Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Kings
Chapter 7: So Was Ended All the Work
Solomon builds his own palace, and Hiram the skilled craftsman furnishes the temple: two great pillars named 'He shall establish' and 'In him is strength,' a molten sea for cleansing, ten lavers, and vessels of pure gold. At last 'was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Kings chapter 7. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 7 records Solomon's palace and the making of the temple's furnishings. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Solomon's Palace (1 Kings 7:1-12)
Solomon spends thirteen years building his own house and its halls, all of costly stone and cedar.
Solomon Was Building His Own House Thirteen Years
"But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 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. And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row. And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks. And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks. And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them. Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other. And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch. All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars. And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house."
Word Study
"thirteen years," compared with the seven years spent on the house of the LORD (6:38). A quiet but telling comparison sits at the head of the chapter: Solomon spent seven years building the temple, but "thirteen years" building his own house and its complex. The numbers are not condemned outright, a king needed a palace and hall of judgment, but the contrast is a gentle warning that would grow louder as Solomon's reign went on. The heart's true priorities are revealed by where our greatest time, care, and resources go. Solomon's palace included the great "house of the forest of Lebanon," a porch of pillars, a hall of judgment, his own dwelling, and a house for Pharaoh's daughter, all of costly hewn stone and cedar. It was magnificent. But Scripture would later warn against those who "dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste" (Haggai 1:4), giving more thought to their own comfort than to God's honor. The seed of Solomon's later decline, a heart increasingly turned to self and to foreign wives, is faintly visible even here. Let it search us: where do our best years and greatest labor go, to the house of the LORD, or to our own?
Explanation
Having finished the temple in seven years, Solomon turns to his own royal complex, which takes thirteen. It included the great "house of the forest of Lebanon" (so called for its rows of cedar pillars), a colonnaded porch, a hall of judgment where the king rendered justice, his own residence, and a separate house for his wife, Pharaoh's daughter. All were built of the finest materials: costly, carefully cut stones and cedar throughout, with a great surrounding court. The account emphasizes the scale and splendor of Solomon's building program, both the LORD's house and his own. The mention of the house for Pharaoh's daughter, and the greater time spent on his own buildings, quietly foreshadows the divided heart that would later be Solomon's undoing.
Gospel Focus
The contrast, seven years for God's house, thirteen for his own, is a gentle but searching mirror. Our true priorities are shown not by our words but by where our greatest time, care, and resources flow. It is not wrong to build a house or do our work, but it is a danger when self steadily crowds out God. The Lord Jesus said, "seek ye first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33), and warned against laying up treasure for ourselves while being "not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). Solomon's growing investment in his own comfort, and the house for his foreign wife, are early hints of the heart-drift that would later ruin him. Let us examine ourselves: does the house of the LORD, His worship, His people, His kingdom, receive our best, or only our leftovers after we have built our own? Give God the first and the best, lest, like Solomon, we build ourselves a palace and lose our hearts in it.
The Two Pillars (1 Kings 7:13-22)
Hiram the skilled craftsman casts two great bronze pillars for the temple porch, named "He shall establish" and "In him is strength."
Jachin and Boaz
"And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was a widow's son 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 cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about. And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits: And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits. And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished."
Word Study
"Jachin" (Yakin, יָכִין), "he shall establish." The right-hand pillar at the temple porch was given a name that preached: he shall establish. Standing at the entrance of God's house, it proclaimed to all who came that the LORD establishes His house; the temple, and the people who worship there, stand not by their own power but because God upholds them. "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Psalm 127:1).
"Boaz" (Boaz, בֹּעַז), "in him is strength." The left-hand pillar completed the message: in Him is its strength. Together the two great bronze pillars preach one sentence to everyone entering, that God both establishes and strengthens His people. The craftsman, fittingly, was Hiram, a widow's son of Naphtali "filled with wisdom, and understanding," his skill a gift of God, as the tabernacle craftsmen were "filled... with the spirit of God, in wisdom" (Exodus 31:3). And the pillars point forward: the Lord Jesus promises the overcomer, "him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God" (Revelation 3:12). We who trust in Christ are established and strengthened not in ourselves but in Him, "stablished in the faith" (Colossians 2:7), so that we too become pillars in the house of God, monuments to the truth that He establishes, and in Him is our strength.
