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1 But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 2 He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row. 4 And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks. 5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks. 6 And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them. 7 Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other. 8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch. 9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court. 10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars. 12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house. 13 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14 He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. 15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about. 16 And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits: 17 And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter. 18 And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter. 19 And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits. 20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter. 21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and he called the name thereof Boaz. 22 And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. 23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. 24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast. 25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26 And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths. 27 And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it. 28 And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges: 29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 30 And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition. 31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round. 32 And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half a cubit. 33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten. 34 And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself. 35 And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same. 36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about. 37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size. 38 Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. 39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south. 40 And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD: 41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; 42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars; 43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; 44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; 45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of bright brass. 46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan. 47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out. 48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, 49 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, 50 And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers 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. 51 So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.
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[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Kings 7:2
“The House of the Forest of the Lebanon” does not mean that this house was built in a forest or in Lebanon, as is sometimes asserted, but that [Solomon] built a huge house where weapons were gathered in large quantity, just as the Forest of Lebanon [abounds] in trees.

Source: BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 7:2
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:13-14
And this was done on account of the mystery. For the Tyrian craftsman whom Solomon employed to help in his work stands for the ministers of the word chosen from the Gentiles. The allusion to this man as a craftsman is a beautiful touch because he was the son of a widow of Israel, a person who is sometimes wont to be taken as prefiguring the church of the present day from whom her husband, namely, Christ, after having tasted death, rose and ascended into heaven, leaving her meanwhile to sojourn on the earth. However, there is no need to labor the explanation of how the sons of this widow are preachers since all the elect individually profess themselves children of the church. Also since in regard to these preachers of the New Testament a special promise is made in the words of the prophet: “Instead of your fathers, sons are born to you; you shall make them princes over all the earth.” Now Hiram did all Solomon’s work, that is to say, because the holy teachers, while they devote themselves faithfully to the ministry of the word, do indeed do the work of God, since by speaking outwardly they open the way of truth to those whom he himself has predestined to eternal life by enlightening them inwardly. “I,” he says, “planted, Apollo watered; but God gave the increase.” Moreover, he made the work of bronze because the energetic teacher seeks to entrust the word to those who … desire to receive it with reverence and keep it to the end, and who also by preaching to others do their utmost to spread more widely whatever right doctrine they have learned themselves; for it is common knowledge that bronze is a metal which is very durable and produces all kinds of sounds.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.3
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:15
