For he built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
Parallel Translations
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For he built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
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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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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.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 7:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 10:17 he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
- 2 Chronicles 9:16 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
- 1 Kings 9:19 all the storage cities that Solomon had, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
- 1 Kings 10:21 All king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon.
- Song of Solomon 7:4 Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For the beauty of the place, and great abundance…
For the beauty of the place, and great abundance of cedar trees that went to the building thereof, it was compared to mount Lebanon in Syria: this house he used in summer for pleasure and recreation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 7:2 He built also the house of the…
1Ki 7:2 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.
Ver. 2. He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon.] For public feasts, games, pastimes, and delights, {Ecc 2:4-6} for a magazine also. {1Ki 10:16-17 Isa 22:8} Framed it might be in Lebanon, {1Ki 9:19} but built it was in Jerusalem, Solomon’s dwelling house and throne not far from it. {1Ki 7:6-8} It seemeth to have been called "the house of the forest of Lebanon," not because it stood in that forest, as William, bishop of Tyre, and Junius hold: {a} but partly because it was made of the cedars of Lebanon, in which regard also the temple is called Lebanon, {Zec 11:1} and partly because it was a kind of abridgment of that famous forest, and contained in it, and in the gardens and groves about it, all the delights and pleasures of that forest, in solitary walks, sweet smells, music of birds, and sight of wild beasts, &c., whence the Hebrews call it domum refrigerii, the house of refreshing.
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{a} Lib. xviii, belli sacri.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The house of the forest of Lebanon; a house…
The house of the forest of Lebanon; a house so called, either, first, Because it was built in the mountain and forest of Lebanon, for his recreation there in summer time. But it is generally and more probably held, that it was in or near Jerusalem, both because there was
the throne of judgment, 1Ki 7:7, which was fittest to be in the place of his constant and usual residence; and because there was the chief magazine of arms, Isa 22:8, and Solomon’s golden shields were put there, as is manifest from 1Ki 10:17; 14:25,26,28, which no wise prince would do in a place so remote from his royal city, and in the utmost borders of his kingdom, as this was. Or rather, secondly, From some resemblance it might have with that place, for the pleasant shades and groves which were about it; nothing being more frequent, both in sacred and other writers, than to transfer the names of Carmel, or Tempe, or the like, to other places of the same nature and quality with them.
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The length thereof, to wit, of the principal mansion; to which doubtless other buildings were adjoined. Upon four rows of cedar pillars; upon which the house was built, and between which there were four stately walks.
With cedar beams upon the pillars; which were laid for the floor of the second story.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He built also the house of the forest of…
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon,.... Besides the temple, his own palace, and the queen's; so called, not because it was built on Mount Lebanon, which lay at the northern border of the land, at a great distance from Jerusalem, whereas this was both a magazine of arms, and a court of judicature, Kg1 7:7; see Kg1 10:17; neither of which can be supposed to be far from Jerusalem; but because not only it was built of the cedars of Lebanon, but in a situation, and among groves of trees which resembled it; it seems to have been a summer house; and so the Targum calls it, a royal house of refreshment:
the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty and the height thereof thirty cubits; so that it was in every measure larger than the temple; and, there was good reason for it, since into that only the priests entered; whereas into this went not only Solomon's family but his courtiers and nobles, and all foreign ambassadors, and whoever had any business with him, which required various rooms to receive them in:
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upon four rows of cedar pillars; or piazzas:
with cedar beams upon the pillars; which laid the floor for the second story.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Of the forest of Lebanon - An house so…
Of the forest of Lebanon - An house so called, because it was built in the forest of Lebanon, for a summer-seat, whither Solomon, having so many chariots and horses, might at any time retire with ease. The length - Of the principal mansion; to which doubtless other buildings were adjoining. Pillars - Upon which the house was built, and between which there were four stately walks. Beams - Which were laid for the floor of the second story.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. The house of the forest of Lebanon]…
Verse 2. 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ki 7:2. He built also the house of the…
1Ki 7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon — The house mentioned in the foregoing verse was in Jerusalem, and was probably the place of Solomon’s residence during the winter. This seems to have been built for his summer residence, on some cool, shady mountain near Jerusalem, and to have been called the house of the forest of Lebanon, because it was situated in a lofty place, bearing some resemblance to mount Lebanon, and probably was surrounded with many tall cedars, such as grew there. That it was near Jerusalem, and not on mount Lebanon, properly so called, seems evident, because there was the throne of judgment, (1Ki 7:7,) which it was most proper should be in the place of his constant and usual residence; and because there was the chief magazine of arms, (Isa 22:8,) and Solomon’s golden shields were placed there, (1Ki 10:17; 1Ki 14:25-28,) which no wise prince would have put in a place at the extremity of his kingdom, and at such a distance from his royal city as mount Lebanon was from Jerusalem. The length thereof — Of the principal mansion; to which, doubtless, other buildings were adjoining. Was a hundred cubits — Which was not longer than the house of God, if we take in all the courts belonging thereto. The height thereof thirty cubits — The same as the height of the holy place in the temple. Upon four rows of cedar pillars — Which supported the building, and between which there were four stately walks. With cedar beams upon the pillars — Which were laid for the floor of the second story.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Many have supposed that the buildings mentioned in 1Ki…
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.
