Komentarz do Królów I 7:54

Shlomo built his [own] house in thirteen years. In work of the Most High he hurried,¹Shlomo built the Beis Hamikdosh in seven years as stated in 6:38 above. but in his own [work] he was slow; the text tells this to praise him.

The house of the Forest of Lebanon. [Targum] Yonoson translated, “a house for the cooling of kings.”²Alternatively, it is called “the house of the forest” because the house was constructed with many wooden pillars which gave it an appearance of a forest; or the house was actually located in the forest of Levanon.—Metzudas Dovid.

And cut beams of cedar. Beams of cedar were along the length of the house. There was a row of columns on the ground and the cut beams from column to column.

It was covered with cedar. A ceiling over it from above.

On top of the boards. The upper partitions which were on the cut [beams]. Four partitions, one next to the other along the width and extending along the length of the house. Each had openings and windows, because this was a summer home made for air. And on those partitions was the covering of the ceiling. The ceiling was [made] of forty-five boards, three rows of boards (for the three spaces) between the four rows of columns, fifteen boards to each row (i.e., fifteen of them were placed in each space). Their length was along the width of each row and their width was along the length of the house, one next to the other.

There were three rows of windows. He also made another covering near the three rows of boards and the three rows of lintels,³According to Rashi שקפים are lintels. But Radak’s opinion is that שקפים were look-out windows, as in 6:4 above. because the width of fifteen boards did not cover the house in its entire length which was one hundred amohs. And he made near it to cover the house, a covering of small boards placed on small beams which were left (should read “placed”) from one row of [the long] cut beams to the other, three small beams one next to (should read “at the end of”) the other, and lintels on both their sides, similar to a lintel against which the door strikes. And on those lintels the ends of the small boards were placed, the length of the small boards opposite the width of the larger boards which he installed first.

And each window faced the other window. The ends of the boards of this lintel were opposite (the ends of) the boards of this one (lintel).

Window. An expression of “an edge,” and so did Menachem interpret it and he related it to, “to their desired boundary [מחוז],”⁴Tehillim 107:30. and every “חזית” in the language of the Mishnah is thus, [as] in the order of arranging the daily sacrifice,⁵See Mishnayos Tamid 2:4. and also “he should made (a ledge) from the outside,” in the chapter of “The Partners” in [Maseches] Bava Basra.⁶ 2a. [Targum] Yonoson also, rendered this, “a projection opposite a projection,” but “שקופים אטומים”⁷Above 6:4. and likewise, “רבועים שקף,”⁸Below v. 5. he translated them all “beams.”

And all the entrances and doorposts. Because, generally, a king’s [summer] home is made with many entrances because of the air, and it was therefore called “a forest house” because it was like a forest.

Were square as was the window. [Targum] Yonoson translated, “square and covered the beams,” [i.e.,] the entrances were covered with thin boards, that were square as other entrances of houses, and they were not made with a curved arch similar to the entrances of a great hall.

And each window faced [the other window]. And the front of one edge was installed facing the other edge. The top of the board was towards the top of the other board, three times for each beam, but I do not know how.

An entrance hall of columns. He made an entrance before these columns as an entrance to the house. Its length was fifty amohs along the width of the house, which was fifty amohs, and thirty amohs its width before the extent of the length of the house, only that the longer measurement is always called the length and the shorter one is called the width.⁹I.e., “length” and “width” are relative to the structure being described. See Rashi 6:3 above.

There was [another] entrance hall above them. He made a high entrance [around] the entire house.

And columns and support beams upon them. And on the cut beams of cedar which were on the lower columns he erected on (should read “additional”) columns and beams from column to column, the columns to connect boards from one to another, and the beams for the ceiling. “עב” is a beam [=מריש], as we learned, “And the עבים, these are the beams.”¹⁰Maseches Bava Kamma 67a.

And an entrance hall for the throne. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “And an entrance hall to set the throne of judgment to judge there, he made a vestibule [פרוסדא] for the house of judgment.”¹¹According to Rashi who quotes Targum Yonoson, there were two areas set aside, one for the throne of judgment and another for the house of judgment. Alternatively, they are one and the same.—Radak. פרוסדא¹²In Mishnayos Avos 4:21 “פרוזדור” is defined as “vestibule.” is an expression meaning “vestibule.”

