Wordplay in the Old Testament

My wife, Jan, and I were driving down a Michigan road at dusk the other night and she said, "Watch for deer."  I replied, "Yes, dear." This is an English wordplay we have done countless times, playing on the fact that "deer", the animal, and "dear", a sweetheart, sound the same.  (I'm not sure Jan still thinks this is funny, but she has learned to put up with me! She is patient with her patient! 😁)

Wordplay occurs in all languages.  It is especially common in Old Testament Hebrew, where the wordplay would aid in memorization of the story and also keep the attention of listeners.

Wordplay, like the acrostic structure in an earlier post, disappears in translation from Hebrew to English and often has to be pointed out by footnotes. Occasionally the wordplay is explicitly mentioned in the text, but most of the time only the Hebrew listener would catch it.

In Ruth 4:1, Boaz calls a man over to begin the negotiation for Ruth. The NIV has Boaz call the man "friend" but in the Hebrew the term is peloni almoni, a rhyming phrase that means "such and such," hiding the man's name for all eternity. The rhyming phrase might be better translated "mister mystery" to catch the flavor of the original wordplay.

Robert Alter's translations and commentaries give many examples of these. For example, in 1 Samuel 13:7, the text says "the Hebrews had crossed the Jordan..." The uncommon description of the people as "Hebrews" is explained by the wordplay ivrim avru, two similar Hebrew words meaning "Hebrews crossed". In 1 Samuel 16:23, Saul's finding relief from the evil spirit, involves the same base word; ruah is spirit and rawah is relief. 

Much of my notes here follow an online article, Word Play in the Old Testament by Randy McCracken. McCracken writes: 

Samson’s riddle to his wedding guests in Judges 14:14, comes through quite well in most English translations. Based on his exploit of killing a lion and later discovering honey in its carcass, which he proceeds to eat, Samson poses the following riddle: “From-the-eater out-came eat[s] and from-the-strong out-came sweet[s]”...  Samson does use assonance (the use of similar vowel sounds), alliteration (the use of same sounding consonants), and word repetition.

[Wordplay] is found in Judges 3:8, 10. ... Othniel, battles Cushan Rishathaim from Aram Naharaim. Even in English we can pick up the obvious rhyme between Rishathaim and Naharaim. The NKJV spoils this rhyme by translating Aram Naharaim ... as Mesopotamia. ... [T]he name Cushan Rishathaim also is a clever wordplay. The word “Rishathaim” means “doubly wicked.” Cushan may also mean “dark,” and so Cushan Rishathaim means, “the dark doubly wicked one!” Clearly this is not the name that Cushan’s parents gave him! Rather, it is a clever twisting or substituting of vowels to produce a pun that mocks their adversary... 

[I]n Judges 9 when a man named Gaal Ben Ebed strolls into the city of Shechem. Gaal Ben Ebed means “Loathesome son of a slave,” hardly the man’s real name. In cases like this, we will never know the real name of the individual, but we can take an educated guess. For example, by changing a couple of vowels, Gaal becomes “Goel” which means “redeemer.” Were the Israelites making fun of this man whose name may have meant “Redeemer” by calling him “Loathesome?” Remember that when writing ancient Hebrew (much like modern Hebrew) only consonants were used. Therefore, Gaal and Goel would look the same when written out. 

 

[W]hen Jeremiah was called to be a prophet God says to him in Jeremiah 1:11, “What do you see Jeremiah?” The young prophet responds, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” The Lord responds, “I am watching over my word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12). In Hebrew the word for almond tree is shaqed, while the word for watching is shoqed. Since the almond tree was the first tree to bud in spring, the point of the wordplay is that God’s word will soon come to pass. ...

My favorite wordplay of this kind occurs in the story of Eli found in 1 Samuel chapters 1-4. We are told on two occasions that Eli has a weight problem. In 1 Samuel 2:29 the Lord accuses Eli and his sons of making themselves “fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel.” Later when Eli dies, the narrator tells us that Eli broke his neck when he fell backwards off his seat because he was old and heavy. The word heavy in Hebrew is kabed. It is from the same root as the Hebrew word for honor which is kabod. The story of Eli emphasizes that he has not honored the Lord (1 Sam. 2:30)  Eli’s heaviness is directly related to the lack of honor that he has shown for God because it is his consumption of the stolen meat from the sacrifices that has contributed to his weight problem. The wordplay between kabed and kabod emphasizes the correspondence between the stolen sacrificial meat and the lack of honor given to God.... After Eli’s death, his daughter-in-law gives birth to a child that she names Ichabod ... [which] means ...“no glory”.

