Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Rehoboam attempts to increase the work load of the Israelites. They rebel and anoint Jeroboam as their new king. Jeroboam establishes new religious centers in Dan and Bethel.

II. Photo
Rehoboam rules with an iron fist: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.” (v. 14b)

III. Important Verses
3-5: They sent for him; and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam as follows:  “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke which your father laid on us, and we will serve you.” He answered them, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.
12-14: Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, since the king had told them: “Come back on the third day.” The king answered the people harshly, ignoring the advice that the elders had given him. He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, and said, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.”
16: When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king: “We have no portion in David, No share in Jesse’s son! To your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own House, O David.” So the Israelites returned to their homes.
18-19: King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel pelted him to death with stones. Thereupon King Rehoboam hurriedly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. Thus Israel revolted against the House of David, as is still the case.
20: When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent messengers and summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David.
26-29: Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well return to the House of David. If these people still go up to offer sacrifices at the House of the LORD in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will turn back to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and go back to King Rehoboam of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two golden calves. He said to the people, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” He set up one in Bethel and placed the other in Dan.
32b: And Jeroboam established a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month; in imitation of the festival in Judah, he established one at Bethel, and he ascended the altar [there].

IV. Outline
1-5. Jeroboam’s demand
6-7. The counsel of Rehoboam’s elders
8-11. The counsel of Rehoboam’s friends
12-14. Rehoboam’s imperious response
15. Divine providence
16. The Israelites secede
17. Rehoboam rules in Judea
18-19. Rehoboam’s messenger is killed; Rehoboam flees
20. Jeroboam is crowned king of Israel
21-24. Upon hearing God’s message, Rehoboam abstains from battle
25. Jeroboam’s fortifications
26-31. Jeroboam establishes calves in Dan and Bethel
32-33. Jeroboam’s festival in the 8th month

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.longthanhart.com/images/lta_photos/lta009.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon illicitly marries foreign women and becomes an idolater. God is furious and decides to split his kingdom in two. Although Solomon’s enemies grow in power, the king dies before his kingdom is torn apart.

II. Photo
Solomon’s story comes to an end: “The other events of Solomon’s reign, and all his actions and his wisdom, are recorded in the book of the Annals of Solomon.” (v. 41)

III. Important Verses
1-5: King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Phoenician, and Hittite women, from the nations of which the LORD had said to the Israelites, “None of you shall join them and none of them shall join you, lest they turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Such Solomon clung to and loved. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. In his old age, his wives turned away Solomon’s heart after other gods, and he was not as wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God as his father David had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Phoenicians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
11-13: And the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you are guilty of this — you have not kept My covenant and the laws which I enjoined upon you — I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. But, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it away from your son. However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give your son one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
29-32: During that time Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem and the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh met him on the way. He had put on a new robe; and when the two were alone in the open country, Ahijah took hold of the new robe he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. “Take ten pieces,” he said to Jeroboam. “For thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands, and I will give you ten tribes. But one tribe shall remain his — for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.”

IV. Outline
1-3. Solomon’s forbidden wives
4-5. Solomon worships foreign gods
6-8. Solomon builds idolatrous temples
9-13. God decides to split Solomon’s kingdom
14-22. Hadad’s history
23-25. Rezon’s history
26-40. Jeroboam’s history; Ahijah promises him 10 tribes
41-43a. Summary statement; Solomon’s death
43b. Rehoboam becomes king

V. Comment
Chapter 11 tells the story of Solomon’s declivity: he marries forbidden women, worships foreign gods, and builds pagan temples. The nationalities of his forbidden wives are enumerated in vv. 1-2: “King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Phoenician, and Hittite women, from the nations of which the LORD had said to the Israelites, ‘None of you shall join them and none of them shall join you, lest they turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Such Solomon clung to and loved.’” The passage in the Pentateuch that these verses are “quoting” is Deuteronomy 7:1-4: “When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and He dislodges many nations before you — the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you — and the LORD your God delivers them to you and you defeat them, you must doom them to destruction: grant them no terms and give them no quarter. You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.  For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods, and the LORD’s anger will blaze forth against you and He will promptly wipe you out.”

