CHAPTER 7 Aug. 12 
Solomon’s House
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 2For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars; fifteen in a row. 4There were window frames in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks. 5All the doors and posts had square frames: and window was opposite window in three tiers. 6He made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them. 7He made the hall of judgment for the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. 8His house where he was to dwell had another court within the porch, which was of the same plan. He made also a house for Pharaoh’s daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch. 9All these were of costly stones, even of cut stone, according to measure, sawn with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court. 10The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. 11Above were costly stones, cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood. 12The great court around had three courses of cut stone, and a course of cedar beams; like the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and the porch of the house. 
The Two Pillars and Laver
13King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work. 15For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, each eighteen cubits high: and a line of twelve cubits encircled both of them around. 16He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17There were nets of chequer work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. 18So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and he did so for the other capital. 19The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of carved lilies, four cubits. 20There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the cushion which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital. 21He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz. 22On the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. 23He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it. 24Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast. 25It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26It was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths. 27He made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height. 28The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges; 29and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 30Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each. 31The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round. 32The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. 33The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten. 34There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself. 35In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same. 36On the plates of its stays, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37In this way, he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form. 38He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin. 39He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. 40Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of Yahweh: 41the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 42and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43and the ten bases, and the ten basins on the bases; 44and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea; 45and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Yahweh, were of burnished brass. 46The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out. 
The Utensils for the Temple
48Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold; 49and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold. 51Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.

Commentary

7:1 Solomon spent nearly twice as long building his own house as he did God’s house (6:38). He liked building (Ecc. 2:4); he served God in ways convenient to him, rather than taking up a cross and going against his own natural desires. See on 9:1.
7:12 Like as the inner court of the house of Yahweh- Solomon was maybe unconsciously playing God, creating a throne for himself in similar and more glorious style to God’s throne room in the temple.
7:23 Sometimes the Bible is very vague. There are times when the Spirit uses very approximate numbers rather than exact ("about the space of four hundred and fifty years", Acts 13:20 cp. 1 Kings 6:1). The reference to "seventy" in Judges 9:56 also doesn't seem exact. Seven and a half years (2 Sam. 2:11) becomes "seven years" (1 Kings 2:11); three months and ten days (2 Chron. 36:9) becomes "three months" (2 Kings 24:8). And here 1 Kings 7:23 gives the circumference of the laver as “thirty cubits”, although it was ten cubits broad. Taking ‘pi’ to be 3.14, it is apparent that the circumference would have been 31.4 cubits; but the Spirit says, summing up, “thirty”. Surely this is to show that God is God, not man, and as such He’s not on the back foot, writing under the fear of criticism. His word is not contradictory, but on the other hand, God has more spiritual culture than to sink down to the level of a man who wanted to foresee all criticism in writing something which could stand all petty criticism. He has a spiritual culture much higher than this. And this is the answer to many of the petty objections about ‘Bible contradictions’ which are raised by cynics. 
7:25 The sea or laver was a washing place in which the priests and sacrifices had to be washed before approaching God. It speaks of baptism under the new covenant, and is alluded to in Tit. 3:5, which speaks of our being saved by faith through the laver or bath of regeneration. Water baptism is part of the process of regeneration, the required expression of our faith in God’s salvation, and is therefore vital for all who would come to God in this age.
7:50 The hinges... of gold- Gold wasn’t the most suitable material for many of the utensils. But it represents faith (1 Pet. 1:7). The life of faith means that we may do things which appear to have a very weak human basis, and yet this is how God loves to work- through the human weakness of decisions taken and work done in faith.