He covered the floor with cedar. The earthen floor was covered with cedar.

From one side of the foundation. [Targum] Yonoson rendered “from foundation to foundation,”¹³קרקע generally means “ground” or floor.” from the base of this wall to the base of the other wall.

His house where he dwelt. A complete residence to eat and sleep there.

From within the entrance hall. Inward from the entrance hall of the house of the Forest of Lebanon.

And the house which he intended to build. He planned to make a house for Pharaoh’s daughter.¹⁴Alternatively, Shlomo actually constructed a house for Pharaoh’s daughter.—Targum

Like this entrance hall. Like the work of this entrance hall.

All these [structures] were of heavy stones. All these stones were made heavy.¹⁵Alternatively, “precious stones.”—Targum.

According to the dimensions of standard cut stones. According to the measures of cut stone, [i.e.,] theyhad one [standard] size for cut stone [for buildings] in that country,

From the foundation to the ceiling. This building in height was made of these cut stones from the foundation until the highest beam.

From the foundation. [ממסד is] an expression [meaning] foundation [=יסוד].

The ceiling. The highest beam, as in, “My right hand had spanned [טפחה] the heavens.”¹⁶Yehsayahu 48:13.

And from the outside. On the outside, the entire length of the walls until the great court, were of these stones.

The foundation was, etc., [of] huge stones. And the foundation which was in the ground was of stones greater than the [standard] size of cut [stones].

And above it were precious stones. And above the stones used for the foundation were precious stones, until the ceiling as he mentioned above.

And cedars. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “And he covered with boards of cedar,” as it is stated, “and he covered the floor with cedar.”¹⁷Above 7:7.

Three rows of cut stones. The wall was made of three tiers of stone and a tier of wood on them.

A coppersmith. A craftsman.¹⁸I.e., an expert in his trade, in the works of copper. The Chirom mentioned here is not King Chirom mentioned earlier [above 5:15].

He was filled with the wisdom and understanding and the knowledge [skill]. The three tools¹⁹These three qualities, wisdom, understanding and skill are the same three qualities that Betzalel, the builder of the Mishkon, possessed. See Shemos 31:3. with which the universe was created, as it is stated, “By wisdom He founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens, by His knowledge the depths were broken up.”²⁰Mishlei 3:19— 20. The Beis [Hamikdosh] was built with these three.

The two columns. Which he placed at the entrance hall,²¹He placed them at the entrance to the Temple’s hall. See v. 21 below. Yachin and Bo’az.

Eighteen amohs was the height, etc. And in Divrei Hayomim it states, “[their height was] thirty-five amohs.”²²II Divrei Hayomim 3:15. Radak further explains that the 35 amohs that is stated in Divrei Hayomim refers to the length of the column as it lays on the ground; once it is erected it is called height. He cast both as one, and the one amoh which was missing,²³Alternatively, each column was actually 17.5 amohs, and the 18 amohs stated here is an approximation.—Ralbag. Or, the additional amoh was a result of hammering the column. I say, that at the top of each column there was a one half amoh which was not similar to the work of the rest of the column, as it is further stated regarding this subject, “the top of the columns was designed like lilies.”²⁴Below v. 22.

And a line of twelve amohs was the circumference of the second [each] column. This teaches [us] that it was four amohs by four amohs in diameter, because every circumference of three hand-breadths has a diameter of one hand-breadth. And its thickness was four fingers and it was hollow; thus is this explained at the end of the book of Yirmiyahu.²⁵Yirmiyahu 52:21. And this is an abbreviated verse, he disclosed the length of one [column] and the length of the second [column] can be learned from it, and he disclosed the circumference of the second [column], and the first [column] can be learned from it. And Targum Yonoson, also, rendered, “and a strung line of twelve amohs did compass it, and so the other column.”

Two crown shapes. Pomels, in O. F.

Cast. Tresjited, in O.F.

