up the spiritual temple. Pellican, in allegorising this fact, observes that the Sidonians and the proselytes among the Jews were the workmen, but the rulers of the work were Israelites; thus showing forth that the spiritual temple should be built by disciples among the Gentiles, but the Apostles, who were Israelites, should be the chief workmen and governors therein. Solomon knew that the Tyrians skill was not given them for nothing. Not Jews only, but Gentiles, must have their hand in building the temple of God: only Jews meddled with the Tabernacle, but the temple is not built without the aid of Gentiles; they, together with us, make up the church of God (Eph. 2:18; Eph. 2:14). Even pagans have their arts from heaven: how justly may we improve their graces to the service of the God of heaven! If there be a Tyrian who can work more curiously in gold, in silver, in brass, in iron, in purple and blue silk, than an Israelite, why should he not be employed about the temple? Their heathenism is their own, their skill is their Makers. Many a one works for the church of God that yet hath no part in it.Bp. Hall. The varied talent and material riches of all nations should be made serviceable to the interests of Christs kingdom, not for ostentation, for that would be to make a calf of the treasure gotten out of Egypt.
LESSONS:
1. A great work necessitates corresponding forethought.
2. A great work it made up of numberless little efforts.
3. Labour is dignified by the greatness of the end it seeks to accomplish.
4. The work of one generation is completed by another.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki. 5:1. For Hiram was ever a lover of David. The influence of a good man.
1. Operates irrespective of distance.
2. Attaches to himself men of widely different creeds.
3. Makes known the character and worship of the true God.
4. Secures valuable friendships for his posterity.
1Ki. 5:1-5. Solomons purpose to build a house to the Lord.
1. The motive. 1Ki. 5:3-5. Notambition, the love of glory, the love of pomp; but the divine will and the charge of his father. In every weighty undertaking one must examine and be assured that it do not proceed from selfish motives, but is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).
2. The timerest and peace (1Ki. 5:4). A time of peace is the time for building in general, but especially for building houses of God, which are a memorial of thanksgiving for the blessings of peace and prosperity.
3. The request for assistance (1Ki. 5:6). In important undertakings which are agreeable to the will of God and propose his honour, we may and should not hesitate to trust in Him. Who directs mens hearts, to ask others for aid and assistance.Lange.
1Ki. 5:4. National peace.
1. A blessing from God to be gratefully acknowledged.
2. The most favourable period for carrying out great undertakings.
3. Gives greater weight and influence in negotiating with other nations.
4. Is conducive to the free and healthy development of the best qualities of the people.
5. Is an emblematic representation of the universal peace to be.
So that there is neither adversary. The Vulgate hath it. Non est Satan. We use to say, seldom lieth the Devil dead in a ditch. He is the troublous one, and delighteth to hinder anything that is good; but at this time God had chained him up, and Solomon had nothing to hinder him. The Lord is with you whilst ye are with Him, saith one prophet (2Ch. 15:2). And the Lord will be with the good, saith another (2Ch. 19:11).Trapp. Satan doth all he can to hinder temple-work (1Th. 2:18; Zec. 3:1); but when he is bound (Rev. 20:2) we should be busy.
1Ki. 5:5. A dutiful Song of Solomon 1. Cherishes the memory;
2. Maintains the reputation; and
3. Executes the wishes of his deceased parent.
I purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God. There is no building of the ancient world which has excited so much attention since the time of its destruction, as the temple which Solomon built at Jerusalem, and its successor as rebuilt by Herod. Its spoils were considered worthy of forming the principal illustration of one of the most beautiful of Roman triumphal arches; and Justinians highest architectural ambition was, that he might surpass it. Throughout the middle ages it influenced to a considerable degree the forms of Christian churches, and its peculiarities were the watchwords and rallying points of all associations of builders. Since the revival of learning in the sixteenth century, its arrangements have employed the pens of many learned antiquarians, and architects of several countries have taxed their science in trying to reproduce its forms. But it is not only to Christians that the temple of Solomon is so interesting; the whole Mohammedan world look to it as the foundation of all architectural knowledge, and the Jews still recall its glories, and sigh over their loss with a constant tenacity unmatched by that of any other people to any other building of the ancient world.Smiths Dictionary.
If it cannot come into the mind of every one to build a house of wood and stone unto the Lord, nevertheless, every one to whom God has given wife and children is in a condition to vow and to build a house unto the Lord out of living stones. I and my house will serve the Lord (Jos. 24:15). Israel knew not how to plan great buildings, especially works of art, but they did know how to serve the living God. Better to live without art than without God in the world.Lange.
1Ki. 5:6. The cedars of Lebanon are the most celebrated of all the trees of Scripture, the monarchs of the vegetable kingdom. The prophets refer to them as emblems of greatness, majesty, and splendour. Ezekiel (chap, 31) presents us with a most graphic description of their grandeur and beauty when he makes them representatives of the Assyrian power and glory. The wood was used for beams, pillars, boards, masts of ships, and carved images. Not only did David and Solomon import it for their building purposes, but the king of Assyria and Persia, and, perhaps, of other nations, did the same. The modern cedar of Lebanon is usually from fifty to eighty feet high, and often covers with its branches, when standing alone, a space the diameter of which is greater than the height of the tree. It is an evergreen, and its leaves are produced in tufts. Its branches, disposed in layers, spread out horizontally, and form, as they approach the top, a thick pyramidal head. The profane writers represent the cedar wood as specially noted for its durability, and the cedar roof of the great temple of Diana at Ephesus is said to have lasted four hundred years.
1Ki. 5:7-12 (See also 2Ch. 2:11-16). Hiram and Solomon.
1. Gratification. Hiram rejoiced greatly when he heard the words of King Solomon. This arose partly from the love he bore to his father David; we are always attracted to them who are loved by those whom we love. For Davids sakethe principle of substitution is every where to be seen in human life. An illustration in support of the doctrine of justification by faith. The gratification of Hiram sprang also from a recognition of Solomons wisdom: gratification in anothers good.
2. Consideration (1Ki. 5:8). The demand of Solomon was no small one, and deserved consideration. It involved, in all probability, a great sacrifice on the part of the Tyrians. It is true that in the eleventh verse we are told that Solomon gave, &c., yet that was for his household, or servants who were engaged in work for Solomons own benefit. How would this great sacrifice affect Hirams subjects? Would they be willing to give to the people of another nation so much of their property, and especially for the erection of a temple for the worship of (to them) a strange deity? All these things Hiram must have taken into consideration. Most of the mischief of life is the result of a want of thought and consideration. Evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of heart.
2. Satisfaction. All his desire (1Ki. 5:10). There was not one thing which Solomon asked, which Hiram did not grant. It is not right to ask or expect unreasonable things. It is right to grant reasonable requests, even if they should occasion sacrifice; unreasonable requests should not be granted, even if it should be more easy to do so than to refuse.
4. Recognition. Endued with understanding (2Ch. 2:13). Knowledge, genius, skill, are of heavenly birth, and to despise them is to be guilty of a sin.
5. Combination. Solomon and Hiram were not independent of each other. No one can serve God properly in isolation: Two are better far than one, &c. Query, Have Christians a right to remain detached from the church of Christ?
6. Distribution. (See 2Ch. 2:16.) Each did the part allotted to him; the result was success.F. Wagstaff.
1Ki. 5:7. It proves a noble heart when a man, free from envy and jealousy, sincerely praises and thanks God for the gifts and blessings which He grants to others. When God wishes well to a nation He bestows upon it godly rulers; but when He wills to chastise it He removes them. Hiram praises God that He bestows upon another people a wise monarch: how much more should that people itself thank God, since He bestowed upon it a wise and pious king?
1Ki. 5:7-10; 1Ki. 5:10. The heathen king Hiram.
1. His rejoicing over Solomon and his undertaking.
2. His praise of the God of Israel.
3. His willingness to help. How far stands this heathen above so many who call themselves Christians!Lange.
1Ki. 5:12. Kingly Wisdom
1. Is a divine gift.
2. Is honourably employed in cultivating peaceful relations with neighbouring kingdoms.
3. Encourages a prosperous commerce.
4. Promotes the best social interests of the people.
5. Conserves and extends the religious life of the church.
The league between Solomon and Hiram.
1. Its objecta good God-pleasing work begun in the service of God. Like kings and nations, even so individual men should unite only for such purposes.
2. Its conditionseach gave to the other according to his desire; neither sought to overreach the other; the compact was based upon honesty and fairness, not upon cunning and selfishness. Only upon such compacts does the blessing of God rest, for unjust possessions do not prosper.Lange.
1Ki. 5:13-18. The workmen at the temple building.
1. Israelites. Solomon acted not like Pharaoh (Exo. 2:23). He laid no insupportable burdens upon his people, but permits variety in the work, and Israel itself undertakes it without murmurs or complaints. How high do those Israelites stand above so many Christian communities, who constantly object or murmur when they are about to undertake any labour for their temple, or must needs bring a sacrifice of mercy or time!
2. Heathen (Psa. 22:29). Jew and heathen together must build the temple of God, according to divine decreea prophetic anticipation of fact as set forth Eph. 2:14; Eph. 2:19-22; Eph. 3:4-6. The great preparations of Solomon must naturally remind us of the far greater preparations and arrangements which God has made for the building of the spiritual temple of the New Testament. How many thousand faithful labourers, how many wise and good men, has he placed in every known part of the world: how has he furnished them with wisdom and many other gifts of the Spirit, so that the great work of the glorious building may be completed!Lange.
1Ki. 5:17. And they brought costly stones to lay the foundation. Now is the foundation laid, and the walls rising of that glorious fabric which all nations admired, and all times have celebrated. Even those stones which were laid in the base of the building were not ragged and rude, but hewn and costly: the part that lies covered with earth from the eyes of all beholders is no less precious than those that are more conspicuous. God is not all for the eye: He pleaseth Himself with the hidden value of the living stones of His spiritual temple. How many noble graces of His servants have been buried by obscurity! not discerned so much as by their own eyes! which yet as He gave, so He crowneth. Hypocrites regard nothing but show; God nothing but truth.Bp. Hall.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
I. PREPARATIONS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE 5:118
Preparations for Temple construction commenced long before Solomon ascended the throne. The Temple siteMt. Moriahhad been indicated by God to David in connection with the cessation of the plague against Jerusalem (2Sa. 24:18-25). But much had to be done in both leveling and raising that ground in order to secure a flat construction area. This work may have begun while David was yet king. The Scriptures explicitly state that David energetically engaged in gathering various materials for the Templegold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and precious stones (1Ch. 29:2-5). Once Solomon had successfully established himself on the throne of his father, he wholeheartedly devoted himself to those final preparations which were necessary before actual construction could commence. Chapter 5 tells (1) of his negotiations with Hiram of Tyre (1Ki. 5:1-12); and (2) of the laboring force which he conscripted to assist in the project (1Ki. 5:13-18).
A. NEGOTIATIONS WITH HIRAM 5:112
TRANSLATION
(1) Now Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him as king instead of his father, for Hiram had always been friendly to David. (2) And Solomon sent (a message) unto Hiram, saying, (3) You surely know that David my father was not able to build a house to the name of the LORD his God because of the war with which they surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. (4) But now the LORD my God has given to me rest on every side; there is no adversary, nor evil happenstance. (5) So behold I am proposing to build a house to the name of the LORD my God as the LORD spoke unto David my father, saying, Your son whom I will set upon your throne in place of you, he shall build the house for My name. (6) And now issue a command that they may cut for me cedar trees from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants, and the hire of your servants I will give you according to all that you say, for you surely know that there is not among us a man skilled in cutting timber like the Sidonians. (7) And it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon that he rejoiced exceedingly and said, Blessed be the LORD this day who has given to David a wise son over this great people. (8) And Hiram sent unto Solomon, saying, I have heard (the message) which you sent unto me; I will surely do all your desire in regard to the cedar trees and fir trees. (9) My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will surely make them rafts (to go) by sea unto the place which you shall designate unto me; and I will break them up there, and you will take them up; and as for you, do what I desire by giving bread to my house. (10) So Hiram supplied Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees according to his desire. (11) And Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty kors of pure oil; thus would Solomon give to Hiram year by year. (12) Now the LORD gave wisdom to Solomon just as He had spoken to him; and there was peace between Solomon and Hiram and they made a covenant between them.
COMMENTS
Before his death King David had gathered considerable materials for the building of the Temple, including the highly valued cedars from Lebanon (1Ch. 22:1-4). This precious timber was coveted by all the kings of antiquity from the Tigris-Euphrates valley to the land of the Pharaohs. The cordial relations which existed between David and Hiram[157] king of Tyre continued under the reign of Solomon. Hiram sent a delegation to Solomon to recognize and congratulate the youthful king, and at the same time to make overtures of friendship. A continuing peaceful relationship with Israel was essential to Hiram in view of the fact that Solomon controlled the vital trade routes which led to Tyre. Furthermore, the Phoenicians in this period seem to have been dependent upon the grains produced in the fertile valleys of Israel. Thus when Hiram heard that Solomon had been anointed king of Israel in place of his father David, he sent his ambassadors to Jerusalem (1Ki. 5:1).
[157] In 1Ki. 5:10; 1Ki. 5:18 the name is spelled Hirom while in Chronicles with one exception (1Ch. 14:1) the name appears as Huram. According to some authorities, two kings in succession bore the same name, the first being the friend of David and the second of Solomon. According to others Hiram was a synonym for king of Tyre as Pharaoh was for king of Egypt.
Solomon responded to the friendly gesture of his neighbor by sending a letter[158] to Hiram (1Ki. 5:2). In this communication Solomon made reference to his fathers intention to build a house that would be dedicated to the LORD his God. Hiram knew of Davids plans, and had already furnished a large number of trees for the project (1Ch. 22:4). But Davids dream had not been realized during his lifetime. Because he had been surrounded by adversaries throughout his reign, he had been forced to devote most of his attention to war and bloodshed (1Ki. 5:3). Solomons reign, however, had thus far been peaceful and free from any evil (i.e., unfortunate) occurrence such as rebellion, famine or pestilence (1Ki. 5:4). Since God had revealed that Davids successor would be the Temple builder, and since political circumstances now made that project feasible, Solomon had determined to proceed with it (1Ki. 5:5).
[158] Josephus (Ant., VIII, 2.8) reports that this letter and Hirams reply to it (1Ki. 5:8) were preserved in the public archives of Tyre in the first century A.D.
Solomon made two requests of Hiram. First, he asked that Hiram make available to him the valuable timber from the Lebanon mountains. The inscription of the Sumerian king Gudea (c. 2100 B.C.) and the Report of the Egyptian official Wenamon (c. 1100 B.C.) indicate that Lebanon had supplied timber and stone for the building of temples in very early times and in places far more distant than Jerusalem.[159] In addition to the building materials, Solomon also requested that his royal friend send a skilled craftsman to Jerusalem (2Ch. 2:7). In exchange for these provisions Solomon agreed to supply manpower to assist in the logging operation and also to pay the wages of the Tyrian laborers.[160] In a closing complimentary remark, Solomon alluded to the skill of the Sidonians in woodmanship (1Ki. 5:6). The subjects of Hiram are called Sidonians because in earlier times Sidon was the most important city of Phoenicia. This usage was also followed by Greek and Latin writers and apparently to some extent by the Phoenicians themselves.[161]
[159] Barton, AB, pp. 451,455.
[160] This latter suggestion is amplified in the account in Chronicles where Solomon is said to have promised to give Hirams workmen twenty thousand kors of wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of oil (2Ch. 2:10).
[161] A Phoenician inscription on a bronze bowl refers to a Hiram (probably eighth century B.C.) king of the Sidonians. See Honor, JCBR, p. 83.
Hiram rejoiced at the prospect of continued friendly relations with Israel and burst forth in praise to God for having given David so wise a son as his successor (1Ki. 5:7). The wisdom of the young king was evident to Hiram because (1) Solomon had chosen the path of peaceful coexistence; (2) he earnestly desired to fulfill his wise fathers purposes; and (3) he had made the worship of God the foremost concern of his reign. Hirams praise for God need not imply that he believed in the exclusive divinity of the God of Israel, but simply that he regarded the Lord as being as real as one of his own deities. Attributing the guidance of Israels destiny to Israels Deity conformed completely with the religious notions of Hirams time.
Without delay Hiram sent his letter of reply to Solomon indicating that he was favorably disposed to providing the cedar and fir trees[162] which Solomon had requested (1Ki. 5:8). The plan called for Hirams servants to bring the logs down the rugged and dangerous mountain road from Lebanon to the sea. At some Phoenician port, possibly Gebal (Byblus), the timber would be lashed into rafts and floated down the Mediterranean seacoast to Joppa (2Ch. 2:16). At that point the lumber would be broken up into separate trees and delivered to Solomon who would be responsible for moving it the forty steep and rugged miles to Jerusalem.
[162] The absence of any reference to fir trees in 1Ki. 5:6 is an indication that the report of Solomons request to Hiram has been condensed.
Solomon had to pay for the Phoenician timber by providing grain for the household of Hiram (1Ki. 5:9). This payment for Hirams household is in addition to the wages of the laborers which Solomon had volunteered to pay (1Ki. 5:6) and had stipulated (2Ch. 2:10) in his letter to Hiram. It seems as though Hiram set a rather high price on his goods and services, a policy quite different from that which prevailed at the time he gave assistance to David (2Sa. 5:11). That Hiram would designate food as the payment for the timber is quite understandable in view of the geographical situation of Phoenicia. That land occupied a coastal plain which extended for some twenty-eight miles but which averaged only about one mile in breadth. Hence it was essential that Phoenicia import agricultural products from neighboring lands.
Both kings being agreeable to the contractual arrangements, the building material began to move southward to Jerusalem (1Ki. 5:10). In compensation for this timber Solomon paid Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat (about 103,200 bushels) and twenty (about 1,100 gallons) of pure (Heb., beaten) oil, i.e., oil that was obtained by pounding the olives just before they ripened. This kind of oil was whiter in color and gave a clearer light than that furnished by ripe olives. Each year as long as the construction work continued (or possibly longer) Solomon made these payments to the royal court at Tyre. These successful negotiations with Hiram and the mutually advantageous treaty which resulted are regarded by the author of Kings as a further indication of Solomons wisdom[163] (1Ki. 5:12). In accordance with Phoenician policy,[164] Hiram sealed the renewal by presenting Solomon with his daughter (cf. 1Ki. 11:1).
[163] Ellison (NBC, p. 306) and Wilson (WBC, p. 251) feel that this league necessarily involved Solomon in a recognition of Hirams gods. But had such religious compromise been involved, it is hardly likely that the author of Kings would have cited this league as an example of Solomons wisdom.
[164] Olmstead, HPS, p. 340.
SOLOMONS ANNUAL PAYMENT TO HIRAM
For Hirams Court
1 Kings 5:11
For Hirams Workers
2 Chronicles 2:10
103,200 Bushels of Wheat
103,200 Bushels of Wheat
1,100 Gallons of Beaten Olive Oil
103,200 Bushels of Barley
110,000 Gallons of Wine
110,000 Gallons of Oil
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Hiram is first mentioned in 2Sa. 5:11 (and the parallel, 1Ch. 14:1) as having sent workmen and materials to David for the building of his house. He is described as a lover of David. Ancient tradition makes him a tributary or dependent monarch; and his attitude, as described in Scripture, towards both David and Solomon agrees with this. Josephus (100 Apion, i. 17, 18) cites from Dios, a Phnician historian, and Menander of Ephesus, a description of Hirams parentage, of his prosperous reign and skill in building; and quotes, as from the Tyrian archives (Ant. viii. 11, 6, 7), letters passing between him and Solomon. The embassy here noticed from Hiram is clearly one of congratulation, perhaps of renewal of fealty. (In 2Ch. 2:14-15 occur the phrases, my lord, my lord David thy father.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
NEGOTIATIONS WITH HIRAM, 1Ki 5:1-12.
1. Hiram king of Tyre Whether this Hiram was the same king of Tyre who supplied David with cedars and carpenters to build his royal palace, (see 2Sa 5:11,) some have presumed to doubt. But the positive statement of this verse, that Hiram was ever a lover of David, and the words of Solomon’s message, (2Ch 2:3,) “As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house,” seem clearly to put it beyond all question that the same Hiram who furnished David materials for his palace assisted Solomon in the building of the temple. No one would ever have thought otherwise had not Menander of Ephesus, according to Josephus, ( Jos. against Apion, 1, 18,) affirmed that Hiram reigned thirty-four years; and this seems not long enough to meet the demands of the scriptural narrative. According to 1Ki 9:10, he was still living in the twentieth year of Solomon’s reign, and this would leave only fourteen years in which to have had his intercourse with David. Accordingly David, who reigned in all but forty years, and seven of these at Hebron, must have reigned nineteen years at Jerusalem before he began to build his royal palace there, a supposition altogether improbable. In view, therefore, of the consistency and positive statements of the scriptural narrative, we conclude that Menander’s chronology is wrong, and that Hiram’s reign must have extended over a large portion of that of both David and Solomon.
His servants Ambassadors.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Solomon Arranges With Hiram King Of Tyre For His Country’s Assistance In The Building Of The Temple ( 1Ki 5:1-18 ).
The next example of Solomon’s glory and splendour is found by the writer in the building of a Temple to YHWH. Such a step on ascending the throne was well known among foreign kings, as they sought to show their gratitude to their gods, and win their continuing favour by building them a splendid temple. Solomon was no different, and he sought to justify doing the same thing on the grounds of YHWH’s covenant with David (2Sa 7:13), although it is doubtful whether that was what YHWH originally intended (2Sa 7:5-7). Indeed, in spite of God’s initial lack of enthusiasm for the project, David himself had taken it at least partly in the that way (2Sa 8:11; 1 Chronicles 22; 1Ki 8:51; 1Ch 26:25). It was not really surprising. It was difficult for even spiritual men like David men to think solely in spiritual terms in those days (as indeed there are many in the same position today who are unable to get away from the idea of a physical temple and physical sacrifices). They felt very much bound to earth.
But while the writer was building up a picture of Solomon’s glory, he was at the same time doing it with reservations. Underneath all the splendour he could already see the cracks appearing.
For the house that YHWH had really wanted Solomon to build had been a spiritual house made up of his sons and descendants, not a house of wood and stone. Careful scrutiny of 2 Samuel 7 indicates that the concentration throughout is not on the building of a Temple, but on the building of a dynastic house which would result finally in the arrival of the Coming King. ‘YHWH tells you that he will make you a house (dynasty) — your seed — he will build a house (a dynasty) for My Name and I will establish the throne of his kingship for ever — and your house (dynasty) and your kingship will be established for ever before you, your throne will be established for ever’ ( 2Sa 7:11 ; 2Sa 7:13; 2Sa 7:16, compare 1Ki 7:26). YHWH’s emphasis was thus on the promise of the foundation of a dynasty which would finally result in the everlasting King. The truth is that in building the physical house, and being satisfied with it and putting too much emphasis on it, Solomon did in fact miss out on the need to build a spiritual house. It would only be as a result of God’s activity that that spiritual house would come to a reality in our Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, God did in His graciousness accept the physical house from their hands, simply because He knew that they were bringing it to Him from a right attitude of heart. He recognised and made allowance for man’s weakness. (We saw a similar situation with regard to the kingship in 1 Samuel – 1 Samuel 8-9).
The result of Solomon’s dreams was that when Hiram the King of Tyre, whose countrymen were skilled in fine building techniques, contacted Solomon in order to congratulate him on his safe accession to the throne, it must have seemed to Solomon like a gift from Heaven (which in one sense it was), and he took advantage of Hiram’s friendly approach in order to obtain the assistance of his experts in the building of his planned Temple, pointing out that he had to build it because it had been required by YHWH.
His major need was the right kind of timber, selected and dressed by experienced timber experts, and he called on Hiram to provide this for him in return for adequate compensation. On hearing this Hiram replied with the right noises (he stood to gain a good deal from the venture), and arranged for the timber to be cut, delivered and dressed, in response to which Solomon paid him the first instalment of the agreed payment. Meanwhile Solomon himself arranged for the cutting out of stones suitable for the Temple by using huge amounts of forced labour. Then Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites (expert carpenters from Gebal/Byblos) got together to prepare the timber and the stones, ready for building the Temple.
As we read the following narrative we should perhaps bear in mind the contrast between this Sanctuary, and the one that YHWH had requested, for the prophetic writer does appear to wish for us to make the comparison.
Note On The Contrast Between The Tabernacle And The Temple.
In 2Sa 7:5-7 YHWH asks David, “Shall you build Me a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt even to this day, but have walked in a Tent and in a Dwellingplace (shaken – Tabernacle). In all the places in which I have walked with the children of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ ” And He then went on to point out rather that He would build a house for David, a house of flesh and blood which would inherit the throne. The emphasis in 1Ki 5:11-16 is on that house (1Ki 5:11; 1Ki 5:13; 1Ki 5:16). While 1Ki 5:13 may be slightly ambiguous out of context, in the context it is quite plain. There is not the slightest indication anywhere else in Samuel that a literal Temple was in mind. The ‘house’ that Solomon was to build was to result in the establishing of the kingdom and the permanent occupation of the throne (The Temple accomplished neither).
