建造圣殿

所罗门在耶路撒冷的摩利亚山上动工兴建耶和华的殿,殿址在耶布斯人阿珥楠的麦场,就是大卫指定的地方。耶和华曾在那里向他父亲大卫显现。 所罗门在执政第四年二月二日动工建殿。 按照古时的尺度,他建造的上帝殿宇的地基长二十七米,宽九米。 殿前的门廊长九米,与殿的宽度一样,高九米[a],里面都贴上纯金。 大殿里镶上松木板,贴上纯金,又刻上棕树和链子。 所罗门用宝石和巴瓦音的纯金装饰殿。 殿的栋梁、墙壁、门槛和门扇也都贴上金子;墙上还刻上基路伯天使。

所罗门又动工建造至圣所,长九米,宽九米,与殿的宽度一样,里面共贴了二十一吨纯金。 所用的金钉重六百克。楼房也都贴上了金子。 10 他又在至圣所制造两个基路伯天使的翅膀,包上金子。 11-13 两个基路伯天使的翅膀共九米长,每个翅膀长二点二五米。两个基路伯天使面向大殿站立,他们展开的翅膀共九米长,各有一个翅膀触到殿墙,一个翅膀互相连接。 14 他用蓝色、紫色和朱红色的线以及细麻织成幔子,并在上面绣上基路伯天使。

15 所罗门在殿前造了两根柱子,每根高八米,上面的柱冠高二点二五米。 16 他也造了链子[b],装饰在柱冠上。他又造了一百个石榴,安在链子上。 17 这两根柱子一左一右立在殿的入口处,他给右边那根取名叫雅斤,给左边那根取名叫波阿斯。

Footnotes

  1. 3:4 高九米”希伯来文是“高五十四米”。
  2. 3:16 他也造了链子”希伯来文是“他在圣所内造了链子”。

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon began building the Lord’s Temple at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David, Solomon’s father. This was the place David had prepared for the Temple. It had been the threshing floor of Araunah[a] the Jebusite.[b] Solomon started to build on the second day of the second month of his fourth year as king of Israel.

These are the measurements he used for building the foundation of God’s Temple, using the old cubit.[c] The foundation was 60 cubits[d] long and 20 cubits[e] wide. The porch in front of the Temple was 20 cubits long and 20 cubits high.[f] He covered the inside of the porch with pure gold. He put panels made of cypress wood on the walls of the larger room. Then he put pure gold over the cypress panels and then put pictures of palm trees and chains on the gold. He put valuable stones in the Temple for beauty. The gold he used was gold from Parvaim.[g] He covered the inside of the Temple with the gold. He put the gold on the ceiling beams, doorposts, walls, and doors. He carved Cherub angels on the walls.

Then he made the Most Holy Place. This room was 20 cubits long and 20 cubits wide. It was as wide as the Temple was. He put pure gold on the walls of the Most Holy Place. The gold weighed about 22 1/2 tons.[h] The gold nails weighed 1 1/4 pounds.[i] He covered the upper rooms with gold. 10 He made two Cherub angels to put in the Most Holy Place. The workers covered the Cherub angels with gold. 11 Each wing of the Cherub angels was 5 cubits[j] long. The total length of the wings was 20 cubits. One wing of the first Cherub angel touched the wall on one side of the room. The other wing touched one wing of the second Cherub angel. 12 And the other wing of the second Cherub angel touched the wall on the other side of the room. 13 So the wings of the two Cherub angels together reached across the room—a total of 20 cubits. The Cherub angels stood facing the Holy Place.[k]

14 He made the curtain[l] from blue, purple, and red materials and expensive linen. There were Cherub angels on the curtain.

15 He put two columns in front of the Temple. The columns were 35 cubits[m] tall. The top part of the two columns was 5 cubits long. 16 He made chains in a necklace and put them on the tops of the columns. He made 100 pomegranates[n] and put them on the chains. 17 Then he put the columns up in front of the Temple. One column stood on the right side. The other column stood on the left side. He named the column on the right side “Jakin.”[o] And he named the column on the left side “Boaz.”[p]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Araunah In Hebrew, “Ornan.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Jebusite A person who lived in Jerusalem before the Israelites took the city. “Jebus” was the old name for Jerusalem.
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:3 the old cubit This was the Egyptian cubit, measuring about 20 3/8" (51.83 cm).
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:3 60 cubits 102' 3/8" (31.1 m).
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:3 20 cubits 34' 1/8" (10.37 m). Also in verses 4, 8, 11, 13.
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:4 20 cubits high 34' 1/8" (10.37 m). Some of the Hebrew texts have “120 cubits high.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:6 Parvaim This was a place where there was much gold. It was probably in the country of Ophir.
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:8 22 1/2 tons Literally, “600 talents” (20,700 kg).
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:9 1 1/4 pounds Literally, “50 shekels” (575 g).
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:11 5 cubits 8' 6" (2.6 m). Also in verse 15.
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:13 facing the Holy Place Or “facing each other.” The Holy Place is the room in the Temple that was used by the priests to do their daily service to God.
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:14 curtain This curtain was a large piece of cloth that hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place so that no one could see the Lord’s Box of the Agreement and Cherub angels that were in there.
  13. 2 Chronicles 3:15 35 cubits 59' 6 3/16" (18.14 m).
  14. 2 Chronicles 3:16 pomegranates Small bells shaped like pomegranates, a red fruit with many tiny seeds covered with a soft, juicy part of the fruit. Also in 4:13.
  15. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin In Hebrew, Jakin seems to mean “he establishes.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz In Hebrew, Boaz seems to mean “in him is strength.”