Hence it is good that we are told that two bronze pillars of excellent and marvelous work were set up in this porch and that capitals worked to resemble lilies were placed on top of them. The pillars stood in front of the door of the temple because illustrious teachers, concerning whom the apostle says, “James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars,” precede the coming of our Redeemer, to bear testimony to the coming of the one who said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved.” One of these [pillars] stood at the right of the door and the other at the left, because they foretold to the people of Israel, then fervent with divine faith and charity, the future incarnation of their Redeemer; and they proclaimed to the Gentiles, still as it were facing north, numb with the cold of unbelief, that this [door] was to be opened to make way for the entry of the Redeemer. That the capitals of the pillars were made by a workman to resemble lilies signifies that the entire import of the preaching [of James, Cephas and John] resounded with the clarity of everlasting happiness and promised that his glory would be seen by their hearers. He who existed as God before the ages became a human being at the end of the ages, so that like the flower of the lily he might have a golden color within and be white on the outside. For what is the significance of the glow of gold surrounded by whiteness except the brilliance of divinity in a human being? He first revealed this human being as brilliant because of his virtues, and after his death he clothed him in the snowy white splendor of incorruptibility.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 2.25
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:16
The tops of the pillars, that is, their highest part, are the hearts of faithful teachers whose God-centered thoughts guide all their actions and words as the head guides the members of the body. On the other hand, the two capitals that were placed on these pillar tops are the two Testaments, which holy teachers are totally bound both in mind and body to meditate and observe. It is appropriate, then, that both capitals were five cubits high because the Scripture of the Mosaic law comprises five books, and furthermore the entire collection of Old Testament writings embraces the five ages of the world. But the New Testament does not proclaim to us something different from what Moses and the prophets had said should be proclaimed: “If you believed Moses you would believe me, for he wrote of me.” For Moses wrote much about the Lord not only in figure but also quite plainly as when he relates what had been promised to Abraham in the Lord’s words: “In your seed shall the families of the earth bless themselves,” and when in his own words he says to the Israelites, “The Lord will raise up for you among your brothers a prophet like me; him you shall hear according to all things whatsoever he shall speak to you.” Of this prophecy the voice of the Father from heaven reminded the disciples when, as the Lord appeared to them in glory between Moses himself and Elijah on the holy mountain, it rang out, saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Therefore, with the admirable harmony of divine activity, the grace of the New Testament was hidden under the veil of the Old at first, but now the mysteries of the Old Testament are revealed by the light of the New, as if the reason why the capital of each of the two pillars was five cubits high was that it is manifest that the grace of the perfection of the gospel too is innate in the Old Testament whose mysteries are noted beforehand in the five books of the Law or are all comprised more fully in the five ages of the world; and so it happens that each eminent preacher, whether destined to be sent to the Jews or to the Gentiles, fortified with the harmonious testimony of the word of God, keeps the sure and correct rule of faith and conduct free from error, and in the course of his teaching he knows how to draw forth “out of his treasure house new things and old.” Not only do the Testaments harmonize with each other in their account of the divine mysteries, but also all the elect who are written about in the books of these Testaments are endowed with the one faith and are bound to each other by the same charity.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.8
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:17
For the number seven is conventionally used to denote the grace of the Holy Spirit, as attested in the Apocalypse by John, who, after saying that he had seen “the lamb with seven horns and seven eyes,” went on to add, by way of explanation, “which are the seven spirits of God sent into the whole world.” This the prophet Isaiah more clearly explains when, speaking of the Lord who was to be born in the flesh, he says, “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.” The reason why there were seven rows of net in both capitals is that it was through the grace of one and the same septiform Spirit that the Fathers of both Testaments received the privilege of election.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.10
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:18
True, there were two rows of networks right around the capital, but both rows were repeated seven times over until the capital was encircled and the row rejoined itself after going full circle. Nor is the figure of the mystery obscured by the fact that there are two rows of network since it is well known that the virtue of love consists of two distinct aspects, namely, when we are bidden to love God with our whole heart, our whole mind and our whole strength and our neighbor as ourselves. But both of those rows have seven rows of nets because without the grace of the Holy Spirit neither God nor the neighbor can be loved. For the statement “because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” remains true. But where the love of God is, there, assuredly, the love of the neighbor also is poured into the hearts of the faithful because, of course, the one cannot be had without the other. Furthermore, these networks were made to cover the capitals, that is, to encircle them completely, because, rightly understood, every page of holy Scripture echoes throughout with the sound of the grace of love and peace. For the capitals are indeed the volumes of the divine Word, the networks are the bonds of mutual love, and the capitals are covered with networks when the sacred words, if I may say so, are shown on all sides to be clothed with the gift of love. For even in the things that we do not understand in the Scriptures, love is abundantly in evidence.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.11
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:19