There are countless other places where the Hebrew wordplay is lost in translation. Reading Alter's commentaries in recent studies, I've noticed the following:

In Psalm 48, the Hebrew nowda in verse 3, translated by the NIV as "shown himself", is followed in the next line by nowadu (verse 4), translated as "joined forces". (God has nowda while the kings have nowadu.)

In Psalm 56:8, the psalmist writes: "Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll..." The Hebrew is literally "Count my wanderings (nodi), my tears into your bottle (nod)...." The psalmist sings that his nodi are collected into God's nod.

In Psalm 69, in verses 30 and 31, the Hebrew word translated "song" is shiyr while the Hebrew translated "ox" is shor. David claims that praising God with shiyr will please God more than shor.

In 2 Kings 1:6-8, Elijah has a message for the king, Ahaziah. Ahaziah identifies Elijah by the description "garment of hair and a leather belt." The Hebrew expression translated here "garment of hair" is baal sear , literally "lord of hair." The messengers were originally to go see Baal-Zebub (literally "lord of the flies") but instead met Baal-Sear ("lord of hair".) 

In the same chapter, verses 11 and 12, the men of Ahaziah demand that "the man (ish) of God come down" but in response to their demand, "the fire (esh) of God comes down". They call for ish but get esh! (Be careful what you ask for!)

Other resources

In the 900-plus chapters of the Old Testament, there are literally thousands of examples of wordplay. There are then numerous online articles on this characteristic of Hebrew scriptures. Below is a short list of online articles I found interesting.

• Biblicalarchaeology.org has an article on Wordplay in Genesis. 
• Gary Rendsburg of Cornell has an article Wordplay in Biblical Hebrew.
• John Parsons at hebrew4christians.com has this short article.
• Verlyn Verbrugge has this short article on Hebrew wordplay.
• The Culture of the Bible blog argues in this article that Hebrew wordplay even shows up in some of the sayings of Jesus (once they are translated back into Hebrew.)

Occasionally in this blog, as I discover the more remarkable examples, I will try to make note of the wordplay in the text.  Since I do not really know Hebrew, the wordplay is usually pointed out by commentators such as Robert Alter or Robert L. Hubbard, Jr..

First published October 22, 2023, updated October 4, 2026

I Kings 9, God's Covenant with Solomon

Solomon has finished and dedicated the temple.

I Kings 9:1-5, Second appearance of YHWH

When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

The LORD said to him: "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

"As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'

In the first twenty years of his reign, Solomon achieves everything he desires, including massive building projects described below. (Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 for a declaration of these achievements -- and the thoughts that follow.)

YHWH continues the Davidic covenant with Solomon. This second appearance of YHWH to Solomon is apparently in the middle of his forty year reign. This passage parallels 2 Chronicles 7:11-22.

I Kings 9:6-9, "Don't turn away"

"But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, `Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?'

People will answer, `Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them--that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.'"

Like the covenants before, this one has both blessings and cursings, promises and warnings.

(NIV footnotes: In verse 6, the Hebrew term translated "you" is plural, addressed presumably to all of Israel, not just Solomon.)

I Kings 9:10-14, Good-for-nothing

At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings--the temple of the LORD and the royal palace-- King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and pine and gold he wanted.

But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. "What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" he asked. And he called them the Land of Cabul, a name they have to this day.

Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

There seems to be a dispute between Solomon and Hiram. The dispute explains a name for a collection of towns; according to the NIV footnotes "Cabul" sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing.

I Kings 9:15-21, Forced labor

Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) 

He built up Lower Beth Horon, Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, within his land, as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses --whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled. All the people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites could not exterminate--these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to this day.

Solomon's temple, palace, and other building projects were built by forced labor conscripted from foreigners left within Canaan. 

As noted in our earlier study of 2 Samuel 5:9, the Hebrew translated here as "supporting terraces" is unclear. It is literally "the Millo" and is mentioned several times in the Old Testament history.  Wikipedia has an article on it here and the Biblical Archealogical Society has an online article on it here.