In view of this lack of positive reference to the building of the Temple we should perhaps compare the two in the light of what we find in Exodus and Kings.
1). The Tabernacle Was To Be Built Of Free-will Offerings From Those Whose Hearts Were Willing. The Temple Was Built Out Of Enforced Taxation.
A comparison between the Tabernacle and the Temple soon brings out the discrepancy between the two, and is in fact deliberately and patently brought out at one stage by the writer of Kings. Consider for example the Tabernacle. It was to be built of free-will offerings; ‘of every man whose heart makes him willing you will take my offering’ (Exo 25:2). What a contrast with the building of the Temple where Hiram’s ‘gifts’ turned out to be very expensive indeed (1Ki 5:10-12), helping to cripple the economy of Israel, and none of the people had any choice in the matter. And there was very little of free-will offering in the levies that Solomon raised out of Israel for the purpose (1Ki 5:13-18). Indeed we learn very clearly about the ‘goodwill’ involved in 1Ki 12:4; 1Ki 12:14. As the author makes clear they lay at the root of the division that occurred between Israel and Judah.
2). The Tabernacle Was Built At YHWH’s Specific Request According To His Pattern. The Temple Was Specifically Never Requested.
Then YHWH adds, ‘And let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, the pattern of the Dwellingplace (Tabernacle), and the pattern of all its furniture, even so shall you make it’ (Exo 25:8-9). So it was to be made of freewill offerings, gladly given, and was to be made according to YHWH’s pattern, and we have already noted that it was said to be in total contrast to David’s idea for a Temple (see above). Here in Exodus YHWH had asked them to make Him a Sanctuary. In 2Sa 7:5-7 YHWH specifically says that He has NOT asked for a Temple, while in 1Ki 5:5 it is Solomon who says, ‘ I purpose to build a house for the Name of YHWH my God’, (with the emphasis on the ‘I’), relying on a misinterpretation of 2Sa 7:13.
Furthermore it will be noted that far from being built on a pattern determined by YHWH, the furniture of the new Temple was very much seen to be a combination of the ideas of Solomon (1Ki 6:14-36; 1Ki 7:47-51) and Hiram The Metal-worker (1Ki 7:13-46) as the author specifically brings out.
3). The Tabernacle Was Built Under The Jurisdiction Of A Trueborn Israelite Who Was Filled With The Spirit Of God, And By Willing, Responsive, Workers, The Temple Was Built Under The Jurisdiction Of A Half-Pagan With No Mention Of The Spirit Of God, And By Enforced Levies.
Having commanded the building of His Sanctuary YHWH later then called to Moses again and said, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship’ (Exo 31:2; compare Exo 35:31). And Moses then called men in order to give instructions as to how the work was to proceed, ‘and Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart YHWH had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it’ (Exo 36:2). Note how voluntary it all was.
In contrast the account in 1Ki 7:13-14 commences with Solomon sending for a man named Hiram (not the king) whom he fetches out of Tyre. And here there appears to be a deliberate attempt in the description of him to bring to mind Bezalel, the skilled worker who made the Tabernacle furnishings and embellishments (Exo 35:30-33), for Hiram is described as being ‘filled with wisdom (chokmah), and understanding (tabuwn), and skill (da’ath) to work all works in bronze’. With this we can compare the description of Bezalel, ‘He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom (chokmah), and in understanding (tabuwn), and in knowledge (da’ath), and in all manner of workmanship –.’
But it is the differences that are significant:
o Bezalel was called by YHWH from among His people Israel, from the very heart of the camp, Hiram was sent for by Solomon out of pagan Tyre, being only half Israelite.
o Bezalel was ‘filled with the Spirit of God’ in wisdom, understanding and knowledge, Hiram was simply filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge (mention of the Holy Spirit is consciously dropped).
It will be noted indeed that the author of Kings makes no attempt to pretend that Hiram was filled with the Spirit of God.
4). The Tabernacle Was Built Of Freely-given Cloth And Jewels Which Displayed All Their Pristine Glory, The Temple Was Built Of Blood-stained And Sweat-stained Stones, Which Were Then Covered Over With Timber And Gold, Bought With Taxation or Resulting From Tribute And Trade.
Especially in view of the facts in 3). we find it very difficult to avoid in all this the suggestion that these contrasts were all in the mind of the author of Kings. He wanted us to see the distinction. They would appear to reveal that as a prophet he was not so entranced by the Temple as many of his compatriots appear to have been, seeing rather within it the seeds of its own destruction. Nowhere does he suggest that it was their attitude towards the Temple itself which lay at the root of the failure of the kings of Israel and Judah. His theme with regard to both was rather their attitude towards the setting up of false high places in contrast with the true. In view of the fact that Elijah set up genuine high places which the author clearly saw as acceptable, we cannot argue that his generally expressed attitude towards ‘high places’ necessarily reflected on their attitude towards the Temple. It reflected on their deviation from the truth. And in so far as it did reflect on the Temple it was not because of the Temple per se, but because of its position as the Central Sanctuary.
By the author’s day, of course, an open attack on the Temple would not have been wise (as Jeremiah discovered), but what he was certainly doing was laying seeds of doubt as to how much its building had really been of God. The only Temple which YHWH is in fact specifically said to have required was the Second Temple, outwardly a far inferior version to Solomon’s, but built with willing hands and hearts (Hag 1:2; Hag 1:14; compare how the author of Kings would appear to approve of this approach – 2Ki 22:4).
End of Note.
Analysis.
a
b And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, “You know how it was that David my father could not build a house for the name of YHWH his God because of the wars which were about him on every side, until YHWH put them under the soles of his feet. But now YHWH my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary, nor evil occurrence” (1Ki 5:2-4).
c “And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of YHWH my God, as YHWH spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your room, he will build the house for my name’.” (1Ki 5:5).
d “Now therefore do you command that they cut me cedar-trees out of Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants, and I will give you hire for your servants in accordance with all that you shall say, for you know that there is not among us any who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians” (1Ki 5:6).
e “And it came about that, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed be YHWH this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people” (1Ki 5:7).
f And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir” (1Ki 5:8).
g “My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you will receive them, and you will accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household” (1Ki 5:9).
f So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food for his household, and twenty measures of pure oil. Thus did Solomon give to Hiram year by year (1Ki 5:10-11).
e And YHWH gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together (1Ki 5:12).
d And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men, and he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to task-work (1Ki 5:13-14).
c And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand who bore burdens, and fourscore thousand who were hewers in the mountains, besides Solomon’s chief officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule over the people who wrought in the work (1Ki 5:15-16).
b And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone (1Ki 5:17).
a And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites fashioned them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (1Ki 5:18).
Note that in ‘a’ Hiram sent his servants to Solomon on hearing of his anointing as king, and in the parallel their builders got together to prepare to build the Temple for YHWH. In ‘b’ Solomon declared that all hindrance to the building of the Temple had been removed, and in the parallel the stonework for the task was prepared. In ‘c’ Solomon declared that his purpose was to build a house for YHWH’s Name, and in the parallel those who would do the work were described. In ‘d’ Solomon calls on Hiram to set his carpenters to the work, and in the parallel sent over his own levies to give assistance. In ‘e’ Hiram blessed YHWH for the wisdom that He had given to Solomon so that he could rule his people, and in the parallel the giving and consequences of that wisdom were described. In ‘f’ Hiram confirmed that his workmen would prepare the timber as requested, and in the parallel Hiram gave the timber to Solomon. Centrally in ‘g’ the means of getting the timber to Solomon was described, along with the request for payment.
1Ki 5:1
‘ And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father, for Hiram was ever a lover of David.’
On hearing that Solomon had been anointed king of all Israel, and of the empire beyond, Hiram, king of Tyre, hastened to send his servants to Solomon in order to offer him his congratulations, a normal courtesy extended by friendly kings on the accession of another. And the writer tells us that it was because of his love and respect for David. But it was unquestionably also very expedient. Solomon was now the king of the strongest country around, with the possible, but marginal, exception of Egypt, and had control of the main trade routes which fed Tyre’s maritime trade. Israel was also an important source of grain and olive oil. There was therefore within his gesture a determined attempt to maintain the treaty between the two countries to the advantage of both.
The name Hiram is possibly a shortening of Ahiram (‘my brother is exalted’ or ‘my brother is Ram’), which was a good Phoenician name and is attested for a king of Byblos in about 1200 BC. It was also the name of the royal architect who will appear later.
Tyre was at this time mainly an island city, built on an island a short distance off shore, but with some of its environs established on the mainland. The island city itself was almost impregnable (until Alexander the Great came along later).
1Ki 5:2-3
‘ And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, “You know how it was that David my father could not build a house for the name of YHWH his God because of the wars which were about him on every side, until YHWH put them under the soles of his feet.”
Solomon was delighted to receive Hiram’s messengers and accept his good wishes, for his plans for building the Temple included the need to obtain help from Hiram. So he explained to Hiram what he was about, and what follows in 1Ki 5:2-6 is typical of diplomatic correspondence in those days. He names the addressee, refers to previous contacts, and makes the opening moves towards an economic treaty. Hiram, who had previously helped David to build his palace (2Sa 5:11) no doubt already knew about the plans for the Temple because it had originally been David’s intention to build it (2Sa 7:2), and even had we not read about it in 1 Chronicles 22, we would have suspected that David had begun making preparations for it (see 1Ki 8:51; 1Ch 26:25). For while YHWH had not been enthusiastic about his suggestion, and had firmly countered it, it is clear that David had failed to allow YHWH’s words (2Sa 7:5-7) to sink deeply enough into his mind for them to replace his own fixed idea. His view was that every nation around had built a splendid temple or more to their gods. Why then should Israel be the exception? And because his heart was filled with love for YHWH he wanted it to be the very best. Yet even he, the Psalmist of Israel, was not spiritual enough to recognise that no earthly Temple could be remotely acceptable to, or suitable for, the God of Sinai. As we have seen, a careful exegesis of the covenant in 2Sa 7:8-16 makes clear that the ‘house’ mentioned in 1Ki 5:13 was not a physical house (the passage as a whole only has in mind a ‘house’ that signifies descendants – 1Ki 5:11; 1Ki 5:16) but was paralleled with the idea of the everlasting throne. 1Ki 5:16 can thus be seen as explaining the fulfilment of 1Ki 5:13. God would give David a house (1Ki 5:11), and his seed would build it to the glory of YHWH (1Ki 5:13), and it would be everlasting (1Ki 5:16).
However, both David and Solomon wrongly interpreted YHWH’s words in a physical fashion, and in His graciousness YHWH went along with them because He could see that they desired it and that it was from the right attitude of heart (just as God often goes along with us in our plans, even though they must sometimes make Him cringe). It is not difficult to understand why they failed in their understanding. The full concept that God had given them was beyond the grasp of their spiritual comprehension, even though David certainly partially grasped it (1Ki 5:18-18), and Solomon was himself aware of the inadequacy of the Temple as a dwelling-place for YHWH (1Ki 8:27). Such understanding would await the illumination of the great prophets.
Solomon then explained to Hiram his view that David had been unable to build the house ‘for the Name of YHWH his God’ because of the wars that were about him on every side. But that again was something that Solomon was, at least to some extent, giving a misleading impression about (we must ever remember that Solomon’s words, while an accurate record of what he said, do not necessarily always themselves express Scriptural truth, any more than Satan’s words do elsewhere). For we have specifically been told that David himself had wanted to build the Temple himself precisely because the wars had ceased (2Sa 7:1; 2Sa 7:11). In other words his enemies had been put under his feet at that time, and thus that could not be the basic reason for his failing to build the Temple.
It was, however, politic of Solomon to suggest that as the reason, rather than saying that it was because his father was ‘a man of blood’. And 1Ch 22:9 does reveal that there was enough truth in it for it not to be totally false. In fact, however, 1Ch 22:8 tells us that the main reason that David did not build the Temple was because the word of YHWH came to him saying ‘You have shed blood abundantly and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My Name because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight’. After which YHWH had then yielded to David’s desire for his son to build it and had gone on to permit a physical interpretation of the prophecy first given in 2Sa 7:13. What God was doing was making it clear that, even though shed necessarily, the wholesale shedding of human blood by human beings was contrary to all that God was.
YHWH’s allowing of the building of the Temple would have caused no problem if only Israel (and later the Jews) had recognised that the physical Temple was but a symbol of the ‘spiritual house’ that YHWH would establish in the Coming King. How different history would have been in that case. But while they did partly grasp it in the idea of the coming of the Messiah, they had totally wrong ideas about Him, and on the whole both failed to recognise Him when He came, or to recognise that His coming signalled the demise of the Temple which had lost its significance with His coming. They had become wedded to the Temple. To them the Temple had become more important than the Messiah. Similar blindness to some extent pervades much of the church today. They too are looking for the building of a physical Temple, where non-Scriptural sacrifices of their own invention will be offered, and have failed to recognise that the physical Temple has outlived its usefulness and is no longer a valid option, and that it has been more than fully replaced by:
1). Jesus Christ Himself (Joh 2:19).
2). The spiritual Temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16-18; Eph 2:20-22), the Temple which is made up of the conjoined body in Christ of all true believers, the true Zion, the everlasting Sanctuary (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22), of which Rev 11:1-12 is a part picture.
3). The heavenly Temple, first visualised by Ezekiel as being on earth for a time, invisibly but effectively (Ezekiel 40-42), and finally being transported into Heaven where its effectiveness is revealed in Revelation.
“For the Name of YHWH his God” probably has in mind the Ark of God for in 2Sa 6:2 we read of, ‘the Ark of God, whose Name is called by the Name of YHWH of Hosts Who dwells between the Cherubim’. As far as Israel were concerned where the Ark was the Name was. ‘The Name’ in essence indicates all that God is, and from a human viewpoint that was closely wrapped up with the Ark, with its revelation of the covenant God had made with them held within it and its seat of propitiation above it, indicating to them both God’s covenant requirements and His continual and everlasting mercy, while also emphasising His invisibility. Any reference here to Deu 12:5 is therefore secondary, if it existed at all.
The idea of ‘the Name of YHWH’ comes as early as Gen 13:4 where we read that, ‘Abram called on the Name of YHWH’ (and even earlier in Gen 4:26). In Exo 20:24 YHWH speaks of ‘the places where I record My Name’, closely linking His Name with His temporary sanctuaries. In Exo 23:21 YHWH could say of the Angel of YHWH, ‘My Name is in Him’. Thus in all cases ‘the Name’ represented YHWH’s own presence. Again in Exo 33:19 YHWH ‘pronounced the Name of YHWH’ before Moses as an indication of His revealed presence, compare Exo 34:5. We can see therefore why the Ark of God which symbolised His presence was ‘called by the Name of YHWH’ (2Sa 6:2), and why building the ‘Dwellingplace of YHWH’ was considered as being in order to house His Name, because it housed the Ark, and because He had revealed His ancient glory there. The origin of the idea had therefore little to do with Deuteronomy 12 ff. It was much older. Right from the beginning men had looked to, and worshipped, the Name of YHWH at their sanctuaries, a Name which, however, was not limited to their sanctuaries but went forth as YHWH went forth. Like 2 Samuel references in Deuteronomy 12 ff rather look back to the above references (see Deu 12:5; Deu 12:11; Deu 14:23-24; Deu 16:2; Deu 16:6; Deu 16:11; Deu 26:2).
“Put them under the soles of his feet.” The conqueror would expect the defeated enemy to prostrate themselves before him while he symbolically put the soles of his feet on their heads.
Note On The Temple.
The impression given in 2 Samuel 7 is that God did not want a Temple built to His Name, which is why He initially dissuaded David from doing so. It is very doubtful whether 2Sa 7:13 initially had in mind the building of a physical Temple for the emphasis in the whole passage is on the coming ‘house of David’ made up of his son and his descendants. But once the idea had become lodged in David’s mind he found it difficult to dismiss. To him it seemed logical that YHWH should have a Temple, and the best Temple possible. He would not see that it simply brought YHWH down to the same level as other (false) gods.
There are then clear hints in Samuel that David had not given up on the idea. See, for example, 2Sa 8:11. The Chronicler thus points out that after the incident of the pestilence and the threshing floor (2 Samuel 24) David again began to prepare for the building of such a Temple at which point he was dissuaded from it by being reminded of how much blood he had shed (1Ch 22:8). But he was still insisting on interpreting what God had said in His covenant as referring to a physical Temple. God then seems to have made a concession in allowing his son to build such a Temple because he wanted it so much. There is a very similar parallel between this building of a Temple, which God did not really want, and the original establishment of kingship in 1 Samuel, which God did not really want. In both cases YHWH had not wanted it, but in the end allowed it as a concession.
The idea that then arose was that if such a Temple was to be built it should be as the foundation of the coming successful kingdom of peace, it not being seen as seemly that YHWH’s unique and holy Temple should be founded on the shedding of men’s blood. It was to be a harbinger of joy and peace not of success in war. And Solomon’s reign was being hailed as the beginning of that kingdom of peace. Sadly that kingdom of peace would only too quickly prove abortive because of Solomon’s own failings, but at least the right idea had been conveyed. If only Solomon had rather concentrated on building the right kind of house, a righteous house made up of his sons and descendants, and had given his own time and effort to training them wisely, much of what follows could have been avoided. Instead he thought that he had done enough by building a physical Temple and as a result went wildly wrong, leaving a bad example for his children.
End of note.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Reign of King Solomon over a United Israel (970-930 B.C.) 1Ki 1:1 to 1Ki 11:43 records the story of the reign of King Solomon. The plot of this historical account of Solomon’s life takes a familiar structure as it discusses the establishment, prosperity and failure of his reign as king over Israel.
1. The Establishment of Solomon’ Reign 1Ki 1:1 to 1Ki 2:46
2. The Prosperity of Solomon’s Reign 1Ki 3:1 to 1Ki 10:29
3. The Failure of Solomon’s Reign 1Ki 11:1-40
4. Epilogue 1Ki 11:41-43
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Reign of King Solomon (His Prosperity) 1Ki 3:1 to 1Ki 10:29 gives us the story of Solomon’s reign as king over the united kingdom of Israel. The emphasis in this passage of Scripture is Solomon’s prosperity as a result of obeying God’s Word. In contrast, the final chapter of Solomon’s reign will end sadly with the story of Solomon falling away from God and how his kingdom grew weak and became divided as a result of his sins.
One of the reasons for Solomon’s prosperity can be seen in his willingness to give generously to the Lord. 1Ki 3:1-15 gives us the story of Solomon’s great sacrifice that he offered to God and how God responded to him in a dream and blessed him. As a new king he had a great need, which was to rule over his people with wisdom and discretion. In his need he came to God with an offering. It was Solomon’s offering of one thousand burnt offerings to the Lord that prompted God to give back to the king a gift. This great sacrifice opened the windows of heaven for Solomon that forever changed the effectiveness of his ministry, for God gave him great wisdom and wealth.
Then God came to Solomon a second time and promised to be with His people and bless the entire nation (1Ki 6:11-13). Although God blessed Solomon in his first divine encounter, the people were blesses during this second visitation. During these years God did not mind Solomon’s prosperity. In fact, it was God who had given him the power to gain this wealth. In fact during his second great sacrifice at the dedication of the Temple Solomon was able to offer sheep and oxen without number (1Ki 8:5). His first offering to God consisted of one thousand burnt offerings (1Ki 3:4). This time he offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep (1Ki 8:63). The Lord responded by visiting him again in a dream (1Ki 9:1-9). This time God promised to establish his royal lineage forever and to honour the Temple with His presence. Solomon continued to give (2Ch 8:12; 2Ch 9:12). As he gave he continued to prosper, and he built to his heart’s desire. In fact, he became the richest man on earth, receiving tribute from many kingdoms around him. Solomon made silver as common as stones (2Ch 9:27). In other words, he made the city look more and more like Heaven itself, whose streets are paved with gold.
There is a teaching in today’s churches that one should be specific to God in prayer with his particular need as he gave an offering. In other words, an act of giving should be accompanied with a request to God for a particular need. If someone wanted a Scriptural basis for speaking these blessing forth as they gave an offering, then this verse would certainly support such a teaching.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Solomon’s Message to Hiram
v. 1. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants unto Solomon, v. 2. And Solomon, v. 3. Thou knowest how that David, my father, could not build an house unto the name of the Lord, his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them, v. 4. But now the Lord, my God, hath given me rest on every side, v. 5. And, behold, I purpose, v. 6. Now, therefore, command thou that they, v. 7. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, v. 8. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, v. 9. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea, v. 10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees and fir-trees,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
SOLOMON AND HIRAMThe somewhat detailed description which we have had in 1Ki 4:1-34. of Solomon’s pomp and power and wisdom, is followed in 1Ki 5:1-18. sqq. by an account of what, in Jewish eyes, was the great undertaking of his reign, and, indeed, the great glory of Hebrew historythe erection and adornment of the Temple. And as this was largely due to the assistance he received both in the shape of materials and labourersfrom the Tyrian king, we have in the first place an account of his alliance with Hiram.
1Ki 5:1
And Hiram (In 1Ki 5:10, 1Ki 5:18, the name is spelled Hirom (), whilst in Chronicles, with one exception (1Ch 14:1, where the Keri, however, follows the prevailing usage), the name appears as Huram (). In Josephus it is . This prince and his friendly relations with the Jews are referred to by the Tyrian historians, of whose materials the Greek writers Dins and Menander of Ephesus (temp. Alexander the Great) availed themselves. According to Dins (quoted by Josephus contr. Apion, 1.17) Hiram was the son of Abibaal. Menander states that the building of the temple was commenced in the twelfth year of Hiram’s reign, which lasted 34 years. Hiram is further said to have married his daughter to Solomon and to have engaged with him in an intellectual encounter which took the shape of riddles] king of Tyre [Heb. , rock, so called because of the rocky island on which old Tyro was built, sometimes called , the fortress of, or fortified Tyro (Jos 19:29; 2Sa 24:7, etc.) The capital of Phoenicia. In earlier times, Sidon would seem to have been the more important town; hence the Canaanites who inhabited this region were generally called Zidonians, as in verse 6] sent his servants [legatos, Vatablus] unto Solomon [The Vat. LXX. has here a strange reading, “To anoint Solomon,” etc. The object of this embassy was evidently to recognize and congratulate the youthful king (the Syriac has a gloss, “and he blessed him,” which well represents one object of the embassy) and at the same time to make overtures of friendship. An alliance, or good understanding, with Israel was then, as at a later period (Act 12:20) of great importance to them of Tyre and Sidon. Their narrow strip of seaboard furnished no corn lands, so that their country depended upon Israel for its nourishment]; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of David his father [i.e; he had heard of the death of David and the accession of Solomon; possibly of the events narrated in Heb 1:1-14.]: for Hiram was ever [Heb. all the days: i.e; of their reigns; so long as they were contemporary sovereigns] a lover of David.
1Ki 5:2
And Solomon sent to Hiram. [According to Josephus (Ant. 8.2. 6), he wrote a letter, which together with Hiram’s reply (1Ki 5:8) was preserved among the public archives of Tyro. The account of 2Ch 2:1-18; which as a rule is more detailed than that of the Kings, begins here. It does not notice, that is to say, the prior embassy of the Phoenician king, as the object of the chronicler is merely to narrate the measures taken for the erection of the temple], saying [The return embassy gave Solomon the opportunity to ask for the timber, etc; that he desired.]
1Ki 5:3
Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house [Hiram could not fail to know this, as his relations with David had been close and intimate. Not only had he “sent cedar trees and carpenters and masons” to build David’s house (2Sa 5:11), but “they of Tyro brought much cedar wood to David” (1Ch 22:4) for the house of the Lord] unto the name of the Lord [i.e; to be dedicated to the Lord as His shrine and habitation (cf. Deu 12:5, Deu 12:11; and Deu 8:18, Deu 8:19, Deu 8:20, etc.)] for the wars [Heb; war. As we have singular noun and plural verb, Ewald, Rawlinson, al. assume that war stands for adversaries, as the next clause seems to imply. Bhr and Keil, however, with greater reason, interpret, “for the war with which they surrounded him;” a construction ( with double accusative) which is justified by Psa 109:3] until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet [until, i.e; He trampled them down. The same image is found in some of David’s psalms, e.g; Psa 7:5; Psa 60:12; cf. Psa 8:6; Psa 91:13; Isa 63:3; Rom 16:20; Eph 1:22; Heb 2:8.]
1Ki 5:4
But now the Lord my God hath given me rest [In fulfilment of the promise of 1Ch 22:9. David had had a brief rest (2Sa 7:1), Solomon’s was permanent. He was “a man of rest”] on every side [Heb. round about, same word as in verse 3, and in 1Ch 22:9], so that there is neither adversary [Hadad and Rezon, of whom this word is used (1Ki 11:14, 1Ki 11:23), apparently belonged to a somewhat later period of his reign] nor evil occurrent [Rather, “occurrence,” or “plague” (), i.e; “rebellion, famine, pestilence, or other suffering” (Bhr). David had had many such “occurrences” (2Sa 15:14; 2Sa 20:1; 2Sa 21:1; 2Sa 24:15).]