One crown was five amohs high. And at the end of the book it states, “three amohs.” We learned in the Mishnah of “Forty-nine Measurements,” that the two lower amohs of the crowns were similar to the column because there were no designs in them, and the three upper [amohs] that extended beyond, were surrounded with designs, as it is stated, “branches designed like net [mesh] work,”²⁶Below v. 17. by the likes of the branches of a palm tree they were surrounded But I say, that the two lower amohs were not counted at the end of the book [of Melachim] because they were similar to the column and the column were inserted into the crown. two amohs

Branches designed like net [mesh] work. The nets which they had were similar to a type of head covering which is called cofea [in O.F.].

Net [mesh] work. They were encircled by forms of branches of a palm tree, as in, “and he walks upon a snare [שבכה],”²⁷Iyov 18:8. and the branches were [designed] like chain work.

Seven [of these] were for the one crown. There were seven branches in each encircling design for each net [mesh] work.

And two rows. Of pomegranates and of copper; the pomegranates were inserted into the chain [work] which encircled the crowns, thus is this explained in Divrei Hayomim²⁸See II Divrei Hayomim 3:16. and in the Mishnah of “Forty-Nine Measurements.”

To cover the crowns that were on top of the pomegranates. [The text of] this verse is in a disarranged order.²⁹Alternatively, the verse can be explained according to its literal translation. The crowns were on the columns and the pomegranates were on the crowns. There were also other crowns which were on the pomegranates.—Radak. Or, the pomegranates were located on the lower bowl of the crown and the word על means “near” rather than “on top of.” [It means,] “the pomegranates should cover the crowns which were on the top.” And thus were the crowns made according to the order of the apparent meaning of the verses; each one was in the form of two bowls. The receptacle of the lower bowl was facing upward and it is called גולה [=a bowl], as it is stated about this subject, “וגולת הכותרות,”³⁰Below v. 41. and [Targum] Yonoson rendered this, “and the bowls of the crowns.” The upper [bowl] was inverted on the lower one, its receptacle was [facing] downward, and it was called שבכה [=net or mesh] work, as it is stated regarding this subject, “[also] two net [mesh] works to cover the two bowls of the crowns.”³¹Ibid. The result being that it is wide in the place where it is connected, and it narrows going upward and it narrows going downward, and this is called “a stomach,” and thus [Targum] Yonoson rendered מעלות הבטן,³²Below v. 20. “against the place of attachment.” And the height of these two bowls was four amohs,³³See below v. 19. and this is what he stated, “in the entrance hall were made like lilies, four amohs.” These were decorated inside with flowers of lilies, in the same design of the decorations which were on the wall of the entrance halls; four amohs high, and the fifth amoh was a small crown above the big one. This is what was stated, “And there were also crowns above on the two columns.”³⁴Below v. 20.

Above [on the two columns] opposite the belly. Which is beyond the net [mesh] work at the end of the net [mesh] work, at its rim, that is at the middle, at the place where it is connected, (upon the upper net [mesh] work) (The proper text: Because the net [mesh] work) is attached to the bowl which is beneath it.

And two hundred pomegranates. Pomegranates made in two rows around, strung together on a chain and encircling the net [mesh] work.

On each crown. This, too, is an abbreviated sentence, meaning, “On the one [crown], and likewise, on the second.”³⁵Each crown had a chain of 200 pomegranates encircling it.

The top of the columns was designed like lilies. A half amoh at the top of each column each one’s wall was as thin as a lily, and for the rest of the column its thickness was four fingers [and it was] hollow.³⁶Alternatively, the lily work was not part of the pillar, but was attached to it after the pillar had been installed.—Metzudas Dovid. Therefore, this amoh was not counted in [the description] of the pouring [of the copper] for the columns in Divrei Hayomim because it was not similar to the work [of the rest] of the columns.

Ten amohs from rim to rim. Through the middle, because the diameter of every round object is through the middle.

And a line of thirty amohs [the circumference]. This is what was mentioned, “All that have three handbreadth in its circumference have one handbreadth in its diameter.” Its circumference was thirty [amohs] and its diameter ten [amohs],³⁷The diameter of 10 amohs is a rounded off number. A diameter of ten amohs results in a circumference of approximately 31.4 amohs. and he measures from its midst. In [Maseches] Eruvin.³⁸See Maseches Eruvin 14a.

