SUMMARY
Solomon continues to demonstrate his divinely given wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... More by constructing the Jerusalem templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More.
ANALYSIS
First, a note on the chronology of 1 Kings 6:1, an important reference point in biblical chronology. The fourth year of Solomon’s reign would most likely fall between 965 and 958 B.C.E.; 480 years after the exodus would place that event in the mid-fifteenth century; but this is at odds with Exodus 1:11 and archaeological evidence indicating a thirteenth-century exodus during the reign of Rameses II of Egypt. No satisfactory explanation has been offered. Perhaps we should see the 480 years as a round number symbolizing the twelve tribes multiplied by the typical length of a biblical generation, twelve years. The seven years of construction may also be symbolic of perfection or completeness.
Most of the chapter offers details about the temple that link it to typical sanctuaries of Syria-Palestine, not surprising as Solomon employed Hiram of Tyre (not the supplier of timber and David’s treaty partner) for the specialized tasks of casting bronze elements such as the pillars in front of the temple and the bronze sea within it. Details of the temple are specific: length, 90 feet; width, 30 feet; height, 45 feet. There are three main rooms: the entrance, holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More place, and holy of holiesThe holy of holies was, in the Old Testament, the tabernacle's inner sanctuary that housed the ark of the covenant and its mercy seat. The space was separated from the rest of the holy place by a veil and was visited only once a year... More, where the ark of the covenantThe ark of the covenant was a box or chest that God commanded the Israelites to make from wood richly adorned with gold. The ark was built to contain the tablets of the covenant (the Ten Commandments). The ark served as a mobile shrine to... More was housed. The holy of holies was a perfect cube, the holy place was twice as long, and the entrance was half as long as the holy of holies.
The intrusive speech at 1 Kings 6:11-13 is missing in the SeptuagintThe Septuagint is a pre-Christian (third to first century BCE) Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures. It is believed that the term Septuagint derives from the number of scholars-seventy (or seventy-two)-who reputedly did the work of translation. More and is probably a later addition. It puts three conditions on Solomon and is thoroughly Deuteronomistic. The issue is one of faithfulness; faithful obedience, not the building of the temple, will guarantee God’s presence among the people.
Solomon’s own residence is much larger than the temple and took nearly twice as long to build (7:1-12), though we probably should not make too much of this discrepancy. Access to the temple was much more restricted, being limited to clergy. The residence, however, also housed a number of government buildings.
