Poole on 1 Kings 7:48-51: The Gold Works of the Temple

Verse 48:[1]  And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD:  (Ex. 37:25, etc.) the altar of gold, and (Ex. 37:10, etc.) the table of gold, whereupon (Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-8) the shewbread was…

[He made…the vessels in the house of the Lord, ‎אֲשֶׁ֖ר בֵּ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה]  Which were for the house (or, which were pertaining to the house [Vatablus]) of Jehovah (Vatablus).

All the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord; such as God by the mouth of Moses had commanded to be made for his house and service, and such as Moses had made; only these were larger, and richer, and more, according to the difference of the temple and tabernacle, and Solomon’s vast riches, and the poverty of Moses and the Israelites at that time.

[The altar of gold]  The altar of incense, or incense-offering (Vatablus, thus Lyra, Menochius, Martyr, Lapide, Junius).  Golden; that is, cedar overlaid with gold:  A Synecdoche of the whole (Piscator out of Junius, similarly Menochius).  Question:  Whether this is the same as the Mosaic altar?  Response:  Most deny this.  The altar of Moses was stored among the other treasures of the Temple, and a new one was constructed by Solomon (Sanchez out of Tostatus and Lyra and Villalpando and Pineda, etc., similarly Lapide).  They prove it, 1.  Because the altar of Solomon was of cedar, and appears to have been shut up within the Holy of Holies (see on Hebrews 9:1-5).  But the altar of Moses was of Shittim wood, and was kept in the outer house.  2.  In this passage Solomon is said to have made the altar of gold.  3.  David left gold for the altar, 1 Chronicles 28:18.  Nevertheless, Azor[2] holds the opposite; as does Ribera, in his Concerning the Temple 2:8, who not altogether ineptly answer the arguments of the others.  But the prior opinion is more satisfying (Sanchez).  Solomon made all new vessels for the Temple, with the ark and its mercy seat and Cherubim excepted (Lapide).

The altar of gold, to wit, of incense, as appears from 1 Chronicles 28:18, where this is mentioned amongst the things for which David left gold, and Solomon is here said to build it; and therefore this cannot be that altar made by Moses, Exodus 25:23, 24; 30:1, 3, which also was of shittim wood, whereas this was made of cedar, and covered with gold, 1 Kings 6:20.

[And the table of gold]  Take the table συλληπτικῶς/collectively for every utensil of the table, as it is explained in 2 Chronicles 4:8 (Junius, Piscator).  A Synecdoche of member; for there were ten tables; on one of which only was placed the loaves (Piscator).  The Mosaic table was one, and that was preserved for the sake of honor:  but Solomon took care that ten others were made (Martyr); one of which was distinguished, which alone would have the shewbread upon it (Josephus[3] in Martyr).

The table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was; under which, by a synecdoche, are comprehended both all the utensils belonging to it, and the other ten tables which he made together with it, 2 Chronicles 4:7, 8.

Verse 49:[4]  And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold…

[And candlesticks five…and five]  In the time of Moses there was only one candlestick, but here ten; because the place was larger, and the vessels of the Temple were not to be transported elsewhere (Sanchez).

The candlesticks; which were ten, according to the number of the tables; whereas Moses made but one; whereby might be signified the progress of the light of sacred truth, which was now grown clearer than it was in Moses’s time, and should shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day of gospel light.  Of pure gold; of massy and fine gold.  Before the oracle, in the holy place.

[As if flowers of lily]  They also had shafts, and bowls, and spheres; just as the Mosaic candlestick formerly had, according to the similitude of which this was made, as it is taught, 2 Chronicles 4:7, just as they had been commanded to be made, namely, by Moses (Menochius out of Sanchez).

The flowers wrought upon the candlesticks, as it had formerly been.  See on Exodus 25:31.

Verse 50:[5]  And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers (Heb. ash pans[6]) of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

[And the pots (thus Jonathan, Pagnine), ‎וְהַסִּפּוֹת [7]]  The vessels (Malvenda), goblets (Montanus), basins (Junius and Tremellius), bowl (Munster, Tigurinus, Strigelius), snuffing-vessels (Syriac).