High. Its depth; and in Divrei Hayomim it states that he made it for the Kohanim to bathe and to immerse in.³⁹See II Divrei Hayomim 4:6. Ralbag explains that in order to avoid the problem of מים שאובין [=drawn water] it was connected at its base to natural water that flowed into it from an underground source. The water from the underground wells flowed through the hollow feet of the oxen.

Knobs. [Targum] Yonoson rendered וצורת ביעין [and the form of eggs].

Beneath its rim. [The knobs were located] in the lower three amohs which were square, for so did we learn in the Gemara in Maseches Eruvin, “The three lower ones were square and the two upper ones were round.”⁴⁰See Maseches Eruvin 14b. It is impossible for one to contain two thousand bas which equal one hundred and fifty ritual baths of purity of forty [bas], except in this manner as explained by our Rabbis in [Maseches] Eruvin. The upper ones were square and the lower ones round, it is impossible to say for it is written, that its rim was “circular all around.”⁴¹Above v. 23. He, therefore, says regarding these knobs, “for ten amohs compassing the sea round about,” because in the place that it was square, [a perimeter of] forty amohs has ten amohs on each side, but in the place that it is round it is impossible to say it has ten amohs [on each side] around.

The knobs were in two rows, cast together with it. Everything was poured together, [and] not that he attached the knobs to it after they had been poured, through nails or through soldering which is called soudure, in O.F.

And all their hind parts. Of these oxen.

Were inward. Their hind parts were facing towards the bottom of the sea, the [three] (two) which were in the north towards [those in] the south, and [those in] the east towards those in the west.⁴²The water flowed out of the mouth of the oxen.—Ralbag.

And its thickness was a handbreadth. Its bottom and its walls, except that at its edge it was thin and beaten out and hammered, like the rim of a cup which we drink from, and it is decorated with flowers and lilies.

Two thousand bas. [The equivalent of] six thousand se’ah, for a בת is equal to three se’ah, as it is stated, “The איפה and the בת [should] have one measurement.”⁴³Yechezkeil 45:11. Thus, [six thousand se’ah] are found to be one hundred fifty ritual baths of purity; four thousand se’ah for one hundred ritual baths, and the two thousand [se’ah] for fifty ritual baths.⁴⁴See Maseches Eruvin 14b. And even were you to divide everything according to the measurement by which the Sages measured, an amoh squared by three amohs high for each ritual bath, you will find it to be the same [as follows]: [The lower part of the sea was] three amohs high [by one hundred square amohs] equaling one hundred ritual baths. The [upper part of the sea was] two [amohs high and] round [with a diameter of ten amohs and contained sufficient water for] fifty ritual baths, because the square is greater than the circle by one quarter. [And in Divrei Hayomim] it is written, “it capacity was three thousand bas.”⁴⁵II Divrei Hayomim 4:5. Our Rabbis explained it refers to a dry measure, since the overflow was one third of the capacity of the receptacle.⁴⁶See Maseches Eruvin 14b. The Gemara explains that the heap that is above the top is half the volume within the container, i.e., 2000 liquid measures =3000 dry measures.

And three amohs was its height. The height of the base excluding the height of the wheel (meaning: excluding the base [=כן] itself; יד האופן is the wheel) upon which it rests was an amoh and a half, and the height of the base was an amoh and a half. (Four amohs was the length, etc.) The amoh of the height was square but the half amoh was round, as it is stated, “At the top of the base [was a frame] half an amoh high circular all around.”⁴⁷Below v. 35.

They had frames. I saw in the Mishnah of “Forty-Nine Measurements,” that the מסגרות were in the form of טבלאות.⁴⁸The מסגרות are “boards” or “panels” on each of the four sides, and they served as a frame for the base. Therefore, they are referred to as “מסגרות” which means frames, as in Shemos 25:25, 27.

They had frames. The frames were from the axle of one wheel to the axle of the other wheel. And the “יד אופן” is the wood which is inserted into the wheel, in the hole, and it is called essieu, in O.F. And the four wheels of the base had frames on this side and frames on the other side, on all four sides; between one and the other, was a width of four amohs, and above there were “blocks [=סרנים which means] the same as “boards” [=נסרים], against the frames, and the ledges were from the lower [frames] to the upper ones, and there were other frames between the ledges, like the design of the legs of the bed of villagers which are not round but protrude [in order] to decorate them with lions and cherubim. But I say, that these ledges were like the rungs of a ladder, sort of copper rods standing on the lower frames, there were two or three rods. The frames were set between one rod and the other, connected from one ledge to the other. [Targum] Yonoson, also, rendered “ledges.”

