The House of the Forest of Lebanon

Solomon’s early reign was busy from the standpoint of construction.

Not only did he have the temple built but he also erected executive buildings within his capital. Construction took place on two hills—Mount Moriah and Mount Zion, which lay between the valleys of Kidron and Tyropoeon.

This required much filling and leveling of construction sites before actual work on structures could proceed. Unlike the temple, no stockpile of construction materials existed for these buildings. Building on such a grand scale was both costly and time consuming.

Little is known about the location of these buildings or the manner of their construction. We are told one of them was called “the house of the forest of Lebanon.” It is believed this was descriptive of the building and not its location.

“Built as it was with four rows of cedar pillars, it would have the appearance of a cedar forest, and from that resemblance probably achieved its name. Because of the statement in 1 Kings 10:16, 17, some conclude that the building served chiefly, if not altogether, as an armory, for Solomon placed in it ‘two hundred targets of beaten gold,’ each target made of 600 golden shekels, together with ‘three hundred shields of beaten gold,’ 3 lb. of gold going into each shield. But such ‘targets’ and ‘shields’ certainly were hardly for the purpose of war. . . . The hall was large, 146 by 73 ft. (44.5 by 22.3 m.), yet it was not as large as some of the great Assyrian palace halls unearthed by modern excavation. Portions of the house may, however, have been used for the storage of arms, for Isa. 22:8 speaks of the ‘armour of the house of the forest.’ “Of the four rows of cedar pillars, the first and the fourth were probably set as pilasters against the walls, thus providing for three great aisles down the length of the building. “. . . Perhaps at the ends of each of the three aisles [windows were placed in three rows—1 Kings 7:3]. . . . If these were placed high on the walls, near the ceiling, a striking effect could be achieved by the rays of light coming in among the pillars like sunlight in a cedar forest.” “When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory” (Psalm 102:16).