1 Kings 7:9-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 7:1-12

Never had any man so much of the spirit of building as Solomon had, nor to better purpose; he began with the temple, built for God first, and then all his other buildings were comfortable. The surest foundations of lasting prosperity are those which are laid in an early piety, Matt. 6:33. 1. He built a house for himself (1 Kgs. 7:1), where he dwelt, 1 Kgs. 7:8. His father had built a good house; but it was no reflection upon his father for him to build a better, in proportion to the estate... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:9

All these were of costly stones ,.... Marble, porphyry, &c.; according to the measure of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without ; they were all hewed, and squared, and polished, and so they appeared both on the inside of the building, and without: even from the foundation unto the coping ; from the bottom to the top: and so on the outside toward the great court : where the people used to assemble when they had causes to be tried, and was adjoining to the king's... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:10

And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones ,.... Of a great price, and very large: stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits some of one measure, and some of another; not so many cubits square, but of solid measure; they were so many in length. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:11

And above were costly stones ,.... Above the foundation, from thence to the top of the buildings; the whole walls were made of such right up to the ceiling: after the measure of hewed stones ; which, according to the Rabbins, as Kimchi says, were five hands breadth: and cedars ; beams of cedars over them, or these, both the foundation and the walls, were lined with them. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 7:12

And the great court round about ,.... Which surrounded Solomon's house: was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams ; these rows were one upon another, and were a wall to the court, which were either topped with a row of cedar wood, or that was a lining to the stones for the inner court of the house of the Lord ; or rather as, or like to that, as appears from 1 Kings 6:36 , and for the porch of the house ; not the temple, but Solomon's house. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 7:9

All these [ i.e. buildings ,palaces] were of costly [or precious; cf. 1 Kings 5:1-18 :31 and 1 Kings 5:10 , 1 Kings 5:11 ] stones, according to the measures of hewed stones [lit; of squaring or hewing , same word in 1 Kings 5:1-18 :31 (Hebrews), 1 Kings 6:36 , and Isaiah 9:9 , etc. All the stones in these several buildings were shaped to certain specified dimensions], sawed with saws [ גָּרַר is obviously an onomatopoetic word, like our saw. Gesenius cites... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 7:10

And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones [Bähr says, "Even the foundations which from without were not seen, were composed of these great stones." But the meaning evidently is that the foundation stones were larger than those reared upon them], stones of ten cubits [ i.e; ten cubits long , and of proportionate width, etc.] , and stones of eight cubits. [The foundations of the palaces, consequently, were much less than those of the temple platform, some of which... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 7:11

And above [ i.e; upon the foundation stones just described] were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones [It is implied here that the stones of the superstructure were less than those of the foundation. It is also implied that the former were more carefully smoothed and. faced than the latter] and cedars. [Heb. cedar .] read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 7:12

And the great court round about [The palace, again like the temple, had two courts. The lesser is referred to in 1 Kings 7:8 , and was enclosed among the buildings. The great court probably surrounded the entire structure] was [enclosed by a wall] with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams [The latter formed the coping. The wall of the court of the palace thus resembled that of the temple. See on 1 Kings 6:36 . In all these coincidences we have tokens of the same... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Kings 7:9

The stones were uniform - all cut to certain fixed measures of length, breadth, and thickness. They were not squared only on the face which showed, but also on the sides which fell within the wall and were not seen. Saws appear in Assyrian sculptures of the age of Sennacherib; and fragments of an iron saw have been found at Nimrud. read more

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