Beit HaMikdash and Beit Shelomo/2

Beit HaMikdash and Beit Shelomo

Exegetical Approaches

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The Epitome of Shelomo's Reign

Sources:Pesikta Rabbati6About Pesikta Rabbati, RashiMelakhim I 7:1-2About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef KaraMelakhim I 7:1About R. Yosef Kara, RadakMelakhim I 6:2Melakhim I 7:1-2About R. David Kimchi, RalbagMelakhim I Toalot 6:38About R. Levi b. Gershom, Abarbanel, MetzudotMetzudat David Melakhim I 7:1-2About R. David Altschuler

Time spent on the building – Though all these sources agree that Shelomo cared more about building the Mikdash than his own house, they differ in how they understand how this emerges from the fact that "וְאֶת בֵּיתוֹ בָּנָה שְׁלֹמֹה שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה":

• Lax in building the palace – According to most of these sources, the relatively short time that it took Shelomo to build the Mikdash betrayed his zeal to honor Hashem.  While he was lax about building his own palace complex, allowing the work to stretch out over years, he was eager to finish Hashem's House, and worked continuously to ensure that it was completed as quickly as possible.
• Invested less time on the palace – Radak brings an opinion that Shelomo only spent two years building his palace, understanding the phrase, "וְאֶת בֵּיתוֹ בָּנָה שְׁלֹמֹה שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה" to mean "and Shelomo built his house in the thirteenth year [of his reign]"¹ rather than "over thirteen years".²  If so, Shelomo invested significantly more time on the Mikdash than his own home, recognizing that it was far more important.

Order of the building – The fact that Shelomo built Hashem's house before building his own further exemplifies that he had the proper priorities.  Pesikta Rabbati contrasts Shelomo with David who only thought of building the Mikdash after he was sitting in his own palace,³ pointing out that it was for this reason that he was not given the honor of building it.  Since Shelomo, in contrast, put Hashem's honor first, he merited to be the Temple's architect.

Dimensions

Materials

Interpolation

Dedication of the Mikdash

Placement of the various buildings

בֵּית יַעַר הַלְּבָנוֹן

The Start of Shelomo's Downfall

¹ Since Shelomo finished building the Temple in the eleventh year, this leaves only two years for him to build his palace.

² This reading encounters difficulty in face of the later verse, "וַיְהִי מִקְצֵה עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת שְׁנֵי הַבָּתִּים אֶת בֵּית י"י וְאֶת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ" (Melakhim I 9:10), which suggests that it took a total of 20 years to build both houses.  Radak suggests that perhaps this verse, too, refers to years of Shelomo's reign and means that in the twentieth year of his reign, a few years after completing the houses, Shelomo gave Chiram twenty cities in return for his aid in the building projects.

³ See David's words, "רְאֵה נָא אָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב בְּבֵית אֲרָזִים וַאֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים יֹשֵׁב בְּתוֹךְ הַיְרִיעָה".  It was only after sitting comfortably in his cedar palace, that David realized that Hashem lacked a similar house.