And on the frames that were between the rungs. Were decorated with forms of lions, oxen and cherubim.

And on the rungs there was a base. A base, to place the basin upon it, above the frame which was on their top.

And beneath the lions and oxen. Which were embroidered or attached on the outer frames which were between the ledges.

Joined together. לויות is form resembling a male and female embracing.

Thin strips of metal. Hammered, resembling the hammering of a thin metal plate. They did not protrude in its thickness nor were they engraved in a depression. And Yonoson rendered לויות מעשה מורד, “joined by welding,” souldriz, in O.F.

Four [copper] wheels. Two in the front and two in the back in the manner of large wagons.

And copper bars. [Targum] Yonoson rendered ונסרין דנחש, “boards of copper,” they are the upper boards against the frames.

Bars. [סרני means] the same as נסרים [=boards].

And its four corners. Of the base [=כן]which was above them [i.e., wheels].

Had shoulders. They protruded above the boards in the corners of the base. And under the basin which rested upon the base, the shoulders were molten. (Other texts: This teaches [us], that the shoulders came from the base in one pouring, and the shoulders supported the basin so that it should not fall down through the base.)

At the side of each were thin metal strips joined together. At the side of each of the shoulders was a joining of a decorated male and female. מעבר איש [=one to another] means the same as “איש אל אחיו [=one to another],”⁴⁹Shemos 25:20. which is stated by the cherubim.

And the rim of the vessel was inside the crown and rose above it an amoh. The mouth of the base extends outward of the rim of the crown and goes upward an amoh high. The crown is the roof of the base, made like a hat, [i.e.,] sloping on all sides, and in the center a round hole was set, with a diameter that was one and one half amohs, and around that hole was the resemblance of an enclosure of a partition one half amoh high around. And below this is thus explained regarding this subject, as it is stated, “At the top of the base [was a frame] half an amoh high circular all around,”⁵⁰Below v. 35. and that is called “פי הכותרות [=the rim of the crown].” And the base rests on that enclosure, and the bottom of the base is inserted into the rim of the enclosure, and it protrudes one amoh above it. This is what is stated here, “And the rim of the vessel was inside the crown and rose above it an amoh.”

The rim was round made like the base. And the rim of the crown was round, a replica of the base which was round.

One and a half amohs. Its width in diameter.

There were engravings on the rim as well. Designs of flowers.

The four wheels were underneath the frames. Because the frames [reached] from the axle of one wheel to the axle of the other wheel, as I have explained.⁵¹Above v. 28.

And the axles of the wheels. That is the wood which is inserted into the wheels and is called, essieu in [O.F.]

Were in the base. The axles were joined and melted to the base in one pouring.

Like the work of a chariot wheel. [Targum] Yonoson rendered, “as the work of the wheels of a chariot,” a wheel within a wheel crosswise, as it is stated in Yechezkeil in [reference to] the “Heavenly Chariot.”⁵²Yechezkeil 1:16.

Their axles. Essieu [in O.F.]

Their hubs. Bojjols in O.F., they are the holes [for the axles].

Their rims. They are the enclosures around, which bind them together.

And their spokes. The arms of the wheels which are attached from the holes of the wheel to the rims, which is called rais, in O.F.

There were four shoulders. As I have explained above, “and its four corners had shoulders,”⁵³Above v. 30. and he did not mention it here only to say, “the shoulders were of the base itself.”⁵⁴I.e., they were not made separately and then attached to it.

Half an amoh high circular. This is the partition, as I explained above,⁵⁵Above v. 31. which was around the opening and the [uppermost] amoh [of the crown] was square.

And on the top of the base its axles. They are the copper bars [סרני הנחשת] mentioned above.⁵⁶Above v. 30.

And its frames. They were all of one piece. The lower frames were poured together with it; he did not attach them afterwards.

He engraved on the plates, on its axles, and on its frames. On the lower ones. On both of them, he engraved and inscribed cherubim, lions.

