Matthew Henry

One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”

“He saw the glory of God shine about him, and heard a voice saying, Ask what I shall give thee.”

Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request.

“Those are accepted of God who prefer spiritual blessings to temporal, and are more solicitous to be found in the way of their duty than in the way to preferment.”

Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

“To find out the true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and must therefore try which loved the child best; both pretended to a motherly affection, but their sincerity will be tried when the child is in danger. (1.)”

Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

“Those that had vines and fig-trees ate the fruit of them themselves; and so great was the peace of the country that they might, if they pleased, dwell as safely under the shadow of them as within the walls of a city.”

Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

“Let great men learn hence good house-keeping, to be generous in spending according to their ability, but prudent in providing. It is the character of the virtuous woman that she bringeth her food from afar ( Prov. xxxi.”

And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.

“He gives the powers of reason ( Job xxxviii. 36 ), preserves and improves them. The ordinary advances of them are owing to his providence, the sanctification of them to his grace, and this extraordinary pitch at which they arrived in Solomon to a special…”

Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

“If nature excels art, much more does grace. The knowledge which God gives by special favour goes beyond that which man gets by his own labour.”

So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

“But, Lastly, Solomon was, herein, a type of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and hidden for use; for he is made of God to us wisdom.”

So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted, and year after year Solomon would provide Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his…

“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.”

and year after year Solomon would provide Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil.

“Thus let justice be followed (as the expression is, Deut. xvi. 20 ), justice on both sides, in every bargain. The confirmation of the friendship that was between them hereby.”

Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.

“It was temple service, yet Solomon takes care that they shall not be over-worked. Great men ought to consider that their servants must rest as well as they.”

not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.

“He speaks of the vastness of his undertakings ( Eccl. ii. 4 , I made me great works ), which required this vast number of workmen.”

And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.

“Christ, who is laid for a foundation, is an elect and precious stone ( Isa. xxviii. 16 ), and the foundations of the church are said to be laid with sapphires, Isa. liv.”

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

“This most holy place was much larger than that in the tabernacle, and therefore the ark would have seemed lost in it, and the dead wall would have been unsightly, if it had not been thus adorned.”

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.

“I rather incline to think that it was a house built in the forest of Lebanon itself, whither (though far distant from Jerusalem) Solomon (having so many chariots and horses, and those dispersed into chariot-cities, which probably were his stages) might frequently retire with ease.”

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.

“At his house where he dwelt in Jerusalem he built a great hall, or porch of judgment, where was set the throne, or king's bench, for the trial of causes, in which he himself was appealed to ( placita coram ipso rege tenenda--causes were to…”

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.

“It is said to be like the porch, because built of cedar like it, though not in the same form; this, no doubt, was nearer adjoining to his own palace, yet perhaps if it had been as near as it ought to have been Solomon…”

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.

“When we come to wait upon God, and find our hearts wandering and unfixed, then by faith let us fetch in help from heaven: Jachin -- God will fix this roving mind. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.”

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.

“Yet this prevailed not to prevent Jerusalem's setting up the calves for deities. In the court of the tabernacle there was only a laver of brass provided to wash in, but in the court of the temple a sea of brass, intimating that by the…”

He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.

“All within doors was gold, and all made new (except the ark, with its mercy-seat and cherubim), the old being either melted down or laid by--the golden altar, table, and candlestick, with all their appurtenances.”

So all the work that King Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed.

“What was not expended in the building and furniture was laid up in the treasury, for repairs, exigencies, and the constant charge of the temple-service.”

Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of…

“The staves of the ark were drawn out, so as to be seen from under the wings of the cherubim, to direct the high priest to the mercy-seat, over the ark, when he went in, once a year, to sprinkle the blood there; so that…”

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of…

“But the glory of God appeared in a cloud, a dark cloud, to signify, (1.) The darkness of that dispensation in comparison with the light of the gospel, by which, with open face, we behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. (2.)”

And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the…

“In short, it is his request that this temple may be deemed and taken, not only for a house of sacrifice (no mention is made of that in all this prayer, that was taken for granted), but a house of prayer for all people; and…”

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

“The posture in which he prayed was very reverent, and expressive of humility, seriousness, and fervency in prayer.”