3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David his father, in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.(A)
2 And Solomon began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3 Now these are the measurements for the foundations which Solomon laid for the house of God. The length in cubits by the former measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
4 The porch or vestibule across the front of the house was the same length as the house’s breadth, twenty cubits, and the [a]height 120 cubits. He overlaid it inside with pure gold.
5 And the greater house (the Holy Place) he lined with cypress and overlaid it with fine gold and made palm trees and chains on it.
6 And he adorned the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold of Parvaim.
7 He lined the house (the Holy Place), its beams, thresholds, walls, and doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the Most Holy Place, its length equaling the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.
9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he lined the upper chambers with gold.
10 And in the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of image work, and they were overlaid with gold.
11 And the wings of the cherubim [combined] extended twenty cubits: one wing of one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and its other wing of five cubits touched the other cherub’s wing.
12 And of the other cherub one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also five cubits, joined the wing of the first cherub.
13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim stood on their feet, their faces toward the Holy Place.
14 And he made the veil [between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place] of blue, purple, and crimson colors, and fine linen, and embroidered cherubim on it.
15 Before the house he made two pillars, 35 cubits high, with a capital on the top of each which was five cubits.
16 He made chains like a necklace and put them on the heads of the pillars, and he made 100 pomegranates and put them on the chains.
17 He erected the pillars before the temple, one on the right, the other on the left, and called the one on the right Jachin [he shall establish] and the one on the left Boaz [in it is strength].
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 This extreme height is believed by most scholars to be a copyist’s error, but II Chron. 7:21 seems to confirm it. It reads, “... this house, which was so high.. .”