1Ki 5:5
And, behold, I purpose [Heb. behold me saying (, with infin, expresses purpose. Cf. Exo 2:14; 2Sa 21:16)] to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying [2Sa 7:12, 2Sa 7:13. He thus gives Hiram to understand that he is carrying out his father’s plans, and plans which had the Divine sanction, and that this is no fanciful project of a young prince], Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an [Heb. the] house unto my name.
1Ki 5:6
Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon [Heb. the Lebanon, i.e; the White (so. mountain). “It is the Merit Blanc of Palestine” (Porter); but whether it is so called because of its summits of snow or because of the colour of its limestone is uncertain. Practically, the cedars are now found in one place only, though Ehrenberg is said to have found them in considerable numbers to the north of the road between Baalbek and Tripoli. “At the head of Wady Kadisha there is a vast recess in the central ridge of Lebanon, some eight miles in diameter. Above it rise the loftiest summits in Syria, streaked with perpetual snow In the very centre of this recess, on a little irregular knoll, stands the clump of cedars”, over 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. It would seem as if that part of Lebanon where the cedars grew belonged to Hiram’s dominion. “The northern frontier of Canaan did not reach as far as Bjerrsh” (Keil), where the cedar grove is now. The idea of some older writers that the cedars belonged to Solomon, and that he only asked Hiram for artificers (“that they hew me cedar trees,” etc.) is negatived by verse 10. It is true that “all Lebanon” was given to Israel (Jos 13:5), but they did not take it. They did not drive out the Zidonians (verse 6; Jdg 1:31) or possess” the land of the Giblites” (verse 5; Jdg 3:3). It should be stated here, however, that the cedar of Scripture probably included other varieties than that which now, alone bears the name (see on verse 8)], and my servants shall be with Shy servants [i.e; sharing and lightening the work]: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants [Solomon engaged to pay and did pay both Hiram and his subjects for the services of the latter, and he paid both in kind. See below, on verse 11] according to all that thou shalt appoint [This would seem to have been 20,000 measures of wheat and 20 measures of pure oil annually, verse 11]: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill [Heb. knoweth, same word as before] to hew timber like unto the Zidonlans [Propter vicina nemora. Grotius, Sidou (Heb. ), means “fishing.” See note on verse 18. By profane, as well as sacred writers, the Phoenicians are often described by the name Zidonians, no doubt for the reason mentioned in the note on verse 1. See Homer, Iliad 6:290; 23. 743; Odys. 4:84, 618; 17:4.24. Cf. Virg. AEn. 1. 677, 678; 4:545, etc. Gen 10:15; Jdg 1:31; Jdg 3:3; 1Ki 11:1, 1Ki 11:33, etc. “The mechanical skill of the Phoenicians generally, and of the Zidonians in particular, is noticed by many ancient writers,” Rawlinson, who cites instances in his note. But what deserves especial notice here is the fact that the Zidonians constructed their houses of wood, and were celebrated from the earliest times as skilful builders. The fleets which the Phoenicians constructed for purposes of commerce would ensure them a supply of clever workmen. Wordsworth aptly remarks on the part the heathen thus took in rearing a temple for the God of Jacob. Cf. Isa 60:10, Isa 60:13.]
1Ki 5:7
And It came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon [reported by his ambassadors], that he rejoiced greatly [see note on 1Ki 5:1. The continuance of the entente cordiale was ensured], and said, Blessed be the Lord [In 2Ch 2:12, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel that made heaven and earth.” We are not warranted by the expression of the text in concluding that Hiram believed in the exclusive divinity of the God of Israel, or “identified Jehovah with Melkarth his god” (Rawlinson), much less that he was proselyte to the faith of David and Solomon. All that is certain is that he believed the Jehovah as God was quite compatible with the retention of a firm faith in Baa1 and Astarte. It is also possible that he here adopts a language which he knew would be acceptable to Solomon, or the historian may have given us his thoughts in a Hebrew dread It is noticeable that the LXX. has simply ] which hath given unto David a wise son [Compare 1Ki 1:48; 1Ki 2:9. The proof of wisdom lay in Solomon’s fulfilling his wise father’s purposes, and in his care for the worship of God. “Wise,” however, is not used here in the sense of “pious,” as Bhr affirms. In Hiram’s lips the word meant discreet, sagacious. He would hardly recognize the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom] over this great people.
1Ki 5:8
And Hiram sent to Solomon [in writing, 2Ch 2:11. It is instructive to remember in connexion with this fact that, according to the universal belief of antiquity, the use of letters, i.e; the art of writing, was communicated to the Greeks by the Phoenicians. Gesenius, indeed, holds that the invention of letters is also due to them. See the interesting remarks of Mr. Twisleton, Dict. Bib. 2. pp. 866-868], saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest unto me for [Heb. heard the things (i.e; message) which thou sentest unto me]: and I will do all thy desire concerning [Heb. in, i.e; as to] timber [or trees] of cedar [Heb. cedars] and timber of fir [Heb. trees of cypresses. This is, perhaps, the proper place to inquire what. trees are intended by the words , and , here respectively translated” cedar” and “fir.” As to the first, it is impossible to restrict the word to the one species (Pinus cedrus or Cedrus Libani) which is now known as the cedar of Lebanon, or, indeed, to any single plant. That the Cedrus Libani, one of the most magnificent of trees, is meant in such passages as Eze 31:1-18; Psa 92:12, etc; admits of no manner of doubt. It is equally clear, however, that in other passages the term “cedar” must refer to some other tree. In Num 19:6, and Le Num 14:6, e.g; the juniper would seem to be meant. “The cedar could not have been procured in the desert without great difficulty, but the juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus) is most plentiful there.” In Eze 27:5, “they have taken cedars of Lebanon to make masts for thee,” it is probable that the Pinus Halepensis, not, as was formerly thought, the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris), is intended. The Cedrus Libani appears to be indifferently adapted to any such purpose, for which, however, the Pinus Halepensis is eminently fitted. But in the text, as throughout ch. 5-8; the reference, it can hardly be doubted, is to the Cedrus Libani. It is true the wood of this species is neither beautiful nor remarkably durable. Dr. Lindley calls it the “worthless, though magnificent cedar,” but the former adjective, however true it may be of English-grown cedar, cannot justly be applied to the tree of the Lebanon mountain. The writer has some wood in his possession, brought by him from the Lebanon, and though it has neither fragrance nor veining, it is unmistakably a hard and resinous wood. And it should be remembered that it was only employed by Solomon in the interior of the temple, and was there, for the most part, overlaid with gold, and that the climate of Palestine is much less destructive than our own. There seems to be no sufficient reason, therefore, for rejecting the traditional and till recently universal belief that the Cedrus Libani was the timber chosen for the temple use. Mr. Houghton, in Smith’s Dict. Bib; vol. 3. App. A. p. 40; who speaks of it “as being , the firmest and grandest of the conifers,” says at the same time that “it has no particular quality to recommend it for building purposes; it was probably therefore not very extensively used in the construction of the temple.” But no other tree can be suggested which better suits the conditions of the sacred narrative. The deodara, which has found favour with some writers, it is now positively stated, does not grow near the Lebanon. It may be added that, under the name of Eres, the yew was probably included. The timber used in the palaces of Nineveh, which was long believed to be cedar, is now proved to be yew (Dict. Bib; art. “Cedar”). However it is certain that is a nomen generale which includes, at any rate, the pine, the cedar, and the juniper, in confirmation of which it may be mentioned that at the present day, “the name arz is applied by the Arabs to all three” (Royle, in Kitto’s Cyclop; art. “Eres”).
The Grove of Cedars now numbers about 450 trees, great and small. Of these about a dozen are of prodigious size and considerable antiquity, possibly carrying us back (as the natives think) to the time of Solomon. Their precise age, however, can only be a matter of conjecture.
The identification of the “fir” is even more precarious than that of the cedar. Celsius would see in this the true cedar of Lebanon. Others identify it with the juniper (Juniperus excelsa) or with the Pinus Halepensis, but most writers (among whom are Keil and Bhr) believe the evergreen cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) to be intended. Very probably the name Berosh comprehended two or three different species, as the cypress, the juniper, and the savine. The first named grows even near the summits of the mountain. Bhr says it is inferior to cedar (but see above). According to Winer, it is well fitted for building purposes, as” it is not eaten by worms, and is almost imperishable and very light.” It is certainly of a harder and closer grain, and more durable than the Cedrus Libani.
It shows the brevity of our account that Solomon has not mentioned his desire for “fir” as well as” cedar.” This is disclosed in Hiram’s reply, and in the parallel passage of the chronicler. It is also to be noticed that in the text the request for materials is more prominently brought to view, while in Chronicles the petition is for workmen.
1Ki 5:9
My servants shall bring them [No word in the Hebrew; “Timber of Cedar,” etc; must be supplied or understood from the preceding verse] down [It is generally a steep descent from the cedar grove, and indeed all the Lebanon district, to the coast] from Lebanon unto the sea [This must have been a great undertaking. The cedars are ten hours distant from Tripoli, and the road must always have been a bad one. To the writer it appeared to be the most rugged and dangerous road in Palestine. It is possible that the timber was collected and floated at Gebal (Biblus. See note on 1Ki 5:18). Beyrout, the present port of the Lebanon, is 27 hours distant via Tripoli. But cedars would then, no doubt, be found nearer the sea. And the ancients (as the stones of Baalbek, etc; prove) were not altogether deficient in mechanical appliances. The transport of cedars to the Mediterranean would be an easy undertaking compared with the carriage of them to Nineveh, and we know from the inscriptions that they were imported by the Assyrian kings] and I will convey them by sea in floats [Heb. “I will make (or put) them rafts in the sea.” This was the primitive, as it was the obvious, way, of conveying timber, among Greeks and Romans, as well as among Eastern races. The reader will probably have seen such rafts on the Rhine or other river] unto the place which thou shalt appoint [Heb. send] me [In 2Ch 2:16, Hiram assumes that this place will be Joppa, now Yafo, the port of Jerusalem, and 40 miles distant from the Holy City. The transport over these 40 miles, also of most rugged and trying road, must have involved, if possible, a still greater toil than that from Lebanon to the sea] and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish [Heb. do, same word as in verse 8, and probably used designedly”I will perform thy desire.; and thou shalt perform my desire.” There shall be a strict quid pro quo] my desire, in giving food for my household [Hiram states in his reply in what shape he would prefer the hire promised by Solomon (verse 6). The food for the royal household must be carefully distinguished from the food given to the workmen (2Ch 2:10). The fact that 20,000 ears of wheat formed a part of each has led to their being confounded. It is noticeable that when the second temple was built, cedar wood was again brought to Jerusalem, rid Joppa, in return for “meat and drink and oil unto them of Zidon” (Ezr 3:7). The selection of food as the hire of his servants by Hiram almost amounts to an undesigned coincidence. Their narrow strip of cornland, between the roots of Lebanon and the coastPhoenicia proper (“the great plain of the city of Sidon,” Josephus. Ant. 5.3, 1) is only 28 miles long, with an average breadth of one mile-compelled the importation of corn and oil. Ezekiel (Eze 27:17) mentions wheat, honey, oil, and balm as exported from Palestine to the markets of Tyre. It has been justly remarked that the fact that Phoenicia was thus dependent upon Palestine for its breadstuffs explains the unbroken peace that prevailed between the two countries.
1Ki 5:10
So Hiram gave [Heb. kept giving, supplied] Solomon cedar trees and fir [or cypress] trees, according to all his desire.
1Ki 5:11
And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures [Heb. cots. See 1Ki 4:22] of wheat for food [ for ] to his household [Rawlinson remarks that this was much less than Solomon’s own consumption (1Ki 4:22). But he did not undertake to feed Hiram’s entire court, but merely to make an adequate return for the timber and labour he received. And the consumption of fine flour in Solomon’s household was only about 11,000 cors per annum] and twenty measures of pure oil [lit; beaten oil, i.e; such as was obtained by pounding the olives, when not quite ripe, in a mortar. This was both of whiter colour and purer flavour, and also gave a clearer light, than that furnished by the ripe olives in the press. See the authorities quoted in Bhr’s Symbolik, 1. p. 419]: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year [probably so long as the building lasted or timber was furnished. But the agreement may have been for a still longer period.]
1Ki 5:12
And the Lord gave [Can there be any reference to the repeated “gave” of the two preceding verses?] to Solomon wisdom, as he promised him (1Ki 3:12) and there was peace [one fruit of the gift. Cf. Jas 3:17] between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together [Heb. “cut a covenant.” Cf. . Covenants were ratified by the slaughter of victims, between the parts of which the contracting parties passed (Gen 15:18; Jer 34:8, Jer 34:18, Jer 34:19). Similarly , “libation,” in the plural, means “league, truce,” and is found in classic Greek.]
1Ki 5:13
And King Solomon raised a levy [Marg; tribute of men, i.e; conscription] out of all Israel [i.e; the people, not the landEwald] and the levy was thirty thousand men. [That is, if we may trust the figures of the census given in 2Sa 24:9 (which do not agree, however, with those of 1Ch 21:5), the conscription only affected one in forty of the male population. But even the lower estimate of Samuel is regarded with some suspicion. Such a levy was predicted (1Sa 8:16).
1Ki 5:14
And he sent them to Lebanon ten thousand a month, by courses [Heb. changes]: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home [they had to serve, that is to say, four months out of the twelveno very great hardship], and Adoniram [see on 1Ki 4:6; 1Ki 12:18] was over the levy.
1Ki 5:15
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains. [These 150,000, destined for the more laborious and menial works, were not Israelites, but Canaanites. We learn from 2Ch 2:17, 2Ch 2:18 that “all the strangers that were in the land of Israel” were subjected to forced labour by Solomonthere were, that is to say, but 150,000 of them remaining. They occupied a very different position from that of the 30,000 Hebrews. None of the latter were reduced to bondage (1Ki 9:22), while the former had long been employed in servile work. The Gibeonites were reduced to serfdom by Joshua (Jos 9:27), and the rest of the Canaanites as they were conquered (Jos 6:10; Jos 17:13; Jdg 1:29, Jdg 1:30). In 1Ch 22:2, we find some of them employed on public works by David. By the “hewers” many commentators have supposed that stonecutters alone are intended (so Jos; Ant; 1Ch 8:2. 9) partly because stone is mentioned presently, and partly because is mostly used of the quarrying or cutting of stone, as in Deu 6:11; Deu 8:9; 2Ki 12:12, etc. Gesenius understands the word both of stone and wood cutters. But is it not probable that the latter alone are indicated? That the word is sometimes used of woodcutting Isa 10:15 shows. And the words, “in the mountain” () almost compel us so to understand it here. “The mountain” must be Lebanon. But surely the stone was not transported, to any great extent, like the wood, so great a distance over land and sea, especially when it abounded on the spot. It is true the number of wood cutters would thus appear to be very great, but it is to be remembered how few comparatively were the appliances or machines of those days: almost everything must be done by manual labour. And Pliny tells us that no less than 360,000 men were employed for twenty years on one of the pyramids. It is possible, however, that the huge foundations mentioned below (Isa 10:17) were brought from Lebanon.]
1Ki 5:16
Beside [without counting] the chief of Solomon’s officers [Heb. the princes of the overseers, i.e; the princes who acted as overseers, principes qui praefecti erant (Vatabl.)] which were over the work three thousand and three hundred [This large number proves that the “chiefs of the overseers” cannot be meant. Were all the 3,300 superior officers, there must have been quite an army of subalterns. But we read of none. In 1Ki 9:23, an additional number of 550 “princes of the overseers” (same expression) is mentioned, making a total of 3,850 superintendents, which agrees with the total stated in the Book of Chronicles. It is noteworthy, however, that the details differ from those of the Kings. In 2Ch 2:17 we read of a body of 3,600 “overseers to set the people a work,” whilst in 1Ki 8:10 mention is made of 250 “princes of the overseers.” These differences result, no doubt, from difference of classification and arrangement (J.H. Michaelis). In Chronicles the arrangement is one of race, i.e; 3,600 aliens ; cf. 2Ch 2:18) and 250 Israelites, whilst in Kings it is one of status, i.e; 3,300 inferior and 550 superior officers. It follows consequently that all the inferior and 300 of the superior overseers were Canaanites] which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
1Ki 5:17
And the king commanded and they brought [or cut out, quarried (Gesen.), as in Ecc 10:9; see also Ecc 6:7 (Heb.) ] great stones, costly [precious, not heavy, as Thenius. Cf. Psa 36:8; Psa 45:9; Est 1:4 in the Heb.], stones and [omit and. The hewed stones were the great and costly stones] hewed stones [or squared (Isa 9:10; cf. 1Ki 6:36; 1Ki 7:9; 1Ki 11:12). We learn from 1Ki 7:10 that the stones of the foundation of the palace were squared to 8 cubits and 10 cubits] to lay the foundation of the house. [Some of these great squared stones, we can hardly doubt, are found in situ at the present day. The stones at the south-east angle of the walls of the Haram (Mosque of Omar) are “unquestionably of Jewish masonry”. “One is 23 1Ki 2:9 in. long; whilst others vary from 17 to 20 feet in length. Five courses of them are nearly entire” (ib.) As Herod, in rebuilding the edifice, would seem to have had nothing to do with the foundations, we may safely connect these huge blocks with the time of Solomon. It is also probable that some at least of the square pillars, ranged in fifteen rows, and measuring five feet each side, which form the foundations of the Mosque El Aksa, and the supports of the area of the Haram, are of the same date and origin (cf. Ewald, Hist. Israel, 3:233). Porter holds that they are “coeval with the oldest part of the external walls.” Many of them, the writer observed, were monoliths. The extensive vaults which they enclose are unquestionably “the subterranean vaults of the temple area” mentioned by Josephus (B.J. 1Ki 5:3. 1), and the “cavati sub terra montes” of Tacitus. It may be added here that the recent explorations in Jerusalem have brought to light many evidences of Phoenician handiwork.]
1Ki 5:18
And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stone squarers: [the marg. Giblites, i.e; people of Gebal, is to be preferred. For Gebal (= mountain) see Jos 13:5 (“the land of the Giblites and Lebanon”); Psa 83:7 (“Gebal and they of Tyro”); and Eze 27:9, where the LXX. translate the word Biblus, which was the Greek name of the city and district north of the famous river Adonis, on the extreme border of Phoenicia. It is now known as Jebeil. It has been already remarked that Tyre and Sidon, as well as Gebal, have Hebrew meanings. These are among the proofs of the practical identity of the Hebrew and Phoenician tongues. The Aramaean immigrants (Deu 26:5; Gen 12:5) no doubt adopted the language of Canaan (Dict. Bib; art. “Phoenicians”). Keil renders, “even the Giblites.” He would understand, i.e; that the Zidonian workmen were Giblites; but this is doubtful. The Giblites are selected, no doubt, for special mention because of the prominent part they took in the work. Gebal, as its ancient and extensive ruins prove, was a place of much importance, and lying as it did on the coast, and near the cedar forests, would naturally have an important share in the cutting and shipping of the timber. Indeed, it is not improbable that it was at this port that the land transport ended, and the rafts were made. A road ran anciently from Gebal to Baalbak, so that the transport was not impracticable. But as the forests were probably of great extent, there may have been two or three depots at which the timber was floated] so they prepared timber [Heb. the timber] and stones [Heb. the stones] to build the house. [The LXX. (Vat. and Alex. alike) add here, “three years.” It is barely possible that these words may have dropped out of the text, but they look more like a gloss, the inference from the chronological statement of 1Ki 6:1.]
HOMILETICS
1Ki 5:7-12
compared with 1Ki 16:1-34 :81 and 1Ki 18:4. Tyre and Israela lesson on personal influence. Twice in the history of Israel were its relations with the neighbouring kingdom of Tyre close and intimate. Twice did the Phoenician race exercise an important influence on the Hebrew people. In the days of Solomon the subjects of Hiram furnished men and materials to build a house to the name of the Lord. The Phoenicians were not only idolaters, but they belonged to the accursed races of Canaan, yet we see them here assisting the holy people, and furthering the interests of the true religion. But in the days of Ahab these relations were reversed. Then the kingdom of Ethbaal furnished Israel with a princess who destroyed the prophets of the Lord and sought to exterminate the religion of which the temple was the shrine and centre. In the first case, that is to say, we see Israel influencing Tyre for good; we hear from the lips of the Tyrian king an acknowledgment of the goodness of the Hebrew God; we see the two races combining to bring glory to God and to diffuse the blessings of peace and civilization amongst men. In the second case, we see Tyre influencing Israel for evil. No longer do the skilled artificers of Zidon prepare timber and stones for the Lord’s house, but the prophets and votaries of Phoenician deities would fain break down the carved work thereof with axes and hammers. So tar from rearing a sanctuary to Jehovah, they would root up His worship and enthrone a foul idol in the place of the Divine Presence. Such have been at different times the relations of Tyre and Sidon to the chosen race and the true religion.
Now why was this fatal difference? Why was the influence in one age so wholesome, in another so baleful? It may be instructive to mark the causes of this change. But observe, first
I. IT WAS NOT THAT THE PHOENICIAN CREED WAS CHANGED. In its essential features that was the same B.C. 1000 (temp. Solomon) and B.C. 900 (temp. Ahab). It was always idolatrous, always immoral, always an infamous cultus of the reproductive powers. The gods of Hiram were the gods of Ethbaal, and the rites of the latter age were also the rites of the former.
II. IT WAS NOT THAT THE LAW OF THE LORD WAS CHANGED. The idolatry which it forbade at the first period, it forbade at the second. It never tolerated a rival religion; it always condemned the Phoenician superstition. That is, semper eadem.
III. IT WAS NOT THAT HIRAM WAS A PROSELYTE. This was the belief of the divines of a past age, but there is no evidence in its favour.
We see then that it was no change in either of the religious systems. No; it was a change of persons made this difference. It was brought about by the personal influence of three or four kingsof Solomon, Jeroboam, Omri, Ahab. But before we trace the influence they respectively exercised, observe
I. THE WHOLESOME RELATIONS BETWEEN HIRAM AND SOLOMON, BETWEEN TYRE AND ISRAEL, i.e; WERE DUE TO THE PIETY OF DAVID. “Hiram was ever a lover of David.” The timber he supplied for the temple was not the first he had sent (2Sa 5:11). The league between the two kings (1Ki 5:12), and their joint undertakings (1Ki 5:18; 1Ki 9:27), were the fruits of David’s righteous dealings.
II. THE RELATIONS CONTINUED WHOLESOME AND BENEFICIAL SO LONG AS THE LAW OF THE LORD WAS KEPT. During David’s reign, and the earlier part of Solomon’s, the commerce of the two nations was to their mutual advantage. Then the Jew came into contact with idolatry unhurt. The soil was not ready for the baleful seed. At a later period (see Homily on 1Ki 10:22) it was otherwise.
III. THE LAW WAS NO SOONER VIOLATED THAN THE INFLUENCE OF TYRE BECAME HURTFUL. The Zidonian women in Solomon’s harem were a distinct violation of the law (1Ki 11:1), and that trespass bore its bitter fruit forthwith (1Ki 11:7, 1Ki 11:8). The principal factors, consequently, in the change were these
I. THE INFLUENCE OF SOLOMON. If he built altars for his Tyrian consorts, what wonder if the people learnt first to tolerate, then to admire, and at last to practise idolatry. Who can tell how much the frightful abominations of Ahab’s days are due to the example of wise Solomon, to the influence of the builder of the temple?
II. THE INFLUENCE OF JEROBOAM. The cultus of the calves, though it was not idolatry, paved the way for it. That violation of the law opened the door for departures greater still. It was no great step from the calves to the groves, from schism to utter apostasy.
III. THE INFLUENCE OF OMRI. Nations, like individuals, do not become infamous all at once (Nemo repente turpissimus fuit). They have their periods and pro. cesses of depravation. Omri carried Jeroboam’s evil work a step further; possibly he organized and formulated his system (Mic 6:16). He exceeded all his predecessors in wickedness, and so prepared the way for his son’s consummation of impiety.
IV. THE INFLUENCE OF AHAB. A second violation of the Jewish marriage law opened wide the gates to the pestilent flood of idolatries. The son of Omri weds the daughter of a priest of Astarte; and Phoenicia, once the handmaid of Israel, Becomes its snare. Now the ancestral religion is proscribed, and the elect people lends itself to unspeakable abominations (1Ki 16:32; cf. 2Ki 10:26, 2Ki 10:27; Rev 2:20). It may be said, however, that all this was the work of Jezebel, and due to her influence alone (1Ki 21:25; cf. 1Ki 18:13; 1Ki 19:2, etc.) That may be so, hut it was only the example of Solomon, the schism of Jeroboam, and the apostasy of Omri made this marriage possible, or enabled Jezebel, when queen, to do these things with impunity. Hence learn
I. THE POWER AND RESPONSIBILITY OF PERSONAL INFLUENCE. An idle word may destroy a kingdom. The Crimean war sprung out of the squabbles of a few monks over a cupboard and a bunch of keys. “There is not a child whoso existence does not stir a ripple gyrating onward and on, until it shall have moved across and spanned the whole ocean of God’s eternity, stirring even the river of life and the fountains at which His angels drink” And our responsibility is increased by the fact that
II. THE EVIL THAT MEN DO LIVES AFTER THEM. They go on sinning in their graves. Though dead, their example speaks. Witness Solomon and Jeroboam.