One question that arises is: “Who were the Hittites?” Gregory McMahon notes that there are two disparate groups of “Hittites” mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: “In the biblical references to the Hittites two different groups may be discerned. One is a local people of Palestine, settled in the area around Hebron before Abraham’s arrival, the descendants of Canaan through the eponymous ancestor Heth. They lived in the heart of the land promised to the Israelites, so that God had to expressly command the Israelites to destroy them… Almost all of the references of Hittites in the OT fit into this picture of a local Canaanite people never quite eradicated in the Hebrew conquest of Canaan. There are, however, five references to Hittites which do not fit with this picture (IDB 2: 613–14)… These five references to the Hittites which on the basis of context may be understood as the Hittites of north Syria, that is, the Neo-Hittites, are also the only five occurrences of the plural form hittˆîm in the OT. This may mean nothing, but it could be some indication of a distinction made in the text between the Hittites of Palestine, descendants of Heth, and the Hittites of Anatolia and north Syria, the men of Hatti.” (Gregory McMahon, “Hittites in the OT,” ABD vol. 3 p. 233)

One final note about Solomon’s apostasy: the king’s pagan temples seem to have lasted many centuries. This is because 2 Kings 23:13 says: “The king also defiled the shrines facing Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of the Destroyer, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites.” This verse speaks of a time period ca. 640–609 BCE (Solomon reigned ca. 961–922 BCE).

Verse 41 mentions the first of many cited sources in the book of Kings: “The other events of Solomon’s reign, and all his actions and his wisdom, are recorded in the book of the Annals of Solomon.”  Collins writes: “A number of sources are explicitly identified in the books of Kings. First Kings 11:41 refers the reader to ‘the book of the acts of Solomon.’ There are several references to ‘the book of the annals of the kings of Judah’ (14:29; 15:7, 23, etc.) and the corresponding annals of the kings of Israel (14:19; 15:31; 16:5, 14, etc.). None of these source books has survived. It is possible that they are entirely fictional, introduced to give an aura of authenticity to the account, but it seems likely that the author had some records of the kings of Israel and Judah at his disposal. It is widely assumed that chronicles were maintained at the royal courts of Israel and Judah, as they were in Egypt and Mesopotamia (for examples see ANET, 265-317). The best-known example of such a royal chronicle is the Babylonian Chronicle, which may be roughly contemporary with the Deuteronomistic History. Lists of kings were compiled in Mesopotamia from ancient times. Historical information was also recorded in royal inscriptions. The Near Eastern accounts are generally presented as lists of events, with little narrative elaboration. The books of Kings have much more developed narrative than the Mesopotamian chronicles, but they are generally less expansive than the stories in the books of Samuel.” (245)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.reconnections.net/Old_book.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon and is impressed with his wisdom. Solomon’s fame and fortune grow, and he is visited by kings from around the world.

II. Photo
The Queen of Sheba brings gifts: “She presented the king with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such a vast quantity of spices arrive as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.” (v. 10)

III. Important Verses
1-5: The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, through the name of the LORD, and she came to test him with hard questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels bearing spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she asked him all that she had in mind. Solomon had answers for all her questions; there was nothing that the king did not know, [nothing] to which he could not give her an answer.  When the queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon’s wisdom, and the palace he had built, the fare of his table, the seating of his courtiers, the service and attire of his attendants, and his wine service, and the burnt offerings that he offered at the House of the LORD, she was left breathless.
16-17: King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold — 600 shekels of gold to each shield — and 300 bucklers of beaten gold — three minas of gold to each buckler. The king placed them in the Lebanon Forest House.
18-20: The king also made a large throne of ivory, and he overlaid it with refined gold. Six steps led up to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and arms on either side of the seat. Two lions stood beside the arms, and twelve lions stood on the six steps, six on either side. No such throne was ever made for any other kingdom.
23-25: King Solomon excelled all the kings on earth in wealth and in wisdom. All the world came to pay homage to Solomon and to listen to the wisdom with which God had endowed him; and each one would bring his tribute — silver and gold objects, robes, weapons and spices, horses and mules — in the amount due each year.

IV. Outline
1-5. The Queen of Sheba is impressed with Solomon
6-9. The Queen praises Solomon and God
10. The Queen’s present
11. The treasures from Ophir
12. An overabundance of almug wood
13. Solomon sends the Queen back with gifts
14-17. Solomon’s golden objects
18-20. Solomon’s throne
21-22. Solomon’s vast wealth
23-25. The kings of the world visit Solomon and pay tribute
26-29. Prosperity; Solomon’s horses

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/294/2946373/29_2009/de4b7edb1e577498_spices.preview.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God exhorts Solomon to obey him. Solomon does business with king Hiram, enslaves many foreigners, and fortifies his cities.

