The Saint John's Bible- Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple, 2010

1 Kings 8:22-8:66

Donald Jackson

Scribe:Sue Hufton

"The completion of Solomon's temple fuses together

 several elements in Israelite history. 

With the religious overtones
associated with the dedication, 

the pro-monarchist faction of the the Israelites 

(which had been prominent since the time of David) 

received official approval. 

The political capital now
 also became the religious capital;

 both the king and the Lord inhabited the same city, 

and all the elders, tribal heads, 

and ancestral heads were assembled
 to witness the event.
Solomon's prayer and blessing
before the people 

established his legitimacy as king

 and sanctioned his decision to build the temple,. 

citing the Lord's promise to his father, David. 

Solomon may be glorious,

 but the glory belongs to the Lord."

"The illumination of King Solomon's temple mirrors 

two other illuminations. 

Ezekial's Vision of the New Temple

 as well as theVision of Chebor. 

The structure of the temple with its Gateways

 at the Four Points of the Compass,

 a delicate filigree version of the labyrinth pathway

 to the Holy of Holies directly references 

the Vision of the New Temple. 

The two winged guardians of the Holy of Holies 

have the four animal heads from the 

Vision of the Chebor in Ezekiel. 

They peer out from amongst the smoke

 and the power of the interior temple

 and tap into the mystery involved in close contact

 with the revelation of God's power."

A bit of the story of the setting and process of illumination-

"In Donald Jackson's scriptoriun in Wales, 

all this work was carried on as it would have been

 in a medical monastery. 
Tools and materials were prepared by hand, on site. 
Unblemished calfskins were scraped

 and sanded to produce a perfect writing surface. 

Goose, swan,, and turkey quills, 

taken straight from the birds, 

were cleaned, cured, and trimmed. 

Antique ink sticks were ground to make dense black ink. 

Paint was made by mixing hand-ground pigments

 with egg yolks- lapis lazuli for brilliant lies, 

vermilion for rich reds and malachite for glistening greens.

But there is also much that is modern. 

To ensure seamless continuity, the layout of every page- 

even the placement of every word- 

was planned on a computer. 

This enabled the team of scribes, working simultaneously, 

to produce perfect sheets that could later

 be combined in perfect order. 

So that their writing would be uniform

 throughout the Bible, 

all the scribes used a script specially

 designed by Donald Jackson."