1 Kings 7 is the seventh

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of the

Books of Kings The Book of Kings (, ''Sefer (Hebrew), Sēfer Malik, Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Is ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the reign of Solomon over the unified kingdom of Judah and Israel (1 Kings 1 to 11). The focus of this chapter is the reign of

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, the king of Israel.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

and since the 16th century is divided into 51 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex () is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, and was endorsed for its accuracy by Maimonides. ...

(10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

, that is, 4Q54 (4QKings; 50–25 BCE) with extant verses 20–21, 25–27, 29–42, 51. There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

known as the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century) and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Old Testament references

*: 1 Kings 7
Berean Study Bible *: *: *: *:

Analysis

1 Kings 6 to 7 cover the building of the temple, with insertions of information about Solomon's palace, the "house of the forest of Lebanon", the hall of the throne, the hall of judgment, and a house for Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 7:1–12).

Construction of the palace (7:1–12)

The temple was actually integrated into a larger complex of government buildings, by itself is comparable to a palace chapel. Other buildings were larger and taken in all almost twice as long to build than the Temple alone (13 years vs. 7 years), but seems to share similar architectural style and material. The monumental 'House of the Forest of the Lebanon' was apparently named for its richly crafted and precious Lebanese timber, measuring roughly 50x25 meter with 45 pillars supporting the ceiling and partly an upper floor (perhaps functions as the royal bodyguard's armoury and quarters, cf. 1 Kings 10:17; Isaiah 22:8).

Verse 4

:''There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers.'' *"Windows" from Hebrew: , the same word as in 1 Kings 6:4 denoting "beams" or "lattices" ("beam layers" according to Keil; in

). They were arranged in "three rows" (or "tiers"), probably referring to 'three stories formed by the three rows of beams', so that the side chambers had 'their windows exactly vis-a-vis in each of the three stories' (as explained by

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

: , "windows in three divisions" in ''

Ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

''., 7:05.2).Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
On "1 Kings 7".
In: ''The

Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible first published between 1880 and 1919

''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.

The interior decoration of the Temple (7:13–51)

The big structures and furnishings in the temple of Solomon were crafted by a Phoenician craftsman called Hiram (or Ahiram), especially the two pillars which stood at the entrance to the temple (verses 15–22), and the circular bronze sea ("molten sea"; verses 23–26), among those listed in verses 40–47. A note states that Solomon established his own ore-refinery in the Jordan valley to produce the necessary bronze material. Other holy instruments and royal blessing-gifts were richly covered with gold (verses 48–51).

Verses 13–14

Baumeister-Hiram-Erbauer-des-Salomonischen-Tempels

:'' And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.'' :'' He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.'' *"Hiram from Tyre": called "Huram-abi" in 2 Chronicles 2:13, not to be confused with the Phoenician king in

1 Kings 5 1 Kings 5 is the fifth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a D ...

. Spelled as "

Hiram Abiff Hiram Abiff (also Hiram Abif or the Widow's son) is the central character of an allegory presented to all candidates during the third Masonic degrees, degree in Freemasonry. Hiram is presented as the chief architect of Solomon's Temple, King So ...

, he becomes the central character of an

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

presented to all candidates during the third degree in

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Verse 21

:''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.'' These two pillars most likely were not support structures, but were free standing, based on similar

pillars A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

in other nearby contemporary temples.

Verse 23

Brazen Sea of soloman From Jewish Encyclopedia

: ''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.'' *Cross reference: 2 Chronicles 4:2 * "5 cubits": a length measurement of about 7.5 feet or 2.3 meters. * "30 cubits": about 45 feet or 14 meters. The approximation of the

mathematical constant A mathematical constant is a number whose value is fixed by an unambiguous definition, often referred to by a special symbol (e.g., an Letter (alphabet), alphabet letter), or by mathematicians' names to facilitate using it across multiple mathem ...

"" ("pi"), defined as the

ratio In mathematics, a ratio () shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...

of a

circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

circumference In geometry, the circumference () is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. The circumference is the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment. More generally, the perimeter is the curve length arou ...

to its

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

, can apparently be calculated from this verse as 30 cubits divided by 10 cubits to yield "3". However, Matityahu Hacohen Munk observed that the spelling for "line" in Hebrew, normally written as , in is written (''ketiv'') as . Using

gematria In numerology, gematria (; or , plural or ) is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumeric cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standar ...

, ''qaweh'' yields "111" whereas ''qaw'' yields "106", so when used in calculation

\frac * \frac

it results in = "3.1415094", very close to the modern definition of "3.1415926". Missler, Chuck
The Value of Pi: Hidden Codes in the Bible
April 1, 1998. This finding was also reported by Shlomo Edward G. Belaga, in the page by Boaz Tsaban "Rabbinical Math" and in the book by

Grant Jeffrey Grant Reid Jeffrey (October 5, 1948 – May 11, 2012) was a Canadian Bible teacher of Bible prophecy/eschatology and biblical archaeology and a proponent of dispensational evangelical Christianity. Jeffrey served as the chairman of Frontier Rese ...

, "The Handwriting of God", Frontier Research Publications, Toronto Ontario, 1997.Munk, Matityahu Hacohen. ''Three Geometric Problems in the Bible and Talmud''. ''Sinai'' 51 (1962), 218-227 (in Hebrew); Munk, Matityahu Hacohen. ''The Halachic Way in Solving Special Geometric Problems''. ''Hadarom'' 27 (1968), 115-133 (in Hebrew). Cited i: Tsaban, Boaz; Garber, David
''On the Rabbinical Approximation of Pi''
''Historia Mathematica'' 25 (1998), pp. 75-84. Charles Ryrie gives another explanation based on 1 Kings 7:26 (cf. 2 Chronicles 4:5) that the molten sea has a brim of a handbreadth (about 4 inches or 10 cm) wide, so when the inside diameter, subtracting 10 cubits (about 180 inches or 4.6 meter; from outer "brim to brim") with 2 times 4 inches (two handbreadth) to yield 172 inches (4.4 meter), is divided by , it results in 540 inches (45 feet or 14 meter or 30 cubits) which is the circumference given in this verse.Ryrie, Charles (1986). ''Basic Theology''. Wheaton, Illinois: SP Publications, p. 99.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

translations: *
Melachim I - I Kings - Chapter 7 (Judaica Press)
Hebrew text and English translation ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org *

translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) *
1 Kings chapter 7. Bible Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings 1 07 07 Phoenicians in the Hebrew Bible">First Book of Kings chapters">07 Phoenicians in the Hebrew Bible