II. Photo
Solomon enslaves his enemies: “All the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were not of the Israelite stock — those of their descendants who remained in the land and whom the Israelites were not able to annihilate — of these Solomon made a slave force, as is still the case.” (vv. 20-21)

III. Important Verses
4-5: As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you [and] keeping My laws and My rules, then I will establish your throne of kingship over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end.’
6-7: But if you and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments [and] the laws which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will sweep Israel off the land which I gave them; I will reject the House which I have consecrated to My name; and Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8-9: And as for this House, once so exalted, everyone passing by it shall be appalled and shall hiss. And when they ask, ‘Why did the LORD do thus to the land and to this House?’ they shall be told, ‘It is because they forsook the LORD their God who freed them from the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore the LORD has brought all this calamity upon them.’”
11: Since King Hiram of Tyre had supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that he required — King Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee.
20-21: All the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were not of the Israelite stock — those of their descendants who remained in the land and whom the Israelites were not able to annihilate — of these Solomon made a slave force, as is still the case.

IV. Outline

1-9. God’s message to Solomon
    1-2. Introduction
    3. God has heard the prayer
    4-5. Promise
    6-9. Warning
10-11. Solomon gives Hiram 20 cities
12-13. Hiram’s dissatisfaction; Etiological note
14. Hiram pays Solomon in gold
15. Solomon’s building campaign
16. A note about Gezer
17-19. Solomon fortifies his towns
20-22. Solomon enslaves the foreigners, not the Israelites
23. Solomon’s prefects
24. The millo is built
25. Offerings at the temple
26-28. Solomon and Hiram send a fleet to Ophir

V. Comment
Verses 26-28 describe Solomon’s sea ventures: “King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Sea of Reeds in the land of Edom. Hiram sent servants of his with the fleet, mariners who were experienced on the sea, to serve with Solomon’s men. They came to Ophir; there they obtained gold in the amount of four hundred and twenty talents, which they delivered to King Solomon.” What is the meaning of “Ophir gold”? Baker writes that Ophir was “a maritime nation which was a source of gold from at least the reign of Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28; 22:49; 2 Chr 8:18). It also provided fine wood and precious stones (1 Kgs 10:11; 2 Chr 9:10; Job 28:16). All of these were delivered to Israel by ship through the port of Ezion-geber on the Red Sea. The gold seems to have been of a particularly high quality since in some of the passages it is used in conjunction with more specific Hebrew terms for fine, choice gold (Job 22:24; Ps 45:10[—Eng 45:9]; Isa 13:12). Ophir became so associated with this rare metal that the name Ophir itself, without any further qualifier, is to be understood as “gold” in Job 22:24. Gold from this source is also known from an extrabiblical inscription from Israel.” (“Ophir (Place)” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. V, pp. 26-27) Baker also points out that the whereabouts of biblical Ophir remain unknown. While some (including Josephus) associate it with India, he feels that it was most likely a site in eastern Africa or western Arabia.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/files/imagecache/fiction/files/fiction/print/20080828_slaves.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The ark is brought to the new temple. Solomon prays before the people and they celebrate for two weeks.

II. Photo
The people go home happy: “They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that the Lord had shown to His servant David and His people Israel.” (v. 66b)

III. Important Verses
2-5: All the men of Israel gathered before King Solomon at the Feast, in the month of Ethanim — that is, the seventh month.  When all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the Ark and carried up the Ark of the LORD. Then the priests and the Levites brought the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. Meanwhile, King Solomon and the whole community of Israel, who were assembled with him before the Ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.
9: There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt.
27: But will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!
29-30: May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers which Your servant will offer toward this place. And when You hear the supplications which Your servant and Your people Israel offer toward this place, give heed in Your heavenly abode — give heed and pardon.
57-58: May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never abandon or forsake us. May He incline our hearts to Him, that we may walk in all His ways and keep the commandments, the laws, and the rules, which He enjoined upon our fathers.
63: Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices of well-being to the LORD. Thus the king and all the Israelites dedicated the House of the LORD.
65-66: So Solomon and all Israel with him — a great assemblage, [coming] from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt — observed the Feast at that time before the LORD our God, seven days and again seven days, fourteen days in all. On the eighth day he let the people go. They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that the LORD had shown to His servant David and His people Israel.

