Solomon’s Palace Complex 1 UST Then Solomon had his workers build a palace for him. It took them 13 years to complete it. BSB BSB: Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.
2 UST One of the buildings they built was{ a large hall whose name was} the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 46 meters long, 23 meters wide, and 14 meters high. The workers set up four rows of cedar pillars and laid cedar beams across the top of each row. BSB BSB: He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.
3 UST To make a roof, the workers laid cedar boards in rows on top of cedar beams that 45 pillars{ in the middle of the hall} supported. Those pillars were in rows of 15{, creating four long sections within the hall}. BSB BSB: The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars—forty-five beams, fifteen per row.
4 UST On each of the two side walls, there were three rows of windows. Each row consisted of a column of three windows. The rows on one wall were opposite the rows on the other wall. BSB BSB: There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers.
5 UST All of the doors had square frames, and each window in each column was directly across from the matching window on the other wall. BSB BSB: All the doorways had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers.
6 UST The workers built an entranceway{ for the House of the Forest of Lebanon}. It was an open space with rows of pillars on all sides. It was 23 meters long and 14 meters wide. There was a porch in front of this entranceway. It had a roof that pillars supported. BSB BSB: Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico.
7 UST The workers also constructed a building whose name was the Porch of the Throne. It had a second name, the Porch of Judgment. That was where Solomon decided the legal cases that people asked him to judge. The workers used cedar wood to make the entire floor for this building. BSB BSB: In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.
8 UST In the courtyard behind the Porch of Judgment, the workers built a residence for Solomon to live in. They made it with the same materials and in the same style as the other buildings. They also built a similar residence for his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Egypt. BSB BSB: And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
9 UST The workers built these buildings and the walls around the palace courtyard with stone blocks. They made sure that the stone in the blocks was solid. They trimmed the blocks with saws so that the interior and exterior walls of the buildings and the courtyard walls would be straight and smooth. They used stone blocks to build the entire height of these walls. BSB BSB: All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard.
10 UST The workers used huge stone blocks for the foundation of the palace. Some of these stones were about four and a half meters long, and others were over three and a half meters long. BSB BSB: The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long.
11 UST The workers used other stone blocks to build the palace on top of these foundation stones. They cut those blocks to make them the sizes they needed. They also used cedar beams to build the palace. BSB BSB: Above these were costly stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.
12 UST The workers built a wall to create a large courtyard all around the palace. The wall consisted of three rows of stone with a row of cedar beams on top. It was just like the wall around the courtyard that surrounded the temple and the porch in front of it. BSB BSB: The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.
The Pillars and Capitals (2 Chronicles 3:14–17)
13 UST Solomon asked a man whose name was Hiram to come from Tyre to Jerusalem{ to supervise all the work of making things from bronze for the temple}. BSB BSB: Now King Solomon sent to bring Huram from Tyre.
14 UST Hiram’ s mother was an Israelite woman from the tribe of Naphtali. His father, who had died, had been from the city of Tyre. His work had been to make things from bronze. Hiram himself was very skilled at making things from bronze. He agreed to come and help King Solomon by making all the bronze articles he needed for the temple. BSB BSB: He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.
15 UST Hiram made two bronze pillars{ to put in front of the temple}. Each pillar was eight and one quarter meters tall and five and one half meters around. BSB BSB: He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.
16 UST Hiram made decorative tops for each of the pillars. He cast them in bronze. Each top was two and one quarter meters tall. BSB BSB: He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars, each capital five cubits high.
17 UST He formed bronze strands into the shape of nets to decorate the two pillar tops. He made seven of these networks for each pillar top. BSB BSB: For the capitals on top of the pillars he made a network of lattice, with wreaths of chainwork, seven for each capital.
18 UST Hiram made bronze decorations in the shape of pomegranates for the pillar tops. He put two rows of pomegranates around the edges of the parts of the pillar tops that the bronze nets covered. BSB BSB: Likewise, he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates around each grating to cover each capital atop the pillars.
19 UST Hiram made the upper portion of each pillar top in the shape of a lily. That portion was nearly two meters high. The pillars were on the porch{ in front of the entrance to the temple}. BSB BSB: And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.
20 UST The lower portion of each pillar top, just above each pillar, was in the shape of a ball. That was the portion that the bronze nets covered, and that was the portion that the pomegranates decorated. There were 200 bronze pomegranates in rows around each pillar top. BSB BSB: On the capitals of both pillars, just above the rounded projection next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows encircling each capital.
21 UST Hiram and his helpers set up the pillars on the porch in front of the temple. Hiram named the pillar on the right side of the porch Jachin. He named the pillar on the left side of the porch Boaz. BSB BSB: Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz.
22 UST Those pillars had tops in the shape of lilies.{ When Hiram and his helpers set them up,} that completed his work of making the bronze pillars. BSB BSB: And the tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work of the pillars was completed.
The Molten Sea (2 Chronicles 4:1–5)
23 UST Hiram also made a giant water basin. People called it a sea{ because it contained so much water}. Hiram made it by casting bronze{ in a clay mold}. This sea was four and a half meters across its circular top, two and one third meters tall, and nearly 14 meters around. BSB BSB: He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.
24 UST All around the outer edge of the sea there were decorations in the shape of gourds. There were two rows of gourds. There were ten gourds for every 45 centimeters of the outer edge. Hiram included the gourds as part of the design of the sea when he cast it. BSB BSB: Below the rim, ornamental buds encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea.
25 UST Hiram cast 12 bronze statues of oxen to be a stand for the sea. He placed the oxen in groups of three facing outward to the north, south, east, and west. Then workers put the sea on the statues of the oxen, and it covered their backs. BSB BSB: The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center.
