Thirteen years - The thirteen years, i. e., counting from the end of the seven 1 Kings 6:38. Solomon's buildings thus occupied him twenty years 1 Kings 9:10; 2 Chronicles 8:1, from the fourth year of his reign to the twenty-fourth. The difference in the time taken by the temple and the palace is to be accounted for,

(1) by the long period of preparation which preceded the actual building of the former 1 Chronicles 22:2-4; 1 Kings 5:13-18; and

(2) by the greater size of the palace, which consisted of several large ranges of buildings. (See the next note.)

Building his own house - This house is said to have been situated in Jerusalem, and probably was, what some call it, his winter's residence. It is called the king's house, 1 Kings 9:10.

But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years,.... He made more haste with the house of God than with his own, for that was but seven years in building; which showed greater regard to the honour of God then to his own glory, or even convenience; nor was this built till after that:

and finished all his house; or houses he undertook to build, the singular for the plural; even the house of God, his own palace, and that for the daughter of Pharaoh, and that which is next mentioned, which were in all twenty years building, 1 Kings 9:10.

Erection of the royal palace. - 1 Kings 7:1 is closely connected in form with 1 Kings 6:38, and contains a summary account of the building, which is more minutely described in 1 Kings 7:2-12. "And Solomon built his house (his palace) in thirteen years, and finished (in that time) all his house." The thirteen years are to be reckoned after the completion of the temple in seven years, so that the two buildings were executed in twenty years (1 Kings 9:10). The expression כּל־בּיתו is used, because the palace consisted of several buildings connected together; namely, (1) the house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2-5); (2) the pillar-hall with the porch (1 Kings 7:6); (3) the throne-room and judgment-hall (1 Kings 7:7); (4) the king's dwelling-house and the house of Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 7:8). That all these buildings were only different portions of the one royal palace, and the house of the forest of Lebanon was not a summer residence of Solomon erected on Lebanon itself, as many of the earlier commentators supposed, is indisputably evident, not only from the first verse when correctly interpreted, but also and still more clearly from the fact that when the buildings of Solomon are spoken of afterwards (see 1 Kings 9:1, 1 Kings 9:10, 1 Kings 9:15, and 1 Kings 10:12), we only read of the house of Jehovah and the house of the king, that is to say, of the temple and one palace. The description of the several portions of this palace is so very brief, that it is impossible to form a distinct idea of its character. The different divisions are given in 1 Kings 7:1-8 in their natural order, commencing at the back and terminating with the front (1 Kings 7:8), and there then follows in 1 Kings 7:9-12 the description of the stones that were used.

But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he {a} finished all his house.

(a) After he had built the temple.

7:1 House - The royal palace for himself, and for his successors. Thirteen years - Almost double the time to that in which the temple was built; because neither were the materials so far provided and prepared for this, as they were for the temple: nor did either he or his people use the same diligence in this, as in the other work; to which they were quickened by God's express command.

CHAPTER 7

1Ki 7:1. Building of Solomon's House.

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 [1Ki 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.

7:1-12 All Solomon's buildings, though beautiful, were intended for use. Solomon began with the temple; he built for God first, and then his other buildings. The surest foundations of lasting prosperity are laid in early piety. He was thirteen years building his house, yet he built the temple in little more than seven years; not that he was more exact, but less eager in building his own house, than in building God's. We ought to prefer God's honour before our own ease and satisfaction.