IV. Outline

1-11. The ark is publicly transferred to the holy of holies
12-21. Solomon’s Initial Blessing
    12-15a. Introduction
    15b. Blessing
    16-19. Historical background
    20-21. God’s promise is fulfilled
22-53. Solomon’s Petition
    22-23a. Introduction
    23b. Invocation
    23c. Hymnic praise
    24. Account of fulfillment
    25-26. Petition: the line of David
    27. Hymnic praise
    28-51. Petitions
        28-30. Pardon people who pray at the temple
        31-32. Execute righteousness
        33-34. Help Israel defeat its enemies
        35-36. Deliver Israel from drought
        37-40. Deliver Israel from plagues and famine
        41-43. Listen to the foreigner
        44-45. Listen to the Israelite army even if it is on foreign soil
        46-51. Listen to the people in captivity
    52-53. Final petition
54-61. Solomon’s Final Blessing and Petition
    54-55. Solomon stands before the congregation
    56. Blessing God
    57-. Petitions
        57. God should be with Israel
        58. Israel should be with God
        59a. God should hear Israel’s prayers
        59b. Daily provisions
        60. Universal knowledge of God
    61. Exhortation to follow God
62-64. Sacrifices at the temple
65-66. The people celebrate the festival [Sukkot]

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1279/1292662981_b23524f6b0.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon builds his palace. He hires Hiram of Tyre to design the temple’s vessels and deposits David’s money into the treasury.

II. Photo
Hiram builds two columns: “He set up the columns at the portico of the Great Hall; he set up one column on the right and named it Jachin, and he set up the other column on the left and named it Boaz.” (v. 21)

III. Important Verses

1: And it took Solomon thirteen years to build his palace, until his whole palace was completed.
7: He made the throne portico, where he was to pronounce judgment — the Hall of Judgment. It was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.
8: The house that he used as a residence, in the rear courtyard, back of the portico, was of the same construction. Solomon also constructed a palace like that portico for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom he had married.
13-14: King Solomon sent for Hiram and brought him down from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a Tyrian, a coppersmith. He was endowed with skill, ability, and talent for executing all work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and executed all his work.
21: He set up the columns at the portico of the Great Hall; he set up one column on the right and named it Jachin, and he set up the other column on the left and named it Boaz.
23: Then he made the tank of cast metal, 10 cubits across from brim to brim, completely round; it was 5 cubits high, and it measured 30 cubits in circumference.
45b-47: All those vessels in the House of the LORD that Hiram made for King Solomon were of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in earthen molds, in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed] because of their very great quantity; the weight of the bronze was not reckoned.
48-50: And Solomon made all the furnishings that were in the House of the LORD: the altar, of gold; the table for the bread of display, of gold; the lampstands — five on the right side and five on the left — in front of the Shrine, of solid gold; and the petals, lamps, and tongs, of gold; the basins, snuffers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and fire pans, of solid gold; and the hinge sockets for the doors of the innermost part of the House, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the Great Hall of the House, of gold.
51: When all the work that King Solomon had done in the House of the LORD was completed, Solomon brought in the sacred donations of his father David — the silver, the gold, and the vessels — and deposited them in the treasury of the House of the LORD.

IV. Outline

1. Solomon builds his palace in 13 years
2-8. The structures are built with cedar
9-12. Hewn stones cover the cedar
13-47. Hiram’s work
    13-14. Introduction
    15-22. Jachin and Boaz
    23-26. The “sea”
    27-39. The lavers
    40a. Smaller vessels
    30b-47. Summary statement
48-50. Solomon makes the other vessels
51. David’s donations are placed in the treasury

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.naspa.org/programs/images/column.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon builds the temple. The edifice contains three rooms, and the innermost chamber houses the ark and the cherubim.

II. Photo
The temple is decorated extravagantly: “And the entire House was overlaid with gold; he even overlaid with gold the entire altar of the Shrine.” (v. 22a)

III. Important Verses
2: The House which King Solomon built for the LORD was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.
11-13: Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon,  “With regard to this House you are building — if you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments, I will fulfill for you the promise that I gave to your father David: I will abide among the children of Israel, and I will never forsake My people Israel.”
22: And the entire House was overlaid with gold; he even overlaid with gold the entire altar of the Shrine. And so the entire House was completed.
27-28: He placed the cherubim inside the inner chamber. Since the wings of the cherubim were extended, a wing of the one touched one wall and a wing of the other touched the other wall, while their wings in the center of the chamber touched each other. He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29: All over the walls of the House, of both the inner area and the outer area, he carved reliefs of cherubim, palms, and calyxes.
37-38: In the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, the foundations of the House were laid; and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul — that is, the eighth month — the House was completed according to all its details and all its specifications. It took him seven years to build it.

