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The Building of the Temple

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv[a] (the second month), he began building the Lord’s temple. The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet[b] long, 30 feet[c] wide, and 45 feet[d] high. The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet[e] long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet[f] wide, extending out from the front of the temple. He made framed windows for the temple. He built an extension all around the walls of the temple’s main hall and Holy Place and constructed side rooms in it.[g] The bottom floor of the extension was 7½ feet[h] wide, the middle floor 9 feet[i] wide, and the third floor 10½ feet[j] wide. He made ledges[k] on the temple’s outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls.[l] As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry[m] were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. The entrance to the bottom[n] level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up[o] to the middle floor and then on up to the third[p] floor. He finished building the temple[q] and covered it[r] with rafters[s] and boards made of cedar.[t] 10 He built an extension all around the temple; it was 7½ feet high[u] and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams.

11 [v] The Lord’s message came to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow[w] my rules, observe[x] my regulations, and obey all my commandments,[y] I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.[z] 13 I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon finished building the temple.[aa] 15 He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters[ab] of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens. 16 He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the Most Holy Place.[ac] He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters.[ad] 17 The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long.[ae] 18 The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible.[af]

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there. 20 The inner sanctuary was 30 feet[ag] long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold,[ah] as well as the cedar altar.[ai] 21 Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold.[aj] He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary[ak] with gold. 22 He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary.[al]

23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood; each stood 15 feet[am] high. 24 Each of the first cherub’s wings was 7½ feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet.[an] 25 The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape.[ao] 26 Each cherub stood 15 feet high.[ap] 27 He put the cherubim in the inner sanctuary of the temple.[aq] Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub’s wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub’s wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub’s other wing touched the second cherub’s other wing in the middle of the room.[ar] 28 He plated the cherubim with gold.

29 On all the walls around the temple, inside and out,[as] he carved[at] cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. 30 He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out.[au] 31 He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided.[av] 32 On the two doors made of olive wood he carved[aw] cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold.[ax] He plated the cherubim and the palm trees with hammered gold.[ay] 33 In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall, only with four-sided pillars.[az] 34 He also made[ba] two doors out of wood from evergreens; each door had two folding leaves.[bb] 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings. 36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of chiseled stones and a row of cedar beams.