III. THE EVIL THAT KINGS DO AFFECTS WHOLE COUNTRIES. Their own kingdoms, of course, and neighbouring kingdoms too. It has been said that “the influence of one good man extends over an area of sixteen square miles.” But who shall assign any limits to the influence of a wicked prince? It may plunge a continent into wars, and wars that shall last for generations, or it may steep it for ages in sensuality and superstition. Its issues, too, are in eternity. It is because of the influence of kings that we are so plainly commanded to pray for them (1Ti 2:2; cf. Ezr 6:10; Jer 29:7).
IV. IN KEEPING OF GOD‘S COMMANDMENTS IS GREAT REWARD. The perfect piety of David procured the friendship and help of Tyre. The disobedience of Solomon, Jeroboam, and Ahab led to the decay and dispersion of the nation and the destruction of their families.
V. TEMPTATION DISCIPLINES THE FAITHFUL SOUL, BUT DESTROYS THE SINNER. David took no harm from his commerce with Hiram, nor did Solomon in the days of his piety. A good man will choose the good and refuse the evil in a corrupt system. But the wicked will choose the evil and refuse the good. Ahab’s relations with Tyre were altogether to his hurt. In David’s loyal heart the evil seed found no lodgment; in Ahab’s it found a congenial soft, and took root downwards and bare fruit upwards.
1Ki 5:17
Sure Foundations.
No city in the world has experienced so many vicissitudes as “the city of the Great King.” The place of the “vision of peace” (or, “foundation of peace”) has known no peace. It has been sixteen times taken by siege since our blessed Lord’s day, and conqueror after conqueror has cried, “Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof” (Psa 137:7). It has been the carcase round which the Roman “eagles” have repeatedly gathered; it has been the battlefield of Saracen and Crusader; now the Christian has wrested it from the Moslem, and now the Moslem has torn it back from the Christian. The consequence is that it is a mound of ruins, a heap of debris. When the Anglican church was built, it was necessary to dig down some forty feet, through the accumulated rubbish of ages, to get a foundation. The Jerusalem of the past can only be reached by deep shafts. It is literally true that not one stone of the ancient city is “left upon another” (Mat 24:2). With ONE exception. Amid the wreck and havoc of wax, amid the changes and chances of the world, the colossal foundations of Solomon remain undisturbed. His “great stones” are to be seen at the present day at the southeast angle and underneath the temple area (see on 1Ki 5:17). Everything built upon them has perished. Not a trace of tower or temple remains; nay, their very sites are doubtful. But “through all these great and various demolitions and restorations on the surface, its foundations, with their gigantic walls, have been indestructibly preserved” (Ewald). After the lapse of nearly three thousand years, “The foundation standeth sure.”
Let us learn a lesson hence as to
I. Christ.
II. The Church of Christ.
III. The doctrine of Christ and His Church.
We may see, then, in the Solomonic foundations of the Temple
I. A PICTURE OF CHRIST. He compared Himself to the Temple (Joh 2:19), and to the foundations of the Temple (Mat 21:42). Yes, to these very corner stones which are still visible. It is remarkable that Psa 118:22“The stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner”is cited by our Lord of Himself (Mat 21:42), and is applied to Him by St. Peter (Act 4:11), while Isa 28:16, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,” etc.words which were no doubt suggested by the great and precious stones of Solomon’s buildingare interpreted of Him both by St. Peter (1Pe 2:6) and St. Paul (Rom 9:1-33 :38). We have consequently “most certain warrants of Holy Scripture” for seeing in these venerable relics an image of the Eternal Son. He is the one foundation (1Co 3:11); the chief corner stone (, Eph 2:20); He “abideth ever;” “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever” (Heb 13:8, Gr.) That “sure foundation” can never fail. How many systems of philosophy, how many “oppositions of science” have “had their day and ceased to be”? How many proud empires have tottered to their fall; how many dynasties are extinct and forgotten? But the carpenter’s Son still rules in the hearts of men, and the cross of Christ “towers above the wreck of time.”
II. A PICTURE OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. As surely as the great cornerstone images our Lord, so surely do the huge and strong foundations pourtray the Church of which He is the Founder. It is to the Church ( ) those words refer, “The firm foundation of God standeth” (2Ti 2:19, Gk.) The Church is “the pillar and ground of the truth;” it is” built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets” (Eph 2:20; cf. Rev 21:14). And, like the foundations of the Temple, its base shall be stable and permanent. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16:18). It is founded on a rock (ibid.)
“Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain.”
It was the boast of Voltaire that what it took twelve men to build one man should suffice to break down. But the Church is stronger in the hearts of men now than it was in the eighteenth century. And Voltaire’s cry of impotent rage, Ecrasez l’infame, seems farther than ever from its realization. Its enemies assert that Christianity has “destroyed two civilizations”a striking admission of its strength and vitality. True, the Church has a legion of foes. But let us take courage. There is at Jerusalem a pledge and picture of her stability. Her fashions, her excrescences, her sects and schisms, like the buildings of the Holy City, shall pass away. But her foundation is sure.
III. A PICTURE OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST AND THE CHURCH. As there are twelve foundations of the Church, so are there six foundation truths, six “principles of the doctrine of Christ” (Heb 6:2). And of these it may justly be said, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid.” Some of these doctrines may have been, or may hereafter be, more or less obscuredthe “doctrines of baptism and of the laying on of hands” are often ignored or repudiated even nowbut for long centuries the foundations of the Temple area have been hidden. Obscured or not, they shall never be shaken or removed. This “firm foundation standeth.” The monoliths beneath the Mosque El Aksa, standing where Solomon and Hiram’s builders placed them, are silent but eloquent pictures of the eternal and unchangeable truth of God. And if men build on the foundations of Christian doctrine, or on the one foundation of “the personal historical Christ” (Alford on 1Co 3:11), “wood, hay, stubble,” i.e; systems, more or less worthless, of their own, like the Temple of Jerusalem, these shall be destroyed by fire in the “day of visitation;” but the foundation shall remain unscathed, strong and sure and eternal as the God who laid it.
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE
1Ki 5:2-6
The Temple.
Read also 2Ch 2:1-10, where additional light is thrown on this transaction. It marks a period of extreme interest and importance in Hebrew history. It introduces us, by anticipation, to that which was the crowning glory of the reign of Solomon, for his name must ever stand connected with the magnificence of the first Temple, though it be but as a gorgeous dream of the far distant past, which imagination strives in vain to reproduce with distinctness and certainty. Whether the Hiram who entered into this treaty with Solomon is the same as the Hiram who was the friend of David is a matter of doubt. Menander of Ephesus (quoted by Josephus) describes him as a man of great enterprize, a lover of architecture, noted for his skill in building and adorning the temples of the gods. And in this we have a valuable indirect confirmation of the Biblical history. Look at this purpose of Solomon to build a splendid temple to the Lord in two or three different lights.
I. IT EXPRESSES HIS DESIRE TO CARRY OUT THE GOOD DESIGNS OF HIS FATHER DAVID. Filial feeling prompted it. It drew the inspiration of its enthusiasm from the warmth of a filial heart. “Thou knowest how that David my father could not,” etc. We are told why he “could not” (1Ch 22:7, 1Ch 22:8; 1Ch 28:5). He had been “a man of war,” and had “shed much blood.” Noble purposes may be conceived in a time of discord and confusion; they can be actualized only in a time of rest. The hands must be free from the blood of men that would build a worthy dwelling-place for a righteous God. Nothing was more natural than that Solomon, under happier auspices, should resolve to do what his father had the “heart to do,” but “could not.” To how large an extent is human life a record of thwarted purposes! A tale cut short before it is half told; a laying of plans that are never worked out; a reaching forth towards fair ideals that men have not the power or the time to turn into realities. What can the high mission of each succeeding generation be but just to take up the good purposes that a previous generation failed to accomplish and develop them to their ripe issues? This is the real law of human progress. All honour to the son who, knowing what was truest and deepest in his father’s heart, endeavours worthily to fulfil it.
II. IT IS THE SPONTANEOUS OUTCOME OF HIS OWN DEVOUT FEELING. Solomon never had the pure and lofty spirit of devotion that inspired the soul of David; but as yet, at least, his religious sentiment is deep and true. A “house great and wonderful,” dedicated to the Lord, in the royal city, will give it fitting public expression. All religious feeling instinctively seeks to body itself forth in appropriate forms. Forbidden as the Jews were to “make any likeness or image” of the great Object of worship (Exo 20:4), it was quite in harmony with the Divine dispensation of the time that the spirit of worship should robe itself in a grand symbolic garb. Solomon only sought to develop the service of the tabernacle into a system more imposing and enduring (2Ch 2:4, 2Ch 2:5). In every age symbolism has its place as the spontaneous and natural expression of religious thought and feeling. Let it be relied on as the means of awakening such thought and feeling, as the prescribed form in which it shall movean artificial substitute for itand it becomes a mockery and a snare. The magnificence of Solomon’s design for the Temple indicated not only the fervour of his devotion, but the breadth of his view as regards the essential sacredness of all natural things. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.” All things beautiful and precious are turned to their true use when dedicated to Him. We cannot be too careful to give Him our richest and best. The true heart says,” I will not offer burnt offering to the Lord of that which doth cost me nothing.” Let us not be more concerned for our own houses than we are for the Lord’s. The history of the Temple, however, and of all ecclesiology, shows how easily the wealth of outward adornment in worship may become the grave of the spiritual and the veil of the Divine. In proportion as care for the symbolic formthe mere shrine of worshiphas increased, the living realitythe worship of the Father “in spirit and in truth”has passed away.
III. IT EXPRESSES HIS SENSE OF THE FACT THAT THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD IS THE HEAL STRENGTH AND GLORY OF A NATION. The Temple was to be dedicated “to the name of Jehovah”the visible sign and symbol of the sovereignty of that name over the whole life of the people. There was worth in the sign just so far as that sovereignty was real. The Jewish commonwealth was a theocracythe Temple the palace and throne of the great invisible King. Judaism was not the union of Church and State as two separate or separable powers, but their identification. No distinction between the political and ecclesiastical, the secular and spiritual spheres. The two were one. The ideal Christian nation is a theocracy in which Christ is king. Not made so by its institutions, but by the spiritual life that pervades it. True to its name only so far as the law of Christ is honoured in the homes of the people, moulds the form and habit of their social life, controls commerce, rules in Parliament, strengthens, ennobles, glorifies the Throne. Its Christian Churches are thus the very flower of a country’s highest life.
“Those temples of His grace,
How beautiful they stand!
The honour of our native place
And bulwark of our land.”
As the graveyardwhere “the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep”tells of the vanity of all earthly things, how the pride and glory of man must one day moulder down to dust, so the church is the memorial of the unfading inheritance of truth and purity and lovethe blessed fellowship of the redeemedthe “House of God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
IV. IT EXPRESSES HIS DESIRE THAT ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE A CENTRE OF RELIGIOUS ATTRACTION AND BOND OF RELIGIOUS UNITY. The tabernacle had been the movable sanctuary, of a wandering people, the Temple should be the resting place of the Divine presence (Psa 132:14). Hitherto there had been a divided worship, connected both with the tabernacle at Gideon and the ark in the city of David (1Ch 16:37-39). But in future all sacred associations are to be gathered up in the central glory of the Temple. One nation, one faith, one God, one sanctuary. But this localization of the highest forms of worship had its dangers. Men came to think of” the Holy Presence as belonging to the building, instead of the building as being hallowed and glorified by the Presence.” Christ proclaims the infinite Presence, the impartial Love. “The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain,” etc. (Joh 4:21). “One greater than the Temple is here”in whom all its sacred symbols are fulfilledthe attractive centre and bond of union for redeemed souls of every age and nation. Our thoughts are led on to the glorious vision of the holy city of which it is written, “I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Rev 21:22).W.
HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE
1Ki 5:5
The building of the Temple.
“Behold I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God.” Every man has some special work given him by God. It is of the utmost importance that he should find out what that work is, if he would not make his life a failure and come short of the purpose of God for him. In the ease of Solomon the great work given him to do was not to extend the boundaries of his kingdom, but to build the temple of the Lord. This he clearly understood, as is evident from his saying, “I purpose to build an house to the name of the Lord.” This was to him the work of paramount importance. The building of the Temple was to give a religious centre to the theocracy. This was part of the Divine plan, a branch of the education of the people, by which God would prepare the way for the new covenant. The old covenant was essentially preparatory; it was “the shadow of good things to come” (Heb 10:1). The Temple was to form a part of this preparation.
I. IT WAS A VISIBLE SYMBOL OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITH HIS PEOPLE. This was the only way in which such an idea could be brought home to men in the state of rude infancy in which they then were, and with their incapacity to apprehend directly spiritual graces. The material was thus the necessary medium of the spiritual.
II. The erection of a holy place for worship REMINDED MEN THAT THE EARTH WHICH THEY INHABITED WAS DEFILED; it developed in them the sense of sin.
III. THE POSSIBILITY OF DRAWING NEAR TO GOD IN THIS HOLY PLACE pointed to the time of reconciliation, when every spot of a redeemed earth might be a place of prayer; when there should be no longer one sanctuary for one nation alone, but when all the nations should have free access to God as worshippers in spirit and in truth. The fact that Solomon sought out workmen for the Temple, not only among the Israelites, but among the Gentiles, is prophetic, and prefigures the time when the multitude of worshippers shall be “of every kindred, and nation, and people, and tongue” (Rev 5:9).
IV. THERE IS NOT A SINGLE CHRISTIAN LIVING WHO HAS NOT A TASK LIKE THAT OF SOLOMON TO FULFIL. Every Christian ought to say, “I purpose to build an house to the name of the Lord.” (a) He must first become himself a living stone of the spiritual temple (2Pe 2:1-22 :51). (b) His body must be the temple of the Holy Ghost (1Co 6:19), his whole being a sanctuary (1Co 3:1-23.) His house should be a house of prayer (Jos 24:15). Are not these human temples themselves the stones elect, precious, to be used by and by in that great heavenly temple which the Lord shall build and not man? (2Co 5:1.)E. DE P.
HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND
1Ki 5:7-12
Lessons from the conduct of a heathen prince.
Describe the condition of Type at this period, alluding to its commerce, its religious beliefs, its proximity to the kingdom of Solomon, its monarchical institutions, as opposed to the usual republican government of Phoenician settlementsas exemplified in Carthage, the splendid daughter of Type, founded about 140 years after the building of Solomon’s temple. Point out some of the effects of the intercourse between these two states, as suggested by Old Testament history. Suggest from this the responsibilities and the perils accruing to us as a Christian people, from the fact that our own destinies are so interwoven with distant and heathen nations. Allude to the fearlessness of Scripture in ascribing what is good and commendable to those whom the Jews generally scorned. Various examples may be given, e.g; Abimelech king of Egypt, Cyrus, Hiram; and in the New Testament, Cornelius, Publius, etc. Compare the words of our Lord (Mat 8:11, Mat 8:12).
The conduct of Hiram teaches us the following lessons.
I. THAT WE SHOULD REJOICE IN THE PROSPERITY OF OTHERS (1Ki 5:7). Hiram was moved to joy, partly because of his love and admiration for David. It is an unspeakable advantage to have the position won by a father’s toil, the affection and confidence deserved by a father’s worth. In our material possessions, in our worldly occupation, in our ecclesiastical and, above all, our Christian relationships, how much of good has come from parentage! Contrast the possibilities of a lad, born of honoured parents, and therefore trusted till he proves untrustworthy, whose path in life is smoothed by the loving hands of those who care for him, for his father’s sake, with the terrible disadvantages of the child of a convict, who is distrusted and ill treated from his birth. Hiram was well disposed to Solomon for his father’s sake. There were many reasons for jealousy. The two kingdoms adjoined each other, and national pride would be fostered by religious differences. It is easier to rejoice over the success of a distant trader than over the prosperity of a neighbour who is our competitor. Nor is it common for a heathen to be glad over the welfare of a Christian. Hiram was large hearted enough to overlook barriers which were erected by the hands of rivalry and religious distinction.
II. THAT WE SHOULD FAIRLY CONSIDER THE DEMANDS OF OTHERS. “I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for” (1Ki 5:8). The request of Solomon was bold. It would require sacrifice on the part of the Tyrians. They were asked to help in building a temple for another nation, and for the worship of One who was to them a strange deity. No prejudice, however, interfered with Hiram’s fair consideration of Solomon’s request; and as it was more fully understood, it seemed more and more feasible. How often prejudice prevents men from looking at a novel scheme for work, from welcoming a new expression of old truth, etc. A false patriotism sometimes refuses to see any excellency in another people. Sectarianism checks Christians in learning from each other. There is much presented to us which we cannot at once welcome, but at least it should be fairly considered. “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.”
III. THAT WHEN WE DO A KINDNESS, IT SHOULD BE DONE WITHOUT GRUDGING. “I will do all thy desire.” It is not right to ask another for what is unreasonable, or to give to another what is unreasonable for him to expect. Sometimes to grant a request is easier than to refuse it, and we do what is asked to save ourselves trouble. Every demand should be weighed in the balance of equity. But if, after the test, it seems right to accede to it, we should not do it reluctantly, or partially, or murmuringly, lest we should mar the beauty of the act to others, and rob ourselves of the bliss of ministering to others in Christ’s spirit. “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men,” etc. (Col 3:23, Col 3:24). “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure,” etc. (Luk 6:38).
IV. THAT WE SHOULD RECOGNIZE AND RECOMPENSE THE ABILITIES OF THE HUMBLEST. In 2Ch 2:13 we read that Hiram chose from amongst his subjects a skilful man, to be set over this business. Christians can serve their Lord in this way amidst their ordinary occupations. In the counting house, or office, or factory the recognition and encouragement of diligence and skill may be a means of grace to employer and employe. We should devoutly recognize that knowledge, skill, capacity of any sort, are the gifts of God; and while we employ our own faithfully, we should, as opportunity serves, aid our fellow servants in the use of theirs.
V. THAT WE SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE OUR MUTUAL DEPENDENCE. Solomon and Hiram were not independent of each other. It was for the good of these kings and of their peoples that they should be associated in this holy work. Solomon confessed, “There is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians” (2Ch 2:6). Each nation, each individual has his own sphere to fill in the economy of God. No one of these can serve well in isolation. See St. Paul’s teaching about the body and its members. Show how nations are mutually dependent, commercially and in their political relations. Point out the special responsibility of God’s people when they are associated with heathen nations. Suggest the possibility that each section of Christ’s Church may be doing its own appointed service, though all must feel that they are mutually dependent if the prayer of our Lord is to be fulfilled (Joh 17:21). Apply the principle to the association of Christians in Church fellowship, in evangelistic enterprize, in religious worship, etc; and show the benefits arising to the individual from the fact that he is one of many.
VI. THAT EACH SHOULD LOYALLY ACCEPT, AND HEARTILY DO, HIS OWN SHARE IN BUILDING THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD. (2Ch 2:16.) Christians are likened to labourers in a vineyard, to servants in a household, to builders of a temple by our Lord and His apostles. In none of these spheres of activity is the work of all the servants alike in its publicity, in its honour, in its immediate effects, in its pleasant. ness, etc. Yet to every “good and faithful servant” the recompense will come; and he who shaped the stone in the quarry, or bore the burdens for more distinguished builders, will, in the great day, not lose his reward.A.R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Ki 5:1. Hiram king of Tyre It was at the beginning of Solomon’s reign that Hiram sent ambassadors, to condole with Solomon upon the death of his father, and to renew the league of friendship which he had with him. Josephus assures us, that in his time the letters which passed between Hiram and Solomon were preserved in the Archives of Tyre. This Hiram appears to have been the son of him who sent David timber and artificers to build his palace. Note; (1.) When we are at rest from outward trials, we should give greater diligence to build up the spiritual temple within. (2.) We may put our hands comfortably to that work, in which we have the Divine promise to encourage us. (3.) They have often most of this world’s ingenuity, who have no knowledge of Israel’s God. (4.) God can employ those in building his church, who have themselves no part nor lot in it. (5.) Every country has its staple commodity; by exchange of which, intercourse is maintained with its neighbours. It is our happiness, that with the corn of Canaan we possess also the shipping of Tyre.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
THIRD SECTION
Solomons Buildings
(1Ki 5:1 [5:15] 1Ki 9:28.)
A.Treaty with Hiram in regard to the building of the Temple
1Ki 5:1-18. [1532]
1And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon;1 for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever 2a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars2 which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his3 feet. 4But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. 5And, behold, I purpose4 to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build a [the] house unto my name. 6Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
7And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord5 [Jehovah] this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. 8And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. 9My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. 10So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. 11And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures [cor] of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures [cor6] of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. 12And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.
13And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. 14And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy. 15And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that 16bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; besides the chief of Solomons officers which were over the work, three thousand and three7 8 hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work. 17And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. 18And Solomons builders and Hirams builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
Exegetical and Critical
1Ki 5:1-6. And Hiram king of Tyre, &c. After the general description of Solomons government in the preceding section, the narrative now proceeds to give an account of his great and important undertaking, the building of the Temple (comp. the parallel account, 2 Chronicles 2). Hiram is called in 1 Kings 5:7, 19, and in Chron., and twice in Josephus. It is uncertain whether of these be the original form. According to 2Ch 2:2, and the present passage also, this Hiram was the same as he who had sent David wood to build his house (2Sa 5:11), and it is unnecessary, on the ground of the unreliable chronology of Josephus, to reckon him to be the son of that Hiram (having his fathers name) as Le Clerc, Thenius, and others do (Antiq.,viii. 31; comp. Contr. Apion.,i. 18). If, according to Josephus, the beginning of the building of the Temple, which took place in the fourth year of Solomons reign, occurred in the eleventh year of Hiram, it follows that the latter must have reigned several years contemporaneously with David, and may very well have reigned twenty years more, simultaneously with Solomon (1Ki 9:10 sq.).The purpose of his embassy to Solomon was to congratulate him on his accession. (The Syriac adds , which Thenius, without reason, deems original). It was evidence that he desired Solomon to continue in the same friendly relations to him as David had maintained; and it was the easier for Solomon to make that request to him, mentioned in 1Ki 5:6. On 1Ki 5:7-9, comp. 2Sa 8:13, and 1Ch 22:7-11. According to Ewald and Thenius, , ver 3, is equivalent to enemies (surrounding him); but in Psa 109:3, is also bund with the double accusative: they compassed me about also with words of hatred. Upon , see on chap. 6 , i.e., an unhappy event, as, for instance, rebellion, famine, plague, or other suffering. It appears, from 1Ki 5:6, that the part of Lebanon where the best cedars for building grew, belonged to Phnicia; it was on the northwestern part of the mountain range (Robinson, Palest., vol. iii. pp. 588594). The Sidonians are not the inhabitants of the city of Sidon simply, but of the entire district to which that part of Lebanon belonged. They knew how to hew and prepare wood for building, for they were skilled in ship-building beyond all other nations, and built their own houses also of wood (Schnaase, Gesch. der bildenden Knste,i. s. 249). We see from 1Ki 5:8 and 1Ki 7:13, that Solomon desired cypress-wood, and a Phnician artisan besides (comp. 2Ch 2:7; 2Ch 2:13).
1Ki 5:7-8. And it came to pass when Hiram, heard the words of Solomon, &c. The king of Tyre must have been very desirous of remaining on good terms with Israel, because the land of Israel was a granary for Phoenicia, and the friendship of the former was very important to the Phoenician commercial interests (Keil). The chronicler adds to (2Ch 2:12), the God of Israel that made heaven and earth. It does not follow, however, as older commentators say, that Hiram acknowledged this God as the only true God, or had become a proselyte. Polytheism is not exclusive: it allows each nation to retain its divinity, and recognizes his power, when it thinks it perceives his workings or his agency and benefactions, without rejecting the specifically national gods. When Hiram, therefore, names Solomon , because he is about to build a temple to Jehovah, it is evident that the idea of wisdom (1Ki 5:7), essentially includes that of religion (fear of God). Cypress is, indeed, inferior to cedar; but is also fitted for building, because it is not eaten by worms, and is almost imperishable, as well as very light (Winer). According to 2Ch 2:16, the wood for building was sent down on rafts (on the Mediterranean) to Joppa (i.e., Jaffa, coast-town on the borders of the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:46). Thence it was conveyed overland to Jerusalem, which is situated southeast thereof.
1Ki 5:9-13. And thou shalt in giving food, &c. Every year, as long as Hiram furnished building-materials and workmen, he received, for the sustenance of his court, 20,0009 (cor) measures of wheat, i.e., by Thenius reckoning, 38, 250 Dresden bushels, from Solomon; also 20 (cor) measures of oil, i.e., 100 casks, the cask containing 6 buckets. Pure oil is the finest, not going, after the usual fashion, through the press, but is obtained by pounding olives not quite ripe in a mortar (my Symbolik des Mos. Cult., i. s. 419). The chronicler does not mention this delivery to the court of Hiram; but he gives, in 2Ch 2:10, the reward of the laborers promised in our 6th verse: I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, 20,000 (cor) measures of beaten wheat, and 20,000 (cor) measures of barley, and 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil. The narrative here concerns a different thing, and no one has a right, as Thenius, to turn the 20 (cor) measures of the finest oil, destined for the court, into 20,000 of ordinary quality, and to suppose, with Bertheau, that the quantity of wine and oil is added by the chronicler according to his own whim. Because the quantity of the wheat which Solomon gave Hiram for the use of the court was as large as that which he delivered for the Sidonian hewers of wood, it does not follow that we are justified in identifying the two accounts (Keil). Besides, as Bertheau remarks, it appears that the account in the Chronicles does not, like our own, speak of an annual, but only of one delivery. The one account, as often happens, supplements the other. The addition, 1Ki 5:12, means: Solomon, by virtue of the wisdom he had received from God, came to the conclusion that it would be well to accept Hirams propositions, and to enter into terms of friendship with him. Keil also thinks that the verse refers to the wise use he made of the working capacities of his subjects, which is referred to in the following verses, and that this verse, therefore, leads on to them.
1Ki 5:13-15. And king Solomon raised a levy., strictly adscendere fecit, to take out, to take away (Psa 102:25). All Israel does not mean here the whole territory, but, as often elsewhere, the people (1Ki 1:20; 1Ki 8:65; 1Ki 12:16; 1Ki 12:20; 1Ki 14:13). In 1Ki 5:13 it is expressly said that these 30,000 men were (born) Israelites. Of these, 10,000 were always one month in service, and free the two following, when they cultivated their fields and took care of their houses. For Adoniram, see 1Ki 4:6.Besides these 30,000 men, who were not sufficient, there were (1Ki 5:15) 70,000 that bore burdens, and 80,000 hewers in the mountains. is, according to all Versions, to be understood of stone-cutters alone, not of wood-cutters (Gesenius, Ewald), for the (easier) working in wood was sufficiently provided for by the changing 30,000 laborers (Thenius). The can be understood only of Lebanon, from the context, and not, as Bertheau thinks, of the stone-quarries of the mountains. The 70+80,000 = 150,000 men (2Ch 2:18) were not changed, but were in constant service; they were not Israelites, but, on the contrary, (as the parallel passage alluded to expressly says), i.e., strangers in the land of Israel; those of the Canaanites that remained when their land was conquered, and who were made servants (Jdg 1:27-30; Jos 16:10). In contradistinction to these 30,000 Israelites, they are named, in 1Ki 9:21, , i.e., servants (2Ch 8:7-9). The assertion of Ewald and Distel that these 150,000 servants were of the people of Israel, and only came later when the several buildings became enlarged, is utterly erroneous.The total number of these workmen is great, but not surprising when we consider those times, when there was no machinery, and everything had to be done by the human hand. According to Pliny (Hist. Nat., xxxvi. 12), 360,000 men had to work twenty years long at one pyramid (comp. Calmet on the place).
1Ki 5:16. Beside the chief, &c. Thenius: literally the chief of the overseers, and hence the usual expression, overseer: but there are no subaltern overseers mentioned. How great, then, must the number of these have been, when the chief overseers numbered several thousands? The as a description of the substantive (Vatablus: principes, qui prfecti erant) is properly connected therewith by the Stat. construct. (comp. Ewald, 287 b); so, the chiefs not reckoned, those who were appointed by (or for) Solomon, and who oversaw the works.Chron. gives, instead of the number 3,300 (1Ki 2:17), 3,600, which Thenius thinks the right one, and he would have the text altered accordingly; but Ewald, on the other hand, declares our number to be correct, and that of Chron. wrong. But both numbers are right, as J. H. Michaelis has proved; the difference comes from the different division of the offices of superintendence. In 1Ki 9:23, 550 are named; these, with the 3,300, make 3,850. The parallel passage of Chron. (1Ki 8:10) mentions only 250, which, added to the 3,600, gives the same number, 3,850. This coincidence cannot be chance; the number 550 evidently contains the 250, and the 300, by which the 3,600 exceed the 3,300: 250 of the whole number of overseers were, as appears from the context in 2Ch 8:10, native Israelites; but 300 were foreigners. The chronicler, however, no doubt includes the latter among the subaltern overseers (3,300+300 = 3,600), because they were not on the same footing with the Israelitish overseers.
1Ki 5:17-18. And the king commanded. The great stones should be , not weighty (Thenius), for that is, of course, understood, nor precious (Keil), for why should the value of these stones be especially insisted on? but glorious, splendid, fine stones (Psa 36:8; Psa 45:9; Est 1:4). It is plainly said here, as in 2Ch 3:3, that these stones were for the foundation of the building, and not, therefore, for the consolidation of the Temple structure (Thenius). Of the latter kind, which Josephus (Arch., 15, 11, 3) so minutely describes, the Bible-text makes no mention. The are nothing else than the splendid great stones, which were shaped after being hewn out of the quarry. Vulgate: ut tollerent lapides grandes, lapides pretiosos, in fundamentum templi et quadrarent eos.The Giblites, 1Ki 5:18, are the inhabitants of (Jos 13:5), a Phnician town near that part of Lebanon, where the largest cedars were found; i.e., the Byblos of the Greeks. [The Engl. Ver. has simply for this word, stone-squarers.E. H.] It appears, from Eze 27:9, that the Giblites were remarkable for their technical skill in ship-building especially. Thenius reads , and translates: they wreathed the stonesput a border round them. Robinson stated (Palest.) that he had found stones carved in that manner. Bttcher rightly names these conjectures ill-founded. Comp. what Keil, on the passage, says against them.
Historical and Ethical
1. Solomons undertaking to build a house to the name of Jehovah was not an arbitrary, self-devised act, nor was it prompted solely through the wish and will of his father David, but rested upon a divine decision (1Ki 5:5), and, as already shown in the Introduction, 3, has its inward, necessary reason in the development of the Old Testament theocracy. The assertion that the thought to build a magnificent temple to Jehovah in Jerusalem proceeded from the sight of the temple-service of the Phnicians and Philistines, and of their ostentatious cultus (Duncker, Gesch. des Alt., i. s. 397), is entirely without foundation and contradicts all historical records. When Stephen, in his discourse before the Sanhedrin, says: Solomon built him an house. But the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, &c. (Act 7:47), he does not mean in any way to blame Solomons undertaking, or to say, as Lechler supposes (in his Bibelwerk on the place), the tabernacle was set up at Gods will and command; but the design of building a temple and the completion of it is only a human design and a human performance. For that the Most High cannot be shut up within a house, Solomon himself expressly declared at the consecration of the Temple (1Ki 8:27). Stephen was opposing rather, from the stand-point of the New Testament, the stiff-necked, Jewish authorities, who, when the promised Messiah appeared, and the New Covenant was introduced along with Him, rejected the same, and clung with tenacious unbelief to the outward sign of the Old Covenant, to the Temple as the permanent central-point of all divine revelation. The accusation, he would say, that this Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this holy place, was in so far correct, as that He certainly had taken away the Old Covenant, and with it had abolished its sign and pledge (Joh 2:19). For the day of the New Covenant, the temple at Jerusalem has lost all significance. For the dwelling of God in the midst of His people conditioned through natural descent, has become transferred into a dwelling in the midst of the people who are believers in Christ, to whom the apostle appeals: Ye are the temple of the living God, in you is fulfilled, in truth, the word spoken once by God unto Israel: I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and will be their God, and they shall be my people (2Co 6:16; Eph 2:21; 1Pe 2:4-5). To cling now to the Old Testament temple built by human hands, and to reject the living temple of the living God, Stephen pronounces as a striving against the Holy Ghost (Act 7:51).
2. It is one of those significant divine providenoes in which the history of Israel is so rich, that as in the development of the sacred history the time had come for the house of the Lord (or for for Jehovah), in the land which alone possessed those means and agencies for the execution of the undertaking in which Israel was wanting, a king ruled who entertained a friendly sentiment towards David and Solomon, and was prepared gladly for every assistance, so that even heathen nations, whether friendly or conquered, took part in the building of the house for the God of Israel, and so contributed indirectly to the glorifying of God. It was a setting forth in act of the word: The earth is the Lords, and all that therein is (Psa 24:1); For the kingdom is the Lords, and He is governor among the nations (Psa 22:28); and all the heathen shall serve Him (Psa 72:11). And as Solomons kingdom, as the most complete outward kingdom of peace, is frequently, with the prophets, a type of the Messiahs kingdom (see above, Historical and Ethical on chap. 4), so do they behold, in the participation by the heathen in the building of the temple, a type and prophecy that the Messiah shall build the temple of the Lord and that they who are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, &c. (Zec 6:12-15).
3. In the very time of their highest earthly splendor the people of God, in respect of worldly art, pursuit, and skill, were inferior to the neighboring Phnicians (Gerlach). Solomon had no one amongst his people who could execute a work of art such as the temple was to be (1Ki 5:6). As to individual men (1Co 7:7), so also to nations, God has distributed divers gifts, powers, and destiny. It was not the office of Israel to exercise the arts, but to be the bearer of divine revelation, and to communicate the knowledge of the One living and all-holy God to all nations. To this end God has chosen this people out of all peoples; and their entire mode of life and occupation, yea, their whole development and history, are closely connected with it. To the achievement of this its destiny must even other nations serve, with the especial gifts and powers conferred upon them. High as the Phnicians stood above Israel at that time in technical and artistic accomplishments (cf. Duncker, a. a. O., s. 317320), so nevertheless did Israel, notwithstanding all its sins and errors, excel the Phnicians in the knowledge of the truth. Distinguished as Phnicia was for its art and commerce, its religion was the most depraved, and its worship most crude (Duncker, s. 155 sq.).
[4. The genius of the Jewish people never achieved anything eminent in plastic art. Skill in architecture, and in sculpture, and in painting, seems to have been denied them. Their religion forbade it, and the hereditary feeling of the race was one of aversion to all arts of the graver, to images and forms cut in stones or upon stone, and so in their want of appreciation of beauty of form they were unable to conceive of grand structures; and when Solomons great buildings were undertaken, the skilled workmen and the artists connected with the work were foreigners. Dr. Prideaux quotes Josephus to this effect (Antiq., Bk. 18. c. 7): When Vitellius governor of Syria was going to pass through Juda with a Roman army to make war against the Arabians, the chief of the Jews met him, and earnestly entreated him to lead his army another way; for they could not bear the sight of those images which were in the ensigns under which they marched, they were so abominated by them. The ensigns therefore, for the sake of those images in them, were abominations to the Jews; and by reason of the desolations which were wrought under them by the Roman armies in conquered countries, they were called desolating abominations, or abominations of desolation, and they were never more so than when under them the Roman armies besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. Poetic feeling, the power of song, belonged to the race; and these, under God, have impressed themselves upon the heart of the nations, so that to this day the songs of Zion are sung in temples which the Jewish people never could have built.E. H.]
Homiletical and Practical
1Ki 5:1-5. Solomons purpose to build a house to the Lord. (1) The motive. 1Ki 5:3-5. Not ambition, the love of glory, the love of pomp, but the divine will, and the charge of his father. In every weighty undertaking one must examine and be assured that it do not proceed from selfish motives, but is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God (Rom 12:2). (2) The time, rest and peace (1Ki 5:4). A time of peace is the time for building in general, but especially for building houses of God, which are a memorial of thanksgiving for the blessings of peace and prosperity. (3) The request for assistance, 1Ki 5:6. In important undertakings which are agreeable to the will of God, and propose His honor, we may and should not hesitate to trust in Him who directs mens hearts, like the water-brooks, to ask others for aid and assistance.
1Ki 5:1-2. True friends whom parents have gained, are an invaluable legacy for the children, for whom the latter cannot be sufficiently thankful (Eccles. 30:4). To a God-fearing man like David, if he have many enemies, yet there will never be wanting those who love him his life long, and who prize and honor him after his death, even in his children.
1Ki 5:3. With every son it should be his earnest business, and likewise pleasure, to fulfil the will of his father, and to complete the good work which he had begun, but could not carry out.
1Ki 5:4. When God has granted rest and peace, health and happiness, prosperity and blessing, an opportunity is thus at hand to do something for His great name.
1Ki 5:5. If it cannot come into the mind of every one to build a house of wood and stone unto the Lord, nevertheless, every one to whom God has given wife and children is in condition to vow and to build a house unto the Lord out of living stones. I and my house will serve the Lord (Jos 24:15).
1Ki 5:5. Starke: One man needs another; on this account one should always serve and be amiable towards another, ministering to his good (1Pe 4:10).The superfluity of one must minister to the need of the others, in order that hereafter, also, the superfluity of the latter may serve for the wants of the former (2Co 8:14).Israel knew not how to plan great buildings, especially works of art, but they did know how to serve the living God. Better to live without art than without God in the world.
1 Kings 5:2125. The heathen king Hiram: (1) His rejoicing over Solomon and his undertaking; (2) his praise of the God of Israel; (3) his willingness to help. How far stands this heathen above so many who call themselves Christians!
1Ki 5:6. Wrt. Summ.: When we see that it goes well with our neighbor, we should not envy him such prosperity, but rather rejoice with him and wish him good-luck. Since Hiram, although a heathen king, has done this, how much more does it befit Christians to act thus towards each other? It proves a noble heart when a man, free from envy and jealousy, sincerely praises and thanks God for the gifts and blessings which He grants to others.Starke: When God wishes well to a nation He bestows upon it godly rulers; but when He wills to chastise it he removes them. Hiram praises God that He bestows upon another people a wise monarch; how much more should that people itself thank God since He bestowed upon it a wise, viz., a pious king?
1Ki 5:9. How pleasing it is when the assistance of those who can help is not wrung from them, but offered in friendship, and they are ready and heart-willing to do what lies in their power (2Co 9:7).Wrt. Summ.: No house, even though it be the church and temple of God, should be built to the hurt and oppression of ones fellow-creatures.
1Ki 5:12. The league between Solomon and Hiram: (1) Its object: a good, God-pleasing work begun in the service of God. Like kings and nations, even so individual men should unite only for such purposes. (2) The conditions of the league: each gave to the other according to his desire; neither sought to overreach the other; the compact was based upon honesty and fairness, not upon cunning and selfishness: only upon such compacts does the blessing of God rest, for unjust possessions do not prosper.
1Ki 5:13-18. The workmen at the temple-building: (1) Israelites. Solomon acted not like unto Pharaoh (Exo 2:23), he laid no insupportable burdens upon his people, but permits variety in the work, and Israel itself undertakes it without murmurs or complaints. How high do these Israelites stand above so many Christian communities, who constantly object or murmur when they are about to undertake any labor for their temple, or must needs bring a sacrifice of money or time. (2) Heathen (Psa 22:29; vide Historical and Ethical). Jew and heathen together must build the temple of God, according to divine decreea prophetic anticipation of fact as set forth Eph 2:14; Eph 2:19-22; Eph 3:4-6.Seiler: The great preparations of Solomon must naturally remind us of the far greater preparations and arrangements which God has made for the building of the spiritual temple of the New Testament. How many thousand faithful laborers, how many wise and good men, has he placed in every known part of the world; how has he furnished them with wisdom and many other gifts of the Spirit, so that the great work of the glorious building may be completed! O God! do thou still prosper thy work! Help the faithful workers in thy Church, that they may enlighten many men to thy glorification, &c.Richter: Well for us if we serve the true Solomon in the preparations for His eternal temple. But still better is it if we are ourselves prepared as living stones to shine forever in the living temple (1Pe 2:4-5).
Footnotes:
[1]1Ki 5:1.[The Vat. Sept., by omitting the first part of this clause, makes an extraordinary statement: . . .
[2]1Ki 5:3.[The A. V. has here exactly preserved the incongruity of the Heb. of an abstract noun , war, followed by the personal pronoun . The Chald. avoids the difficulty by reading = those making war. It has been suggested that the Heb. might have read originally .
[3]1Ki 5:3.The ktib is here decidedly to be preferred to the kri .Bhr. [It is also the reading of many MSS., editions, and VV.
[4]1Ki 5:5.[ , followed by the infinitive, expresses purpose. Cf. Exo 2:14; 2Sa 21:16.
[5]1Ki 5:7.[The Sept. here read , not . Cf. the parallel place 2Ch 2:11, .]
[6]1Ki 5:11.[The Sept. enormously multiply this by writing , so also the Heb. in the parallel place, 2Ch 2:9. The Syr. and Arab. still ten times more, by making it twenty thousand cor.
[7]1Ki 5:16.[cf. 2Ch 2:17, .
[8]1Ki 5:17.[The Vat. Sept. omits 1Ki 5:17 and the first half of 18. Both recensions of the Sept. add to 1Ki 5:18, . F.G.]
[9]The cor (, ) equals the homer, and the homer was ten time the bath. 20,000 cors = 200,000 baths. This, at a rough calculation, amounts to 260,000 bushels = between 85 and 90,000 barrels. In liquids, again, 20 cors = 200 baths. This would amount to about 1,666 or 1,670 gallons of oil. The computation must be in the rough for obvious reasons, as may be seen by reference to Smiths Dictionary, Amer. edition, N. Y., 1870, vol. iv., article Weights and Measures. The reader can find some strange etymologies in the animadversions of Petavius upon Epiphanius tractate on Weights and Measures. Epiph., Opera, edit. G. Dindorf. Leipsic, 1863, vol. iv. p. 95.E. H.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have in this chapter the congratulations of Hiram, king of Tyre, which he sent to Solomon on his accession to the throne, Solomon’s answer. Hiram furnisheth timber at Solomon’s request to build the temple. An account of Solomon’s workmen and laborers for the service.
1Ki 5:1
(1) And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
It should seem from what is here said, that Hiram, king of Tyre, was always a lover of David, and that this must have been on account of his religion; or if not on this account, it was the Lord which inclined this man’s heart to a regard for David, and so it was David’s religion which gave rise to it. When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Pro 16:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Spade-work of the Kingdom
1Ki 5:15
Alike as to its structure, furniture, and services, the temple of Solomon had a spiritual and an evangelical signification. Our Lord institutes analogies between Himself and the temple, and the apostles repeatedly refer to the sacred palace as typical of the Christian Church. The temple on Zion, with everything relating to it, was full of prophetic significance; and we do no violence to the text when we see in it an anticipation of a large class of evangelical workers and of a considerable branch of evangelical work. Tens of thousands today ‘bear burdens,’ are ‘hewers in the mountains’ are servants of Christ, working in wild, difficult, and distant places; bending themselves to obscure tasks and the very drudgery of things that the living temple of a regenerate humanity may be built. About these particular workers of the kingdom we propose now to speak; to recognize the vastness and seriousness of their service, the greatness and certainty of their reward.
I. The Initial Service in the Salvation and Uplifting of Man is peculiarly the Vocation of the Christian Church.
1. The initial work of uplifting the race is spiritual.
2. The initial work of uplifting the race is by spiritual workers beginning at the basement.
II. The Initial Work of the Church of God Implies Immense Sacrifice. The burden-bearers and hewers in the mountains encountered great trials and made severe sacrifices that the stone and timber necessary for Solomon’s temple might be forthcoming; and the living temple of a regenerate humanity is possible only as evangelical workers are prepared greatly to deny themselves. And tens of thousands of such workers are today making manifold sacrifices for the world’s salvation.
III. The Splendid Hopefulness of this Initial Work. Out of the rugged mountain and wild wood these strenuous workers brought the wondrous temple. Coarse, dull, forbidding as their toil might seem, it at last took shape as the palace of God. ‘Great stones, costly stones, hewed stones,’ formed the foundation of the house. ‘The doors were also of olive-tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold.’ ‘And the cedar of the house within was carved with gourds and open flowers
Our undistinguished brethren are occupied with raw material; they are subject to distressing conditions; the result of their strain and sacrifice is often ambiguous and disappointing, yet is their work grander than they know; they build a living temple of moral splendour which no Nebuchadnezzar shall spoil, a New Jerusalem no Titus shall destroy.
The sculptor can discern in the jagged quarry of Carrara galleries of beauteous imagery; in the wild forest of Lebanon the architect can see palaces and temples; and since Christ opened our eyes compounds and slums dazzle us with the most splendid possibilities of life and destiny.
W. L. Watkinson, The Fatal Barter, pp. 228-244.
Reference. VII. 5, 6. S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Co-operation of Hiram
1Ki 5
HIRAM is first mentioned in 2Sa 5:11 , and a parallel passage will be found in 1Ch 14:1 , from which we learn that he sent workmen and materials to David for the building of his own palace. According to tradition, Hiram was a tributary or dependent monarch. The embassy which Hiram sent on this occasion was evidently meant to express the congratulations of the king of Tyre, in 2Ch 2:14-15 we find the words, “My lord,” “My lord David thy father.” There is a notable mixture of affection and reverence in the spirit which Hiram showed to Solomon; Hiram was “ever a lover of David,” and yet he speaks of David in terms which an inferior would use to a superior. Hiram preserved the continuity of friendship, and herein showed himself an example, not only to monarchs but to other men. “Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not.” Solomon in returning an answer to the congratulations of Hiram was faithful to history as embodied in the person of his own father, and therefore was by so much qualified to continue what he believed to be the purpose and covenant of God. Solomon looked facts steadily in the face. In the book of Chronicles the condemnation which the Lord pronounced upon David is still more emphatically set forth: “But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight” ( 1Ch 22:8 , 1Ch 28:3 ; 2Ch 2:3 ).
Although Solomon was blessed with “rest on every side,” and was enabled to look upon a future without so much as the shadow of an adversary upon it, yet he was determined not to be indolent. “And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God ” this is the language of a strong man; this is the strength which increases by its own exercise. Suppose a man to come into the circumstances which we have described as constituting the royal position of Solomon, and suppose that man destitute of an adequate and all-controlling purpose, it is easy to see how he would become the victim of luxury, and how what little strength he had would gradually be withdrawn from him. But at all events in the opening of Solomon’s career we see that the purpose was always uppermost, the soul was in a regnant condition, all outward pomp and circumstance was ordered back into its right perspective, and the king pursued a course of noble constancy as he endeavoured to realise the idea and intent of heaven. The same law applies to all prosperous men. To increase in riches is to increase in temptation, to indolence and self-idolatry: to external trust and vain confidence, to misanthropy, monopoly, and oppression; the only preventive or cure is the cultivation of a noble “purpose,” so noble indeed as to throw almost into contempt everything that is merely temporal and earthly Solomon not only had inward and spiritual wisdom which comforted his mind, but he had an intention which required him always to travel out of himself, and to work for the glory of his kingdom and the benefit of his people. Every master, every great man, every leader should build a house for God, a school for the ignorant, an asylum for the destitute, or in some other way realise a sublime purpose in life. Then let riches come tenfold, and they will not be too much to carry out a benevolence which knows no bound.
Even the noblest purpose needs the co-operation of sympathetic and competent men:
“Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians” ( 1Ki 5:6 ).
Thus the Jew seeks assistance from the Gentile in building the house of the Lord. How wonderful are the co-operations which are continually taking place in life! so subtly do they interblend, and make up that which is lacking in each other, that it is simply impossible to effect an exhaustive analysis. Nor would it be desirable that such an analysis should be completed. We cannot live upon analysis. We should fix our minds upon the great fact that no man liveth unto himself, that no man is complete in himself, that every man needs the help of every other man, and thus we shall see how mysteriously is built the great temple of life, and is realised before the eyes of the universe the great purpose of God. Co-operation is only another word for the distributions which God has made of talent and opportunity. It might be supposed that co-operation was simply a human act; whereas in its outworking, it shows the marvellous distribution which God has made of capacity, resource, opportunity; how he has related one man to another, and one event to another; when we study co-operation in this light we see that it is but the under or visible side of divine providence, the bringing together of parts apparently sundered, yet which need only to approach one another to show that they were meant to act in harmony. Not only must there be co-operation between foreign powers, there must also be co-operation at home. This is made clear by the thirteenth verse:
“And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.” ( 1Ki 5:13 )
In vain had Hiram responded in the language of generous sympathy if Israel itself had been a divided people. This must be the condition of the Church as a great working body in the world. It will be in vain that poetry, history, literature, music, and things which apparently lie outside the line of spiritual activity, send in their offers, tributes, and contributions, each according to its own kind, if the Church to which the offer is made is a divided and self-destroying body. When all Israel is one, the contributions of Tyre will be received with thankfulness and be turned to their highest uses. When the Church meets in one place with one accord, then there will come a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind; but that sound of blessing and inspiration will never come to a Church that is torn by intestinal strife.