Solomon fortifies the towns of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. Hubbard says that all three towns were originally Canaanite and were significant in protecting trade routes in the region. The city of Hazor was just north of the Sea of Galilee, at the northern edge of Israel. It was one of the most significant cities of the ancient Near East (see this Wikipedia article.) The city of Gezer was in the middle of Canaan, west of Jerusalem, towards the coast. Joshua, in Joshua 10:33, defeats Horam, king of Gezer. Here we have the Egyptian king razing the city and then giving it to Solomon as part of the dowry of the king's daughter.  Megiddo, says Hubbard, "guarded a crucial pass in the Carmel mountains, which linked the Valley of Jezreel and the international coastal highway to Egypt" (p. 61 of Hubbard's commentary on First and Second Kings.) All of these actions improve Israel's standing and power in the Levant region of the ancient Near East.

I Kings 9:22-25, Israelite supervisors

But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon's projects--550 officials supervising the men who did the work.

After Pharaoh's daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the supporting terraces. 

Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

Israelites were not enslaved. The Israelites oversaw the work of others.

In marrying the daughter of the king of Egypt, Solomon received the town of Gezer (above, verse 16) and then builds her a palace in Jerusalem.

Before the construction of the temple, it was reported that Solomon made sacrifices at the "high places". But now the sacrifices have been moved into the temple where Solomon now makes regular sacrifices, three times a year.

I Kings 9:26-28, Solomon's navy

King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. And Hiram sent his men--sailors who knew the sea--to serve in the fleet with Solomon's men. They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

Solomon also developed a navy, so as to improve trade and commerce. The fleet sailed from the city of Ezion Geber (on the Gulf of Aqaba) down the Red Sea to Ophir (likely along the Gulf of Aden, says Hubbard) and did significant trading, including bringing home 420 talents (probably about 16 tons) of gold. Below, from Google Maps, is that region today. 

With these ships, Israel now has access to ports along the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. This is a significant commercial region and represents, once again, Israel's standing in the region. (See this website for more details on this trade.) The Israelite commercial navy will be short lived; there will be a futile attempt to rebuild the fleet by King Jehoshaphat, Solomon's great-great-grandson, about 70 years later. (See 1 Kings 22:48.)

First published November 25, 2023, updated October 3, 2026

I Kings 8, The Temple Dedicated

Solomon has built both an extravagant temple and an extravagant palace.

I Kings 8:1-5, Ark brought to the temple

Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of David. 

All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

In the seventh month, the ark is brought into the temple. The number of sacrificed animals is too large to count!

The temple was finished in the eighth month (1 Kings 6:38) and the ark is brought into the temple in the seventh month, so presumably eleven months was spent furnishing the temple before bringing in the ark. (It is also possible that the ark was brought in on the seventh month to coincide with the Feast of Booths.)  Patterson and Austel say that Ethanin was the name of the seventh month prior to the Babylonian captivity; after the captivity the seventh month was called Tishrei and this may be the reason it is explained as the seventh month to the reader.

I Kings 8:6-9, Into the inner sanctuary

The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

The writer appears to have seen this, claiming it is still visible "today", that is, in the day of writing.  The stone tablets are those that Moses received back in Exodus 34.

I Kings 8:10-13, Cloud fills the temple

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever."

As happened with Moses in Exodus 40:34, the presence of YHWH is now physically visible.

I Kings 8:14-21, Blessing

While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. Then he said: "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, `Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built for my Name to be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.'

"My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David, `Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart.  Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, who is your own flesh and blood--he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.'

"The LORD has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of Egypt."

Solomon "blesses" this people. (Presumably this is a statement of promises related to the covenant.) Then he praises YHWH, expressing gratitude for being on the throne and being allowed to build the temple.

I Kings 8:22-26, Praise

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it--as it is today.

"Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, `You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.' And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

Solomon rejoices in YHWH's gifts to him and to Israel. He praises God in language that reviews the covenant and the promises to the descendants of David. 

In verse 23 Solomon describes God's "covenant of love"; the Hebrew word translated "love" by the NIV is hesed.  That word is a subject of a Sunday essay, here.

