Vv 1-12: The record of Solomon's house is a parenthesis out of
historical sequence; 1Ki 5:2 -- 1Ki 6:38 and 1Ki 7:13 -- 1Ki 9:9 are about the
temple; the parenthesis suggests Solomon's weakness: he simply ENJOYED building
things!
1Ki 7:2
THE PALACE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON: Built of wood from
the forest of Lebanon. Solomon's "house of the forest of Lebanon" (1Ki 7:2)
became the armory of Jerusalem. Cp also Jer 22:6,7,23; Isa 2:13; 10:34; 37:24;
Eze 17:3.
1Ki 7:14
A woman of Dan married a man of Naphtali, and after he died,
she then married a man of Tyre (2Ch 2:14).
1Ki 7:20
TWO HUNDRED POMEGRANATES IN ROWS: One hundred in each
row: 2Ch 3:16n.
1Ki 7:21
PILLARS: Repr the apostles in Gal 2:9; the saints in
Rev 3:12; the church in 1Ti 3:15; 1Pe 5:10 (strong, firm, steadfast); Phi 4:13
(strong).
1Ki 7:23
1Ki 7:23-26 states that the diameter of the temple laver was
10 cubits "from one brim to the other" and 30 cubits in circumference. This
passage has long been a favorite of those who deny the Bible's infallibility,
since they point to the mathematical impossibility of such a ratio: a circle
with a diameter of 10 units must have a circumference of 31.416 (10 times "pi")
units. There is, however, quite an easy solution to this apparent discrepancy.
If, as the text implies, the brim of the laver was curved outward, then the
diameter could have been measured from one extreme edge to the other, while the
circumference could have been measured around the perpendicular wall of the main
part of the laver -- thus giving the required ratio between the two
measurements.
1Ki 7:26
How to reconcile 1Ki 7:26 and 2Ch 4:5? The Jewish Targum
specifies: "3,000 baths dry measure; 2,000 baths liquid measure."
1Ki 7:42
FOUR HUNDRED POMEGRANATES: Possibly, 200 pomegranates
on each row of 100 pillars (cp v 20); each pillar had 2 pomegranates -- thus
forming two long rows. Cp 2Ch 3:6n.
Four hundred brazen pomegranates complemented the two great
pillars of Stability and Strength -- Jachin and Boaz -- at the entrance of the
Temple. The pomegranate is a very special fruit in the divine imagery: it is the
essence of all fruit. It was on the border of the High Priest's robe (Exo
39:24), with the golden bells of salvation and praise. Cut through transversely,
the pomegranate has twelve sections, arranged around the center like the camps
of the twelve Tribes around the Tabernacle. It is full of white, pearl-like
seeds in a red fluid, and seems to represent a multitudinous unity purified in
the blood of the Lamb. In the Song of Songs, the Bride is said to have temples
like the halves of a pomegranate (Song 4:3; 6:7); the eastern pomegranate is
light golden brown with a tinge of pink, and the physical resemblance is
striking. Also, the association of the multitudinous Bride with the pomegranate
and the Temple is, in itself, a powerful and thought-provoking spiritual
image.
1Ki 7:46
BETWEEN SUCCOTH AND ZARETHAN: In land of Manasseh,
between Jezreel and Dead Sea.