(And palm trees, this is not [found] in other texts.) Pairs attached to each other. He engraved around the likeness of a male and female that are joined by their arms, thus our Rabbis explained this.⁵⁷See Maseches Yoma 54a.

Attached. An expression of attachment, as a male that is attached to a female, and its meaning is, “a man with his attachment.” According to its simple meaning, לויות is an expression of “attachment,” soldore, in O.F. There were attachments there made as the joining of a man, and the joining was in the manner we explained.

All cast in the same manner. As he cast the first [base], he similarly cast them all.⁵⁸I.e., they were all identical. Alternatively, each base was cast as a single piece.—Radak.

He made ten [copper wash] basins. It is written in Divrei Hayomim, “the parts of the burnt-offering they rinsed with them.”⁵⁹II Divrei Hayomim 4:6.

On the [right] side of the Beis Hamikdosh. Against the right side of the Beis Hamikdosh.

[Away] from the right side of the Beis Hamikdosh. Extended from the south side toward the north side. The following [explains], “קדמה מול נגב”: The northeast corner against the space which is between the northern wall of the Beis Hamikdosh and the wall of the court; and the northern wall is called “ממול נגב,” extended and removed far away from the south, and מול and ממול are not translated the same.⁶⁰I.e., ממול נגב means “opposite the south,” which is the north.

And Chirom made, etc. And Rebbi said, that the כיורות are one and the same as the סירות, as it is stated, “like a pan of fire burning wood,”⁶¹Zecharyah 12:6. and similarly, “and he thrust it into the pan.”⁶²I Shmuel 2:14.

The [wash] basins. Of copper, used to remove the ashes from the altar.

The rakes. Copper shovels which are called vedil, in German, [were used] to rake the ashes into the pots.

Two rows of pomegranates. One hundred pomegranates in each row hanging by chains.

[The king] cast them. He melted them and poured them according to their form.

In the thick clay. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “in the thickness of the clay.”⁶³The clay of the Jordan Plain was of very good quality.—Radak.

Shlomo gave up. [He refrained] from determining the weight of these vessels because there were very many, and [therefore] he ceased to determine their weight.⁶⁴Targum renders וינח as “he hid [=ואצנע],” implying that Shlomo prepared more than was needed and put away the extra vessels for future use. II Divrei Hayomim 4:18 implies that Shlomo made more vessels than needed.

Five on the right and five on the left. It is impossible to say five were on the right side of the entrance and five were on the left of the entrance, if so, we find a candlestick on the north [side] and the Torah states, “on the south side of the Tabernacle.”⁶⁵Bamidbar 3:29. The verse quoted by Rashi describes the location where the Kehas family encamped. It is not stated in reference to the candlestick. See Shemos 26:35 and 40:24 for the location of the candlestick. Therefore, Moshe’s [candlestick] was in the middle, five [candlesticks] on its right and five on its left.

And the flowers. Of the candlestick.

The lamps. The cups into which the oil and wicks are put.

And the tongs. With which the wick is lifted out of the oil.

The Sippos. A type of musical instrument,⁶⁶Alternatively, ספות are pitchers.—Metzudas Tzion. and similarly, “מזמרות.”

The basins. To receive the blood.

The spoons. As vessels for frankincense.

And the fire pans. To remove the ashes and coals, and to carry them from the outer altar to the inner altar to burn incense.

The keys. Keys, I heard, with which to open [מפתחין] with them the locks.

For the doors of the [inner] Beis Hamikdosh. Which is the Holy of Holies.

For the doors of the Beis Hamikdosh. Which is for the Sanctuary, all of their entrances were of gold.

The sacred of his father Dovid. That which remained of the silver and gold dedicated by his father. But the Midrash explains that Shlomo did not wish to use any of those dedicated materials for the construction of the Beis [Hamikdosh]. And I heard from [Torah] scholars of Yisroel who said, because Dovid knew eventually it would be destroyed; so that the idol worshiping [nations] should not say that their idols are mightier for they took their revenge upon the Beis [Hamikdosh] which was built of the plunder and destruction which Dovid plundered from them. And others say, Shlomo said that there was a famine in the days of his father for three consecutive years, and he should have squandered these dedicated materials to sustain Yisroel’s poor.