[And fleshhooks, ‎וְהַמְזַמְּרוֹת [8]]  Cutting instruments perhaps, snuffers, tongs, wherewith the burnt wicks are trimmed off (Malvenda), knives (Strigelius), pruning knives (Munster, Tigurinus), lanterns (Syriac), nails (Septuagint), psalteries (Pagnine, Montanus, Jonathan), musical instruments[9] (Junius and Tremellius, Vatablus).

[And the hinges of the doors, ‎וְהַפֹּתוֹת]  Hinges (Septuagint, Jonathan, Montanus).  Female hinges (Junius and Tremellius), that is, hollow sockets, or iron fittings fixed to the doors, around which the male hinges turn (Malvenda out of Junius).  פֹּת properly signifies that hollow, in which the pivot of the doors rests, and together with which the doors turn (Sanchez).

Verse 51:[10]  So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD.  And Solomon brought in the things (2 Sam. 8:11; 2 Chron. 5:1) which David his father had dedicated (Heb. holy things of David[11]); even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

[He brought in what things David had sanctified, etc.]  The gold, etc., so much of it as was left, and was not fashioned into vessels (Menochius).  Solomon refused to convert them to his own uses, that is, to profane uses (Sanchez).

The silver and the gold; either, first, all of it; and so Solomon built it wholly at his own charge; or, secondly, so much of it as was left.  The vessels; those which David had dedicated, and with them the altar of Moses, and some other of the old utensils which were now laid aside, far better being put in the room of them.

[1] Hebrew: ‎וַיַּ֣עַשׂ שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה אֵ֚ת כָּל־הַכֵּלִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר בֵּ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה אֵ֚ת מִזְבַּ֣ח הַזָּהָ֔ב וְאֶת־הַשֻּׁלְחָ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָלָ֛יו לֶ֥חֶם הַפָּנִ֖ים זָהָֽב׃

[2] Juan Azor (1535-1603) was a Spanish Jesuit priest, moral philosopher, and theologian.  He is most famous for his Institutionum Moralium, but he also composed commentaries on the Psalms and the Song of Songs.

[3] Antiquities 8:3:7.

[4] Hebrew:  ‎וְאֶת־הַ֠מְּנֹרוֹת חָמֵ֙שׁ מִיָּמִ֜ין וְחָמֵ֧שׁ מִשְּׂמֹ֛אול לִפְנֵ֥י הַדְּבִ֖יר זָהָ֣ב סָג֑וּר וְהַפֶּ֧רַח וְהַנֵּרֹ֛ת וְהַמֶּלְקַחַ֖יִם זָהָֽב׃

[5] Hebrew: ‎וְ֠הַסִּפּוֹת וְהַֽמְזַמְּר֧וֹת וְהַמִּזְרָק֛וֹת וְהַכַּפּ֥וֹת וְהַמַּחְתּ֖וֹת זָהָ֣ב סָג֑וּר וְהַפֹּת֡וֹת לְדַלְתוֹת֩ הַבַּ֙יִת הַפְּנִימִ֜י לְקֹ֣דֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁ֗ים לְדַלְתֵ֥י הַבַּ֛יִת לַהֵיכָ֖ל זָהָֽב׃ פ

[6] Hebrew:  ‎וְהַמַּחְתּוֹת.

[7] 1 Kings 7:50a:  “And the bowls (‎וְהַסִּפּוֹת), and the snuffers (‎וְהַמְזַמְּרוֹת), and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold…”

[8] מְזַמֶּרֶת/snuffers is related to the verbal root זָמַר, to trim.

[9] Here, מְזַמֶּרֶת is being related to the verbal root זמר, to make music.

[10] Hebrew:  ‎וַתִּשְׁלַם֙ כָּל־הַמְּלָאכָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֛ה הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה בֵּ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה וַיָּבֵ֙א שְׁלֹמֹ֜ה אֶת־קָדְשֵׁ֣י׀ דָּוִ֣ד אָבִ֗יו אֶת־הַכֶּ֤סֶף וְאֶת־הַזָּהָב֙ וְאֶת־הַכֵּלִ֔ים נָתַ֕ן בְּאֹצְר֖וֹת בֵּ֥ית יְהוָֽה׃ פ

[11] Hebrew:  ‎אֶת־קָדְשֵׁ֣י׀ דָּוִ֣ד.