1 Kings 7:2

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
built	וַיִּ֜בֶן vai.Yi.ven	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
house	בֵּ֣ית beit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
forest	יַ֣עַר Ya.'ar	H3293	a copse of bushes · noun, common masculine singular construct
Lebanon	הַלְּבָנ֗וֹן ha.le.va.Non	H3844	Lebanon · definite article + proper noun, a place name
length	אָרְכּוֹ֙ 'a.re.Ko	H753	length · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hundred	מֵאָ֨ה me.'Ah	H3967	a hundred · noun, common feminine singular absolute
cubits	אַמָּ֤ה 'a.Mah	H520	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
breadth	רָחְבּ֔וֹ ra.che.Bo	H7341	width (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fifty	וַחֲמִשִּׁ֤ים va.cha.mi.Shim	H2572	fifty · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
cubits	אַמָּה֙ 'a.Mah	H520	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
height	קוֹמָת֑וֹ ko.ma.To	H6967	height · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
thirty	וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים u.she.lo.Shim	H7970	thirty · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
cubits	אַמָּ֖ה 'a.Mah	H520	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
four	אַרְבָּעָה֙ 'ar.ba.'Ah	H702	four · noun, common both genders singular absolute
rows	טוּרֵי֙ tu.Rei	H2905	a row · noun, common masculine plural construct
cedar	אֲרָזִ֔ים 'a.ra.Zim	H730	a cedar tree (from the tenacity of its roots) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
pillars	עַמּוּדֵ֣י 'a.mu.Dei	H5982	a column (as standing) · noun, common masculine plural construct
cedar	אֲרָזִ֖ים 'a.ra.Zim	H730	a cedar tree (from the tenacity of its roots) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
beams	וּכְרֻת֥וֹת u.khe.ru.Tot	H3773	something cut · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct
pillars	הָעַמּוּדִֽים ha.'a.mu.Dim	H5982	a column (as standing) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Kings 10:17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest o…
2 Chronicles 9:16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of th…
1 Kings 9:19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to bu…
1 Kings 10:21 And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were…
Song of Solomon 7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon w…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 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, Mat 6:33. 1. He built a house for himself (Kg1 7:1), where he dwelt, Kg1 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 wherewith God had blessed him. Much of the comfort of this life is connected with an agreeable house. He was thirteen years building this house, whereas he built the temple in little more than seven years; not tha…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 7:2

OF THE HOUSE OF LEBANON. (Kg1 7:2-7) He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon--It is scarcely possible to determine whether this was a different edifice from the former, or whether his house, the house of the forest of Lebanon, and the one for Pharaoh's daughter, were not parts of one grand palace. As difficult is it to decide what was the origin of the name; some supposing it was so called because built on Lebanon; others, that it was in or near Jerusalem, but contained such a profuse supply of cedar columns as to have occasioned this peculiar designation. We have a similar peculiarity of name in the building called the East India house, though situated in London. The description i…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 7:2

The house of the forest of Lebanon - It was not built in Lebanon, but is thought to have been on Mount Sion. And why it was called the house of the forest of Lebanon does not appear; probably it was because it was built almost entirely of materials brought from that place. See the following verses.

John Gill on 1 Kings 7:2

He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon,.... Besides the temple, his own palace, and the queen's; so called, not because it was built on Mount Lebanon, which lay at the northern border of the land, at a great distance from Jerusalem, whereas this was both a magazine of arms, and a court of judicature, 1 Kings 7:7; see 1 Kings 10:17; neither of which can be supposed to be far from Jerusalem; but because not only it was built of the cedars of Lebanon, but in a situation, and among groves of trees which resembled it; it seems to have been a summer house; and so the Targum calls it, a royal house of refreshment: the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty an…

The Church Fathers

"The House of the Forest of the Lebanon" does not mean that this house was built in a forest or in Lebanon, as is sometimes asserted, but that [Solomon] built a huge house where weapons were gathered in large quantity, just as the Forest of Lebanon [abounds] in trees.
— Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 7:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Baalbec — Called by the Greeks Heliopolis i.e., “the city of the sun”, because of its famous Temple of the Sun, has by some been supposed to be Solomon’s “house of the forest of Lebanon” (1 Kings 7:2; 10:17; 2…
Cedar — (Heb. e’rez, Gr. kedros, Lat. cedrus), a tree very frequently mentioned in Scripture. It was stately (Ezek. 31:3-5), long-branched (Ps. 80:10; 92:12; Ezek. 31:6-9), odoriferous (Cant. 4:11; Hos.…
Dwellings — The materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes also stones (Lev. 14:40, 42), which were held together by cement (Jer. 43:9) or bitumen (Gen. 11:3). The exterior was usually…
Esarhaddon — Assur has given a brother, successor of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:37; Isa. 37:38). He ascended the throne about B.C. 681. Nothing further is recorded of him in Scripture, except that he settled certain…
Forest — Heb. ya’ar, meaning a dense wood, from its luxuriance. Thus all the great primeval forests of Syria (Eccl. 2:6; Isa. 44:14; Jer. 5:6; Micah 5:8). The most extensive was the trans-Jordanic forest of…
House — Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were…
Palace — Used now only of royal dwellings, although originally meaning simply (as the Latin word palatium, from which it is derived, shows) a building surrounded by a fence or a paling. In the Authorized…
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Cedar · .In — .In
Cedar, The · Used in: Building palaces — Used in: Building palaces
Forests

1 Kings 7:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 7:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 7:2

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 7:2

John Gill on 1 Kings 7:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Kings 7:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 7:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 7:2

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 7:2

John Gill on 1 Kings 7:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 7:1-12

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Kings 7:2-5

Rashi on 1 Kings 7:2