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Solomon Builds Yahweh’s House

(A)Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared (B)on the threshing floor of [a]Ornan the Jebusite. Then he began to build on the second day in the second month [b]of the fourth year of his reign. Now these are the [c]foundations which (C)Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard was [d]sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits. And the porch which was in front of the house (D)was as long as the width of the house, [e]20 cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold. Now he overlaid (E)the [f]main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and [g]ornamented it with palm trees and chains. Further, he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold from [h]Parvaim. (F)He also covered the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he (G)carved cherubim on the walls.

And he made (H)the [i]room of the Holy of Holies: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, amounting to [j]600 talents. Now the weight of the nails was [k]fifty shekels of gold. He also covered (I)the upper rooms with gold.

10 (J)Then in the room of the Holy of Holies he made two cherubim of fashioned work and overlaid them with gold. 11 Now the wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 And the wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits was attached to the wing of the [l]first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet [m]facing the main room. 14 (K)And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and he ornamented cherubim on it.

15 (L)He also made two pillars for the front of the house, [n]thirty-five cubits [o]high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits. 16 And he made chains in the inner sanctuary and put them on the top of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 (M)Thus he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and one on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 In 2 Sam 24:18, Araunah
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:2 Lit in
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:3 Lit founding of Solomon to build
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:3 Approx. 90 ft. long and 30 ft. wide or 27 m and 9 m, a cubit was approx. 18 in. or 45 cm
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:4 Approx. 30 ft. long, 30 ft. wide, and 180 ft. tall or 9 m, 9 m, and 54 m
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit great house
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit put on it palm trees
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:6 Or country of gold
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:8 Lit house
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:8 Approx. 23 tons or 21 metric tons, a talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:9 Approx. 1.25 lb. or 550 gm, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:12 Lit other
  13. 2 Chronicles 3:13 Lit and their faces to
  14. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Approx. 52.5 ft. or 15.75 m
  15. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit long

Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

Then Solomon began to build(B) the temple of the Lord(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(E)

The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[c] long across the width of the building and twenty[d] cubits high.

He overlaid the inside with pure gold. He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(G) and chain designs. He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(H) on the walls.

He built the Most Holy Place,(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[e] of fine gold. The gold nails(J) weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[h]

14 He made the curtain(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(N) worked into it.

15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(O) which together were thirty-five cubits[i] long, each with a capital(P) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(R) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[k] and the one to the north Boaz.[l]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.