37 In the month of Ziv[bc] in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign[bd] the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul[be] (the eighth month) the temple was completed in accordance with all its specifications and blueprints. It took seven years to build.[bf]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:1 sn During the month Ziv. This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.
  2. 1 Kings 6:2 tn Heb “60 cubits.” A cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm. Measurements in vv. 2-10 have been converted to feet in the translation for clarity.
  3. 1 Kings 6:2 tn Heb “20 [cubits].”
  4. 1 Kings 6:2 tn Heb “30 cubits.”
  5. 1 Kings 6:3 tn Heb “20 cubits.”
  6. 1 Kings 6:3 tn Heb “10 cubits.”
  7. 1 Kings 6:5 tn Heb “and he built on the wall of the temple an extension all around, the walls of the temple all around, for the main hall and for the holy place, and he made side rooms all around.”
  8. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “five cubits.”
  9. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “six cubits.”
  10. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “7 cubits.”
  11. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Or “offsets” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “offset ledges.”
  12. 1 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “so that [the beams] would not have a hold in the walls of the temple.”
  13. 1 Kings 6:7 tn Heb “finished stone of the quarry,” i.e., stones chiseled and shaped at the time they were taken out of the quarry.
  14. 1 Kings 6:8 tc The Hebrew text has “middle,” but the remainder of the verse suggests this is an error.
  15. 1 Kings 6:8 tn Heb “by stairs they went up.” The word translated “stairs” occurs only here. Other options are “trapdoors” or “ladders.”
  16. 1 Kings 6:8 tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate הַשְּׁלִשִׁית (hashelishit, “the third”) rather than MT הַשְּׁלִשִׁים (hashelishim, “the thirty”).
  17. 1 Kings 6:9 tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”
  18. 1 Kings 6:9 tn Heb “the house.”
  19. 1 Kings 6:9 tn The word occurs only here; the precise meaning is uncertain.
  20. 1 Kings 6:9 tn Heb “and rows with cedar wood.”
  21. 1 Kings 6:10 tn Heb “5 cubits.” This must refer to the height of each floor or room.
  22. 1 Kings 6:11 tc The LXX lacks vv. 11-14.
  23. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “walk in.”
  24. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “do.”
  25. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “and keep all my commandments by walking in them.”
  26. 1 Kings 6:12 tn Heb “I will establish my word with you which I spoke to David your father.”
  27. 1 Kings 6:14 tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”
  28. 1 Kings 6:15 tc The MT reads קִירוֹת (qirot, “walls”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.
  29. 1 Kings 6:16 tn Heb “He built 20 cubits from the rear areas of the temple with cedar planks from the floor to the walls, and he built it on the inside for an inner sanctuary, for a holy place of holy places.”
  30. 1 Kings 6:16 tc The MT reads קִירוֹת (qirot, “walls”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.
  31. 1 Kings 6:17 tn Heb “and the house was 40 cubits, that is, the main hall before it.”
  32. 1 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “Cedar was inside the temple, carvings of gourds (i.e., gourd-shaped ornaments) and opened flowers; the whole was cedar, no stone was seen.”
  33. 1 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “20 cubits” (this measurement occurs three times in this verse).
  34. 1 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).
  35. 1 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “he plated [the] altar of cedar.”
  36. 1 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).
  37. 1 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “it.”
  38. 1 Kings 6:22 tn Heb “all the temple he plated with gold until all the temple was finished; and the whole altar which was in the inner sanctuary he plated with gold.”
  39. 1 Kings 6:23 tn Heb “10 cubits” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).
  40. 1 Kings 6:24 tn Heb “The first wing of the [one] cherub was 5 cubits, and the second wing of the cherub was 5 cubits, 10 cubits from the tips of his wings to the tips of his wings.”
  41. 1 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “and the second cherub was 10 cubits, the two cherubim had one measurement and one shape.”
  42. 1 Kings 6:26 tn Heb “the height of the first cherub was 10 cubits; and so was the second cherub.”
  43. 1 Kings 6:27 tn Heb “in the midst of the inner house,” i.e., in the inner sanctuary.
  44. 1 Kings 6:27 tn Heb “and their wings were in the middle of the room, touching wing to wing.”
  45. 1 Kings 6:29 sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.
  46. 1 Kings 6:29 tn Heb “carved engravings of carvings.”
  47. 1 Kings 6:30 sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.
  48. 1 Kings 6:31 tn Heb “the pillar, doorposts, a fifth part” (the precise meaning of this description is uncertain).
  49. 1 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “carved carvings of.”
  50. 1 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “he plated [with] gold” (the precise object is not stated).
  51. 1 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “and he hammered out the gold on the cherubim and the palm trees.”
  52. 1 Kings 6:33 tn Heb “and so he did at the entrance of the main hall, doorposts of olive wood, from a fourth.”
  53. 1 Kings 6:34 tn The words “he also made” are added for stylistic reasons.
  54. 1 Kings 6:34 tc Heb “two of the leaves of the first door were folding, and two of the leaves of the second door were folding.” In the second half of the description, the MT has קְלָעִים (qelaʿim, “curtains”), but this probably should be emended to צְלָעִים (tselaʿim, “leaves”), which appears in the first half of the statement. One Hebrew ms, the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate support צְלָעִים (tselaʿim, “leaves”).
  55. 1 Kings 6:37 sn In the month of Ziv. This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.
  56. 1 Kings 6:37 tn The words “of Solomon’s reign” are added for clarification. See v. 1.
  57. 1 Kings 6:38 sn In the month Bul. This would be October-November 959 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  58. 1 Kings 6:38 tn Heb “he built it in seven years.”

Temple Construction Begins(A)

During the month of Ziv, which was the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, 480 years after the Israelis left the land of Egypt, Solomon began to build the Lord’s Temple. The Temple for the Lord that Solomon was building was 60 cubits[a] long and 20 cubits[b] wide. A portico extended in front of the Temple for 20 cubits[c] outward, corresponding to the width of the Temple. Along the front of the Temple its depth was ten cubits.[d] Solomon[e] also constructed windows in the Temple with specially designed[f] frames.

Against the wall of the Temple he built a series of rooms that encompassed the exterior of the Temple walls around the inner sanctuary. He built these side chambers all around the building.[g] The lower structures were five cubits[h] wide, the middle structures were six cubits[i] wide and the third structures were seven cubits[j] wide. Offsets were placed all around the Temple so that beams would not protrude through the walls of the Temple. The Temple was constructed of stone precut at the quarry so that no hammer, axe, or any other iron implement would be heard in the Temple while it was being built. A passageway to the side chamber was constructed on the south side of the Temple by which people[k] could ascend winding stairs to the middle story, then from there to the third story.

Interior Finishing with Gold and Cedar

After Solomon[l] built the Temple and finished it, he covered the Temple with beams and planks made of cedar. 10 He constructed this structure to adjoin the entire Temple, five cubits[m] high, and fastened it to the Temple with cedar timbers.