What else can the lilies mean but the glory of the heavenly homeland and the beauty of immortality fragrant with the flowers of paradise? What else can the four cubits mean but the word of the gospel, which promises us entry into eternal happiness and shows us the road by which we may reach it? Therefore, when holy teachers show us the promised threshold of the heavenly kingdom in the four books of the holy gospel, it is as if the tops of the pillars display the lily work of four cubits that is on them. Taking this text literally, it should be noted that when the lily work on the capitals is recorded as having been of four cubits and the words “in height” or “in width” are not added, it is, of course, left to the reader’s judgment whether this ought to be understood as referring to height or to width. It is agreed beyond the slightest doubt that a pillar that a rope of twelve cubits spanned would be four cubits thick. For the circumference of every circle is three times the length of its diameter. Finally because the bronze sea was ten cubits in diameter, as we read in what follows, it was thirty cubits in circumference. But because the lily work is said to have been four cubits, whether this means in width or height, at all events, the meaning of the figure is clear, because it is only through the gospel that the voice most ardently longed for has sounded: “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.13
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:20
We have said that the pomegranates were a type of either the whole church or of each individual believer, but the number one hundred that was originally applied to the right hand was sometimes apt to be used as a figure of eternal beatitude. There were twice this number of pomegranates around the second capital to suggest mystically that the people of both Testaments who were to be unified in Christ were to be brought in to receive the crown of eternal life. In keeping with this figure are the words written about the apostles fishing after the Lord’s resurrection when they saw him standing on the shore: “For they were not far from the land, but, as it were, two hundred cubits, dragging the net with the fish.” For the disciples indeed drag the net full of large fish for two hundred cubits to the Lord who is already on the shore showing the effects of his resurrection when holy preachers entrust the word of faith to both Jews and Gentiles and drag the elect of both peoples from the waves of this present world and lead them to the glory of the peace and immortality to come. The circumference, therefore, of the second capital has two rows of pomegranates when the sublimity of the heavenly kingdom assembles the elect of both peoples in one citadel of peace.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.15
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Kings 7:21
[The Scripture] calls the [pillar] on the south “Jachin,” indicating through it the humility of the priesthood; while the one on the north, called “Boaz,” signifies the power of kingship. It is possible that in Hebrew the two pillars indicate the two powers. The capitals at their top symbolize the power that is due to priests and kings and the weights of government, which are imposed on them. The sculptures, the lily work and the garlands of flowers signify the brightness and dignity of priesthood and kingship.

Source: BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 7:21
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 7:21
Booz: That is, in its strength. By recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God would have us understand the invincible firmness and strength of the pillars on which the true temple of God, which is the church, is established.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 7:21
Jachin: That is, firmly established.-- Ibid.
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:23
“He also made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, completely round.” This molten sea was made as a figure of the laver of salvation in which we are cleansed for the remission of our sins. For priests were washed in it, as the Chronicles assure us; but it is agreed that all the elect are called priests in a typological sense in the Scriptures since they are members of the high priest Jesus Christ. And rightly has Scripture given the name of sea to this vessel, in memory, that is, of the Red Sea in which once, through the destruction of the Egyptians and the deliverance of the people of God, the form of baptism was anticipated, as the apostle explains when he says, “that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all in Moses were baptized in the cloud and in the sea.” Now the sacrament of baptism both requires of us purity of life and promises us the glory of eternal life in the world to come, both of which things are denoted in this bronze sea in one sentence where it is said to be ten cubits from brim to brim. For by the Ten Commandments in the law the Lord expressed all that we must do. Likewise by the denarius he indicated the reward of good deeds when he foretold that it was to be given to those working in the vineyard. The reason why the sea was ten cubits from brim to brim was that the whole choir of the faithful from the first one baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to the last to believe and be baptized at the end of the world must enter on one and the same way of truth and hope for a common crown of righteousness from the Lord. It was completely circular in order to signify that the whole universe all the way around was to be cleansed in the laver of life from the filth of its sins.In this regard the remark is well made that “its height was five cubits,” because, of course, whatever fault we have committed with the sense of sight or hearing or smell or taste or touch, all this the grace of God washes away from us through the ablution of the life-giving font. But the remission of past sins is not enough if one does not thereafter devote oneself to good works; otherwise, if the devil, after leaving a person, sees such a one to be lacking in good actions, he comes back in greater numbers and makes “the last state of that person worse than the first.”
