1 Kings 7

Again I did not realize that Solomon's Palace was bigger and in some ways grander than the Temple. The Temple was built in 7 years. The palace was built in 13 years (7:1). It was called the Palace of Cedars or the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It must have been pretty amazing in an area without large trees to see all that beautiful wood.

There is mention of stone but mostly in the foundation. So that may be why we do not find any remains of this palace when archaeologists dig.

He built one just like it for his Egyptian queen (7:8) So I guess she is his main queen. No mention has been made of other wives, yet. Perhaps at this time he only has one wife. One wife is God's best. A man and a woman are to join together and are to be faithful to one another. They cannot do that when there is more than one wife (or more than one husband for that matter).

All this costs money whether in food for workers or money to buy or produce the beautiful things. Solomon is a very wealthy man.

Special attention is made to the beautiful windows (7:4-5). We are to understand that there is new architecture and engineering advances being made here.

Innovation is quickly copied and spreads. I think this passage may be modestly describing innovations that spread, perhaps even to Greece and then to Rome.