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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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Libanus. So it was called, on account of the…
Libanus. So it was called, on account of the many cedar pillars brought from that mountain; or because many trees and shrubs were planted in the vicinity. (Calmet) --- Libanus might also be seen from it, and refreshing breezes be felt. (Ar.[Arbuthnot?] Mont.[Montanus?]) --- The palace stood on the eastern part of Sion, and to the west of the temple. (Menochius) --- The vale between them had been filled up, at a vast expense, and a sort of bridge erected, which was called Mello. Thus the palace of David, on the west of Sion, and this of Solomon, served to protect the temple, and to keep the citizens in awe. (Salien) --- Sanchez declines giving the dimensions of this palace, as they are not satisfactory. (Menochius) --- Here Solomon resided, and was served in gold, (Calmet) adorning his palace with shields and targets of the same precious metal, chap. x. 16, 21. --- Cubits. The more sacred part of the temple was only 60, 20, and 30 cubits, chap. vi. 2. But there were various other appendages and towers. This palace must have been very extensive. --- And four. Hebrew, "upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars." (Haydock) -- One row of these might be rather pilasters, against the wall; (ver. 3,) so that there would be three covered galleries, before the apartments, each supported on 15 pillars. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain OF THE HOUSE OF LEBANON. (Kg1 7:2-7)
OF THE HOUSE OF LEBANON. (Kg1 7:2-7)
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon--It is scarcely possible to determine whether this was a different edifice from the former, or whether his house, the house of the forest of Lebanon, and the one for Pharaoh's daughter, were not parts of one grand palace. As difficult is it to decide what was the origin of the name; some supposing it was so called because built on Lebanon; others, that it was in or near Jerusalem, but contained such a profuse supply of cedar columns as to have occasioned this peculiar designation. We have a similar peculiarity of name in the building called the East India house, though situated in London. The description is conformable to the arrangement of Eastern palaces. The building stood in the middle of a great oblong square, which was surrounded by an enclosing wall, against which the houses and offices of those attached to the court were built. 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. On the one side of this great hall was the king's house; and on the other the harem or royal apartments for Pharaoh's daughter (Est 2:3, Est 2:9). This arrangement of the palace accords with the Oriental style of building, according to which a great mansion always consists of three divisions, or separate houses--all connected by doors and passages--the men dwelling at one extremity, the women of the family at the other, while public rooms occupy the central part of the building.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. He built also — Rather, and he built,…
2. He built also — Rather, and he built, for the house here mentioned is not a building entirely distinct from all his house, (1Ki_7:1,) but an important part of it.
House of the forest of Lebanon — So called from the vast amount of Lebanon cedar used in building it. This part of the palace was the great hall of state, and was large enough, Josephus says, “to contain a multitude for hearing causes and taking cognizance of suits.” In it also were deposited the king’s wondrous targets and shields of beaten gold. 1Ki_10:16-17. It was one hundred and fifty feet long by seventy-five wide. (Marked A in plan.)
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Upon four rows of cedar pillars — Interpreters have been puzzled to determine the position of these four rows of pillars. Fergusson, following the English version, tries to reconcile the manifest inconsistency of “forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row,” (mentioned in next verse,) with the four rows here mentioned, by supposing that three rows of columns stood free, and the fourth was built into the outer wall. But this is altogether unsatisfactory, and rests upon an erroneous interpretation of 1Ki_7:3. Thenius supposes the pillars to have run round the entire hall on the inside, thus affording, as the Vulgate suggests, promenading places (deambulacra) between the rows of pillars, but his plan supposes four hundred pillars, far too great a number to crowd into a building of one hundred cubits by fifty. The great hall of the palace at Shushan, three hundred and forty-three by two hundred and forty-four feet, had, in all, but seventy-two columns, and its great central hall but thirty-six, and all standing nearly twenty feet apart. (Loftus, Chaldea, p. 367.) The central hall of the great palace of Xerxes at Persepolis, about two hundred feet square, also had thirty-six columns, standing the same distance apart, and also in six rows. W.L. Alexander, who follows mainly the plans of Thenius, (in Kitto’s Cyclopaedia of Bib. Lit.,) objects to his arrangement of the pillars, and “ventures to suggest that the four courses of pillars were not on the same area, but one above the other, corresponding to the four floors of the building.” But this would interfere with the side-chambers mentioned in the next verse. It is better to understand them as all resting upon the first floor, and supporting the chambers above, the four rows running lengthwise through the great hall. If, now, we suppose four rows of nine pillars in each row, placed equidistant, and enclosed by walls on the four sides, we meet all the necessary conditions of the case, and have a great hall of precisely the same number of columns as the central halls of the great palaces of Susa and Persepolis. According to this arrangement, the rows would be ten cubits apart, allowing ten cubits between the outer row and the wall on each side.