IV. Outline
1. Construction begins
2-6. The “house” is built
7. No iron tools were used on premises
8-10. Stairways, chambers, and accoutrements
11-13. God’s promise to Solomon
14-18. The stones are given a cedar veneer
19-20. The innermost shrine is overlaid with gold
21-22. The interior of the house is overlaid with gold
23-28. The golden cherubim
29. Reliefs are carved along the walls
30. The floor is overlaid with gold
31-36. The doors
37-38. Summary statement: 7 years of construction

V. Comment
Chapter 6 gives a detailed description of the temple edifice and its accoutrements. Collins summarizes the temple’s structure and discusses its purpose. He writes: “Arguably the most important achievement attributed to Solomon was the building of the temple… It is not surprising that the temple conformed to the typical plan of temples in Syira-Palestine. The basic plan of the temple was a rectangle, 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide (approximately 165 x 84.5 feet). There were three main sections: the ulam or vestibule, the hekal or main room (the same word is used for the temple as a whole), and the debir or inner sanctuary (holy of holies). There were doors to the second and third chambers. Various small chambers were located along the sides of the temple. Two bronze pillars, called Jachin and Boaz, stood in front of the temple. There was also a molten sea, which was a circular object, supported by twelve statues of oxen. The symbolism of these objects is not explained, but the sea recalls the prominence of Yamm (Sea) in the Ugaritic myths… In the ancient world, a temple was thought to be the house of the god or goddess, and the deity was supposed to liver there. While the god or goddess was present in the temple, no harm could befall the city. The Lament for the destruction of Ur in the early second millennium B.C.E. complains that the various deities abandoned their temples (ANET, 455-63). Later we shall find that Ezekiel has a vision of the glory of the Lord leaving Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Babylonians.” (251)

Verses 23ff. describe Solomon’s cherubim: “In the Shrine he made two cherubim of olive wood, each 10 cubits high…”  What were the cherubim and what did they look like? Myers writes: “The many variations of cherubim represented in the Bible—examples with one or more faces; with human, leonine, bovine, or aquiline faces; with two or four legs—correspond to various forms of composite beasts depicted in [ancient Near Eastern] art, particularly the art of Assyria… In ancient Israel and its contemporary world, cherubim were characterized by mobility, since they all had wings. By virtue of their combining features of different creatures or having more of such features than real animals or persons, they were unnatural. These characteristics made them apt symbols for divine presence, since deities moved where humans could not and were something other than either animals or humans. The cherubim of the Bible are hardly the round-faced infant cherubim known in Western art.”  (“Cherubim,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp. 899-900) Besides for depictions of winged figures (and palm trees, see Ezek 41:18) in Assyrian temples, it is interesting to note that the hebrew word keruvim “cherubim” is nearly identical to the Akkadian word that describes these figures, kuribu.

Scholars point out that both two and three-dimensional cherubim are described in the Bible. An example of the two-dimensional type was seen in chapter 3: “[Solomon] overlaid the House with gold — the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors; he carved cherubim on the walls” (2 Chron 3:7). The two-dimensional cherubim were also woven into fabric, as seen in Ex 26:1: “As for the tabernacle, make it of ten strips of cloth; make these of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them.” Aside from our chapter and the Book of Kings, the three-dimensional cherubim can be found in the book of Exodus: “He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work, at the two ends of the cover: one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at its two ends. The cherubim had their wings spread out above, shielding the cover with their wings. They faced each other; the faces of the cherubim were turned toward the cover.” (Ex 37:7-9)

What did the cherubim represent? Myers writes: “The cherubim apparently constituted a resting place, or throne, for God’s invisible presence or glory (e.g., 2 Kgs 19:15 = Isa 32:16; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2). As part of the cultic furniture for God in the divine dwelling place on earth (see Haran 1978: 254–59), these cherubim are to be related to figures attested in several biblical texts which envisage God riding upon living composite beasts (e.g., Ps 18:10 = 2 Sam 22:11) or in which God’s glory rests upon the creatures (Ezekiel 10). Finally, the close connection between God and cherubim is present in their appearance as guardians of the garden of Eden (Gen 3:24).” (ibid.)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photos taken from http://www.simpledebtfreeliving.com/images/gold-bars.jpg and

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon enjoys days of peace and prosperity . He becomes world renowned for his wisdom and conscripts more than 180,000 Israelites to secure the necessary materials for the temple.

