I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 7.

    In yesterday’s passage the writer told us that Solomon took seven years to build the Temple. Today the writer tells us that he took 13 years to build his palace. There are multiple possible explanations for why Solomon took more time to build his palace than he did to build the Temple. One possibility is that he made it even more magnificent than the Temple. Another one, and the one I am going to favor, is that the palace was an inherently more complex structure because it a greater variety of areas to accommodate a greater variety of uses. It appears that the seven years Solomon spent having the Temple built did not include the time it took to make the furnishings for the Temple. Once the Temple was built (and perhaps after Solomon’s palace was built as well, although I believe that the Hebrew language of the time was imprecise enough to leave that open to question) Solomon hired a craftsman from Tyre to create the furnishings for it. The craftsman, Huram, was the son of a bronze craftsman of Tyre and an Israelite mother. Huram’s parentage was significant because he got expertise in bronze working from his father and a thorough understanding of the Israelite religious traditions from his mother.