A beautiful picture is given in verse fourteen:
“And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home.” ( 1Ki 5:14 )
The picture represents the difference between cutting down and setting up; in other words, the difference between destruction and construction. It was easier to cut down than it was to build up. Enough could be cut down in one month to require two months for the putting of it together in architectural form. The two operations should always go on together. The business of the Church is to pull down, and to build up; even to use the materials of the enemy in building up the temple of the living God. The picture has an evident relation to the ease with which men can pull down faith and darken hope and unsettle confidence. What can be easier than to fell a tree which has required centuries in which to perfect its strength and beauty? Who could not in one hour, having made proper preparation, blow to pieces the finest fabric ever reared by the genius of man? Who could not by one blow destroy a picture painted by the hand of the greatest master? The picture also shows us the beautiful idea of foreign labour and home service being united in the same men. Thus the work of foreign missions should help the work of missions at home. Every idolatry that is thrown down abroad should be turned into a contribution for the upbuilding and strengthening of the Church at home. Sometimes there is greater difficulty at home than there is on the distant mountains or in the provinces of a foreign king. The Christian, turning all these historical instances to their highest spiritual uses, should know himself to be bound to destroy and to create, to tear up and to plant, and to conduct generally the double and contradictory work of uprooting error and planting the vine of heavenly truth.
“And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house” ( 1Ki 5:17-18 ).
The care thus shown of the foundation is another instance of the wisdom of Solomon. The stones which were used in the foundation were in no sense considered insignificant or worthless. We cannot read the epithets which are applied to them without being reminded of the foundation which God himself has laid in Zion. There is no straining of the merely historical event connected with Solomon’s temple in seeing in it hints and suggestions regarding the greater temple of which it was but a faint emblem. The stones which Solomon used are described as “great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones;” the terms which are used to describe the foundation which was laid in Zion are these “A stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.” We read also of the foundations of the wall of the city which John saw in vision “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
A curious illustration of the union between the permanent and the temporary is shown in all earthly arrangements. Solomon laid foundations which might have lasted as long as the earth itself endured. Judging by the foundations alone, one would have said concerning the work of Solomon, This is meant for permanence; no thought of change or decay ever occurred to the mind of the man who laid these noble courses. It is the same with ourselves in nearly all the relations of life. We know that we may die today, yet we lay plans which will require years and generations to accomplish. We are perfectly aware that our breath is in our nostrils, yet we build houses which we intend to stand for centuries knowing that we cannot occupy them ourselves, yet by some impulse or instinct which we cannot control, in building for ourselves we build for others, and it is to the future that we owe the strength of the present. Yet we often speak as having no obligation to the future, or as if the future would do nothing for us, not knowing that it is the future which makes the present what it is, and that but for the future all our inspiration would be lost because our hope would perish. Let us see that our foundations are strong. He who is more anxious for decoration than solidity knows not the climate in which he builds, and knows not the forces by which his work will be assailed. In all building consider strength first, and beauty next Especially let this be so in the building of character. Let even the foundations be of precious stones, as of jasper and sapphire, chalcedony and emerald, sardonyx and sardius, chrysolite and beryl, topaz and chrysoprasus, jacinth and amethyst. Having spent such great and costly care upon the foundations, surely we cannot but be just to ourselves in making the superstructure worthy of the base on which it stands.
A beautiful illustration of contrast and harmony is to be found in the distribution which Solomon made of his workers and the labour they were required to undertake: “And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work” ( 1Ki 5:15-16 ). Here we find burden-bearers, hewers in the mountains, officers, and rulers. There was no standing upon one level or claiming of one dignity. Each man did what he could according to the measure of his capacity, and each man did precisely what he was told to do by his commanding officer. It is in vain to talk about any equality that does not recognise the principle of order and the principle of obedience. Our equality must be found in our devotion, in the pureness of our purpose, in the steadfastness of our loyalty, and not in merely official status or public prominence. The unity of the Church must be found, not in its forms, emoluments, dignities, and the like, but in the simplicity of its faith and the readiness of its eager and affectionate obedience. Looking for a moment at the seventeenth verse, we find the arrangement perfected by the words “and the king commanded.” Now let us read the whole as if it were a catalogue burden-bearers, hewers in the mountains, officers, rulers, and the king commanded. There is the true picture of a working Church. There is no indignity in any department of Church service. It is honour enough for an angel to go upon any errand which God may appoint. Looking at ourselves and amongst ourselves, we may begin to speak about diversity of honours, but looking at God and taking our commands from him, we shall not fasten our attention upon the thing which has to be done as compared with something which another man may be called to do, but shall see in the glory of the King, honour enough to fill not only our ambition but our imagination.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVIII
THE WORKS OF SOLOMON
1Ki 5:1-7:51
The works of Solomon were mainly buildings, whether of houses, or cisterns, etc., constructed during his reign and under his supervision. The first and most famous was the Temple. The second was his own house. The third was his wife’s house. The fourth was the upbuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and its fortifications, strengthening particularly the famous citadel of Millo. Fifth, he built two kinds of cities, and quite a number of each kind. One kind was for the headquarters and protection of his commerce; another kind was fortified cities controlling all the passes from any direction into his land. Among the fortified cities note the following:
First, Lebanon. He erected a strong fortification in the northern part of his country in the mountains of Lebanon on the great highway of Damascus, to guard the immense trade that poured through that city from the fords of the Euphrates.
Next, Hazor, still further north near Lake Merom. The object of that city was to protect the entrance from the south of Syria into his country. You should know the topography of the country in order to understand fully the wisdom of the location of each fortified city.
The next was at Megiddon on the plain of Bsdraelon, which was the great battle plain of the Holy Land. It was so in ancient times. It was so in mediaeval times, and according to prophecy will be so near the end of time. This fortification controlled all the Esdraelon plain. It was in the western part of the Holy Land, about the middle of it not far from the Mediterranean Sea.
The next was the great pass of Bethhoron, where Joshua fought his decisive battle. That is the pass leading from the Philistine country to Jerusalem. He fortified both ends of that pass, upper and nether, so that from the Plains of the Philistines an army could not approach Jerusalem in that direction.
Then on the south there were Gezer and Baalath, two other fortified places that protected not only from the Philistine raids, but from the Egyptian raids on the southwest. His other fenced cities and I will not mention all of them, protected the borders on the east of the Jordan, so that when these fortifications were completed Solomon’s country was like Paris before the war with Germany, and even since, i.e., from every direction there were long lines of fortifications.
The other class of cities was mainly on account of trade. You should have a map before you. East or northeast of Damascus, and south of his border on the Euphrates, was a desert, and in that desert a cluster of the most famous springs or fountains in the world perennial water in abundance and beautiful groves of palm trees and there Solomon built a city, Tadmor, which stood a thousand years, and in later history is called Palmyra, where Zenobia, the Queen of the East, reigned. If you are familiar with Roman history, you will remember her capture at her capital Palmyra, and her being brought a prisoner to Rome, and there settling down as a quiet Roman matron, marrying a member of the Roman nobility. In history the city of Palmyra is famous. In our times it is famous for archaeology. To the ruins of Palmyra, Baalbek, and Thebes on the Nile, and similar places, scholars go to excavate and give us the result of their studies in archaeology.
Solomon built quite a city, not for land commerce, but for sea commerce, at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, and transported a large population there in order that it should be held by loyal Jews, as that was his only good seaport. Those on the Mediterranean coast that lay within the boundary of his country Joppa, for example were very poor seaports. The next great buildings in connection with his reign were the store houses, immense structures on all the lines of traffic leading to Jerusalem where the revenues of the king were collected. Then the great stables that he had erected for the housing of his chariot horses and cavalry horses.
Another great work of Solomon was the building of roads. Our city papers say much about the split-log drag and the necessity for good wagon roads, roads for foot passengers and horsemen, for bringing the country products to the city markets. Solomon’s system of roads became as famous as the roads described by Prescott in the history of Peru, which are ahead of any in history except the Roman roads.
A very difficult work of Solomon was the building of a navy of his own. When he traded in the Mediterranean he had to use the ships of Tyre, just as a great part of our trade now is carried on in English or German bottoms. That is not as helpful to a country as to have its own merchant marine, its own ships for carriage. A tremendous change in Solomon’s kingdom was brought about by the establishment of this navy of his at Eziongeber at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, which is a part of the Red Sea. Those ships were manned largely by Tyrians, as the Jews were not good sailors, and that fleet would sail with imposing ceremony, to be gone three years. That is a very considerable voyage. The fleet would sail down the Indian Ocean to the East Indies, Borneo, Sumatra, and other islands of the archipelago in the. Indian Ocean, and then on to the archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean, and all down the eastern coast of Africa.
Before Solomon’s time Africa had been circumnavigated. Fleets, starting in the Red Sea, had gone clear around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and back into the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. They seemed to have forgotten about this when, not long before the time of Columbus, Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa, but it had been done before Solomon’s time. That fleet would bring him back spices, jewels, gold, and silver, and it mentions in your text here peacocks among other things, with the hundred eyes of Argus in their tails, according to Greek legend. You remember that Juno appointed Argus, because he had a hundred eyes, to watch Jupiter and see that he did not stay out at night, and Jupiter employed Mercury to play on his flute, and by its music to put Argus to sleep, and while asleep to kill him; and then Jupiter had his own sweet will without espionage. But Juno put the eyes of Argus in the peacock’s tail, and indeed if his eyes could serve no better purpose while in his head, they might as well be in a bird’s tail. In Huribut’s Bible Atlas is a detailed description of Solomon’s famous building, the Temple of the Lord. You must not expect from me an elaborate description of the Temple. I submit, rather, some salient points.
I. The plan and specifications. These were all given to David by inspiration of God. The Temple proper was but an enlargement of the house built by Moses, with relative proportions preserved throughout. The plan of the house built by Moses was also inspired. This we studied in Exodus.
II. The date. In 1Ki 6:1 , this statement is made: “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord,” and on the second day of that second month, as you see from the corresponding passage in Chronicles, this Temple was commenced. This specific date, so circumstantially given, has puzzled many commentators. They don’t know how to fit the events of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and David into just 480 years. It is the governing passage that largely influenced Archbishop Usher in arranging the chronology as you see it at the head of your King James Bible.
Turn now to 1Ki 6:37 : “In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month of Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.” Not only the building itself, but all its furniture, the utensils, and implements of every kind put in the Temple and used in its worship, was a work of seven years.
The next salient point worthy of your attention is the message of the Lord to Solomon when he was about to commence this work. You will find it on 1Ki 6:11 : “And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes and execute my judgments, and keep all of my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David, thy father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” This is what he says to Solomon, “You have commenced to build a house for me. I come to tell you that I am with you, and give you my promise at the start that it shall be God’s dwelling-place.” When we come to the next visit the Lord makes to Solomon, when the house was dedicated, I will give you another remarkable passage, but this one is at the commencement of the work.
The next thing we note is the site. The first intimation of the site is given to us in Abraham’s time. Abraham was commanded to take his son Isaac and offer him up as a burnt offering upon Mount Moriah, then held by the Jebusites; and on that mountain and at the very place where the Temple wag subsequently erected, there the symbolic forecast of the offering up of a greater Isaac took place. The next account that we have of the site is when the great plague came upon the people of Jerusalem, and David to avert the plague presented himself before God, and offered to die for his people, to let the punishment come upon him and spare the people. When he saw the angel of death approaching Jerusalem, he boldly went forth to meet the angel, and proposed a substitutionary sacrifice of himself; and then the plague was stayed, and at the place where the plague was stayed, David bought the threshing-floor of Araunah, the Jebusite, and marked it out as the site where God’s house was to be erected, where the great sacrifices were to be offered throughout the ages, that were to foretell the coming of the greatest Sacrifice.
Next in importance is the great work of preparing the foundation. You must conceive of an irregularly shaped mountain whose crest was taken off low enough down the mountain to give sufficient area. If on three sides the mountain sloped down into the valley, a wall must be built on those three sides high enough for the desired level, and the crest taken off must be used to fill in all the space to a level with the wall summit. On one side there would be no wall. The area of the space thus leveled was about thirty acres in the shape of a trapezoid, one side of which was 1,520 feet; the opposite side 1,611 feet; one end 1,017 feet, and the other end 921 feet. Of course, the height of the wall would vary on the three sides, according to the dip of the slope into the valley below. The greatest height of the wall was 143 feet. This perpendicular wall, built of immense stones bevelled into each other would cement, would render the Temple area unapproachable and impregnable on three sides. The fourth side was safe-guarded by an immense moat, and by the fortified tower of Millo. The crest of the mountain taken off was not sufficient in bulk to fill on the three sides up to the top of the wall, and then to furnish stones for the buildings and terraces. So Solomon opened quarries on the other mountainsides, tunneling under the city itself. There today may be seen Solomon’s subterranean quarries, where slaves toiled in the heart of the earth. Their bones are yet where they died, and the marks of their implements on the everlasting rock, and some of the mammoth unused stones. These slaves were the unassimilated Canaanites, fed and clothed indeed after a fashion, but without wages. So also the multitude of laborerg who were sent to Tyre under overseers to get out the forest timbers, were conscript laborers, thousands of them, working in reliefs under taskmasters.
But Solomon had nobody in his kingdom skilful enough to direct the stone work and establish foundries for the materials of brass, silver, and gold. So he appealed to Hiram, king of Tyre, for an expert superintendent. The king of Tyre sent him the son of a widow, also called Hiram. If you ever get to be a Mason, you will hear more about Hiram Abiff. He was the architect of the whole business, and had the full superintendence of everything. Your text here gives an account of him, and of what he did in constructing the Temple.
An equally stupendous work in the way of preparation had to be done, namely, to provide an adequate water supply. To this end, he built enormous cisterns capable of holding many millions of barrels of water, and aqueducts for carrying the water. He built pools, like the Pool of Siloam, and vast reservoirs.
You must not conceive of the thirty-five acres as one level, but several terraced levels, one terrace rising above another until on the highest level is the Temple proper and its immediate approaches. The lowest level was the court of the Gentiles, a higher level the court of the women. The whole area with its inner divisions corresponds in general plan to the enclosed area around the tabernacle of Moses and the tent itself. The Temple proper, itself a small building, was only the tent of Moses on a larger scale, all relative proportions preserved.
The lumber material was more difficult to procure than the stone material. It came from the forests of Lebanon cedar and fir. The getting out of the timber from the forest, and the floating of it in great rafts from Tyre to Joppa, was performed by Hiram’s men. Solomon furnished the rations and compensated for the labor by giving King Hiram ten cities. When Hiram came to inspect the cities, he found them to be only sites for cities, something like Charles Dickens’ description of American cities, which existed only in sanguine prospect, or like the Bible description of Jerusalem in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah: “Now the city was exceedingly large, only the houses were not yet built, and the inhabitants thereof were few.” Hiram, in disgust, refused to receive them, and Solomon built them and peopled them with Jews. It has always seemed, on the face of it, that Solomon played an unworthy Yankee trick on his confiding and generous ally. Solomon’s own men had to transport this lumber material all the way up hill from Joppa to Jerusalem, and there, under the skilled supervision of Hiram, the widow’s son, they were fashioned for their place in the Temple. Indeed, every part, whether of stone, timber, or metal, was so skilfully fashioned that the Temple went up without the sound of ax, saw, or hammer. So the spiritual temple arises in silence rather than noise. The kingdom of heaven comes not with observation. “Sanctified rows,” as in many modern meetings, and confusions of mingled services, as at Corinth, are not contributory to the edifying of the temple of Christ.
There are some very striking references to the works of Solomon in the books of Ecclesiastes and the Song. For instance, this passage from Ecclesiastes 2 Solomon himself talking: “I made me great works, I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits; I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees.”
The gardens or paradises built by Solomon, the principal ones, were these: One near Jerusalem, where tremendous work in the rock had to be made to get space terrace space for his garden. Another was built about seven miles south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem; and his summer park was at Mount Lebanon, described in the Song of Solomon, and when the hot summertime would come, and he would start to that summer resort in the mountains, a palanquin, or traveling carriage was made, and what a gorgeous thing it was! As it was a mountainous country, a palanquin was used and carried on the shoulders of men, but not until he got to a point where a chariot could not be used; up to that point he went in a beautiful chariot, the finest ever known, drawn by the finest of horses, as that Song tells you: “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the merchant?”
The era of all these famous works was one of peace. These are not the achievements of unsettled times. War is destructive, not constructive. Solomon was not a man of blood, but the prince of peace, and hence the type of him at whose triumph all wars cease forever.
QUESTIONS
1. What was the principal building works of Solomon in Jerusalem?
2. What two kinds of cities elsewhere?
3. Cite the more important fortified cities and the purpose of each.
4. Locate and describe the trade city of Tadmor, and give something of its subsequent history.
5. What was city for sea trade, and how peopled?
6. Why was he dependent upon the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon for Mediterranean trade?
7. Locate and give the reason for building Eziongeber, and describe the commerce promoted by it. Tell about his fleet there, how manned and why, the time length of its voyages, the countries visited, and the products imported.
8. Was Africa circumnavigated before the famous voyages around it by Vasco da Gama? How was it done?
9. Where, probably, the Ophir of the ancients? Where Tarshish?
10. What did Solomon build in the way of roads, and what other countries since his time were noted for the building of good roads?
11. What attention is given to this matter by our country now?
12. How were the plans and specifications of the Temple obtained, and through whom?
13. What previous plan on a smaller scale was followed, and how and through whom was it obtained?
14. Why was Jehovah so particular in insisting on exact conformity with every detail of his plan?
15. What was the site of the Temple, and the two great historical events leading to its selection, and their typical import?
16. Where may we find the details of the Temple structure?
17. Give the date of its beginning, and time of its building.
18. Describe the foundation work, the area obtained, and its shape and side dimensions.
19. Whence the material for this foundation work, the laborers, and the modern evidence of their labor?
20. How many levels on this area, and the purpose of each?
21. Whence and what the materials of wood, how gotten out and transported, who the laborers, how many, and how supplied with food?
22. Who was the human architect?
23. Besides food supplies, how did Solomon compensate Hiram, king of Tyre, for his help, what Hiram’s opinion of the bargain, and what became of the rejected compensation?
24. What evidence of the perfect preparation of every piece of material before it was put into the building, and what the typical import?
25. What became of Solomon’s Temple, and whose succeeded it? What were its fortunes, and who restored it on a grand scale near the time of our Lord, and what became of it? What building now occupies the ancient building site?
26. Of what was the tabernacle of Moses and Solomon’s Temple a type?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1Ki 5:1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
Ver. 1. And Hiram. ] Called Huram. 2Ch 2:3 Josephus calleth him Irom, and Eupolemus in Eusebius Suron. He was king of Tyre and Sidon also.
For Hiram was ever a lover of David.
a Camden’s Elisab., 483.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 Kings
GREAT PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT WORK
1Ki 5:1 – 1Ki 5:12
The building of the Temple was begun in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign 1Ki 6:1. The preparations for so great a work must have taken much time, so that the arrangement with Hiram recorded in this passage was probably made very early in the reign. That probability is strengthened if we suppose, as we must do, that the embassy from Hiram mentioned in 1Ki 5:1 was sent to congratulate Solomon on his accession. If so, the latter’s proposal to get timber and stones from the Lebanon would be made at the very commencement of the reign. Three years would not be more than enough to get the material ready and transported. Great designs need long preparation. Raw haste wastes time; deliberation is as needful before beginning as rapid action is when we have begun.
I. 1Ki 5:3 – 1Ki 5:5 set forth very forcibly the motives which impelled the young king to the work, and may suggest to us the motives which should urge us to diligence in building a better temple than he reared. He begins by reference to his father’s foiled wish, and to the reason why David could not build the house. Not only was it inappropriate that a warlike king should build it, but it was impossible that, whilst his thoughts were occupied and his resources taxed by war, he should devote himself to such a work. In Assyria and Egypt the great warrior kings are the great temple-builders, but a divine decorum forbade it to be so in Israel.
Solomon next thankfully describes his own happier circumstances. Observe his designation of Jehovah in1 Kings 5:4 as ‘my God,’ and compare with 1Ki 5:3 , where He is called David’s God. The son had inherited the divine protection and the father’s sense of personal relation to Jehovah. That is a better legacy than a throne. Well had it been for Solomon if he had held by the faith of his first days of royalty! Such a sense of a personal bond of love protecting on the one hand, and love trusting and obeying on the other, is the spring of all true service of God, whether it is busied in temple-building or in anything else.
We note also the grateful recognition of benefits received, and the tracing of peace and outward prosperity to God’s care. There was not a cloud in the sky. The horizon was clear all round, and it was ‘the Lord my God,’ who had made this ease for Solomon. We are often more ready to recognise God’s hand in sorrows than in joys. When He smites, we try to say ‘It is the Lord!’ Do we try to say it when all things are smooth and bright?
The effect of blessings should be thankfulness, and the proof of thankfulness is service. So Solomon did not take prosperity as an inducement to selfish luxurious repose, but heard in it God’s call to a great task. If all the rich men and all the leisurely women who call themselves Christians would do likewise, there would be plenty of workers and of resources for Christ’s service, which now sorely lacks both. How many of such ‘lay up treasure for themselves, and are not rich toward God’! How many fritter away their leisure in vanities, having time for any amusement or folly, but none for Christian service!
The man whom Jesus called ‘Thou fool!’ not the wise king, is the pattern for a sad number of professing Christians. ‘Thou hast much goods laid up for many years.’ What then? ‘I purpose to build an house for the name of the Lord’? By no means. ‘I will build greater barns, and that will give me something to do, and then I will take mine ease.’
We note, too, that Solomon was impelled to his great work by the knowledge that God had appointed him to do it. The divine word concerning himself, spoken to his father, sounded in his ears, and gave him no rest till he had set about obeying it 1Ki 5:5. The motives of the great temple-builders of old, as they themselves expound them in hieroglyphics and cuneiform, were largely ostentation and the wish to outdo predecessors; but Solomon was moved by thankfulness and by obedience to his father’s will, and still more, to God’s destination of him. If we would look at our positions and blessings as he looked at his in the fair dawning of his reign, we should find abundant indications of God’s will regarding our work.
Solomon uses a remarkable expression as to the purpose of the Temple. It is to be ‘an house for the name of the Lord.’ That is not the same as ‘for the Lord.’ Pagan temples might be intended by their builders for the actual residence of the god, but Solomon knew that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this house which he was about to build. We are fairly entitled, then, to lay stress on that phrase, ‘the Name.’ It means the whole self-revelation of God, or, rather, the character of God as made known by that self-revelation.
The Temple was, then, to be the place in which the God who fills earth and heaven was to manifest Himself, and where His servants were to behold and reverence Him as manifested. The Shechinah was the symbol, and in one aspect was a part, of that self-revelation. However, in common speech the Temple was spoken of as the house of Jehovah. The same thought which is expressed in Solomon’s fuller phrase underlay the expression,- He dwelt ‘not in temples made with hands’ but His name was set there, and the structure was reared, not so much for Him as that worshippers might there meet Him.
II. The rest of the passage deals with Solomon’s request to Hiram, and the preparation of the material for the Temple. Solomon’s first care was to secure timber and stone. His own dominions can never have been well wooded, and there are many indications that the great central knot of mountainous land, which included the greater part of his kingdom, was comparatively treeless. He therefore proposed to Hiram to supply timber from the great woods on Lebanon, which have now nearly died out, and offered liberal payment.
The parallel account in 2 Chronicles makes Solomon offer specified quantities of provisions for Hiram’s workmen, and makes Hiram accept the terms. 1Ki 5:11 of this chapter says that the provisions named there were for the Tyrian king’s ‘household.’ This may possibly mean the workmen, who would be regarded as Hiram’s slaves, but, more probably, ‘household’ means ‘court,’ and Solomon had not only to feed the army of workmen, but to supply as much again for the great establishment which Hiram kept up. The little slip of seacoast, with the mountain rising sharply behind, which made Hiram’s kingdom, could not grow enough for his people’s wants. His country was ‘nourished’ by Palestine, long centuries after this time Act 12:20, and the same was the case in Solomon’s period. In 1Ki 5:11 , the quantity of oil is impossibly small as compared with that of wheat. 2 Chronicles reads ‘twenty thousand’ instead of ‘twenty,’ and the Septuagint inserts ‘thousand’ in 1Ki 5:11 , which is probably correct.
With all his Oriental politeness and probably real wish to oblige a powerful neighbour, Hiram was too true a Phoenician not to drive a good bargain. He was king of ‘a nation of shopkeepers,’ and was quite worthy of the position. ‘Nothing for nothing’ seems to have been his motto, even with friends. He would love Solomon, and send him flowery congratulations, and talk as if all he had was his ally’s, but when it came to settling terms he knew what his cedars were worth, and meant to have their value.
There are a good many people who get mixed up with religious work, and talk as if it were very near their hearts, who have as sharp an eye to their own advantage as he had. The man who serves God because he gets paid for it, does not serve Him. The Temple may be built of the timber and stones that he has supplied, but he sold them, and did not give them, therefore he has no part in the building.
