- 48-
On the same slopes grew also the cypress,^95 so suitable for flooring, its wood being
almost indestructible, and impervious to rot and worms; while the Phoenician
merchantmen brought to Tyre that "almug," "algum," or red sandal-wood which was so
valued in antiquity (comp. 1 Kings 10:11).^96
The same skill as in the preparation of woodwork distinguished the Phoenician carvers,
stone-cutters, dyers, modelers, and other craftsmen. To have at his disposal the best
artificers of Phoenicia, and these under a trained and celebrated "master" (2 Chronicles
2:13, 14), must have been of immense advantage to Solomon. At the same time the
extensive preparations which David had made rendered the work comparatively so
easy, that the Temple-buildings, with their elaborate internal fittings, were completed
in the short space of seven years (1 Kings 6:37, 38), while the later rearing of the king's
palace occupied not less than thirteen years (1 Kings 7:1). But, although Solomon thus
availed himself of Phoenician skill in the execution of the work, the plan and design
were strictly Jewish, having, in fact, been drawn long before, in the time of King
David.
The building of the Temple commenced in the second month ("Siv," "splendor" - the
month of opening beauty of nature) of the fourth year of Solomon's reign, being the
480th from the Exodus^97 (1 Kings 6:1).
But there was this peculiarity about the work, that no sound of ax, hammer, or chisel
was heard on Mount Moriah while the Holy House was rising, day by day, in beauty
and glory. As Jewish tradition has it, "The iron is created to shorten the days of man,
and the altar to lengthen them; therefore it is not right that that which shortens should
be lifted upon that which lengthens" (Midd. 3:4). The massive timber used was not
merely prepared but dressed before it was brought to the sea, to be conveyed in floats
to Joppa, whence the distance to Jerusalem was only about forty miles (1 Kings 5:9).
Similarly, those great, splendid (not "costly," as in the Authorized Version) hewed
stones (1 Kings 5:17), beveled at the edges, of which to this day some are seen in what
remains of the ancient Temple-wall - the largest of them being more than thirty feet
long by seven and a half high, and weighing above one hundred tons - were all chiseled
and carefully marked before being sent to Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:7). An undertaking of
such magnitude would require, especially in the absence of modern mechanical
appliances, a very large number of workmen. They amounted in all to 60,000
Palestinians, who were divided into two classes. The first comprised native Israelites,
of whom 30,000 were raised by a "levy," which, taking the census of David as our
basis, would be at the rate of considerably less than one in forty-four of the able-bodied
male population. These 30,000 men worked by relays, 10,000 being employed during
one month, after which they returned for two months to their homes. The second class
of workmen, which consisted of strangers resident in Palestine (1 Kings 5:15; 2
Chronicles 2:17,18), amounted to 150,000, of whom 70,000 were burden-bearers, and
(^)