1 Kings 7:1
in 1 Kings 7Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
KJV
But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
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This verse in 1 Kings 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut Solomon was building his own house thirteen years,.... He made more haste with the house of God than with his own, for that was but seven years in building; which showed greater regard to the honour of God then to his own glory, or even convenience; nor was this built till after that: and finished all his house; or houses he undertook to build, the singular for the plural; even the house of God, his own palace, and that for the daughter of Pharaoh, and that which is next mentioned, which were in all twenty years building, 1Ki 9:10.
This site's exposition
building his own house thirteen years
The narrator sets thirteen years beside the temple's seven of 6:38 in adjacent verses and passes no comment. The readings are named and left standing: the palace complex was a group of state buildings and the temple a single house with materials prepared in advance, so the bench reads scale; others hear the numbers as a quiet weighing of priorities. Both stand on the same two verses.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thirteen years - Almost double the time to that in which the temple was built; because neither were the materials so far provided and prepared for this, as they were for the temple: nor did either he or his people use the same diligence in this, as in the other work; to which they were quickened by God's express command.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thirteen years - The thirteen years, i. e., counting from the end of the seven 1Ki 6:38. Solomon’s buildings thus occupied him twenty years 1Ki 9:10; 2Ch 8:1, from the fourth year of his reign to the twenty-fourth. The difference in the time taken by the temple and the palace is to be accounted for, (1) by the long period of preparation which preceded the actual building of the former 1Ch 22:2-4; 1Ki 5:13-18; and (2) by the greater size of the palace, which consisted of several large ranges of buildings. (See the next note.)
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years--The time occupied in building his palace was nearly double that spent in the erection of the temple [1Ki 6:38], because neither had there been the same previous preparations for it, nor was there the same urgency as in providing a place of worship, on which the national well-being so much depended.
Building his own house - This house is said to have been situated in Jerusalem, and probably was, what some call it, his winter’s residence. It is called the king’s house, 1Ki 9:10.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Shlomo built his [own] house in thirteen years. In work of the Most High he hurried, 1 Shlomo built the Beis Hamikdosh in seven years as stated in:38 above. but in his own [work] he was slow; the text tells this to praise him.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּיתוֹ֙ | beito | own house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בָּנָ֣ה | banah | he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| שְׁלֹ֥שׁ | shelosh | thir- | H7969 → | 432 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה | ʾesreh | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| שָׁנָ֑ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וַיְכַ֖ל | vaykhal | and he completed | H3615 → | 208 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֵּיתֽוֹ׃ | beito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בֵּיתוֹ֙own house his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
בָּנָ֣הhe built
banahH1129 →376 times
שְׁלֹמֹ֔הSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
שְׁלֹ֥שׁthir-
sheloshH7969 →432 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֖הteen
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
שָׁנָ֑הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
וַיְכַ֖לand he completed
vaykhalH3615 →208 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בֵּיתֽוֹ׃house his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
it leads to
- Luke 12:31
But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you.
- Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- John 6:27
Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Psalms 84:11–12
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Luke 12:31
Through
1 Kings 3:1Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 9:24
As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.
- 1 Kings 9:24
Through
1 Kings 9:10Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built these two houses, the house of the LORD and the royal palace,
it leads to
- 1 Kings 6:37
The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.
- 1 Kings 9:1
Now when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all that he had desired to do,
- 1 Kings 6:37
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.