Explanation
Solomon brings from Tyre a master bronzeworker also named Hiram (or Huram), a widow's son of Naphtali, "filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass." He casts the great bronze furnishings. First are two enormous pillars, eighteen cubits high, with ornate capitals decorated with networks, chains, lily-work, and hundreds of pomegranates. Solomon sets them at the temple porch and names them: the right pillar Jachin ("he shall establish") and the left Boaz ("in him is strength"). Standing at the very entrance of the house, they were a permanent testimony to every worshipper of the God who establishes and strengthens His house and His people. Their beauty and their names together made them a sermon in bronze at the doorway of the LORD's temple.
Gospel Focus
The two pillars preach a gospel at the temple door: "he shall establish," and "in him is strength." God's house, and God's people, stand not by human power but because the LORD upholds and strengthens them. "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it." Our salvation, our faith, our perseverance, all rest not on our own resolve but on the God who establishes us and in whom is our strength, "stablished in the faith," "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Ephesians 6:10). And the pillars point beyond themselves: Christ promises to make the overcomer "a pillar in the temple of my God," a permanent, honored part of His eternal house. We become pillars only because He establishes and strengthens us. When you feel weak and unstable, look to the pillars named Jachin and Boaz, and remember: He shall establish, and in Him is your strength. Stand, not in yourself, but in Him.
The Molten Sea and the Ten Lavers (1 Kings 7:23-39)
Hiram casts the great bronze sea on twelve oxen and ten wheeled lavers for the washing that worship required.
A Molten Sea
"And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths. And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it. And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges: And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition. And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round. And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten. And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself. And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same. For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about. After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size. Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. And he put five bases 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 over against the south."
Word Study
"a molten sea," a vast bronze basin for washing, resting on twelve oxen. The great "molten sea," a huge round bronze basin holding two thousand baths, and the ten wheeled lavers, all served one purpose: the washing that worship required. The priests washed at the sea, and the sacrifices were rinsed at the lavers (compare 2 Chronicles 4:6). No one could approach the holy God, or serve in His house, without cleansing. The abundance of water, a "sea" and ten lavers besides, speaks of the fullness of cleansing God provides for those who would draw near. It stood on twelve oxen facing the four points of the compass, hinting that the cleansing and the worship of God's people (the twelve tribes) reach out to all the earth. This great provision for washing points to the gospel: we cannot come to God or serve Him unwashed, "without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14); but God has provided cleansing in abundance, "the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26), "the washing of regeneration" (Titus 3:5), and supremely the blood that cleanses, "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). As no priest served without washing at the sea, so none may serve the living God unwashed; but the fountain is full, and all who come are cleansed.
Explanation
Hiram next casts the great bronze "sea," a massive round basin about fifteen feet across and holding some two thousand baths of water, its brim wrought like a lily and its rim ringed with ornamental knops. It rested on twelve bronze oxen facing outward to the four directions. He also makes ten elaborate wheeled bases, richly engraved with lions, oxen, cherubim, and palm trees, each bearing a laver holding forty baths. Five lavers were set on each side of the temple, and the great sea on the southeast. All these provided the water needed for the service of the temple: the priests' washing and the rinsing of sacrifices. The description dwells on the skill, scale, and beauty of the work, underscoring the abundance of cleansing provided for those who would worship and serve in the house of the LORD.
Gospel Focus
The molten sea and the ten lavers preach the necessity and the abundance of cleansing. No priest could serve, no sacrifice be offered, without washing; and no sinner can approach the holy God unclean, for "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Yet God provided cleansing in abundance, a whole "sea" of it and ten lavers besides, picturing the fullness of the cleansing He gives in the gospel. We are washed by "the washing of regeneration," cleansed by "the washing of water by the word," and made pure by the blood of Christ that "cleanseth us from all sin." The fountain God has opened is not a trickle but a sea; "there shall be a fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1). And as the sea rested on oxen facing all four directions, so this cleansing is offered to people from every quarter of the earth. Come and be washed; you cannot serve God unclean, but the provision is full, and all who come to the fountain He has opened are made clean.
The Golden Vessels and the Completed House (1 Kings 7:40-51)
Hiram finishes the bronze work, Solomon makes the golden vessels, and all the work for the house of the LORD is ended.
So Was Ended All the Work
"And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD: The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars; And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of bright brass. In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD."