11 Then this message from the Lord came to Solomon: 12 “Concerning[n] this Temple that you’re building, if you live your life[o] according to my statutes, carry out my ordinances, and keep all of my commands, and live according to them, then I will do what I promised to your father David. 13 I will reside among the Israelis and will never abandon my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon kept on building the Temple and finished it. 15 Then he built the inside walls of the Temple, lining them from floor to ceiling with cedar boards, and overlaying the Temple floor with boards made of cypress wood. 16 He lined 20 cubits[p] of the rear part of the Temple from floor to ceiling with cedar boards specially constructed for the inside to serve as the Most Holy Place. 17 The rest of the main nave in the front was 40 cubits[q] long. 18 Cedar[r] carvings in the form of gourds and blooming flowers covered the entire interior of the Temple so that no stone could be seen.

19 Solomon[s] also prepared an inner sanctuary within the Temple where the Lord’s Ark of the Covenant was placed. 20 The inner sanctuary was 20 cubits[t] long, 20 cubits[u] wide, and 20 cubits[v] high, and overlaid with pure gold. The altar was also overlaid with cedar. 21 Solomon overlaid the inside of the Temple with pure gold, fastened gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 He finished the Temple by overlaying it entirely with gold, including overlaying with gold the whole altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

Temple Furnishings(B)

23 Inside the inner sanctuary Solomon[w] placed two cherubim crafted from olive wood, each ten cubits[x] high. 24 Each wing of one cherub was five cubits[y] long, and each wing of the other cherub was five cubits[z] long, so that the distance from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing was ten cubits.[aa] 25 Each cherub was ten cubits[ab] high, and both were of the same size and shape, 26 the height of one cherub being ten cubits,[ac] as was the height of the other.

27 Solomon[ad] placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner sanctuary, with their wings spread in such a way that the wing of one was touching the one wall and the opposite wing of the other cherub was touching the opposite wall. Furthermore, their wings in the center of the wall were touching each other wing-to-wing. 28 Each cherub was overlaid with gold.

29 Solomon[ae] also inlaid all the inner walls of the Temple—both the inner and outer sanctuaries—with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and blooming flowers. 30 He also overlaid the floor of the Temple with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 Solomon[af] also provided doors, lintels, and five-sided doorposts for the entrance to the inner sanctuary. 32 He installed two doors made of olive wood, inlaying them with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and blooming flowers, and overlaying them with gold. Then he added more gold to cover the cherubim and palm trees.

33 Solomon[ag] also provided four-sided doorposts made of cypress wood for the entrance to the outer sanctuary, 34 along with two doors of cypress wood, one door of which had two leaves that turned on hinges, as did the other door, which also had two leaves that turned on hinges.

35 Solomon[ah] also inlaid the doors with[ai] cherubim, palm trees, and blooming flowers. He overlaid them with gold that was carefully[aj] applied on the engraved work. 36 He constructed the inner court with three rows of precut stone and a row of cedar beams.

Temple Construction is Completed

37 The foundation for the Lord’s Temple was laid in the month of Ziv during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, 38 and the Temple was completely finished according to its plans and specifications in the eighth month of the eleventh year of Solomon’s[ak] reign, that is, during the month of Bul. It took about seven years to build.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:2 I.e. about 90 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  2. 1 Kings 6:2 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  3. 1 Kings 6:3 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  4. 1 Kings 6:3 I.e. about fifteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  5. 1 Kings 6:4 Lit. He
  6. 1 Kings 6:4 Or latticed
  7. 1 Kings 6:5 The Heb. lacks the building
  8. 1 Kings 6:6 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  9. 1 Kings 6:6 I.e. about nine feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  10. 1 Kings 6:6 I.e. about ten and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  11. 1 Kings 6:8 Lit. they
  12. 1 Kings 6:9 Lit. he
  13. 1 Kings 6:10 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  14. 1 Kings 6:12 The Heb. lacks Concerning
  15. 1 Kings 6:12 Lit. you walk
  16. 1 Kings 6:16 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  17. 1 Kings 6:17 I.e. about 60 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  18. 1 Kings 6:18 I.e. a genus of coniferous evergreen in the family Pinaceae; and so throughout the book
  19. 1 Kings 6:19 Lit. He
  20. 1 Kings 6:20 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  21. 1 Kings 6:20 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  22. 1 Kings 6:20 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  23. 1 Kings 6:23 Lit. he
  24. 1 Kings 6:23 I.e. about fifteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  25. 1 Kings 6:24 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  26. 1 Kings 6:24 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  27. 1 Kings 6:24 I.e. about fifteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  28. 1 Kings 6:25 I.e. about fifteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  29. 1 Kings 6:26 I.e. about fifteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  30. 1 Kings 6:27 Lit. He
  31. 1 Kings 6:29 Lit. He
  32. 1 Kings 6:31 Lit. He
  33. 1 Kings 6:33 Lit. He
  34. 1 Kings 6:35 Lit. He
  35. 1 Kings 6:35 The Heb. lacks the doors with
  36. 1 Kings 6:35 Or evenly
  37. 1 Kings 6:38 Lit. his