How different the uncalculating lavishness of Solomon! He knows no better use for treasures than to expend them on God’s service, and ‘all for love, and nothing for reward.’ That Is the true temper for Christian work. He to whom Christ has given Himself should give himself to Christ; and he who has given himself should and will keep back nothing, nor seek for cheap ways of serving the Lord, He who gives all, be it two mites, or a fishing-boat and some torn nets, or great wealth like that which Solomon found in his father’s treasuries and devoted to building the Temple, gives much; and he who gives less than he can gives little.
Solomon’s work was, after all, outward work, and fitter for that early age than the imitation of it would be now. The days for building temples and cathedrals are past. The universal religion hallows not Gerizim nor Jerusalem, but every place where souls seek God The spiritual religion asks for no shrines reared by men’s hands; for Jesus Christ is the true Temple, where God’s name is set, and where men may behold the manifested Jehovah, and meet with Him. But we have work to do for Christ, and a temple to build in our own souls, and a stone or two to lay in the great Temple which is being built up through the ages. Well for us if we use our resources and our leisure, for such ends with the same promptitude, thankful surrender, and sense of fulfilling God’s purpose, as animated the young king of Israel!
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Hiram. Born of a Jewish mother (1Ki 7:14. 2Ch 2:14).
lover = ally, Hebrews always at amity with the Phoenicians. Never with Canaanites.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
So Hiram the king of Tyre when he heard that Solomon was upon the throne in place of his David: for Hiram was always a great admirer of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, and he said, You know how that David my father could not build a house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. Behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake to David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon the throne in your place, he will build a house unto my name. Now therefore command that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that you shall appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among any of us those that have the skill in cutting timber like those of Sidon. So it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people ( 1Ki 5:1-7 ).
So Hiram rejoiced that Solomon had such wisdom as he began to reign in David’s stead.
Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which you have sent for me: and I will do all that you desire concerning the timbers of cedar, and fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that you shall appoint me, and I will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and you shall accomplish my desire, in giving food to my household ( 1Ki 5:8-9 ).
So they made an arrangement where they would make these great log rafts, cutting the timbers out of the forest of Lebanon. Up in the area of Sidon and Tyre. Now it used to be that Lebanon was covered with great cedar forests. Most of these were destroyed during the time of the reign of the Turks. But there are just today a very few cedar groves left in Lebanon. Tragic. Used to be beautiful wooded area. And now just a few cedars left.
But they cut down these great cedars and firs and made these log rafts. And they floated them down the Mediterranean to the port city of Joppa, which is probably about fifty miles from Tyre. And there from Joppa they would take them over land to Jerusalem, a distance of about thirty-five miles. These huge logs. And so it was quite a task indeed.
Now for these logs, he was to pay Hiram in food to take care of these men who were cutting the timber out of the woods.
So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all of his desire. And Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat ( 1Ki 5:10-11 )
So again, ten bushels, twenty thousand bushels of wheat.
for his household, twenty measures of pure oil ( 1Ki 5:11 ):
And a measure of oil they figure somewhere between forty-five and eighty gallons. And this was the annual tribute or pay that he gave for the men so that they could eat.
And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; for they had made a treaty. And king Solomon raised a tax from all of Israel ( 1Ki 5:12-13 );
Or a draft actually.
and he drafted thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand each month ( 1Ki 5:13-14 ).
So you go a month; you work a month and had two months off. Just like the fireman almost. Just you know, you work a day and off three and those neat kind of hours. So he had thirty thousand men, ten thousand going each month up to Lebanon to work in helping them in the cutting of the wood and so forth.
And Solomon had seventy thousand slaves ( 1Ki 5:15 ).
That just carried the logs, you know, or worked along with the logs and so forth. They, of course, would put logs and roll them and, you know, they would run and put logs ahead, and they rolled the logs and so forth. And of course, when you have seventy thousand men doing it, you can move quite a few logs. And there were eighty thousand men who were up cutting the logs up in the forest. So really, quite a contingency of labor here.
Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand, three hundred foremen on the job, that guided them in the work. And Solomon commanded that they bring great and costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house of God. And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders cut them, and the stonesquarers: so that they prepared timber and stones to build the house ( 1Ki 5:16-18 ).
Now near Herod’s gate in Jerusalem today, there is a cave that goes under the wall and actually you can go down under the city of Jerusalem into Solomon’s quarries. And you can see where much of the stone was quarried for the walls of the city of Jerusalem during Solomon’s time for Solomon’s house and for the temple. These quarries are still there, and you can see the chisel marks on the wall where they cut out. What they would do actually, the rocks under that area are limestone and they lay in layers actually. And it’s excellent for building, because much of it is just flat and sort of layered. And what they would do is they would drill holes into the rock. And then they would put wooden branches in and then they would soak. They would put water on the wooden branches and make them expand and just pop the rock out. And you can always, an interesting thing to see in Jerusalem, Solomon’s quarries. Just to the right of Herod’s gate, between Herod’s gate and Damascus gate. If ever you get over there, you want to take a look at Solomon’s quarries. They’re very fascinating, because here is where the stone was quarried. And then, of course, they would cut it.
And it is interesting that today in Jerusalem there’s a city ordinance that all of the buildings in Jerusalem must be made out of what they call the Jerusalem stone. So even if they build the concrete buildings, they have to put a fascia over all of the buildings of this Jerusalem stone. Jerusalem stone is a very beautiful stone. It has a capacity in the early morning sun to look almost golden and that is why Jerusalem is called The Golden City. Because as the sun is rising, and as it first hits the stone or just even before it hits just in the early dawn, it takes on a golden hue, all of the stones. And it’s absolutely gorgeous. Of course, you’re in jet lag so you wake up early anyhow when you’re first there. But it’s always a thrill to see the sun coming up and see this golden color. And then, of course, as the sun hits it, it begins to level out into a sort of a beige kind of a color in the bright sun.
But Jerusalem stone is something beautiful to behold, and in the cutting of the stone and in the shaping of it, they would shape the stones so fine that they did not have to use mortar in putting it together. But the blocks would just all interlock and fit one upon another. And I saw the corner of the temple mount that was done during Herod’s time. With these gigantic stones. Now it says that Solomon had some hewn stones and some of them eight cubits, some of them five cubits, which are good size stones really. For Solomon’s day eight cubits would be a stone of about eleven, twelve, thirteen feet. But Herod used stones that were thirty-seven feet long, five feet high and eight feet thick. They estimate that they weigh somewhere between eighty and a hundred tons.
And these stones are carved so accurately, I guess is what you’d say, is that I took a knife blade and tried to insert it between them and you can’t. Now can you imagine how much chipping that must have taken. I know. That’s the kind of stuff I think about; how long did it take a guy to chip that thing that smooth? You know, because they’re working with just chisels and all, hand tools, no power grinders or pneumatic tools. Just chipping away. And the interesting thing is today, you can see these old men around Jerusalem sitting there in the ground or in the squatted position and they’re chipping away at stones. It’s still an art that is current to the present day because of the city ordinance that all of the building must be faced at least with Jerusalem stone. So stone-cutting, very interesting art indeed, and it is fascinating to watch. And Solomon ordered these stones and, of course, all of the material.
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Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
1Ki 5:1-5. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.
When God intends a man to do any special work for him, he will find him all the helpers he needs. Sometimes those helpers may seem to be very unlikely persons; but Remember that omnipotence has servants everywhere. See, dear friends, when the Lord had given rest to Solomon, he proceeded with the building of the temple which David had planned. Whenever God blesses you, show your gratitude to him by undertaking some special service for him. Now that you are out of your recent trouble, bring your sacrifice of thanksgiving, and do all that you can for your Lord; your time of rest may not last so long as you could wish, therefore use it while you have it to Gods glory.
1Ki 5:6. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar tree out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
It is not every man who has every gift. Hiram and his Sidonians could hew timber more skillfully than Solomon and his Israelites. God can always find the right sort of men to do his work. Do not be dispirited because you cannot do everything; why should you? Should not somebody else have a share, and be also permitted to have the honour of serving his God? It is well that you cannot do all that has to be done, and that somebody else can do something better than you can.
1Ki 5:7-8. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for:
It is always a good thing, before you agree to do anything, to consider it, to look at it from all points of view. I wish that, in giving money to the service of God, there was more consideration as to the object for which it is given. Some give simply because others do, some because they are asked; but he gives best who considers the matter, and looks all round, and then says, Yes, this is a just claim upon me as a servant of God, and therefore I will respond to it. So, Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for:
1Ki 5:8-11. And I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
Is it not a very pleasing thought that both Jews and Gentiles built the temple of Solomon put the big stones together, and cut the cedar and fir trees into the proper shape, yet they were Hirams fir trees and Hirams cedar trees, and he floated them by sea to the place where they were landed, and whence they were dragged to Jerusalem, and God will let his people of every race and nation have a share in the building of his great spiritual house.
1Ki 5:12-14. And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together. And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
That was a capital rule: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home. You who work for God must have your month at work, but you also need two months at home to attend to your own business. There are some people who keep always at Lebanon, always at work; but there is spiritual work to be done at home as well, getting your heart ready for service, sharpening your tools, looking after your own flocks and herds, and so on There was hard work to be done, and if it was to be done well, the workers needed to have their sinews and muscles in good order, so a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home. One prayer in the glass and two prayers at home; one hour of teaching the lesson, twice as much time taken in getting it up and preparing it.
1Ki 5:15. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
What were their names? I cannot tell you, but probably there was a book in which they were all recorded, and Christ has many humble workers, hewers of wood and bearers of burdens, whose names are not known among men. Well, what is in a name? Let us be content to serve under our greater Solomon, and let the whole glory of building his spiritual temple go to him. Never mind who bears the burdens or who hews the stones, the temple is for God, so let God be glorified, and not man.
1Ki 5:16. Beside the chief of Solomons officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
There must be various degrees among the workers in the service of God. He is a Sovereign, and he divideth unto every man according as he wills. How this ought to hush all envy and rebellion against the officers in the work of God whom he has called to be overseers of others!
1Ki 5:17. And the king commanded,
That is at the bottom of all service for our King; let us but get a command from the King, and we obey at once.
1Ki 5:17-18. And they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomons builders and Hirams builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers:
I am glad they are mentioned here, for there are still some brothers and sisters who are not hewers, but they are stonesquarers. Perhaps they do not see many conversions through their efforts, but they do a great deal of the work of instructing the converts. They polish what other people have excavated, they are stonesquarers; and just as the temple at Jerusalem needed the work of the stonesquarers, so does Gods great spiritual temple need those who square as well as those who hew the stones that are to be built into it.
1Ki 5:18. So they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
Nothing is too good or too costly to be given to God, and let us reckon no labour too hard or too heavy that will bring glory to his holy name.
This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 5, and Psalms 48, 95.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Solomon turned his attention to building the Temple immediately after he had set his kingdom in order. The first movement in this direction was the treaty with Hiram, and sending relays of men to the forests and quarries to prepare the timber and the stones for the structure. This treaty with Hiram was the result of a legacy of friendship which David had bequeathed him.
It is evident that Solomon appreciated the real purpose of his coming to the throne as he declared that he purposed in his heart to build this dwelling place for God in accordance with the divine word spoken to his father. The time was now opportune, for the nation was at peace, Solomon’s own description of conditions being very significant, “But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor evil occurrence.”
The greatness of the work thus undertaken is revealed by the final paragraph in the chapter, with its account of the enormous amount of labor employed.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Wise Kings Great Purpose
1Ki 4:29-34; 1Ki 5:1-6
David, before his death, had made great preparations for building the Temple, but had not been permitted to proceed with its construction. Thou didst well that it was in thy heart, 2Ch 6:8. God credits us with what we would have done, had it been in our power. But now war on every side had been exchanged for peace, and the time for temple-building had come. A great principle is here involved which has many applications.
It is true of the Church at large. When the Church throughout all Judea and Galilee had peace, it was edified; and as it walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied, Act 9:31. When the love of God reigns amid professing Christians, and they neither war against nor vex each other, then the world believes, and the very Hirams help to build.
It is also true of the inner life. The days of peace are those in which the heart thrives. See 1Th 5:23, and Heb 13:20. God is not in the earthquake nor in the fire, but in the still small voice. Cultivate a quiet heart, as did Mary, at the feet of Christ. It will result in deeds to be spoken of throughout the whole world, Luk 10:39 and Mat 26:13.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
4. The Building of the Temple and its Dedication
CHAPTER 5 Hiram King of Tyre
1. Hiram sends servants to Solomon (1Ki 5:1)
2. The message of Solomon (1Ki 5:2-6)
3. Hirams answer and league with Solomon (1Ki 5:7-12)
4. Solomons workmen (1Ki 5:13-18)
In connection with 1 Kings 5-8 the chapters in 2 Chronicles should be read which give a more extensive account (2 Chronicles 2-5:11). Solomon now begins the great work, which may be called his life work, the building of the house of the LORD. Hiram heard of Solomons enthronement, and sent messengers to Solomon. This Gentile king was a lover of David. David had made before his death abundant material for the building of the house and Hiram had supplied much of it (1Ch 22:4). Solomon requested that Hiram furnish cedar trees from Lebanon for the building of the house and Hiram agrees to float them down the coast. According to the request of Hiram, Solomon supplied Hirams household with 20,000 measures of wheat and twenty measures of oil. Hiram also sent a master-workman by name of Huram whose mother was a Jewess (2Ch 2:13-14; 1Ki 7:14). This cooperation of the Gentiles in building the temple is also prophetic, for the riches of the Gentiles are promised to Israel (Isa 40:6; Isa 54:3). Jews and Gentiles will unite to manifest His glory. A large number of workmen were needed. Two classes were employed. First there were 30,000 men out of Israel raised by a levy; 10,000 worked by relays of 10,000 a month. The second class was composed of strangers (1Ki 5:15; 2Ch 2:17-18), 150,000 in number; 70,000 were burden bearers and 80,000 hewers in stone. Over all were 3300 officers (verse 16) with 550 chiefs (1Ki 9:23), of whom 250 were native Israelites (2Ch 8:10). The great stones and the costly (splendid) stones and hewed stones are especially mentioned. They were for the foundation of the house. These stones may illustrate all those who as living stones are built up a spiritual house (1Pe 2:5). Through Grace all those are taken out of natures place and prepared to fit into that marvellous temple of the Lord fitly framed together–an holy temple in the Lord (Eph 2:21).
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am 2990, bc 1014, An, Ex, Is, 477
Hiram: 1Ki 5:10, 1Ki 5:13, 1Ki 9:12-14, 2Ch 2:3, Huram
sent: 2Sa 8:10, 2Sa 10:1, 2Sa 10:2, Psa 45:12
for Hiram: 2Sa 5:11, 1Ch 14:1, Amo 1:9
Reciprocal: 1Ki 9:13 – my brother Eze 27:5 – cedars Luk 7:5 – he loveth Act 7:47 – General Tit 1:8 – a lover of good
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 5:1. Hiram sent his servants unto Solomon Namely, as soon as he heard of his succession in the throne, as the following words show, he sent to congratulate him, as the manner of princes is. For Hiram was ever a lover of David And therefore was desirous to continue in friendship with his son. This Hiram was probably the son of him who sent David timber and artificers to build his palace. Josephus assures us, that in his time, the letters which passed between him and Solomon were preserved in the archives of Tyre.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 5:1. Tyre, situate on a strong island, was anciently called Zor or Zur, Thevenot supposes from Syria. The Arabs still call it Sor.
1Ki 5:15. Threescore and ten thousand. If we add the thirty thousand, and the eighty thousand, then the whole of the workmen were a hundred and ninety thousand. When a flourishing nation has little foreign trade, it is wise to employ the people in great and useful public works. Such was the wisdom of the Egyptians and the Greeks. The best writers on the structure of the temple are Villapandus, Ribberamus, Montanus, and our Dr. Lightfoot. The writing, that is, the drawing, or general plan of the temple, David affirms that he received it from the Lord. 1Ch 28:19. The proportions however are analogous to those of the tabernacle; the main difference lies in the magnitude.
1Ki 5:18. They prepared timber and stones. Septuagint, They were three years in preparing timber and stones.
REFLECTIONS.
Solomon, divinely appointed to the throne, began his reign with all the ardour common to youths of extraordinary endowments. He proceeded with the improvements of his empire in every view; but his grand object was to finish the preparations for the temple, and then proceed with the work without delay. In this age the nations are employed in building shipping, and in the extension of commerce, sources of greater wealth than temples, which were regarded as permanent monuments of national genius, affluence, and industry. And when the darkness of gentile superstition was vanquished by the superior lustre and divine excellence of christianity, the spirit of the nations was turned to the erection of churches, not inferior in architectural magnificence to many of the temples.
Hiram sent an embassy to congratulate Solomon on his accession to the throne. This was dictated by the wisdom and politeness of early nations; and it tended to promote harmony, peace, and good understanding among them. But here, the good understanding and covenant between the two kings, tended also to supply Solomon with the best artists to build the temple, to fortify his cities, and elevate his magnificent palaces. So when God has a great work to do, he brings forth out of his treasures the requisite means and resources.
Tyre being the mart of the east, it had attracted the best artificers of Egypt and of Greece; and now they join with Israel and consecrate their skill in raising a temple to the Lord of hosts. This cannot but remind us of our blessed Lord, who after laying the foundation of his spiritual church, presently found among the converted gentiles some of the ablest ministers of his kingdom. One has remarked that the christian fathers came into the church loaded with Egyptian gold. So it was with Tertullian, Basil, Chrysostom, and a multitude more; and though many of them brought dross with the gold, it is really difficult for a man wholly to divest himself of early habits, and the prejudices of education. Solomon having received his plan from God, it could admit of no deviations, or imaginary improvements: so in the doctrine and discipline of Christ we must hold fast the form of sound words, and walk by the same rule. The foundation being laid, let every minister take heed how he builds thereon.
The massy stones and the cedar beams were all prepared before they arrived at Jerusalem, which saved much in the carriage, and avoided confusion in the place of the building. Let the christian world from hence learn, that whatever sweating it may cause to fell the proud cedar of Lebanon, or to dig the rude stone from the earth, the work must proceed. Difficulties must all be surmounted. The early work of conversion is indeed often noisy, and it costs many a hard stroke before the flinty stone will yield; but after awhile the sinner may receive a high polish of grace, and ultimately fill for ever a glorious place in the spiritual temple. If I may not be a pillar in the house of my God, nor a corner stone, nor a cedar beam, let me nevertheless be the humblest stone in that mansion, that I may dwell in thy presence for evermore.
If the workmen spent three years in preparing timber and stones according to the plan, it is high time for every sinner to think of his salvation; and not to delude himself with the idle dream that all this work can be done by a single sigh, or a deceitful prayer in the hour of death. That gross ignorance, that proud and seared conscience, those vicious habits must receive some of the hardest strokes of the Spirit, before a sinner so hardened and aged can see the kingdom of heaven.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 5:1-18. Solomons Alliance with Hiram. Preparation for the Temple.This chapter has a few Deuteronomic additions (1Ki 5:3-5 and 1Ki 5:12). In 1Ki 5:4 there is a truly Deuteronomic touch: the one sanctuary could not come into existence till God had given the people rest (2Sa 7:11; Deu 12:9; Deu 25:19).
The alliance was of mutual importance to the Israelites and the Tyrians. The corn-growing districts of N. Palestine were the granary of the Phnicians in the time of Solomon (1Ki 5:9), as in the days of the Herods (Act 12:20). David had made a treaty with Tyre (2Sa 5:11). Zidon was probably the older city, and Hirams people are called, in 1Ki 5:6, Zidonians. The Tyrian trade was very extensive, and had reached to the Atlantic, and even to our own islands, in search of the tin mines. Hiram helped Solomon in his trade with the East (see below). Owing to the reading of the LXX, And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to anoint Solomon, it has been supposed that Israel was a subject nation. There is, however, no hint of this elsewhere in the Bible. Tyre is the subject of two great prophecies (Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27). In Ezekiel there is a striking description of the trade and prosperity of the great city. From the prophets we see that Israel looked on Tyre as the home of a civilisation greatly superior to their own. The skill of the Phnician workmen (1Ki 5:6) is confirmed by the testimony of Homer, Herodotus, and Strabo. Hiram was apparently overlord of the Phnician coast and Zidon.
Hirams name is variously spelt as Hiram, Hirom, and Huram; Josephus calls him Eiromos. The name is Phnician, and was probably Ahi-ram, brother of the exalted one (Stenning in HDB). Josephus declares (Ant. viii.) that copies of the letters between Hiram and Solomon were preserved in the Tyrian archives. He also (Apion, i. 1Ki 17:18) quotes the historians Dius and Menander of Ephesus, who say that Hiram was son of king Abibalus (Abi-baal) and therefore plainly an historical personage. Hiram provided timber for Solomon, which was brought on rafts to Joppa (2Ch 2:16), and in return Solomon supplied him with wheat and beaten oili.e. oil of the finest kind (1Ki 5:11).
1Ki 5:13-18 relates to Solomons levy of forced service under Adoniram (or Adoram; see 1Ki 4:6). The great stones were hewed by the servants of Hiram and the Gebalites. The LXX (B) omits the verse, and reads for Gebalites Biblioi (Eze 27:9); the AV has stone-squarers. Gebal is a city on the sea at the foot of Lebanon. The modern name is Jubeil. The reading of 1Ki 5:18 is very doubtful.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PREPARATIONS FOR THE TEMPLE
(vs.1-18)
God had told David that Solomon would build a house for Him (2Sa 7:12-13), and David therefore prepared many materials for this. We read now of Solomon making further preparations for this. Hiram king of Tyre, who had been friendly with David, sent his servants to express the same friendliness to Solomon (v.1). Solomon was encouraged by this to send word to Hiram, reminding him that David was not permitted by God to build a house for the name of the Lord because of his being constantly embroiled in warfare (vs.2-3). However, the Lord now had given Solomon rest, so that his kingdom was at peace (v.4).
Therefore, he told Hiram it was his purpose to build a house for the name of the Lord God, in accordance with God’s word that David’s son should do this work (v.5). He requested of Hiram that he should give orders to his men to cut down cedars in Lebanon to provide timber for building. Solomon would send servants to unite with Hiram’s servants in this work, and Solomon would pay the wages of all of these according to the decision of Hiram. He reminded Hiram that it was well known that the Sidonians (who were connected with Tyre) were skillful lumbermen, and Solomon was fully willing to pay wages such as skillful workmen deserved.
There were no snags whatever in this arrangement. All was done in thorough concord. Huram rejoiced greatly at the message of Solomon, showing no envy, but joy in the Lord’s having given a wise king to rule over Israel (v.7). He responded favorably to Solomon’s request, willing to provide cedar and cypress logs for him. Hiram’s servants would cut them down, then float them by the sea-coast in rafts (or what we may call “booms”) to the port in Israel closest to Jerusalem, where the logs would be separated for transport by land to Jerusalem (vs.8-9). He accepted Solomon’s word too that he would provide food for Hiram’s household.
This arrangement proceeded well, with cedar and cypress logs being sent by Hiram and Solomon responding with 20,000 kors of wheat and 20 kors of pressed oil every year (v.11) for seven years (ch.6:37-38).
This friendliness between Solomon and Hiram pictures the peace established between Israel and the Gentile nations in the millennium. Gentiles will come to Israel’s light and the wealth of the Gentiles will come to Israel (Isa 60:3-5). God knew how to dispose Hiram favorably toward Solomon, and He knows how to change the hearts of other Gentiles from enmity to friendliness toward Israel, as He will in the latter days. Solomon and Hiram made a treaty together. The labor force that Solomon raised from Israel to send to Lebanon was large indeed, involving 30,000 men. The men labored only for one month out of three, for 10,000 went each month and returned for two months. This was wise consideration for the laborers (vs.13-14).
For the building of the temple, Solomon designated 70,000 workers to carry burdens, which would include the transporting of logs from the sea coast to Jerusalem. Also 80,000 were engaged in quarrying stone in the mountains (v.15). It is understood that the caverns from which the stone was quarried are still in existence in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
There is good spiritual instruction for us in all this organization. God knows how to organize His work today without man’s organization involved. The workers in the mountains of Lebanon, using axes to cut down trees, speak of evangelists sent by God to cut down the pride of men and thus save them from their sins, so that they might be fit for use in His house. The logs being then committed to the water picture the exercise of faith that is necessary for every convert. The logs may seem heavy enough to sink, but they do not: they float.
The burden bearers had the important work of carrying the logs up to Jerusalem, symbolizing the work of believers who care for the need of new converts, that they might be brought to realize their place in the house of God.
Those who quarried stone had hard underground work in gradually shaping stones that were then built into the temple with no tools being necessary, and no noise (ch.6:7). Typically this is the work of bringing souls from the darkness of their sins, dealing with them to shape their character so as to be fitted in perfectly with the rest of believers as a holy temple in the Lord. This is God’s workmanship, but He uses believers to carry out His work.
