Bible Strands
1 Kings 7:1
Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the reader with a chronological marker immediately after detailing the temple, documenting Solomon’s progress on the royal palace project.
The words — בָּנָה (ba.Nah) = he built, and וַ/יְכַ֖ל (va/y.Khal) = and he completed, which frame the verse’s focus on architectural labor.
The thread — The duration of this construction appears in 1 Kings 9:10 and 2 Chronicles 8:1 as part of a twenty-year building period, while Ecclesiastes 2:4 records Solomon’s own account of constructing houses for himself.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of the prolonged labor and material resources dedicated to royal architecture, requiring the reader to track the timeline of Solomon’s building projects without moral commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 9:10 Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built these two houses, the house of the LORD and the royal palace,
- 2 Chronicles 8:1 Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own palace,
- Ecclesiastes 2:4 I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
- Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- 1 Kings 3:1 Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.