1 Kings 7:46 Komentář

As, in the story of David, one chapter of wars and victories follows another, so, in the story of Solomon, one chapter concerning his buildings follows another. In this chapter we have, I. His fitting up several buildings for himself and his own use (Kg1 7:1-12). II. His furnishing the temple which he had built for God, 1. With two pillars (Kg1 7:13-22). 2. With a molten sea (Kg1 7:23-26). 3. With ten basins of brass (Kg1 7:27-37), and ten layers upon them (Kg1 7:38, Kg1 7:39). 4. With all the other utensils of the temple (Kg1 7:40-50). 5. With the things that his father had dedicated (Kg1 7:51). The particular description of these things was not needless when it was written, nor is it now useless.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7 This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, Kg1 7:1; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, Kg1 7:13; of the molten sea, Kg1 7:23; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, Kg1 7:27; with other utensils and ornaments, Kg1 7:40.

And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many,.... The vessels of brass before mentioned, being so large, at least some of them, and so numerous; the Targum is, he laid them up, or placed them; he brought them from whence they were cast, and put them in the sanctuary without weighing them: neither was the weight of the brass found out; or "searched" (i); it never was inquired into; or, as the Targum, there was no end of it, it was so much. (i) "nec invesigari potuerit", Tigurine version: "non pervestigatum est", Junius, Tremellius, Piscator.

It is appropriate that the vessels of the Lord’s house were cast in the region of the Jordan, namely, in the river in which our Lord deigned to be baptized and by his immersion in the waves of its waters changed the element for us into a bath for sins. For every baptism of the faithful in which they are consecrated to the Lord is celebrated on the model of his baptism whereby he himself sanctified the waters. It is proper that the vessels of the Lord’s house should have been made in the country of the Jordan, for there is no other way for us to become vessels of election and mercy than by looking to his baptism that he underwent in that river and making sure that we too are washed in that life-giving river. However, it must be noted that he says these vessels were made not only in the country around the Jordan but also in its plains to signify the multiplication of the faithful that was to take place not only in Judea but also in the wide world of all the nations in fulfillment of the prophecy that says, “The plains and everything in them will rejoice.”

Solomon builds his own house, and completes it in thirteen years, Kg1 7:1. He builds another called the house of the forest of Lebanon; and a house for Pharaoh's daughter, Kg1 7:2-12. He brings Hiram, a coppersmith, out of Tyre, who makes much curious work for the temple, Kg1 7:13-20. He makes the two pillars Jachin and Boaz, Kg1 7:21, Kg1 7:22. The molten sea, and the twelve oxen that bare it, Kg1 7:23-26. And ten brazen bases, and the ten lavers with pots, shovels, and basons, all of which he cast in the plain of Jordan, vv. 27-46. The quantity of brass too great to be weighed; and the vessels of the temple were all of pure gold, Kg1 7:47-50. Solomon brings into the house the silver and gold which his father had dedicated, Kg1 7:51.

Cast them, in the clay ground - In this place he found that particular kind of clay that was proper for his purpose. Some suppose that the place where Hiram had his foundry was on the other side, some on this side, of Jordan. Calmet supposes that it was near Bethshan.

BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S HOUSE. (Kg1 7:1) Solomon was building his own house thirteen years--The time occupied in building his palace was nearly double that spent in the erection of the temple [Kg1 6:38], because neither had there been the same previous preparations for it, nor was there the same urgency as in providing a place of worship, on which the national well-being so much depended.

In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them--Zarthan, or Zaretan (Jos 3:16), or Zartanah (Kg1 4:12), or Zeredathah (Ch2 4:17), was on the bank of the Jordan in the territories of western Manasseh. Succoth was situated on the eastern side of Jordan, at the ford of the river near the mouth of the Jabbok. One reason assigned by commentators for the castings being made there is, that at such a distance from Jerusalem that city would not be annoyed by the smoke and noxious vapors necessarily occasioned by the process. [Note in Bagster's Bible.] But the true reason is to be found in the nature of the soil; Margin, "the thickness of the ground." That part of the Jordan valley abounds with marl. Clay and sand are the moulding material still used for bronze. Such large quantities of metal as one of these castings would contain could not be fused in one furnace, but would require a series of furnaces, especially for such a casting as the brazen sea--the whole series of furnaces being filled with metal, and fused at one time, and all tapped together, and the metal let run into the mould. Thus a national foundry was erected in the plain of Jordan [NAPIER].