Moriah while the Holy House was rising, day by day, in beauty and glory. As Jewish tradition has it, "The

iron is created to shorten the days of man, and the altar to lengthen them; therefore it is not right that that

which shortens should be lifted upon that which lengthens" (Midd. 3:4). The massive timber used was not

merely prepared but dressed before it was brought to the sea, to be conveyed in floats to Joppa, whence the

distance to Jerusalem was only about forty miles (1 Kings 5:9). Similarly, those great, splendid (not "costly,"

as in the Authorized Vers ion) hewed stones (1 Kings 5:17), beveled at the edges, of which to this day some

are seen in what remains of the ancient Temple -wall - the largest of them being more than thirty feet long by

seven and a half high, and weighing above one hundred tons - were all chiseled and carefully marked before

being sent to Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:7). An undertaking of such magnitude would require, especially in the

absence of modern mechanical appliances, a very large number of workmen. They amounted in all to 60,000

Palestinians, who were divided into two classes. The first comprised native Israelites, of whom 30,000 were

raised by a "levy," which, taking the census of David as our basis, would be at the rate of considerably less

than one in forty-four of the able -bodied male population. These 30,000 men worked by relays, 10,000 being

employed during one month, after which they returned for two months to their homes. The second class of

workmen, which consisted of strangers resident in Palestine (1 Kings 5:15; 2 Chronicles 2:17,18), amounted

to 150,000, of whom 70,000 were burden-bearers, and 80,000 "hewers in the mountains," or rather, as the

expression always means, "stonecutters."

The two classes are carefully distinguished the Israelites being free laborers, who worked under the

direction of Hiram's skilled men; while the others, who were the representatives of the ancient heathen

inhabitants of Palestine, were really held to "bond-service" (1 Kings 9:20, 21; 2 Chronicles 2:17, 18; 8:7-9).

The total number of men emplo yed (160,000), though large, cannot be considered excessive, when

compared, for example, with the 360,000 persons engaged for twenty years on the building of one pyramid

(Pliny, Hist. Nat. 36. 12. apud Bahr u.s.) Over these men 3,300 officers were appointed (1 Kings 5:16), with

550 "chiefs" (1 Kings 9:23), of whom 250 were apparently native Israelites (2 Chronicles 8:10).98 The number

of skilled artificers furnished by Hiram is not mentioned, though probably the proportion was comparatively

small. A very vivid impression is left on our minds of the transaction between the two kings.

When Hiram sent a friendly embassy to congratulate Solomon on his accession, the latter replied by

another, which was charged formally to ask help in the building about to be undertaken. The request was

entertained by Hiram in the most cordial manner. At the same time, bearing in mind Eastern phraseology, and

that a Phoenician ally of David would readily recognize the God of Israel as a "national Deity," there is no

reason for inferring, from the terms of his reply, that Hiram was personally a worshipper of Jehovah (1 Kings

5:7; 2 Chronicles 2:12). The agreement seems to have been, that Solomon would undertake to provide for the

support of Hiram's men, wheat, barley, and oil, to the amount specified in 2 Chronicles 2:10; while, so long as

building materials were required, Hiram charged for them at an annual rate of 20,000 measures of wheat, and

twenty measures (about ten hogsheads) of "beaten oil," - that is, the best in the marke t, which derived its

name from its manufacture, the oil being extracted by beating the olives before they were quite ripe (1 Kings

5:11). In regard to these terms, it should be remembered that Phoenicia was chiefly dependent on Palestine

for its supply of grain and oil (Ezekiel 27:17; Acts 12:20). Lastly, the name of the "master-workman/' whom

Hiram sent, has also been preserved to us as Huram, or rather Churam,  99 a man of Jewish descent by the

mother's side (2 Chronicles 2:13, 14; comp. 1 Kings 7:14; 2 Chronicles 4:16).100 Even the completeness and

entirely satisfactory character of these arrangements proved, that in this respect also "Jehovah gave

Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him" (1 Kings 5:12).

Without entering into details,101 the general appearance and proportions of the Temple which Solomon built

can be described without much difficulty.

The Temple itself faced east - that is to say, the worshippers entered by the east, and, turning to the Most

Holy Place, would look west; while, if the veil had been drawn aside, the Ark in the innermost Sanctuary

would have been seen to face eastwards. Entering then by the east, the worshipper would find himself in

front of "a porch," which extended along the whole width of the Temple, - that is, twenty cubits, or about

thirty feet - and went back a depth of ten cubits, or fifteen feet. The Sanctuary itself was sixty cubits (ninety