Beit HaMikdash and Beit Shelomo/2

Beit HaMikdash and Beit Shelomo

Exegetical Approaches

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In Praise of Shelomo

A comparison of the building of the Beit HaMikdash and Beit Shelomo casts Shelomo in a positive light, highlighting how much he invested in Hashem's house compared to his own.

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 palace, they differ in how they explain why he built his house "שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה," while finishing the Mikdash in just seven years:

• 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 starting his own further exemplifies his correctly placed priorities.  In fact, Pesikta Rabbati chastises 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 – Though Shelmo's complex covered a significantly larger area than the Mikdash, Shelomo ensured that the Mikdash loomed much taller,⁴ signifying its superior position. In addition, it is likely that the larger dimensions of the house stemmed from practical considerations rather than a desire for self-glory. While only a few priests needed to serve inside the Mikdash at any given point, many varied activities took place in the palace and large audiences often faced the king.

Placement of the various buildings – Though the chapter does not specify where the palace was built, from a variety of verses later in Tanakh, it appears to have been erected on the eastern hill between the Mikdash and Ir David.⁵  Shelomo ensured that the Mikdash was positioned higher up than the palace complex, so all would recognize it superior stature.

Materials – More expensive materials were used to build the Mikdash than the king's complex, as befits its higher status. Though both Beit Yaar HaLevanon and the Mikdash were made of cedar trees, only in the Mikdash were these covered in gold.

Interpolation

Dedication of the Mikdash

בֵּית יַעַר הַלְּבָנוֹן

In Condemnation of Shelomo

Comparing the two building projects leads to a negative portrait of Shelomo and betrays both his misplaced priorities and the self-glorification which led to his eventual 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" (Shemuel II 7:1).  It was only after sitting comfortably in his cedar palace, that David realized that Hashem lacked a similar house.

⁴ See Divrei HaYamim II 3:4 that the height of the אוּלָם was 120 ammot. [Beit Yaar HaLevanon, in contrast, was only 30 ammot high.]

⁵ See Melakhim II 11:19 which mentions going down from the Mikdash to the king's house (cf. Yirmeyahu 26:10) and Melakhim I 9:24 which has Bat Paroh going up to the palace complex from the City of David.  Together, the verses suggest that the palace was in between the Mikdash and the City of David.