Solomon's stance in prayer is to stand, with hands spread out, uplifted. This was a common Old Testament way to pray, far different from our culture's common "head bowed, eyes closed" stance in prayer. A parallel passage, 2 Chronicles 6:13, has Solomon standing first, then kneeling before the people, with hands outstretched.

I Kings 8:27-30, "Then hear from heaven"

"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, `My Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

In his praise, Solomon asks a rhetorical question, "Will God really dwell (physically) on earth?"  The temple is to give YHWH a place to physically appear before His people but Solomon recognizes that YHWH is much greater than anything a temple can contain, indeed, admits Solomon, YHWH cannot be contained by all the heavens. The temple then is a structure to aid the people of Israel in approaching YHWH.

I Kings 8:31-40, "Then hear from heaven"

"When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence.

"When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.

"When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

"When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel--each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple-- then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

Solomon's prayer includes seven requests (four in these verses.) In the first request, Solomon asks that God condemn the guilty who makes a false statement in a claim brought before God. This presumably reflects the situation in which there is a dispute between two parties but there are no witnesses to the critical event.

In the second request, Solomon asks for forgiveness when the people sin and then are defeated by an enemy. The third request is similar; here the people sin and a drought comes as punishment. In the fourth request, Solomon asks for forgiveness for the people during times of famine. 

I Kings 8:41-44, The view from the foreigner

"As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name-- for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm--when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

In his fifth request, Solomon asks for God to hear the prayers of the foreigners, the Gentiles, who approach His temple. This paragraph gives an explicit reason for the covenant, the covenant law, and the temple -- so that other nations will be attracted to Israel, so that they will want to come to the temple and make their requests of YHWH!

I Kings 8:45-51, Expectations

"When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

"When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, `We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

"And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

Solomon's sixth request asks that YHWH hear the people even when they are distant and not near Jerusalem. The seventh request extends that situation to those taken captive and deported to a distant land (such as, much later, the land of Babylon.)

Verse 46 is clear: "For there is no one who does not sin".  Thus everyone needs to turn to YHWH for forgiveness.

Patterson and Austel, in their commentary on 1 & 2 Kings see Solomon's requests as echoes of the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28-30.

I Kings 8:52-53, Eyes open

"May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, O Sovereign LORD, brought our fathers out of Egypt."

Solomon repeats Israel's special place in the kingdoms of the world and reminds YHWH that He has said He will be open to their pleas.

I Kings 8:54-61, Benediction

When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 

"May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us.

"May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."

Solomon finishes his prayer by telling the people that YHWH will continue to care for them and reward them. Solomon intends to be fully committed to YHWH and urges the people to also be fully committed. In this way, the nation will continue to receive "rest" in their land. (Like Saul and David before him, Solomon will eventually reach a position of power and pride ... and then downfall.)

1 Chronicles 7:1-3 adds that after Solomon's prayer, before the upcoming sacrifices, fire came down from heaven and God's glory filled the temple.

I Kings 8:62-64, Sacrifices

Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.

Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD.  On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

Solomon ends his prayer with a massive sacrifice of animals in the temple. It is for these sacrifices that the temple courts were built.

I Kings 8:65-66, Festival

So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him--a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the LORD our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all.

On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

The festival, the Feast of Booths (Sukkot) ends with joy. God is good and life is good.

(NIV footnotes: in verse 65, "Lebo Hamath" is unclear; it could be "from the entrance to Hamath".)

First published November 25, 2023, updated October 2, 2026

I Kings 7, Solomon's Palace

Solomon has completed the temple. That took seven years. Now he works on his palace.

I Kings 7:1-7, Thirteen years

It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns--forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.

He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.

The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon is massive, 50 yards long, 25 yards wide and 15 yards (45 feet) high. This is apparently where Solomon receives and judges the people. It is not his residence. In 1 Kings 10:17 three hundred gold shields are stored there; in Isaiah 22:8 it is a place where weapons are stored.

I Kings 7:8-12, Residence

And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.

All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and trimmed with a saw on their inner and outer faces. The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight. Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the LORD with its portico.

The palace where Solomon resides is different from the Hall of Justice, from where he rules. Patterson and Austel suggest it was part of a temple complex, so that the temple and palace were closely associated with each other.

