Solomon Asks Hiram To Help Build the Temple

(2 Chronicles 2.1-16)

5 King Hiram of Tyre^[a] had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learned that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.

² Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:

³ Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the Lord his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance. ⁴ Now, thanks to the Lord God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.

^5 (A) The Lord God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the Lord. So I've decided to do that.

⁶ I'd like you to send your workers to cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.

⁷ Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, “I am grateful that the Lord gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!” ⁸ Then he sent back his answer:

I received your message and will give you all the cedar and pine logs you need. ⁹ My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there.

To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.

¹⁰ Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed. ¹¹ In return, Solomon gave Hiram over 2,000 tons of wheat and almost 4,000 liters of pure olive oil each year.

¹² The Lord kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.

Solomon's Workers

¹³ Solomon ordered 30,000 people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, ^14 (B) and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of 10,000. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.

¹⁵ He also had 80,000 workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, 70,000 workers to carry the stones, ¹⁶ and over 3,000 assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. ¹⁷ He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.

¹⁸ Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal,^[b] and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.

The Outside of the Temple Is Completed

6 Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv,^[c] the second month of the year. It had been 4 years since Solomon became king of Israel, and 480 years since the people of Israel left Egypt.

² The inside of the Lord's temple was 27 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high. ³ A four-and-a-half-meter porch went all the way across the front of the temple. ⁴ The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.

^5-6 Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were just over two meters wide, the rooms on the middle level were over two and a half meters wide, and those on the top level were just over three meters wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.

⁷ Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he gave orders for the workers to shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.

⁸ The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. ⁹ The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.

The workers finished building the outside of the temple. ¹⁰ Storage rooms just over two meters high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord told Solomon:

^12-13 If you obey my commands and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this temple you are building, and I will not desert them.

¹⁴ So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.

The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished

(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)

¹⁵ The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.^[d]

^16 (C) The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine meters square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling^[e] separated it from the rest of the temple. ¹⁷ The temple's main room was 18 meters long, and it was in front of the most holy place.

¹⁸ The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.

¹⁹ The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. ^20-22 (D) This room was nine meters long, nine meters wide, and nine meters high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.

^23 (E) Solomon had two statues of winged creatures^[f] made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half meters tall ^24-26 and four and a half meters across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two meters long. ²⁷ Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. ²⁸ The creatures were also covered with gold.

²⁹ The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. ³⁰ Even the floor was covered with gold.

^31-32 The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.

^33-34 The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections^[g] so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. ³⁵ The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.

³⁶ The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.

³⁷ Work began on the temple during Ziv,^[h] the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. ³⁸ Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul,^[i] the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.

Solomon Asks Hiram To Help Build the Temple

(1 Kings 5.1-12)

2 Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself. ² He assigned 70,000 men to carry building supplies and 80,000 to cut stone from the hills. And he chose 3,600 men to supervise these workers.

³ Solomon sent the following message to King Hiram of Tyre:

Years ago, when my father David was building his palace, you supplied him with cedar logs. Now will you send me supplies? ⁴ I am building a temple where the Lord my God will be worshiped. Sweet-smelling incense will be burned there, and sacred bread will be offered to him. Worshipers will offer sacrifices to the Lord every morning and evening, every Sabbath, and on the first day of each month, as well as during all our religious festivals. These things will be done for all time, just as the Lord has commanded.

⁵ This will be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods. ^6 (A) No one can ever build a temple large enough for God—even the heavens are too small a place for him to live in! All I can do is build a place where we can offer sacrifices to him.

⁷ Send me a worker who can not only carve, but who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as make brightly colored cloth. The person you send will work here in Judah and Jerusalem with the skilled workers that my father has already hired.

⁸ I know that you have workers who are experts at cutting lumber in Lebanon. So would you please send me some cedar, pine, and juniper logs? My workers will be there to help them, ⁹ because I'll need a lot of lumber to build such a large and glorious temple. ¹⁰ I will pay your woodcutters 2,000 tons of wheat, the same amount of barley, 400,000 liters of wine, and that same amount of olive oil.

¹¹ Hiram sent his answer back to Solomon:

I know that the Lord must love his people, because he has chosen you to be their king. ¹² Praise the Lord God of Israel who made heaven and earth! He has given David a son who isn't only wise and smart, but who has the knowledge to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.

¹³ I am sending Huram Abi to you. He is wise and very skillful. ¹⁴ His mother was from the Israelite tribe of Dan, and his father was from Tyre. Not only is Huram an expert at working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, but he can also make colored cloth and fine linen. And he can carve anything if you give him a pattern to follow. He can help your workers and those hired by your father King David.

¹⁵ Go ahead and send the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine you promised to pay my workers. ¹⁶ I will tell them to start cutting down trees in Lebanon. They will cut as many as you need, then tie them together into rafts, and float them down along the coast to Joppa. Your workers can take them to Jerusalem from there.

Solomon's Work Force

¹⁷ Solomon counted all the foreigners who were living in Israel, just as his father David had done when he was king, and the total was 153,600. ¹⁸ He assigned 70,000 of them to carry building supplies and 80,000 of them to cut stone from the hills. He chose 3,600 others to supervise the workers and to make sure the work was completed.

The Temple Is Built

(1 Kings 6.1-38)

3 ^1-2 (B) Solomon's workers began building the temple in Jerusalem on the second day of the second month,^[a] four years after Solomon had become king of Israel. It was built on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to David at the threshing place that had belonged to Araunah^[b] from Jebus.

³ The inside of the temple was 27 meters long and 9 meters wide, according to the older standards.^{[c] 4} Across the front of the temple was a porch 9 meters wide and 9 meters^[d] high. The inside walls of the porch were covered with pure gold.

⁵ Solomon had the inside walls of the temple's main room paneled first with pine and then with a layer of gold, and he had them decorated with carvings of palm trees and designs that looked like chains. ⁶ He used precious stones to decorate the temple, and he used gold imported from Parvaim^{[e] 7} to decorate the ceiling beams, the doors, the door frames, and the walls. Solomon also told the workers to carve designs of winged creatures into the walls.

^8 (C) The most holy place was nine meters square, and its walls were covered with over 20 tons of fine gold. ⁹ Five hundred and seventy grams of gold was used to cover the heads of the nails. The walls of the small storage rooms were also covered with gold.^[f]

^10 (D) Solomon had two statues of winged creatures^[g] made to put in the most holy place, and he covered them with gold. ^11-13 Each creature had two wings and was four and a half meters from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing. Solomon set them next to each other in the most holy place, facing the doorway. Their wings were spread out and reached all the way across the nine-meter room.

^14 (E) A curtain^[h] was made of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with designs of winged creatures.

The Two Columns

(1 Kings 7.15-22)

¹⁵ Two columns were made for the entrance to the temple. Each one was 16 meters tall and had a cap on top that was over 2 meters high. ¹⁶ The top of each column was decorated with designs that looked like chains^[i] and with 100 carvings of pomegranates.^{[j] 17} Solomon had one of the columns placed on the south side of the temple's entrance; it was called Jachin.^[k] The other one was placed on the north side of the entrance; it was called Boaz.^[l]