1 Kings 7:2
in 1 Kings 7He 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was a hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
KJV
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
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This verse in 1 Kings 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verse"The House of the Forest of the Lebanon" does not mean that this house was built in a forest or in Lebanon, as is sometimes asserted, but that [Solomon] built a huge house where weapons were gathered in large quantity, just as the Forest of …
This site's exposition
the house of the forest of Lebanon
on 1 Kings 7:2-8
The state complex in order: the house of the forest of Lebanon, named for its four rows of cedar pillars and serving later as an armory (10:17), the porch of pillars, the porch of judgment where the throne sat, his own dwelling, and a house for Pharaoh's daughter. The porch of judgment makes the architecture say what 3:9 asked for, a king built to judge. The narrator notes the Egyptian wife's house without comment, and the exposition does the same.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The house of the forest of Lebanon - It was not built in Lebanon, but is thought to have been on Mount Sion. And why it was called the house of the forest of Lebanon does not appear; probably it was because it was built almost entirely of materials brought from that place. See the following verses.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The building itself was oblong, consisting of two square courts, flanking a large oblong hall which formed the center, and was one hundred cubits long, by fifty broad. This was properly the house of the forest of Lebanon, being the part where were the cedar pillars of this hall. In front was the porch of judgment, which was appropriated to the transaction of public business.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Many have supposed that the buildings mentioned in 1Ki 7:1-2, 1Ki 7:8, were three entirely distinct and separate buildings. But it is perhaps best to consider the “house” of 1Ki 7:1 as the palace proper - Solomon’s own dwelling-house (see 1Ki 7:8); the house of 1Ki 7:2, as the state apartments; and the house for Pharaoh’s daughter as the hareem or zenana; and to regard these three groups of buildings as distinct, though interconnected, and as together constituting what is else-where termed “the king’s house” 1Ki 9:10. The house of the forest of Lebanon - This name was probably given from the supposed resemblance of the mass of cedar pillars, which was its main feature, to the Lebanon cedar forest. Its length of “a hundred cubits,” or 150 feet, was nearly twice as long as the entire temple without the porch. Some of the great halls in Assyrian palaces were occasionally as much as 180 feet. The breadth “of fifty cubits,” or 75 feet, is a breadth very much greater than is ever found in Assyria, and one indicative of the employment in the two countries of quite different methods of roofing. By their use of pillars the Jews, like the Persians, were able to cover in a very wide space. Four rows - The Septuagint gives “three rows.” If the pillars were forty-five 1Ki 7:3, fifteen in a row, there should have been but three rows, as seems to have been the case in the old palace of Cyrus at Pasargadae. If there were four rows of fifteen, the number of pillars should have been sixty.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֜בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֣ית׀ | beit | [the] House of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יַ֣עַר | yaar | [the] Forest of | H3293 → | 59 times |
| הַלְּבָנ֗וֹן | halevanon | <the> Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
| מֵאָ֨ה | meah | [was] one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אַמָּ֤ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| אָרְכּוֹ֙ | ʾareko | length its | H753 → | 95 times |
| וַחֲמִשִּׁ֤ים | vachamishim | and [was] fifty | H2572 → | 163 times |
| אַמָּה֙ | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| רָחְבּ֔וֹ | rachebo | breadth its | H7341 → | 101 times |
| וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים | usheloshim | and [was] thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| אַמָּ֖ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| קוֹמָת֑וֹ | komato | height its | H6967 → | 45 times |
| עַ֗ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַרְבָּעָה֙ | ʾarbaah | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| טוּרֵי֙ | turei | rows of | H2905 → | 26 times |
| עַמּוּדֵ֣י | ʾamudei | pillars of | H5982 → | 111 times |
| אֲרָזִ֔ים | ʾarazim | cedar<s> | H730 → | 73 times |
| וּכְרֻת֥וֹת | ukherutot | and beams of | H3773 → | 3 times |
| אֲרָזִ֖ים | ʾarazim | cedar<s> | H730 → | 73 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [were] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָעַמּוּדִֽים׃ | haamudim | the pillars | H5982 → | 111 times |
וַיִּ֜בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּ֣ית׀[the] House of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יַ֣עַר[the] Forest of
yaarH3293 →59 times
הַלְּבָנ֗וֹן<the> Lebanon
halevanonH3844 →71 times
מֵאָ֨ה[was] one hundred
meahH3967 →581 times
אַמָּ֤הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
אָרְכּוֹ֙length its
ʾarekoH753 →95 times
וַחֲמִשִּׁ֤יםand [was] fifty
vachamishimH2572 →163 times
אַמָּה֙cubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
רָחְבּ֔וֹbreadth its
racheboH7341 →101 times
וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםand [was] thirty
usheloshimH7970 →172 times
אַמָּ֖הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
קוֹמָת֑וֹheight its
komatoH6967 →45 times
עַ֗לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
אַרְבָּעָה֙four
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
טוּרֵי֙rows of
tureiH2905 →26 times
עַמּוּדֵ֣יpillars of
ʾamudeiH5982 →111 times
אֲרָזִ֔יםcedar<s>
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
וּכְרֻת֥וֹתand beams of
ukherutotH3773 →3 times
אֲרָזִ֖יםcedar<s>
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
עַל־[were] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָעַמּוּדִֽים׃the pillars
haamudimH5982 →111 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
Song of Solomon 7:4Your neck is like a tower made of ivory; your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, facing toward Damascus.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 4:4
Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
- Psalms 144:12
Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.
- Song of Solomon 4:8–9
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains…
- Isaiah 54:4
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember…
- Ephesians 3:18–19
will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
- Song of Solomon 4:4
Through
1 Kings 9:19as well as all the store cities that Solomon had for his chariots and horses—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout the land of his dominion.
it leads to
- 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 10:26
Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
- 1 Kings 9:1
Through
1 Kings 10:21All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 10:17
He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
- 1 Kings 10:17
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 7:2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.