 

The building of his residence involves high quality stone and cedar beams. It would have been elegant.

I Kings 7:13-22, A master craftsman

King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits around, by line.  He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits high. A network of interwoven chains festooned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital.

He made pomegranates in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital.  The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high. On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around.

He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz. The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.

Huram, whose mother was a Jewess, is brought from Tyre to prepare elegant pillars. These pillars are nine yards high and six yards around, wit large adornments ("capitals") on top. There is a lot of elegance and dramatic artistry in the construction of the temple.

The Hebrew word translated "capital" is kothereth (כֹתֶרֶת) which could also be translated "crown." It is a bronze decorative object ("in the shape of lilies") intended to cap the massive pillars.

There is speculation on the naming of the pillars. Jakin probably means "he establishes"; Boaz probably means "in him is strength." It is likely that these are intended as statements about YHWH, who may be physically approached via the temple. (As it happens, Boaz was also the name of Solomon's great-great-grandfather.)

I Kings 7:23-26, Solomon's sea

He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.

Below the rim, gourds encircled it--ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

The Sea of Solomon is a large washbasin which served for ceremonial cleansing. (Its purpose is clarified in 2 Chronicles 4:6.) It is placed on the southeast side of the temple (see verse 39, below.)

This large bath is roughly circular, possibly a hemisphere, with a diameter of ten cubits and a circumference of 30 cubits.  The rim of the washbasin is a handbreath in thickness, that is, about three to four inches thick. Ignoring the context of this passage, lots of people have made bizarre claims about this description of the washbasin. Some claim "The Bible teaches that pi is equal to 3" since the bath is ten cubits across and 30 cubits around. Others, using extremely creative claims for the value of a handbreath, along with assigning the ten cubits as the outer diameter of the basin while claiming that the circumference measurement is the inner portion of a circle, have managed to claim this passage gives pi to four decimal places. All of these fanciful claims merely demonstrate the ability of people to ignore the context of Scripture in a search of something that supports their biases. If you are extremely nerdy and especially like math -- OK, yes, that probably limits the audience to just me?! -- you might look at this math article by Andrew Simoson.

A bath is probably about six gallons. See this webpage on weights and measures of the Old Testament.

I Kings 7:27-31, Stands of bronze

He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high. 

This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim--and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 

Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half. Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round.

I'm not sure what the stands are... they seem to be intended to hold wash basins.

I Kings 7:32-36, Wheeled stands

The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal. Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand.

He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around.

 

The stands have wheels and elegant engravings of powerful animals (lions and bulls), of supernatural cherubim, and of palm trees.

I Kings 7:37-45, Stands and Sea

This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape. He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands.

He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. He also made the basins and shovels and sprinkling bowls. 

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD: the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars); the ten stands with their ten basins; the Sea and the twelve bulls under it; the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls. All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze.

The stands and Sea are part of the artwork within the temple.

I Kings 7:46-50, Unweighed

The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 

Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined. 

Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD's temple: the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence; the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs; the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

The temple accessories are excessive and the bronze items are not even weighed to give any value.

I Kings 7:51, Silver and gold in the temple.

When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated--the silver and gold and the furnishings--and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD's temple.

This may be the first mention of a treasury for the temple. The upkeep of such a magnificent structure would have required a significant treasury. David's joy in setting aside treasure for the future temple is described in 1 Chronicles 29. In David's worship in that passage, it is clear that gifts to build, decorate and maintain the temple are merely returning to YHWH a portion of YHWH's many gifts to the nation.

First published November 25, 2023, updated October 1, 2026

I Kings 6, Solomon Builds a Temple

Solomon's kingdom is wealthy and prosperous. It is time to build a temple.

Throughout the Old Testament, whether in a tabernacle in The Wilderness, a tent at Shiloh during the time of Judges, or finally a solid structure now in Jerusalem, the temple was to indicate that YHWH resided physically among His special people, Israel.

I Kings 6:1-6, Time to build a temple

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.

The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple.

He made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 

The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

The first verse gives a length of time since the exodus. There are a variety of questions raised by this. In addition to those questions, the Septuagint gives the time as 440 years. Regardless of those issues, there is enough external historical evidence to date the construction of the temple to about 970 BC.