Word Study
"So was ended all the work," Hebrew shalam (the work completed). The section, and the whole building account, closes with a note of completion: "So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD." Every furnishing was made, the bronze pillars, sea, and lavers, and the vessels of pure gold, the golden altar, the table of shewbread, the ten golden candlesticks, and all the golden utensils, and the great task was finished. Note too that Solomon "brought in the things which David his father had dedicated" and placed them among the temple treasures; David's long preparation was not lost but woven into the finished house. So the labors of God's servants, even those who do not live to see the completion, are gathered up and honored in the finished work. The vessels of pure gold, set apart wholly for God's service, picture the believer as a "vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use" (2 Timothy 2:21). God finishes what He begins, and every dedicated labor finds its place in His completed house.
"finished," Hebrew tam. The companion word for a thing brought to its end carries the same note of a task fully done. There is a satisfaction in a work brought fully to completion for God, echoing the finishing of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:33) and, behind both, the finishing of creation, "the heavens and the earth were finished" (Genesis 2:1). And these earthly finishings all point to the one great "It is finished" of the cross (John 19:30), where the work of redemption was fully accomplished.
Explanation
Hiram completes the bronze work, the pillars with their capitals and pomegranates, the ten bases and lavers, the sea on its twelve oxen, and the pots, shovels, and basins, all of burnished bronze, cast in the clay ground of the Jordan plain. So many were the vessels that Solomon left the bronze unweighed. Then Solomon makes the golden furnishings: the golden altar, the golden table for the shewbread, ten golden candlesticks before the oracle, and all the utensils, bowls, snuffers, spoons, censers, even the door hinges, of pure gold. With that, "was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD." Finally, Solomon brings in the silver, gold, and vessels that David had dedicated, adding them to the temple treasures. The house is complete and fully furnished, ready for the coming of the LORD's glory.
Gospel Focus
"So was ended all the work." There is deep satisfaction in a task fully finished for God, and it echoes the great finishings of Scripture, the tabernacle completed, creation finished, and supremely the cross, where the Son of God cried, "It is finished," accomplishing our redemption once for all. God completes what He begins; "he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Note too that David's dedicated treasures, long prepared, were brought in and woven into the finished house; the labors of God's servants, even those who never see the completion, are not lost but gathered up and honored in His finished work. And the vessels of pure gold, wholly set apart for God's service, picture what we are called to be, "a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use." Give yourself wholly to God as a golden vessel; rest in the finished work of Christ; and trust that the God who finished the temple, and the cross, will finish the good work He has begun in you.
Chapter 7 in Review
1 Kings 7 records Solomon's palace complex, built over thirteen years (against the temple's seven), and the making of the temple's furnishings by Hiram, a skilled widow's son from Naphtali. He cast two great bronze pillars for the porch, named Jachin ("he shall establish") and Boaz ("in him is strength"); the vast molten sea on twelve oxen and ten wheeled lavers for the washing worship required; and all the bronze vessels. Solomon then made the golden furnishings, altar, table of shewbread, ten candlesticks, and every utensil of pure gold, until "was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD," and David's dedicated treasures were brought in.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter is full of gospel pictures. The greater time spent on his own house is a gentle warning to give God our best, not our leftovers. The pillars Jachin and Boaz proclaim that God establishes His house and in Him is its strength, and Christ makes the overcomer a pillar in His temple. The molten sea preaches the necessity and abundance of cleansing, fulfilled in the washing of regeneration and the blood of Christ. And the finished work, with David's labors woven in, points to the God who completes what He begins, and to the cross where the Son cried, "It is finished."
- Thirteen years on his own house, seven on God's; our priorities are shown by where our best labor goes.
- Jachin and Boaz, "he shall establish" and "in him is strength", God upholds His house; we stand in Him.
- The molten sea and lavers preach cleansing; none serve God unwashed, but the fountain is full.
- "So was ended all the work", God finishes what He begins, fulfilled in the cross, "It is finished."
Questions for Reflection
- Where do your best years and greatest resources go, to God's house or your own?
- Do you stand established and strong in yourself, or in the God of Jachin and Boaz?
- Have you come to the fountain to be washed, and given yourself as a golden vessel for the Master's use?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Solomon's palace; priorities of the heart: 1 Kings 7:1-12; Haggai 1:4; Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:21.
- The pillars Jachin and Boaz; established and strengthened in God: 1 Kings 7:13-22; Psalm 127:1; Exodus 31:3; Revelation 3:12; Colossians 2:7; Ephesians 6:10.
- The molten sea and lavers; the abundance of cleansing: 1 Kings 7:23-39; 2 Chronicles 4:6; Hebrews 12:14; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5; 1 John 1:7; Zechariah 13:1.
- The work finished; the golden vessels; God completes His work: 1 Kings 7:40-51; Exodus 40:33; Genesis 2:1; John 19:30; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:21.