II. Photo
The people are content: “All the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba dwelt in safety, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree.” (v. 5)

III. Important Verses
1: Solomon’s rule extended over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and the boundary of Egypt. They brought Solomon tribute and were subject to him all his life.
2-3: Solomon’s daily provisions consisted of 30 kors of semolina, and 60 kors of [ordinary] flour, 10 fattened oxen, 20 pasture-fed oxen, and 100 sheep and goats, besides deer and gazelles, roebucks and fatted geese.
5: All the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba dwelt in safety, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree.
9-14:  The LORD endowed Solomon with wisdom and discernment in great measure, with understanding as vast as the sands on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the Kedemites and than all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was the wisest of all men: [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalkol, and Darda the sons of Mahol. His fame spread among all the surrounding nations. He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five. He discoursed about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about beasts, birds, creeping things, and fishes. Men of all peoples came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, [sent] by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
22-25: So Hiram sent word to Solomon: “I have your message; I will supply all the cedar and cypress logs you require. My servants will bring them down to the sea from the Lebanon; and at the sea I will make them into floats and [deliver them] to any place that you designate to me. There I shall break them up for you to carry away. You, in turn, will supply the food I require for my household.” So Hiram kept Solomon provided with all the cedar and cypress wood he required, and Solomon delivered to Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as provisions for his household and 20 kors of beaten oil. Such was Solomon’s annual payment to Hiram.

IV. Outline
1. Solomon’s dominion
2-3. Daily provisions
4-5. Peace and prosperity
6. Horses and riders
7-8. Provisions of the prefects
9-14. Solomon’s wisdom is world renowned
15-23. King Hiram agrees to supply Solomon with cedar wood in exchange for food
24-26. The exchange
27-32. Over 180,000 Israelites are conscripted for work

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://magnanimuswines.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/bg_grape_cluster.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon’s cabinet members are enumerated.

II. Photo
Israel enjoys a time of prosperity: “Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sands of the sea; they ate and drank and were content.”

III. Important Verses
1: King Solomon was now king over all Israel.
7: Solomon had twelve prefects governing all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each had to provide food for one month in the year.
20: Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sands of the sea; they ate and drank and were content.

IV. Outline
1. Introductory statement
2-6. Solomon’s cabinet
7-19. Solomon’s twelve prefects
20. Halcyon days in Judah and Israel

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://static.desktopnexus.com/wallpapers/83922-bigthumbnail.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter. After offering 1,ooo burnt offerings in Gibeon, God promises Solomon wisdom, glory, wealth, and long life. Solomon demonstrates his newfound wisdom by deciding a court case between two disputing mothers.

II. Photo
Solomon is admired for his judiciousness: “When all Israel heard the decision that the king had rendered, they stood in awe of the king; for they saw that he possessed divine wisdom to execute justice.” (v. 28)

III. Important Verses
1: Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David [to live there] until he had finished building his palace, and the House of the LORD, and the walls around Jerusalem.
2-3: The people, however, continued to offer sacrifices at the open shrines, because up to that time no house had been built for the name of the LORD. And Solomon, though he loved the LORD and followed the practices of his father David, also sacrificed and offered at the shrines.
4: The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the largest shrine; on that altar Solomon presented a thousand burnt offerings.
10-14: The LORD was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. And God said to him, “Because you asked for this — you did not ask for long life, you did not ask for riches, you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for discernment in dispensing justice — I now do as you have spoken. I grant you a wise and discerning mind; there has never been anyone like you before, nor will anyone like you arise again. And I also grant you what you did not ask for — both riches and glory all your life — the like of which no king has ever had. And I will further grant you long life, if you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments, as did your father David.”
23-27: The king said, “One says, ‘This is my son, the live one, and the dead one is yours’; and the other says, ‘No, the dead boy is yours, mine is the live one.’ So the king gave the order, “Fetch me a sword.” A sword was brought before the king, and the king said, “Cut the live child in two, and give half to one and half to the other.” But the woman whose son was the live one pleaded with the king, for she was overcome with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she cried, “give her the live child; only don’t kill it!” The other insisted, “It shall be neither yours nor mine; cut it in two!” Then the king spoke up. “Give the live child to her,” he said, “and do not put it to death; she is its mother.”
28: When all Israel heard the decision that the king had rendered, they stood in awe of the king; for they saw that he possessed divine wisdom to execute justice.

IV. Outline
1. Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter
2-3. Sacrifice at high places
4. Solomon’s 1,000 offerings at Gibeon
5. God asks Solomon what he can grant him
6-9. Solomon request wisdom to judge the people
10-15. God promises him that and much more
16-22. Two woman go to law over a son
23-25. Solomon orders the child to be split in two
26-27. The case is settled
28. The people awe Solomon’s wisdom

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from