For the measurements in this temple, recall that a cubit was probably about 1 1/2 feet (half a meter.) There were slight deviations in the length of the cubit during these ancient times, varying possibly from less than 17 inches to slightly more than 20 inches.

2 Chronicles 3:1 gives the location of the temple as on Mount Moriah. This is apparently the same place where, centuries before, Abraham had been told to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:2.)

I Kings 6:7-10, Stone architecture, roof, anterooms

In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. 

The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.

So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks.

And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

For images of Solomon's temple, see this Wikipedia site.

The construction is done so that the the blocks were carefully prepared offsite; the sounds of tools were not heard at the temple site.

I Kings 6:11-13, Dynasty promise

The word of the LORD came to Solomon: "As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel."

The success of Solomon's dynasty relies on his commitment to YHWH. The promise of blessing for obedience (and curse for disobedience) is amplified in 2 Chronicles 7.

I Kings 6:14-20, Everything cedar...

So Solomon built the temple and completed it. He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine.

He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

Like the tabernacle in the wilderness, there is an emphasis on beauty and elegance.

I Kings 6:21-28, ... and pure gold

Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits.

He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

In the Holy of Holy sat the cherubim, surround by ornate gold decorations. The cherubim are massive, fifteen feet in height, with wings spread out to fifteen feet in width, one wing of one cherub touching the temple wall on one side while a wing of the other cherub touched the opposite wall. A cherub was a massive, scary object, representing divine power, guarding the approach to God.

I Kings 6:29-35, Elegant carvings

On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with five-sided jambs. And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold.

In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall. He also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

We have here more descriptions of the ornate and rich furnishings. And there are more cherubim.

I Kings 6:36-38, Seven years

And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.

In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

The description of Solomon's temple, here in 1 Kings 5-8, roughly parallels 2 Chronicles 3-6. The permanent temple is similar in many ways to the original desert tabernacle described in Exodus 35-40.

First published November 18, 2023, updated September 30, 2026

I Kings 5, Hiram, King of Tyre

The power and reputation of Solomon continue to grow.

1 Kings 5:1-6, Hiram of Tyre

When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David.

Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: "You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.

"I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, `Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.'

"So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."

Solomon renews his father's alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre. In this renewal, he orders cedars of Lebanon for the upcoming temple. The cedars of Lebanon will be mentioned in Psalm 92:12 and Ezekiel 31:3, where they represent majesty and beauty.

1 Kings 5:7-11, Let me trade with you

When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said, "Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation."

So Hiram sent word to Solomon: "I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and pine logs. My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household."

In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and pine logs he wanted, and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year.

King Hiram's gifts, like the wealth of Solomon, is extensive. 2 Chronicles 2:16 will tell us that the logs were floated "as rafts by sea" down to Joppa where they were then hauled overland to Jerusalem. When the temple is rebuilt after the captivity in Babylon, cedar is again brought to Jerusalem in the same manner (Ezra 3:7.)

(NIV footnotes: Twenty thousand cors is about 125,000 bushels or about 4,400 kiloliters. But in verse 11 some manuscripts have, instead of twenty thousand baths", they have "twenty cors",)

1 Kings 5:12-18, Peaceful exchanges with Tyre

The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel--thirty thousand men. He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workmen. At the king's command they removed from the quarry large blocks of quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Solomon's collaboration with Tyre is useful and extensive. Solomon's diplomacy is a result of his unusual wisdom.

The "forced labor" here are workers needed to support the building projects. The men sent from Israel represent a corvée system, in which laborers work part of the year, rotating home for a time and then back to work. Most of the fulltime craftsmen were apparently sent by Hiram. In 2 Chronicles 2:17-18, we see that most of these workers were from Tyre. 

Gebal (modern day Byblos) was a port city on the Mediterranean about 75 miles north of Tyre. (In modern day Lebanon, the city of Beirut lies between Byblos and Tyre.) Below, thanks to Google Maps, are modern maps of the region: Lebanon with coastal cities Byblos, Beirut and Tyre are in the map at the top

 and, at the bottom, is a map of Israel and surrounding environs, with Lebanon in the north.

(NIV footnotes: Ancient manuscripts differ on the number of foremen: some say three hundred, other thirty-six hundred.)

First published November 15, 2023, updated September 29, 2026