An arrangement was made by which Hiram gave cedars and fir-trees out of Lebanon, which his servants felled, while those of Solomon squared and fitted them for their places in the building. The provisions for both parties were supplied by Solomon; for then as in the time of Herod Agrippa," the maritime region of Phoenicia derived its supplies of food from Palestine. The prepared timber was brought down to the sea, and floated round to Joppa, under the care of the Tyrian sailors, whence Solomon undertook the thirty miles' transport to Jerusalem. He raised the laborers required for this great work by a levy of the strangers who lived in various parts of the land. All the remnant of these had been finally subdued by David, who, instead of exterminating them, retained them in a condition similar to that to which Joshua had reduced the Gibeonites. Solomon found their number to be 153,600; he appointed 70,000 for the work of transport, 80,000 as hewers in Lebanon, and the remaining 3600 as overseers. In addition to these, he raised a levy of 30,000 men out of all Israel, whom he sent to work in Lebanon by relays of 10,000, each relay serving for one month and returning home for two. Besides the timber, they hewed the great stones which were to form the foundation of the house; stones which by the time they reached Jerusalem, must have well earned the name of "costly stones," which is applied to them in the narrative.2 Some of these great stones are still, in all probability, those visible among the old substructions of the Temple.

25

26

24

Besides these contributions of materials and labor, Hiram supplied Solomon with a chief architect, a namesake of his own, for whom the King of Tyre expressed the reverence of a disciple for an artist by calling him "Hiram, my father.""" This Hiram was the son of a widow of Naphtali (or Dan), and his father had been a Tyrian artist. He devoted his hereditary skill to the service of the God whom his mother had doubtless taught him to reverence, in the spirit of Bezaleel, whom he resembled in the great variety of his accomplishments. Besides his principal profession as a worker in brass, he wrought in gold, silver, and iron, in stone and timber, in purple, blue, fine linen, and crimson; in short, his great gift seems to have been that of design in all its branches. The

23 Comp. Acts xii. 20.

24

is only another form of "Hiram,” and

1 K. v. 15, 16; 2 Chron. ii. 17, is applied to the king as well as to the

måster-pieces of his art were the two pillars of cast brass, called Jachin and Boaz, which stood on each side of the porch in front of the Holy Place." The workmen under him had already been provided by David, who, as we have seen, secured the services of all the foreign artists residing in the land.

§ 5. The actual building of the Temple was commenced in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, and the four hundred and eightieth year from the Exodus, on the second day of the month Zif (afterward Jyar-April and May), the second of the ecclesiastical year, B.C. 1012." So complete were the preparations that no sound of axe or hammer was heard about the building during its whole erection—

"Like some tall palm, the noiseless fabric grew:"

and it was completed in seven and a half years, in the eighth month (Bul, afterward Marcheshvan-Oct. and Nov.) of the eleventh year of Solomon, B.c. 1005. It occupied the site prepared for it by David, which had formerly been the threshing. floor of the Jebusite Ornan or Araunah, on MOUNT MORIAH. The whole area enclosed by the outer walls formed a square of about 600 feet; but the sanctuary itself was comparatively small, inasmuch as it was intended only for the ministrations of the priests, the congregation of the people assembling in the courts. In this, and all other essential points, the Temple followed the model of the Tabernacle, from which it differed chiefly by having chambers built about the sanctuary for the abode of the priests and attendants, and the keeping of treasures and stores. In all its dimensions, length, breadth, and height, the sanctuary itself was exactly double of the Tabernacle, the ground-plan measuring 80 cubits by 40, while that of the Tabernacle was 40 by 20, and the height of the Temple being 30 cubits, while that of the Tabernacle was 15.30

As in the Tabernacle, the Temple consisted of three parts, the Porch, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The Porch of the Temple was 10 cubits deep (in the Tabernacle, 5 cubits), the width in both instances being the width of the house. The front of the porch was supported, after the manner of some Egyptian temples, by the two great brazen pillars Jachin and Boaz, 18 cubits high, with capitals of 5 cubits

28 1 K. vii. 13, foll. ; 2 Chr. ii. 13, 14. 29 1 K. vi. 1; 2 Chron. iii. 2. See p 336, in Notes and Illustrations "On the Chronology of the Judges."

