Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Kenyan translator,

I'm sorry. I've lost your post, but you asked about the construction of
Solomon's palace. We don't know how many rooms it had. Scripture does not
give that information. You asked about BYT ("house") and )WLM ("hall"). 1
Kings 7:1-8 is a bit puzzling to me, too. Keil, a faithful commentator of
the 1800's, says that the phrase "all his house" serves to describe several
buildings connected together:

1) the house of the forest of Lebanon (vv. 2-5)
2) the pillar hall with the porch (v. 6)
3) the throne room and judgment hall (v. 7)
4) the king's dwelling house and the house of Pharaoh's daughter (v. 8).

The two items of 4) are evidently distinct. Keil says one can see that all
the buildings mentioned form a single combined structure because when
Solomon's buildings are later referred to (9:1, 10, 15: 10:12), there is
only mention of the haouse of Yahweh and the house of the king, thus the
temple and one palace. Keil says that the description is so brief that one
cannot get a clear picture of the palace's character.

The house of the forest of Lebanon was a place to keep weapons (10:17) but
probably had other functions as well. Keil thought it had forty-five
siderooms (v. 3: CL(T) which were built on the four rows of pillars which
ran around the outside of the building and so would have surrounded the
inner courtyard on all sides. But others take the word CL(T to refer to
wooden beams that supported the cedar roof, and that idea seems simpler.
Verse 4 speaks of rows of windows.

The pillar hall, mentioned between the house of the forest of Lebanon and
the throne and judgment hall, was probably in between them. This pillar
hall, fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, also had a hall (porch) in
front of it as an entrance.

The throne hall is the place where Solomon dispensed royal judgment.
Evidently his throne was there. Keil thought this room was open on one side
and closed by walls on the other three sides.

The king's dwelling place was apparently behind the throne hall and
probably attached to it. It seems to have had its own court, perhaps as a
rear court to the whole palace. The king's dwelling place was built like
the throne room. The house of Pharaoh's daughter, while near the king's
dwelling place, was probably separate. Keil thinks it may have been even
further back, since it was customary for women in the Near East to live in
the inermost part of the house. Keil thinks that because the house for the
king and the house for the queen formed the rear court, probably the other
three buildings were united together around the front court.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard