“It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.” – 1 Kings 7:1 NIV

Let’s compare this to the time it took him to complete the temple:

“In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.” – 1 Kings 6:38 NIV

It took Solomon 7 years to build the temple. It took Solomon 6 years longer to build the palace than the temple. One could argue since he spent more time on the palace he cared more about it. Another person could argue that made it less of a priority. One could argue putting such expense into the palace was for selfish comfort, while another could argue that such expense is justified as the palace is a symbol of governance and a leader living in regular housing makes a nation looks weak and is a bad thing, which is arguably true. In any case, there are points to make on both side and it isn’t as easy to draw a black and white line saying a Solomon was clearly being selfish or idolatrous when he built the palace. Rather than labeling unclear actions in the Bible sinful (i.e. possibly read things into the Bible) and then learn from them, let us take from what is clear and cannot be misconstrued.