Beams upon the pillars — On which the floor of the first row of upper chambers might rest.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. He built also] Better, For he built, as…
2. He built also] Better, For he built, as R.V. The verses that follow are not describing an addition to the work mentioned in 1Ki_7:1, but only explaining the various parts thereof.
the house of the forest of Lebanon] This building which is mentioned again in 1Ki_10:17 and 2Ch_9:16 appears, from those passages, to have been Solomon’s armoury. The multitude of pillars, which was the marked feature of the lower floor, made it admirably suited for the hanging of shields and targets. Its name was probably given because the wood of its pillars came from Lebanon, and when these were in position they looked like the trunks of forest trees.
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upon four rows of cedar pillars] The number of the pillars is not given, but they must have been both very numerous and very substantial to support the three tiers of building which stood above them. It appears that the house had an external wall, and then rows of cedar pillars, four deep, stood round about, within the enclosure, to support the cedar beams which made the first floor of the chambers that ran along the sides. The cedar beams were no doubt let into the external wall as well as supported on the pillars.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He built also Heb. and he built. The A.V…
He built also Heb. and he built. The A.V rendering almost contradicts the view just advanced, viz., that the house of the forest of Lebanon was part of "all the house" (ver. 1) the house of the forest of Lebanon so called, not because it was a summer residence in Lebanon, as some have supposed, nor yet merely because it was built of Lebanon cedar, but because it displayed, a perfect thicket or forest (ry) of cedar pillars; the length thereof was one hundred cubits the temple proper was 60, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits The temple was but 20. It does not follow that this space of 100 x 50 cubits was all roofed in, for it would seem as if the house was built round a courtyard. Rawlinson remarks that a roof of 75 feet is "much greater than is ever found in Assyria." But it is by no means certain that there was any such roof here), and the height thereof thirty cubits the same as the temple, upon four rows of cedar pillars How these were disposed of, or what was their number, it is impossible to say. Thenius says they were 400, but this is pure conjecture. The description is so meagre and partial that it is impossible to form a correct idea of the building. The remark made above (ch. 6. Introd. Note) as to the temple applies with still greater force to the palaces. "There are few tasks more difficult or puzzling than the attempt to restore an ancient building of which we possess nothing but two verbal descriptions; and these difficulties are very much enhanced when one account is written in a language like Hebrew, the scientific terms in which are, from our ignorance, capable of the widest latitude of interpretation, and the other, though written in a language of which we have a more definite knowledge, was composed by a person who could never have seen the building he was describing" (Fergusson, Dict. Bib. 2. p. 658), with cedar beams twOtruK, cut or hewn beams upon the pillars. This palace, according to Fergusson, was "the great hall of state and audience" and the principal building of the range. But if it was this, which is very doubtful, for the throne was in the hall of judgment, (1Ki_5:7) it would seem to have served other purposes besides that of an audience-chamber. Among other things, it was certainly an armoury (1Ki_10:17. cf. Isa_22:8) The Arab. Vers. calls it "the house of his arms." Possibly it was also the residence of the bodyguard. (cf. 1Ki_14:28 with 1Ki_10:17) Bahr observes that the arrangement of the palaces accords with the Jewish conceptions of the kingly office. The first, the armoury, represents him in his militant character, (1Sa_8:20) the second in his judicial function (1Sa_8:5, 2Sa_15:4; 1Ki_3:9) while the third shows him in his private capacity.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 7:2-5 The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon was…
7:2-5 The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon was named for the abundant use of cedar in its construction. It would house 300 gold shields (10:16-17) and possibly served as both treasury and armory (see 12:25-28; Isa 22:8). The Egyptian pharaoh Shishak later carried away the shields as booty (1 Kgs 14:27).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.