1 The building of the Temple and the form thereof. 12 The promise of the Lord to Solomon.

And (A)in the four hundred and fourscore year (after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt) and in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month [a]Ziv, (which is the second month) he built the [b]house of the Lord.

And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, was threescore cubits long, and twenty broad, and thirty cubits high.

And the [c]porch before the Temple of the house was twenty cubits long according to the breadth of the house, and ten cubits broad before the house.

And in the house he made windows, [d]broad without, and narrow within.

And by the wall of the house he made [e]galleries round about, even by the walls of the house round about the Temple and [f]the oracle, and made chambers round about.

And the nethermost gallery was five cubits broad, and the middlemost six cubits broad, and the third seven cubits broad: for he made [g]rests round about without the house, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.

And when the house was built, it was built of stone perfect, before it was brought, so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

The door of the middle [h]chamber was in the right side of the house, and men went up with winding stairs into the middlemost, and out of the middlemost into the third.

So he built the [i]house and finished it, and ceiled the house, being vaulted with ceiling of cedar trees.

10 And he built the galleries upon all the wall of the house of five cubits height, and they were joined to the house with beams of cedar.

11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,

12 Concerning this house which thou buildest, if thou wilt walk in mine ordinances, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, to walk in them, then will I perform unto thee my promise, (B)which I promised to David thy father.

13 And I will [j]dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

14 So Solomon built the house and finished it,

15 And built the walls of the house within, with boards of Cedar tree from the pavement of the house unto [k]the walls of the ceiling, and within he covered them with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.

16 And he built twenty cubits in the sides of the house with boards of Cedar, from the floor to the walls, and he prepared a place within it for the oracle, even the most holy place.

17 But the [l]house, that is, the Temple before it, was forty cubits long.

18 And the Cedar of the house within was carved with [m]knops, and graven with flowers: all was Cedar, so that no stone was seen.

19 ¶ Also he prepared the place of the oracle in the midst of the [n]house within, to set the Ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

20 And the place of the oracle within was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits broad, and twenty cubits high: and he covered it with pure gold, and covered the altar with Cedar.

21 So Solomon covered the house within with pure gold, and he [o]shut the place of the oracle with chains of gold, and covered it with gold.

22 And he overlaid all the house with gold, until all the house was made perfect. Also he covered the [p]whole altar, that was before the oracle, with gold.

23 And within the oracle he made two Cherubims of [q]Olive tree, ten cubits high.

24 The wing also of the one Cherub was five cubits, and the wing of the other Cherub was five cubits: from the uttermost part of one of his wings unto the uttermost part of the other of his wings, were ten cubits.

25 Also the other Cherub was of ten cubits: both the Cherubims were of one measure and one size.

26 For the height of the one Cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other Cherub.

27 And he put the Cherubims within the inner house, (C)and the Cherubims stretched out their wings, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other Cherub touched the other wall: and their other wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

28 And he [r]overlaid the Cherubims with gold.

29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with graven figures of Cherubims and of Palm trees, and graven flowers within and without.

30 And the floor of the house he covered with gold within and without.

31 And in the entering of the oracle he made two doors of Olive trees: and the upper post and side posts were five square.

32 The two doors also were of Olive tree, and he graved them with graving of Cherubims, and Palm trees, and graven flowers, and covered them with gold, and laid [s]thin gold upon the Cherubims and upon the Palm trees.

33 And so made he for the door of the Temple, posts of Olive trees foursquare.

34 But the two doors were of fir tree, the two sides of the one door were [t]round, and the two sides of the other door were round.

35 And he graved Cherubims, and Palm trees, and carved flowers, and covered the carved work with gold finely wrought.

36 ¶ And he built the [u]court within with three rows of hewed stone, and one row of beams of Cedar.

37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid in the month of Ziv:

38 And in the eleventh year in the month of [v]Bul, (which is the eighth month) he finished the house with all the furniture thereof, and in every point: so was he seven years in building it.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:1 Which month containeth part of April and part of May.
  2. 1 Kings 6:1 Whereby is meant the Temple and the Oracle.
  3. 1 Kings 6:3 Or the court where the people prayed, which was before the place where the altar of burnt offerings stood.
  4. 1 Kings 6:4 Or, to open and to shut.
  5. 1 Kings 6:5 Or, lofts.
  6. 1 Kings 6:5 Whence God spake between the Cherubims, called also the most holy place.
  7. 1 Kings 6:6 Which were certain stones coming out of the wall, as stays for the beams to rest upon.
  8. 1 Kings 6:8 Or, Gallery.
  9. 1 Kings 6:9 In Exodus it is called the Tabernacle: and the Temple is here called the Sanctuary, and the Oracle the most holy place.
  10. 1 Kings 6:13 According as he promised unto Moses, Exod. 25:22.
  11. 1 Kings 6:15 Meaning, unto the roof which was also ceiled.
  12. 1 Kings 6:17 For when he spake of the house in the first verse, he meant both the Oracle, and the Temple.
  13. 1 Kings 6:18 Or, wild cucumbers.
  14. 1 Kings 6:19 That is, in the most inward place of the house.
  15. 1 Kings 6:21 Hebrew, he drew through chains of gold before.
  16. 1 Kings 6:22 Meaning, the altar of incense, Exod. 30:1.
  17. 1 Kings 6:23 Or, Pine tree
  18. 1 Kings 6:28 For the others which Moses made of beaten gold, were taken away with the other jewels by their enemies, whom God permitted divers times to overcome them for their great sins.
  19. 1 Kings 6:32 So that the fashion of the carved work might still appear.
  20. 1 Kings 6:34 Or, folding.
  21. 1 Kings 6:36 Where the Priests were, and was thus called in respect of the great court, which is called in Acts 3:11, the porch of Solomon, where the people used to pray.
  22. 1 Kings 6:38 Which containeth part of October and part of November.

Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

In the four hundred and eightieth[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,(B) he began to build the temple of the Lord.(C)

The temple(D) that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[b] The portico(E) at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[c] and projected ten cubits[d] from the front of the temple. He made narrow windows(F) high up in the temple walls. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.(G) The lowest floor was five cubits[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits[f] and the third floor seven.[g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

In building the temple, only blocks dressed(H) at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool(I) was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

The entrance to the lowest[h] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar(J) planks. 10 And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

11 The word of the Lord came(K) to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands(L) and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise(M) I gave to David your father. 13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon(N) my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon(O) built the temple and completed(P) it. 15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling,(Q) and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.(R) 16 He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.(S) 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits[i] long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar,(T) carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary(U) within the temple to set the ark of the covenant(V) of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary(W) was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.(X) 21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23 For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim(Y) out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim(Z) inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 On the walls(AA) all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim,(AB) palm trees and open flowers. 30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32 And on the two olive-wood doors(AC) he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33 In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34 He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

36 And he built the inner courtyard(AD) of three courses(AE) of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

37 The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details(AF) according to its specifications.(AG) He had spent seven years building it.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:1 Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth
  2. 1 Kings 6:2 That is, about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high
  3. 1 Kings 6:3 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20
  4. 1 Kings 6:3 That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26
  5. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24
  6. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 9 feet or about 2.7 meters
  7. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters
  8. 1 Kings 6:8 Septuagint; Hebrew middle
  9. 1 Kings 6:17 That is, about 60 feet or about 18 meters