Thematic Bible: Pattern and building of


Thematic Bible



King Solomon 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. He was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill to do any kind of work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his [bronze] work. He fashioned the two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. read more.
He made two capitals of molten bronze to set upon the tops of the pillars; the height of each capital was five cubits. Nets of checkerwork and wreaths of chainwork for the capitals were on the tops of the pillars, seven for each capital. So Hiram made the pillars. There were two rows of pomegranates encircling each network to cover the capitals that were upon the top. The capitals that were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work [design], four cubits. The capitals were upon the two pillars and also above the rounded projection beside the network. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows round about, and so with the other capital. Hiram set up the pillars of the porch of the temple; he set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin [he will establish], and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz [in strength]. On the tops of the pillars was lily work [design]. So the work of the pillars was finished. He made a round molten Sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference. Under its brim were gourds encircling the Sea, ten to a cubit; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it. It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their rears pointed inward. It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held 2,000 baths [Hebrew liquid measurement]. Hiram made ten bronze bases [for the lavers]; their length and breadth were four cubits, and the height three cubits. This is the way the bases were made: they had panels between the ledges. On the panels between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the ledges there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. And every base had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a laver. Beneath the laver the supports were cast, with wreaths at the side of each. Its mouth within the capital projected upward a cubit, and its mouth was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also upon its mouth were carvings, and their borders were square, not round. Under the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were one piece with the base. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. The wheels were made like a chariot wheel: their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. There were four supports to the four corners of each base; the supports were part of the base itself. On the top of the base there was a circular elevation half a cubit high, and on the top of the base its stays and panels were of one piece with it. And on the surface of its stays and its panels Hiram carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths round about. Thus he made the ten bases. They all had one casting, one measure, and one form. Then he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver held forty baths and measured four cubits, and there was one laver on each of the ten bases. He put the bases five on the south side of the house and five on the north side; and he set the Sea at the southeast corner of the house. Hiram made the lavers, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: The two pillars; and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the two pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls; And the 400 pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars; The ten bases and the ten lavers on the bases; One Sea, and the twelve oxen under it; The pots, the shovels, and the basins. All these vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of burnished bronze. In the Jordan plain the king cast them, in clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were so many; the weight of the bronze was not found out. Solomon made all the other vessels of the Lord's house: the [incense] altar of gold; the table of gold for the showbread; The lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies; with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold; The cups, snuffers, basins, spoons, firepans -- "of pure gold; and the hinges of gold for the doors of the innermost room, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the Holy Place. So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated -- "the silver, the gold, and the vessels -- "and put them in the treasuries of the Lord's house.

Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner rooms, and of the place for the [ark and its] mercy seat; And the plan of all that he had in mind [by the Spirit] for the courts of the house of the Lord, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for the dedicated gifts; The plan for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service in the house of the Lord; for all the vessels for service in the house of the Lord: read more.
The weight of gold and silver for all the gold and silver articles of every kind of service -- " The weight of the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold or silver for each lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; The gold by weight for each table of showbread, and the silver for the tables of silver; Also pure gold for the forks, basins, and cups; for the golden bowls by weight of each; for the silver bowls by weight of each; For the incense altar refined gold by weight, and gold for the plan of the chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the Lord's covenant. All this the Lord made me understand by the writing by His hand upon me, all the work to be done according to the plan.

But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.