Hence it is fittingly added, “And a line of thirty cubits compassed it all the way around.” For by the line can fittingly be meant the discipline of the heavenly precepts with which we are restrained from the indulgence of our passions since Scripture says that “a threefold cord is not easily broken.” [This is] because, of course, the observance of the commandments of God, which is established in the hearts of the elect by faith, hope and the love of an eternal reward, cannot be frustrated by any obstacle of temporal things. And the line encircles the sea when by works of piety we strive to enhance the sacrament of baptism that we have received. Now this line is aptly said to be three cubits long. For five times six make thirty. By the number six in which the Lord both made humankind when it did not exist and remade it when it had perished, our good actions are also rightly represented, and six is multiplied by five to make thirty, when we humbly subject all our bodily senses to divine things. However, there is also another sense in which we can quite appropriately take this number thirty as applying mystically to the sea. For three tens make thirty. And after the flood, from the issue of Noah’s three sons, the human race filled the whole expanse of the universe;33 for the tribe of Shem occupied Asia, Ham’s descendants occupied Africa, and the progeny of Japheth occupied Europe and the islands of the sea. And because, together with the performance of good works and the hope of heavenly rewards, the sacrament of baptism was to be administered to all the nations, it was fitting that a line of thirty cubits should encircle the sea, in which the water of baptism was prefigured. But it must also be said that the Lord at the age of thirty years came to the Jordan to be baptized by John. For since by his baptism that he received at the age of thirty he consecrated for us the water of the laver of salvation, it is right that a line should encircle the sea, which is a figure of our baptism, so that, by the gift of him who underwent baptism without sin, it might be signified that baptism was specifically given to all of us who believe in him for the remission of our sins.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.19.1-3
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:24
“And a carved work under its brim surrounded it, encircling the sea for ten cubits. There were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures.” Since it has been said above that a line of thirty cubits encircled the sea and it is now added that this carved work under the brim went around it for ten cubits, it is obvious from both accounts that the vessel was bent backwards and spread out like a bowl, because from a circumference of thirty cubits, which it measured at the brim, it narrowed to ten cubits. The chamfered sculpture is one that represents some historical events. Hence also the chamfered sculptures surrounding the sea rightly denote examples of former times that we must judiciously ponder to see by what works the saints have pleased God from the beginning and with what obstinacy the reprobate persisted in crimes and with what wickedness they perished because of their crimes; how in the beginning of the nascent world Cain was condemned for the malice of envy and Abel crowned for the merit of his uprightness; how Lamech was cursed for his adultery and murder38 and Enoch brought back to paradise for the grace of his piety; how after the flood Ham was detested by his father for his lack of filial piety and the peoples of Shem and Japheth were granted a perpetual blessing for their reverential obedience;40 how Abraham was made the heir of the divine promise in recognition of his faith while the numerous other nations were left in their ancestral unbelief; how when the Lord came in the flesh, Judea was rejected for the offense of unbelief and the Gentiles brought back to salvation by the grace of faith, and other things of the kind in both Testaments, which, when judiciously and devoutly contemplated, are of great profit to all earnest-minded people. And that perhaps is the reason why two orders of chamfered sculptures were made in the bronze sea, namely, that those who were immersed in the font of baptism may listen carefully to the stories of both Testaments; and the reason why they were ten cubits in circumference was that they might strive to imitate whomsoever they perceived in these stories to have been committed to carrying out the heavenly commands and totally rapt in the pursuit of heavenly rewards.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.19.4
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Kings 7:25
[The sea] is set on the oxen in order not to be defiled by the ground. The oxen allude to the perfect structure of the created world, because it was prescribed in the Law that this animal should be offered in sacrifice; at the same time, the nourishment of human beings reaches its maturity through the strength of the ox. Their number of twelve refers to the constant revolution of an entire year which is accomplished in twelve months. Through their division into groups of three, which are set toward each cardinal point, [the Scripture] alludes to the four seasons. Finally, “the interior of the house” is called “the space under the sea.” The water contained in the sea was used for the washing of the victims. It is possible that small ships and other objects, which are connected to the sea, were on it, and for this reason it was called “the sea.”