There were also 3,300 supervisors of the work, which reminds us that God has provided in the Church today, elder men of experience and dependability to help and encourage His saints in the work God appoints.
Large, costly, hewn stones are specially mentioned in verse 17, used in laying the foundation of the building. These do not speak of Christ Himself, for He is the Rock, the bedrock as the foundation of the Church of God (Mat 16:18; 1Co 3:11). He was not “hewn,” for He is perfect as He is. The hewn stones therefore picture the work of apostles and prophets at the beginning of the Church’s history, as Paul says, believers “have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph 2:20). God did a special work with these, as Paul’s conversion and after-life illustrate. The hewing speaks of His cutting off what was extraneous to make them fit for the use God had for them. They were “costly,” for they were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (1Pe 1:18-19). They were “large,” for they were given a place of prime importance in the building of the Church.
As well as Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, verse 18 speaks of the Gebalites quarrying stones. There were Gebalites in connection with Edom, Ammon and Moab (Psa 83:6-7), but the Gebalites (or Giblites) in our chapter are more likely those spoken of in Jos 13:4-5, closer to the Sidonians and to Lebanon.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
1. Preparations for building ch. 5
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Solomon’s request of Hiram 5:1-6
Hiram probably reigned from about 980-947 B.C. [Note: Frank M. Cross, "An Interpretation of the Nora Stone," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 208 (December 1972):17. Cf. Merrill, p. 239.] Many scholars agree that his reign overlapped David’s by about nine years and Solomon’s by about 24 (cf. 2Sa 5:11). Tyre was an important Mediterranean Sea port in Phoenicia north of Israel. Sidon (1Ki 5:6), another, more important Phoenician port city at this time, stood a few miles north of Tyre.
"A house for the name of the Lord" (1Ki 5:3) means a house for Yahweh that would communicate His reputation to the world. Cedar (1Ki 5:6) is still a favored building material because of its durability and beauty.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
; 1Ki 6:1-38; 1Ki 7:1-51
THE TEMPLE
1Ki 5:1-18; 1Ki 6:1-38; 1Ki 7:1-51
“And his next son, for wealth and wisdom famed, The clouded Ark of God, till then in tents Wandering, shall in a glorious temple enshrine.”
-Paradise Lost, 12:340.
AFTER the destructive battle of Aphek, in which the Philistines had defeated Israel, slain the two sons of Eli, and taken captive the Ark of God, they had inflicted a terrible vengeance on the old sanctuary at Shiloh. They had burnt the young men in the fire, and slain the priests with the sword, and no widows were left to make lamentation. {Psa 78:58-64} It is true that, terrified by portents and diseases, the Philistines after a time restored the Ark, and the Tabernacle of the wilderness with its brazen altar still gave sacredness to the great high place at Gibeon, to which apparently it had been removed. Nevertheless, the old worship seems to have languished till it received a new and powerful impulse from the religious earnestness of David. He had the mind of a patriot-statesman as well as of a soldier, and he felt that a nation is nothing without its sacred memories. Those memories clustered round the now-discredited Ark. Its capture, and its parade as a trophy of victory in the shrine of Dagon, had robbed it of all its superstitious prestige as a fetish; but, degraded as it had been, it still continued to be the one inestimably precious historic relic which enshrined the memories of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and the dawn of its heroic age.
As soon as David had given to his people the boon of a unique capital, nothing could be more natural than the wish to add sacredness to the glory of the capital by making it the center of the national worship. According to the Chronicles, David-feeling it a reproach that he himself should dwell in palaces celled with cedar and painted with vermilion while the Ark of God dwelt between curtains-had made unheard-of preparations to build a house for God. But it had been decreed unfit that the sanctuary should be built by a man whose hands were red with the blood of many wars, and he had received the promise that the great work should be accomplished by his son.
Into that work Solomon threw himself with hearty zeal in the month Zif of the fourth year of his reign, when his kingdom was consolidated. It commanded all his sympathies as an artist, a lover of magnificence, and a ruler bent on the work of centralization. It was a task to which he was bound by the solemn exhortation of his father, and he felt, doubtless, its political as well as its religious importance. With his sincere desire to build to Gods glory was mingled a prophetic conviction that his task would be fraught with immense issues for the future of his people and of all the world. The presence of the Temple left its impress on the very name of Jerusalem. Although it has nothing to do with the Temple or with Solomon, it became known to the heathen world as Hierosolyma, which, as we see from Eupolemos (Euseb., Praep. Evang., 9:34), the Gentile world supposed to mean “the Temple (Hieron) of Solomon.”
The materials already provided were of priceless value. David had consecrated to God the spoils which he had won from conquered kings. We must reject, as the exaggerations of national vanity, the monstrous numbers which now stand in the text of the chronicler; but a king whose court was simple and inexpensive was quite able to amass treasures of gold and silver, brass and iron, precious marbles and onyx stones. Solomon had only to add to these sacred stores.
He inherited the friendship which David had enjoyed, with Hiram, King of Tyre, who, according to the strange phrase of the Vatican Septuagint, sent his servants “to anoint” Solomon. The friendliest overtures passed between the two kings in letters, to which Josephus appeals as still extant. A commercial treaty was made by which Solomon engaged to furnish the Tyrian king with annual revenues of wheat, barley, and oil; {Comp. Eze 27:17 Act 12:20} and Hiram put at Solomons disposal the skilled labor of an army of Sidonian wood-cutters and artisans. The huge trunks of cedar and cypress were sent rushing down the heights of Lebanon by schlittage, and laboriously dragged by road or river to the shore. There they were constructed into immense rafts, which were floated a hundred miles along the coast to Joppa, where they were again dragged with enormous toil for thirty-five miles up the steep and rocky roads to Jerusalem. For more than twenty years, while Solomon was building the Temple and his various royal constructions, Jerusalem became a hive of ceaseless and varied industry. Its ordinary inhabitants must have been swelled by an army of Canaanite serfs and Phoenician artisans to whom residences were assigned in Ophel. There lived the hewers and bevellers of stone; the cedar-cutters of Gebal or Biblos; the cunning workmen in gold or brass; the bronze-casters who made their moulds in the clay ground of the Jordan valley; the carvers and engravers; the dyers who stained wool with the purple of the murex, and the scarlet dye of the trumpet fish; the weavers and embroiderers of fine linen. Every class of laborer was put into requisition, from the descendants of the Gibeonite Nethinim, who were rough hewers of wood and drawers of water, to the trained artificers whose beautiful productions were the wonder of the world. The “father,” or master-workman, of the whole community was a half-caste, who also bore the name of Hiram, and was the son of a woman of Naphtali by a Tyrian father.
Some writers have tried to minimize Solomons work as a builder, and have spoken of the Temple as an exceedingly insignificant structure which would not stand a moments comparison with the smallest and humblest of our own cathedrals. Insignificant in size it certainly was, but we must not forget its costly splendor, the remote age in which the work was achieved, and the truly stupendous constructions which the design required. Mount Moriah was selected as a site hallowed by the tradition of Abrahams sacrifice, and more recently by Davids vision of the Angel of the Pestilence with his drawn sword on the threshing-floor of the Jebusite Prince Araunah. But to utilize this doubly consecrated area involved almost superhuman difficulties, which would have been avoided if the loftier but less suitable height of the Mount of Olives could have been chosen. The rugged summit had to be enlarged to a space of five hundred yards square, and this level was supported by Cyclopean walls, which have long been the wonder of the world. The magnificent wall on the east side, known as “the Jews wailing-place,” is doubtless the work of Solomon, and after outlasting “the drums and tramplings of a hundred triumphs,” it remains to this day in uninjured massiveness. One of the finely beveled stones is 38 1/2 feet long and 7 feet high, and weighs more than 100 tons. These vast stones were hewn from a quarry above the level of the wall, and lowered by rollers down an inclined plane. Part of the old wall rises 30 feet above the present level of the soil, but a far larger part of the height lies hidden 80 feet under the accumulated debris of the often captured city. At the southwest angle, by Robinsons arch, three pavements were discovered, one beneath the other, showing the gradual filling up of the valley; and on the lowest of these were found the broken voussoirs of the arch. In Solomons day the whole of this mighty wall was visible. On one of the lowest stones have been discovered the Phoenician paint-marks which indicated where each of the huge masses, so carefully dressed, edge-drafted, and beveled, was to be placed in the structure. The caverns, quarries water storages, and subterranean conduits hewn out of the solid rock, over which Jerusalem is built, could only have been constructed at the cost of immeasurable toil. They would be wonderful even with our infinitely more rapid methods and more powerful agencies; but when we remember that they were made three thousand years ago we do not wonder that their massiveness has haunted the imagination of so many myriads of visitors from every nation. It was perhaps from his Egyptian father-in-law that Solomon, to his own cost, learnt the secret of forced labor which alone rendered such undertakings possible. In their Egyptian bondage the forefathers of Israel had been fatally familiar with the ugly word Mas, the labor wrung from them by hard task-masters. {Exo 1:2} In the reign of Solomon it once more became only too common on the lips of the burdened people. 1Ki 4:6; 1Ki 5:13-14; 1Ki 5:17-18; 1Ki 9:15; 1Ki 21:12-18.
Four classes were subject to it.
1. The lightest labor was required from the native freeborn Israelites (ezrach). They were not regarded as bondsmen yet 30,000 of these were required in relays of 10,000 to work, one month in every three, in the forest of Lebanon.
2. There were strangers, or resident aliens (Gerim), such as the Phoenicians and Giblites, who were Hirams subjects and worked for pay.
3. There were three classes of slaves-those taken in war, or sold for debt, or home-born.
4. Lowest and most wretched of all, there were the vassal Canaanites (Toshabim), from whom were drawn those 70, 000 burden-bearers, and 80, 000 quarry-men, the Helots of Palestine, who were placed under the charge of 3600 Israelite ofricers. The blotches of smoke are still visible on the walls and roofs of the subterranean quarries where there poor serfs, in the dim torchlight and suffocating air “labored without reward, perished without pity, and suffered without redress.” The sad narrative reveals to us, and modern research confirms, that the purple of Solomon had a very seamy side, and that an abyss of misery heaved and moaned under the glittering surface of his splendor. {1Ki 5:13; 1Ki 9:22 2Ch 8:9} (Omitted in the LXX) Jerusalem during the twenty years occupied by his building must have presented the disastrous spectacle of task-masters, armed with rods and scourges, enforcing the toil of gangs of slaves, as we see them represented in the tombs of Egypt and the palaces of Assyria. The sequel shows the jealousies and discontents even of the native Israelites, who felt themselves to be “scourged with whips and laden with heavy burdens.” They were bondmen in all but name, for purposes which bore very little on their own welfare. But the curses of the wretched aborigines must have been deeper, if not so loud. They were torn from such homes as the despotism of conquest still left to them, and were forced to hopeless and unrewarded toil for the alien worship and hateful palaces of their masters. Five centuries later we find a pitiable trace of their existence in the 392 Hierodouloi, menials lower even than the enslaved Nethinim, who are called “sons of the slaves of Solomon”-the dwindling and miserable remnant of that vast levy of Palestinian serfs.
Apart from the lavish costliness of its materials the actual Temple was architecturally a poor and commonplace structure. It was quite small-only 90 feet long, 35 feet broad, and 45 feet high. It was meant for the symbolic habitation of God, not for the worship of great congregations. It only represented the nascent art and limited resources of a tenth-rate kingdom, and was totally devoid alike of the pure and stately beauty of the Parthenon and the awe-inspiring grandeur of the great Egyptian temples with their avenues of obelisks and sphinxes and their colossal statues of deities and kings
“Staring right on with calm, eternal eyes.”
When Justinian, boastfully exclaimed, as he looked at his church, “I have vanquished thee, O Solomon,” and when the Khalif Omar, pointing to the Dome of the Rock, murmured, “Behold, a greater than Solomon is here,” they forgot the vast differences between them and the Jewish king in the epoch at which they lived and the resources which they could command. The Temple was built in “majestic silence.”
“No workmans axe no ponderous hammer rung.
Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung.”
This was due to religious reverence. It could be easily accomplished, because each stone and beam was carefully prepared to be fitted in its exact place before it was carried up the Temple hill.
The elaborate particulars furnished us of the measurements of Solomons Temple are too late in age, too divergent in particulars, too loosely strung together, too much mingled with later reminiscences, and altogether too architecturally insufficient, to enable us to reconstruct the exact building, or even to form more than a vague conception of its external appearance. Both in Kings and Chronicles the notices, as Keil says, are “incomplete extracts made independently of one another.” and vague in essential details. Critics and architects have attempted to reproduce the Temple on Greek, Egyptian, and Phoenician models, so entirely unlike each other as to show that we can arrive at no certainty. It is, however, most probable that, alike in ornamentation and conception, the building was predominantly Phoenician. Severe in outline, gorgeous in detail, it was more like the Temple of Venus-Astarte at Paphos than any other. Fortunately the details, apart from such dim symbolism as we may detect in them, have no religious importance, but only a historic and antiquarian interest.
The Temple-called Baith or Hekal-was surrounded by the thickly clustered houses of the Levites, and by porticoes through which the precincts were entered by numerous gates of wood overlaid with brass. A grove of olives, palms, cedars, and cypresses, the home of many birds, probably adorned the outer court. This court was shut from the “higher court,” {Jer 36:10} afterwards known as “the Court of the Priests,” by a partition of three rows of hewn stones surmounted by a cornice of cedar beams. In the higher court, which was reached by a flight of steps, was the vast new altar of brass, 15 feet high and 30 feet long, of which the hollow was filled with earth and stones, and of which the blazing sacrifices were visible in the court below. Here also stood the huge molten sea, borne on the backs of twelve brazen oxen, of which three faced to each quarter of the heavens. It was in the form of a lotus blossom, and its rim was hung with three hundred wild gourds in bronze, cast in two rows. Its reservoir of eight hundred and eighty gallons of water was for the priestly ablutions necessary in the butcheries of sacrifice, and its usefulness was supplemented by ten brazen caldrons on wheels, five on each side, adorned like “the sea,” with pensile garlands and cherubic emblems, Whether “the brazen serpent of the wilderness,” to which the children of Israel burnt incense down to the days of Hezekiah, was in that court or in the Temple we do not know.
On the western side of this court, facing the rising sun, stood the Temple itself, on a platform elevated some sixteen feet from the ground. Its side chambers were “lean-to” annexes (Hebrews, ribs; Vulg., tabulata) in three stories, all accessible by one central entrance on the outside. Their beams rested on rebatements in the thickness of the wall, and the highest was the broadest. Above these were windows “skewed and closed,” as the margin of the A.V. says; or “broad within and narrow without”; or, as it should rather be rendered, “with closed crossbeams,” that is, with immovable lattices, which could not be opened and shut, but which allowed the escape of the smoke of lamps and the fumes of incense. These chambers must also have had windows. They were used to store the garments of the priests and other necessary paraphernalia of the Temple service, but as to all details we are left completely in the dark.
Of the external aspect of the building in Solomons day we know nothing. We cannot even tell whether it had one level roof, or whether the Holy of Holies was like a lower chancel at the end of it; nor whether the roof was flat or, as the Rabbis say, ridged; nor whether the outer surface of the three-storeyed chambers which surrounded it was of stone, or planked with cedar, or overlaid with plinths of gold and silver; nor whether, in any case, it was ornamented with carvings or left blank; nor whether the cornices only were decorated with open flowers like the Assyrian rosettes. Nor do we know with certainty whether it was supported within by pillars or not. In the state of the records as they have come down to us, all accurate or intelligible descriptions are slurred over by compilers who had no technical knowledge and whose main desire was to impress their countrymen with the truth that the holy building was-as indeed for its day it was-“exceeding magnifical of fame and of glory throughout all countries.”
In front of or just within the porch were two superb pillars, regarded as miracles of Tyrian art, made of fluted bronze, 27 feet high and 18 feet thick. Their capitals of 7 1/2 feet in height resembled an open lotus blossom, surrounded by double wreaths of two hundred pensile bronze pomegranates, supporting an abacus, carved with conventional lily work. Both pomegranates and lilies had a symbolic meaning. The pillars were, for unknown reasons, called Jachin and Boaz. Much about them is obscure. It is not even known whether they stood detached like obelisks, or formed Propylaea; or supported the architraves of the porch itself, or were a sort of gateway, surmounted by a melathron with two epithemas, like a Japanese or Indian toran. The porch (Olam), which was of the same height as the house (i.e. 45 feet high), was hung with the gilded shields of Hadadezers soldiers which David had taken in battle, and perhaps also with consecrated armor, like the sword of Goliath, {2Sa 8:7, 1Ch 18:7} to show that “unto the Lord belongeth our shield,” {Psa 89:18} and that “the shields of the earth belong unto God.” {Psa 47:9} A door of cypress wood, of two leaves, made in four squares, 7 1/2 feet broad and high, turning on golden hinges overlaid with gold, and carved with palm branches and festoons of lilies and pomegranates, opened from the porch into the main apartment. This was the Mikdash, Holy Place, or Sanctuary, and sometimes specially called in Chaldee “the Palace” (Hekal, or Birah). {Ezr 5:14-15, etc.} Before it, as in the Tabernacle, hung an embroidered curtain (Masak). It was probably supported by four pillars on each side. In the interspaces were five tables on each side, overlaid with gold, and each encircled by a wreath of gold (zer). On these were placed the cakes of shewbread. At the end of the chamber, on each side the door of the Holiest, were five golden candlesticks with chains of wreathed gold hanging between them. In the center of the room stood the golden altar of incense, and somewhere (we must suppose) the golden candlestick of the Tabernacle, with its seven branches ornamented with lilies, pomegranates, and calices of almond flowers. Nothing which was in the darkness of the Holiest was visible except the projecting golden staves with which the Ark had been carried to its place. The Holy Place itself was lighted by narrow slits.
The entrance to the Holiest, the Debir, or oracle, which corresponded to the Greek adytum, was through a two-leaved door of olive wood, 6 feet high and broad, overlaid with gold, and carved with palms, cherubim, and open flowers. The partition was of cedar wood. The floor of the whole house was of cedar overlaid with gold. The interior of this “Oracle,” as it was called-for the title “Holy of Holies” is of later origin-was, at any rate in the later Temples, concealed by an embroidered veil of blue, purple, and crimson, looped up with golden chains. The Oracle, like the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse, was a perfect cube, 30 feet broad and long and high, covered with gold, but shrouded in perpetual and unbroken darkness.
No light was ever visible in it save such as was shed by the crimson gleam of the thurible of incense which the high priest carried into it once a year on the Great Day of Atonement. In the center of the floor must apparently have risen the mass of rock which is still visible in the Mosque of Omar, from which it is called Al Sakhra, “the Dome of the Rock.” Tradition pointed to it as the spot on which Abraham had laid for sacrifice the body of his son Isaac, when the angel restrained the descending knife. It was also the site of Araunahs threshing-floor, and had been. therefore hallowed by two angelic apparitions. On it was deposited with solemn ceremony the awful palladium of the Ark, which had been preserved through the wanderings and wars of the Exodus and the troublous days of the Judges. It contained the most sacred possession of the nation, the most priceless treasure which Israel guarded for the world. This treasure was the Two Tables of the Ten Commandments, graven (in the anthropomorphic language of the ancient record) by the actual finger of God; the tables which Moses had shattered on the rocks of Mount Sinai as he descended to the backsliding people. The Ark was covered with its old “Propitiatory,” or “Mercy-seat,” overshadowed by the wings of two small cherubim; but Solomon had prepared for its reception a new and far more magnificent covering, in the form of two colossal cherubim, 15 feet high, of which each expanded wing was 7 1/2 feet long. These wings touched the outer walls of the Oracle, and also touched each other over the center of the Ark.
Such was the Temple.
It was the “forum, fortress, university, and sanctuary” of the Jews, and the transitory emblem of the Church of Christs kingdom. It was destined to occupy a large share in the memory, and even in the religious development, of the world, because it became the central point round which crystallized the entire history of the Chosen People. The kings of Judah are henceforth estimated with almost exclusive reference to the relation in which they stood to the centralized worship of Jehovah. The Spanish kings who built and decorated the Escurial caught the spirit of Jewish annals when, in the Court of the Kings, they reared the six colossal statues of David the originator, of Solomon the founder, of Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and Manasseh the restorers or purifiers of the Temple worship.
It required the toil of 300, 000 men for twenty years to build one of the pyramids. It took two hundred years to build and four hundred to embellish the great Temple of Artemis of the Ephesians. It took more than five centuries to give to Westminster Abbey its present form. Solomons Temple only took seven and a half years to build; but, as we shall see, its objects were wholly different from those of the great shrines which we have mentioned. The wealth lavished upon it was such that its dishes, bowls, cups, even its snuffers and snuffer trays, and its meanest utensils, were of pure gold. The massiveness of its substructions, the splendor of its materials, the artistic skill displayed by the Tyrian workmen in all its details and adornments, added to the awful sense of its indwelling Deity, gave it an imperishable fame. Needing but little repair, it stood for more than four centuries. Succeeded as it was by the Temples of Zerubbabel and of Herod, it carried down till seventy years after the Christian era the memory of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, of which it preserved the general outline, though it exactly doubled all the proportions and admitted many innovations.
The dedication ceremony was carried out with the utmost pomp. It required nearly a year to complete the necessary preparations, and the ceremony with its feasts occupied fourteen days; which were partly coincident with the autumn Feast of Tabernacles.
The dedication falls into three great acts. The first was the removal of the Ark to its new home; {1Ki 8:1-3} then followed the speech and the prayer of Solomon (1Ki 8:12-61); and, finally, the great holocaust was offered (1Ki 8:62-66).
The old Tabernacle, or what remained of it, with its precious heirlooms, was carried by priests and Levites from the high place at Gibeon, which was henceforth abandoned. This procession was met by another, far more numerous and splendid, consisting of all the princes, nobles, and captains, which brought the Ark from the tent erected for it on Mount Zion by David forty years before.
The Israelites had flocked to Jerusalem in countless multitudes, under their sheykhs and emirs from the border of Hamath on the Orontes, north of Mount Lebanon, to the Wady el-Areesh. The king, in his most regal state, accompanied the procession, and the Ark passed through myriads of worshippers crowded in the outer court, from the tent on Mount Zion into the darkness of the Oracle on Mount Moriah, where it continued, unseen perhaps by any human eye but that of the high priest once a year, until it was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. To indicate that this was to be its rest for ever, the staves, contrary to the old law, were drawn out of the golden rings through which they ran, in order that no human hand might touch the sacred emblem itself when it was borne on the shoulders of the Levitic priests. “And there they are unto this day,” writes the compiler from his ancient record, long after Temple and Ark had ceased to exist.
The king is the one predominant figure, and the high priest is not once mentioned. Nathan is only mentioned by the heathen historian Eupolemos. Visible to the whole vast multitude, Solomon stood in the inner court on a high scaffolding of brass. Then came a burst of music and psalmody from the priests and musicians, robed in white robes, who densely thronged the steps of the great altar. They held in their hands their glittering harps and cymbals, and psalteries in their precious frames of red sandal wood, and twelve of their number rent the air with the blast of their silver trumpets as Solomon, in this supreme hour of his prosperity, shone forth before his people in all his manly beauty.
At the sight of that stately figure in its gorgeous robes the song of praise was swelled by innumerable voices, and, to crown all, a blaze of sudden glory wrapped the Temple and the whole scene in heavens own splendor. {2Ch 5:13-14} First, the king, standing with his back to the people, broke out into a few words of prophetic song. Then, turning to the multitude, he blessed them-he, and not the high priest-and briefly told them the history and significance of this house of God, warning them faithfully that the Temple after all was but the emblem of Gods presence in the midst of them, and that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with mens hands as though He needed anything. After this he advanced to the altar, and kneeling on his knees {2Ch 6:13}-a most unusual attitude among the Jews, who, down to the latest ages, usually stood up to pray-he prayed with the palms of his hands upturned to heaven, as though to receive in deep humility its outpoured benefits. The prayer, as here given, consists of an introduction, seven petitions, and a conclusion. It was a passionate entreaty that God would hear, both individually and nationally, both in prosperity and in adversity, the supplications of His people, and even of strangers, Who should either pray in the courts of that His house, or should make it the Kibleh of their devotions.
After the dedicatory prayer both the outer and the inner court of the Temple reeked and swam with the blood of countless victims-victims so numerous that the great brazen altar became wholly insufficient for them. At the close of the entire festival they departed to their homes with joy and gladness.
But whatever the Temple might or might not be to the people, the king used it as his own chapel. Three times a year, we are told, he offered-and for all that appears, offered with his own hand without the intervention of any priest burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar. Not only this, but he actually “burnt incense therewith upon the altar which was before the Lord,”-the very thing which was regarded as so deadly a crime in the case of King Uzziah. Throughout the history of the monarchy, the priests, with scarcely any exception, seem to have been passive tools in the hands of the kings. Even under Rehoboam much more under Ahaz and Manasseh-the sacred precincts were defiled with nameless abominations, to which, so far as we know, the priests offered no resistance.