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Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

So Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where He appeared to David his father, at the place that David established on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began to build in the second month[a] on the second day during the fourth year of his reign.[b]

These are the foundation measurements that Solomon used for building the house of God. The cubit[c] length in the former standard measure was sixty cubits and the width twenty cubits.[d] The porch vestibule that was in front of the nave hall had its length, like the width of the house, as twenty cubits,[e] and its height was one hundred and twenty cubits;[f] and he overlaid the inside with pure gold.

And he paneled the great house with cypress trees and then covered it with fine gold. Then he decorated it with palm trees and chain work. And he overlaid the house with precious stones for decoration, and the gold was from Parvaim. And he covered the house—its beams, thresholds, walls, and doors—with gold, and he engraved cherubim on the walls.

Then he made the dwelling of the Most Holy Place. Its length was as the width of twenty cubits, and its width also twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, six hundred talents[g] worth. And the weight in gold for the nails was fifty shekels.[h] And he covered the upper chamber in gold.

10 Then in the dwelling of the Most Holy Place, he made two cherubim that were cast metal and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubim were the length of twenty cubits. The wing of one cherub was five cubits, reaching the wall of the house, and the wing of the other was five cubits,[i] reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 And the wing of this cherub was five cubits, reaching to the other wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the first cherub. 13 So the wings of these cherubim spread out were twenty cubits; they were upright on their feet facing inward toward the house.

14 Then he made the curtain of violet, purple, crimson, and blue thread, and he wove cherubim into it.

15 And he made two pillars in front of the house thirty-five cubits[j] high, with a five cubit capital on the top of the pillar. 16 Then he made ornamental chain work, like in the Most Holy Place, and set it on the top of the pillars. Then he designed a hundred pomegranates and set them on the chain work. 17 He then raised the pillars in front of the temple, with one on the right to the south and the other on the left to the north, and the pillar to the south he called Jakin, and the pillar to the north he called Boaz.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:2 Ziv or Iyyar in the Hebrew calendar.
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:2 April or May in 966 BC.
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:3 The Egyptian cubit had a royal measure of 20.6 inches (52.3cm) and a commercial measure of 17.6 inches (44.7 cm). The cubit standards in Egypt and Mesopotamia were slightly different.
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:3 About 90 feet long and 30 feet wide, or 27 meters long and 9 meters wide.
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:4 About 30 feet, or 9 meters; and in vv. 8, 11, and 13.
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:4 About 180 feet, or 54 meters.
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:8 About 23 tons, or 21 metric tons.
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:9 About 1¼ pounds, or 575 grams.
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:11 About 7½ feet, or 2.3 meters; and in v. 15.
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:15 About 53 feet, or 16 meters.

Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

Now (B)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at (C)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where [a]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of (D)Ornan[b] the Jebusite. And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

This is the foundation (E)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. And the (F)vestibule that was in front of [c]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was [d]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. (G)The larger [e]room he (H)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

And he made the (I)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper (J)area with gold. 10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. 14 And he made the (L)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

15 Also he made in front of the [f]temple (M)two pillars [g]thirty-five cubits [h]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made (N)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. 17 Then he (O)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand [i]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left [j]Boaz.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Lit. He, following MT, Vg.; LXX the Lord; Tg. the Angel of the Lord
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16ff
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:4 The holy place, the main room of the temple, 1 Kin. 6:3
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:4 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Arab., some LXX mss., Syr. twenty
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit. house
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. house
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:15 eighteen, 1 Kin. 7:15; 2 Kin. 25:17; Jer. 52:21
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. long
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. He Shall Establish
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. In It Is Strength