Source: BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 7:25
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:26
For by the brim of a cup is expressed the taste of the Lord’s passion, and by the leaf of a crisped lily the glory of his resurrection is openly revealed. For that the chalice of his passion is indicated in the cup is attested by the Lord, who on approaching his passion prayed to his Father, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this chalice from me”; but the lily, which, in addition to the grace of a most pleasant fragrance, displayed a white color on the outside and a golden color on the inside, appositely suggests the glory of the resurrection of him who showed the disciples the immortality of his body externally and at the same time taught that there was within him a soul shining with divine light. One can also fittingly take the crisped lily as the “mediator of God and humankind” himself crowned with glory and honor on account of the suffering of his death, who prior to his passion was still, as it were, a closed lily and shone forth as an illustrious human being by reason of his signs and wonders, but after his resurrection and ascension showed himself to the citizens of the heavenly homeland a crisped lily because he showed forth in his assumed humanity the power of the divine glory that he had with the Father before the world was.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.19.8
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 7:26
Two thousand bates: That is, about ten thousand gallons. This was the quantity of water which was usually put into it: but it was capable, if brimful, of holding three thousand. See 2 Par. 4. 5.
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:27
However, that each of the bases was four cubits long and four cubits high is easy to understand. For the length refers to the patience of long endurance, the width to the expansiveness of love, the height to the hope of heavenly reward. Moreover, there are four principal virtues on which the rest of the structure of the virtues depends, namely, prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice, and the reason why the length and width of the bases was four cubits was that holy preachers, whether they endure outwardly the adversities of the world, the lengthy exile and present labors, or expand their heart in the love of their Creator and of their neighbors with inward joy, always pay attention to the virtues, that is, by prudently distinguishing between good things and evil, courageously bearing adversity, restraining their heart from its desire of pleasures and maintaining uprightness in their manner of acting. But the height of the bases is three cubits when, through the exercise of the virtues that they practice by the endurance of evils and the love of what is good, they strive with sustained resolve to attain the vision of the holy Trinity.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.20.3
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:28-29
Hence the surface of the bases was not level at any point, but whichever side one turned, it was carved with mystical figures because the minds of the saints, indeed their whole way of life, displays the charm of the virtues in everything, and not an empty or idle hour passes them by that they fail to have time for good works or words or, at all events, thoughts. They have little crowns carved on them when they yearn with untiring longing for entry into eternal life; they have ledges when, amid their longing for the life of heaven that is above, they never undo the bonds of fraternal intercourse that is at hand; they have lions between the little crowns and ledges when they so raise their minds to hope for heavenly things and so open them out to the love of their neighbor that they do not shirk the zealous exercise of stern denunciation on any sinners entrusted to their charge. In addition to lions, they have oxen when they employ even the invective of correction in a spirit of meekness, when, in the heat of rebuking, they never cease to have the cloven hoof of prudent action and word or to roll the words of divine reading around in the mouth as if ruminating on them. Finally, blessed Stephen, the one who was the pillar of excellence of the Lord’s temple, seemed to show the fierce teeth and claws of a lion when he said to his persecutors, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” and so forth; but in saying this he showed how much of the compassion of bovine meekness he nurtured in his heart within, when, for these same persecutors raging to kill him, he knelt and said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” But because we can have neither hope of things eternal in heaven, nor love of neighbor on earth, nor the fervor of trenchant zeal nor the gentleness of compassionate restraint, without knowledge of the holy Scriptures, it is aptly remarked that after crown and ledges, after lions and oxen, cherubim too were carved. For it is generally accepted that cherubim are a type of sacred scripture, whether because the two cherubim on the propitiatory of the ark were fashioned as a figure of the two Testaments that sing in harmony of Christ or because the name itself means “much knowledge.”

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.20.5
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:30
The four wheels are the four books of the Gospels, which are very aptly compared with wheels because, just as the wheel’s whirling motion can travel with the greatest rapidity wherever it is steered, so with the Lord’s help through the instrumentality of the apostles the word of the gospel filled all the regions of the world in a short space; as the wheel raises from the earth the chariot laid on it, and when raised carries it where the driver steers it, so the preaching of the gospel lifts up the minds of the elect from earthly cravings to heavenly desires and, having lifted them up, guides them to progress in good works or to the ministry of preaching, in whichever direction the helping grace of the Spirit wills. For since, in the text that follows, it says that “they were the kind of wheels usually designed for a chariot,” and moreover, we read of the saints, “The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice,” why, then, is it that the wheels of the bases are compared with the wheels of chariots, unless it is that one and the same word of the gospel makes some of those whom it teaches chariots of God and others pillars of God’s temple?

