Building the Temple

Then Solomon began(A) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah(B) where the Lord[a] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[b] the Jebusite. He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. These are Solomon’s foundations[c] for building God’s temple: the length[d] was ninety feet,[e] and the width thirty feet.[f] The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet;[g] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. The larger room[h] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,(C) and he carved cherubim on the walls.(D)

The Most Holy Place

Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet.(E) He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds[i] of fine gold. The weight of the nails was twenty ounces[j] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.

10 He made(F) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. 11 The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,[k] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other[l] cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.[m]

14 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.(G)

The Bronze Pillars

15 In front of the temple(H) he made two pillars, each 27 feet[n] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. 16 He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.(I) He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin[o] and the one on the left Boaz.[p]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 3:1 LXX; Tg reads the angel of the Lord; MT reads he
  2. 3:1 = Araunah in 2Sm 24:16–24
  3. 3:3 Tg reads The measurements which Solomon decreed
  4. 3:3 Lit length—cubits in the former measure
  5. 3:3 Lit 60 cubits
  6. 3:3 Lit 20 cubits, also in vv. 4,8,11,13
  7. 3:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads 120 cubits
  8. 3:5 Lit The house
  9. 3:8 Lit 600 talents
  10. 3:9 Lit 50 shekels
  11. 3:11 Lit five cubits, also in vv. 12,15
  12. 3:12 Syr, Vg; MT reads the one
  13. 3:13 Lit the house
  14. 3:15 Syr reads 18 cubits (27 feet); Hb reads 35 cubits (52½ feet)
  15. 3:17 = He Will Establish
  16. 3:17 = Strength Is in Him

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had designated, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.(A) He began to build on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign. These are Solomon’s measurements[a] for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits and the width twenty cubits. The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, across the width of the house,[b] and its height was one hundred twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. The great hall he lined with cypress, covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it.(B) He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold from Parvaim. So he lined the house with gold: its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.(C)

He made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold.(D) The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

10 In the most holy place he made two carved cherubim and overlaid[c] them with gold.(E) 11 The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, five cubits long, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 and of this cherub, one wing, five cubits long, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also five cubits long, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim[d] stood on their feet facing the main hall. 14 And Solomon[e] made the curtain of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen and worked cherubim into it.(F)

15 In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, each with a capital of five cubits on its top.(G) 16 He made encircling[f] chains and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right, the other on the left; the one on the right he called Jachin, and the one on the left, Boaz.(H)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 3.3 Syr: Heb foundations
  2. 3.4 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 3.10 Heb they overlaid
  4. 3.13 Heb they
  5. 3.14 Heb he
  6. 3.16 Cn: Heb in the inner sanctuary