30 These are the extreme outer di mensions in both cases: for a fuller explanation, see Dict. of Bible, vol. iii p. 1455 seq.

more, adorned with lily-work and pomegranates." The Holy Place, or outer hall, was 40 cubits long by 20 wide, being u

Cornice of Lily-work at Persepolis.

the Tabernacle 20 by 10. The Holy of Holies was a cube of 20 cubits, being in the Tabernacle 10. The places of the two "veils" of the Tabernacle were occupied by partitions, in which were folding-doors. The whole interior was lined with wood-work richly carved and overlaid with gold. Indeed, both within and without, the building was conspicuous chiefly by the lavish use of the gold of Ophir and Parvaim. It glittered in the morning sun (it has been well said) like the sanctuary of an El Dorado." Above the sacred ark, which was placed, as of old, in the Most Holy Place, were made new cherubim, one pair of whose wings met above the ark, and another pair reached to the walls behind them. In the Holy Place, besides the Altar of Incense, which was made of cedar, overlaid with gold, there were seven golden candle

511 Kv. ii. 15-22. Some have supposed that Jachin and Boaz were not pillars in the ordinary sense of the term, but obelisks. But for this there is no authority; and as the porch was fifteen cubits (thirty feet) in width, a roof of that extent, even if composed of a wooden beam, would not only

look painfully weak without some support, but, in fact, almost impossible to construct with the imperfect science of those days. "The chapiter of lily-work" on these columns may have borne some resemblance to the cornice of lily-work figured above. 2 Milman, Hist. of Jews, i 259.

sticks instead of one, and the table of show-bread was replaced by ten golden tables bearing, besides the show-bread, the innumerable golden vessels for the service of the sanctuary. The Outer Court was no doubt double the size of that of the Tabernacle; and we may therefore safely

assume that it was 10 cubits in height, 100 cubits north and south, and 200 east and west. It contained an inner court called the "court of the priests;" but the arrangement of the courts and of the porticoes and gateways of the enclosure, though described by Josephus, belong apparently to the Temple of Herod. There was an eastern porch to Herod's temple, which was called Solomon's Porch, and Josephus tells us that it was built by that monarch; but of this there is absolutely no proof, and as neither in the account of Solomon's building nor in any subsequent repairs or incidents is any mention made of such buildings, we may safely conclude that

20

33

30 CUBITS

they did not exist before the time Plan of Solomon's Temple, showing of the great rebuilding immediately preceding the Christian era.

34

In the outer court there was a new altar of burnt-offering much larger than the old one. Like the latter, it was square; but the length and breadth were now twenty cubits and the height ten. It differed, too, in the material of which it was made, being entirely of brass." It had no grating and instead of a single gradual slope, the ascent to it was probably made by three successive platforms, to each of which it has been supposed that steps led, as in the figure, page 486. Instead of the brazen laver, there was " a molten sea" of brass, a master-piece of Hiram's skill, for the ablution of the priests. It was called a sea " from its great size, being five cubits in height, ten in diameter, and thirty in circumference, and containing 2000 baths. 36 It stood on twelve oxen, three toward

66

each quarter of the heavens, and all looking outward. The brim itself or lip was wrought "like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies," i. e., carved outward like a lily or lotus

Ilypothetical Restoration of the Brazen Altar.

flower. There were besides ten smaller lavers for the ablution of the burnt-offerings. The chambers for the priests were arranged in successive stories against the sides of the sanctuary; not, however, reaching to the top, so as to leave space for the windows to light the Holy and Most Holy Places. We are told by Josephus and the Talmud that there was a superstructure on the Temple equal in height to the lower part; and this is confirmed by the statement in the Books of

9937

Hypothetical Restoration of the Molten Sea.

Chronicles that Solomon "overlaid the upper chambers with gold." Moreover," the altars on the top of the upper chamber," mentioned in the Books of the Kings," were apparently

972 Chron. iii. 9.

38 2 K. xxiii. 12.