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.20.7
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:31-32
The mouth of the laver was one cubit on account of the unity of confession and faith because we are all baptized in the confession of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as the apostle says: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” And the mouth itself was at the top of the capital57 to teach that the way to the heavenly kingdom had been opened to us through baptism. But the actual laver was a cubit and a half in size, in view, no doubt, of the perfection of good works and the beginning of contemplation. For the whole cubit in the laver denotes the perfection of good works.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.20.9
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:38
The number forty conventionally typifies great perfection because, of course, four tens make forty; now there are ten precepts whereby our whole code of conduct is laid down in the divine law, but four books of the Gospels in which entry into our heavenly homeland was opened to us through the plan of the Lord’s incarnation. And because all who are involved in the ministry of sacred baptism must, together with the faith and mysteries of the gospel, show the fruits of upright conduct, it is fitting that each of the lavers in which the whole burnt offerings were washed should hold forty baths.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.20.12
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:39
“And the sea he set on the right side of the temple facing the east southwards.” And this was placed in the same court to the east. His words, “on the right side of the temple,” he repeats when he says “southwards.” For those who entered the court from the east had first to turn southwards, where the sea stood in the very corner ready for the priests to wash; then, as they proceeded inside, they were met by lavers placed on either side for washing the victims; inside these was a bronze dais five cubits long and five cubits wide and three cubits high, on which Solomon stood when dedicating the temple; then as they proceeded further they came to the altar of burnt offering facing the south side of the court, then the temple porticoes or vestibule in which were bronze pillars around the door of the temple. Therefore, the fact that he placed the sea at the right side of the temple signifies that it is through the bath of baptism we must reach the kingdom of heaven, which is properly represented by the term “right hand.” For “he who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” For where right as well as left hand are taken in the positive sense, they indicate either Judea and the Gentiles, as we have said above in the explanation of the bases, or the present and future life of the church, or the happy and sad things of the world, or something of the sort, but where the right hand by itself is used in the positive sense, it more frequently stands for eternal joys. But the fact that he made the sea face eastwards has virtually the same significance, namely, that the splendor of eternal glory is revealed to us through the bath of the holy font; the fact that it was at the south side of the court signifies that the faithful are apt to be kindled into a blazing fire of genuine love through the reception of the Holy Spirit, for in the Scriptures the heat of the noonday sun customarily meant the ardor of love and the light of the Holy Spirit, through whom this love is poured forth in the hearts of the elect.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.20.15
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:45-46
It is appropriate that the vessels of the Lord’s house were cast in the region of the Jordan, namely, in the river in which our Lord deigned to be baptized and by his immersion in the waves of its waters changed the element for us into a bath for sins. For every baptism of the faithful in which they are consecrated to the Lord is celebrated on the model of his baptism whereby he himself sanctified the waters. It is proper that the vessels of the Lord’s house should have been made in the country of the Jordan, for there is no other way for us to become vessels of election and mercy than by looking to his baptism that he underwent in that river and making sure that we too are washed in that life-giving river. However, it must be noted that he says these vessels were made not only in the country around the Jordan but also in its plains to signify the multiplication of the faithful that was to take place not only in Judea but also in the wide world of all the nations in fulfillment of the prophecy that says, “The plains and everything in them will rejoice.”