26 UST The sides of this large water basin were eight centimeters thick. When Hiram cast the basin, he made the rim curve outward, like the rim of a cup and like the petals of a lily. The basin could hold over 40, 000 liters of water. BSB BSB: It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.
The Ten Bronze Stands 27 UST Hiram also made ten bronze carts{ to hold and transport smaller water basins}. Each cart was nearly two meters long, nearly two meters wide, and about one and a quarter meters high. BSB BSB: In addition, he made ten movable stands of bronze, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
28 UST Each cart had a framework of bronze bars. Hiram attached bronze panels to the sides of the framework. BSB BSB: This was the design of the stands: They had side panels attached to uprights,
29 UST There were figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on those panels. At the bottom of the panels there were decorations that looked like garlands of flowers and leaves. On top of the framework of each cart there was a pedestal{ to hold a water basin}. BSB BSB: and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work.
30 UST Each cart had four bronze wheels and two bronze axles. At the top corners of each cart there were bronze supports to help hold up the water basin. On those supports there were decorations of flowers and leaves. BSB BSB: Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and a basin resting on four supports, with wreaths at each side.
31 UST Although the panels on the sides of each cart were square, the pedestal on top of the cart that held the basin was round. This pedestal was 69 centimeters across. It was open at the top{ so that the basin could sit in it}. There were decorative carvings all around the rim of its opening.{ Even though part of the basin rested inside the pedestal,} it still extended 46 centimeters above the pedestal. BSB BSB: The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.
32 UST The four wheels of each cart were below its panels. These wheels were 69 centimeters high. Hiram molded the axles for the wheels as part of the cart itself. BSB BSB: There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter.
33 UST Hiram made the wheels of the carts to be like the wheels that people make for chariots. He cast every part of these wheels, the axles and rims and spokes and hubs, from bronze. BSB BSB: The wheels were made like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.
34 UST Hiram also molded the bronze supports at the top corners of each cart as part of the cart itself. BSB BSB: Each stand had four handles, one for each corner, projecting from the stand.
35 UST A round pedestal 23 centimeters high was on top of each cart. Braces held this pedestal in place. There were decorative panels on the rest of the top of the cart. Hiram cast these braces and panels as part of the cart itself. BSB BSB: At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The supports and panels were cast as a unit with the top of the stand.
36 UST Hiram decorated the surfaces of these braces and the panels with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, with decorative wreaths all around them. He did this whenever there was space for decorations. BSB BSB: He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around.
37 UST That is how Hiram made the ten carts. He cast them all from the same design, so they were all the same size and shape. BSB BSB: In this way he made the ten stands, each with the same casting, dimensions, and shape.
The Ten Bronze Basins (2 Chronicles 4:6–8)
38 UST Hiram also made ten bronze basins, one for each of the ten carts. Each basin was nearly five meters across and held 880 liters of water. BSB BSB: He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.
39 UST Hiram placed five of the carts in front of the right side of the temple, and he placed the other five in front of the left side of the temple. He put the giant water basin, the sea, by the southeast corner of the temple. BSB BSB: He set five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north, and he put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.
Completion of the Bronze Works (2 Chronicles 4:11–18)
40 UST Hiram also made{ bronze} pots{ in which to boil meat}, shovels{ for removing ashes}, and bowls{ to catch the blood of the animals that the priests sacrificed}. So he completed all of the work that King Solomon requested him to do for Yahweh’ s temple. BSB BSB: Additionally, Huram made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of the LORD:
41 UST { What Hiram made included} the two pillars{ for the temple porch}, the two ball- shaped tops for the pillars, the two bronze nets that decorated the ball- shaped pillar tops, BSB BSB: the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars; the two sets of network covering both bowls of the capitals atop the pillars;
42 UST the 400 bronze pomegranates that decorated the two networks(these pomegranates were in two rows around each bronze net and they covered the round lower parts of the pillar tops), BSB BSB: the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars);
43 UST the ten carts, the ten basins that the carts held, BSB BSB: the ten stands; the ten basins on the stands;
44 UST the giant water basin that people called the sea, the 12 statues of oxen on whose backs the sea rested, BSB BSB: the Sea; the twelve oxen underneath the Sea;
45 UST the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. Hiram and his workers made all these things that King Solomon requested him to make for Yahweh’ s temple. Hiram made them all from bronze, and his workers then polished them{ so that they would gleam brightly}. BSB BSB: and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were made of burnished bronze.
46 UST Hiram and his workers made these things for Solomon in the Jordan River valley, between the cities of Succoth and Zarethan.{ They made them there because} the soil consisted of clay{ that they could use to cast things in bronze}. BSB BSB: The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan.
47 UST Because Hiram used so much bronze to make these objects, Solomon did not command his workers to weigh them. So no one ever knew what they weighed. BSB BSB: Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.
Completion of the Gold Furnishings (2 Chronicles 4:19–22)
48 UST Solomon’ s workers also made all the gold items that the priests needed to use in Yahweh’ s temple. They made the golden altar and the golden table that held the sacred bread. BSB BSB: Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD: the golden altar; the golden table on which was placed the Bread of the Presence;
49 UST They made from pure gold the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north side. They made the golden decorations on the lampstands that looked like flowers, the golden lamps themselves, and the golden tongs{ for removing burnt parts of the lamp wicks}. BSB BSB: the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;
50 UST Solomon’ s workers also made from pure gold the dishes, wick snuffers, small bowls, incense dishes, and pans for carrying hot coals{ that the priests used in the temple}. They also made golden sockets for the doors of the Holy Place and for the doors of the Most Holy Place. BSB BSB: the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
51 UST So Solomon’ s workers finished all the work for Yahweh’ s temple. Then Solomon put the silver and gold and other valuable items that his father David had dedicated to Yahweh in the temple storerooms. BSB BSB: So all the work that King Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed. Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.
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