7 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.
Man they were dedicated! 7 years to build the temple and another 13 to build the palace. How did they keep their focus over such a long period?
It struck me that it took nearly twice as long to build the King's Palace as the Lord's temple. That seemed like a negative to me, like maybe more emphasis was put in the wrong place. I Googled it and found someone that had the same thought, but they also countered with maybe not as much man power and zeal was put into completing the Palace versus the Temple--which is plausible I suppose. We don't know the answer because the bible is silent to this, but my hunch is like the rest of our imperfect human past maybe its not the noble reason that someone else was able to think of and if it isn't is it yet another sign of trouble? Did money and possession get the best of the man with more wisdom granted from God than most anyone else?
knut
I was surprised to read the time periods too. I would like to think the palace took that long because Solomon really didn't care as much about it.....but, its a really good question. To your point, the wisest person ever would surely know that it would go poorly for him to put his desires above the father. Another thought might be that they had to let the trees grow back....and that's why the palace took so long. Prolly not.
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