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.21.1
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:48
The table of gold is the sacred Scripture, rich in the light of spiritual understanding of which the psalmist says to the Lord, “You have prepared a table before me in the presence of those who afflict me.” For lest our enemies who afflict us should divert us into the path of error, our Creator has prepared for us a table of knowledge to strengthen us in the true faith. For the loaves of proposition are the holy teachers whose salutary words or works, anyone who searches in the divine pages will find proposed to us as a model for living. Hence it was prescribed in Exodus that twelve of these loaves be made, that is, on account of the twelve apostles through whose ministry both the New Testament Scripture was written and the mysteries of the Old Testament revealed by the condescension of the Lord. That is to say, this number designates not only these apostles but also all who, by proclaiming the word, administer the nourishment of life to the faithful, because, of course, all follow the same norm of teaching as the apostles received from the Lord.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.22.4
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:49
For just as the tables are rightly used as a type of holy Scripture because they both minister righteousness to those hungering for the bread of the word and bear the vessels of the heavenly ministry, that is, they propose for our imitation the actions of the righteous, so also by these lampstands the words of God are symbolized, that is, because they give the light of wisdom to the erring. That is why the psalmist says, “A lamp to my feet,” and so forth; that, too, is why Solomon says, “Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light.” Moreover, the reason why five lampstands were placed on the right and five on the left is quite easy to see from our discussion of the tables. But when he said five on the right and five on the left, he added fittingly: “over against the oracle.” For the oracle, where the ark was, as has often been said, stands for the way to the heavenly homeland: “where Christ is seated at the right hand of God,” privy, that is, to his Father’s secrets. And the temple lampstands of gold were placed opposite the oracle because the words of God always have in view the abode of the heavenly city that they may instill into our hearts the knowledge and desire of it and inflame those who take their fleshy origin from the earth to long for and to merit a place of everlasting abode in heaven.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.24.1
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:50
If the doors of the inner house of the Holy of Holies are the ministries of angels that unlock the entrance to celestial life for us when we have left the body, and [if] the doors of the house of the temple are the holy teachers and priests who throw open to us the first thresholds of the present church by teaching, baptizing and communicating to us the mysteries of the Lord’s body and blood, what are the hinges of both doors? They are the minds and hearts of these angels or saints by which they cleave fixedly to the contemplation and love of their Creator so that those who never turn their gaze from the will of him whom they serve may thereby properly fulfill the ministry entrusted to them. For the gates are opened and closed at the appropriate time, but at no time do they leave their hinges, because both angels and holy people, whether they receive the faithful and the elect in this life of faith or in the other life of vision, keep their minds ever firmly rooted in love. These hinges are well said to have been made of gold for this reason, namely, either because of the merit of their own glory or because of the love they have for God.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.25.1
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 7:51
Silver applies to the clarity of eloquence, gold to the brilliance of wisdom and vessels generally to rational creatures; and David, Solomon’s father, sanctifies the silver when God the Father strengthens speakers with the grace of the Holy Spirit to speak the word of the gospel; he sanctifies the gold when he enlightens those endowed with natural ability by filling them with his Spirit in order to contemplate the wonders in his law; he sanctifies the vessels too when, having bestowed the grace of this Spirit on all the church’s children in general that they may love the gifts of eternal salvation, he inflames them with a desire for them. This silver, this gold, these consecrated vessels Solomon brings into the temple, when, after the universal judgment is over, our Lord brings into the joy of his heavenly kingdom all the elect. These are the company both of teachers and the rest of the faithful, and he lays up the various kinds of vessels, silver or gold, in the treasuries of the Lord’s house when he hides in the covert of his countenance away from the bustle of human beings those who have merited to enjoy the abundance of his sweetness. It is fitting that the treasuries in which the vessels of election should be hidden are many, whereas the house of the Lord in which these treasuries are is one; for on the one hand, the church in which all the elect are contained is one, however much they may differ in merits, and on the other hand, the heavenly homeland promised to all the elect is one and not of different kinds, even though, just as “star differs from star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.” Both of these things the Lord, the very judge and distributor of rewards, has shown in one sentence when he says, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” The reason why Solomon made one house of the Lord but furnished it with many treasuries to accommodate the vessels of various kinds, though it was sanctified with only one blessing, was that there is one house of the Father not made with hands that will last eternally in heaven but many mansions in it to receive all who fear him.

Source: Of the Temple of Solomon 2.25.3