The Temple Is Built
(1 Kings 6.1-38)
3 1-2 (A) 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 (B) 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 (C) 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 (D) 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]
Footnotes
- 3.1,2 second month: Ziv, the second month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-April to mid-May.
- 3.1,2 Araunah: The Hebrew text has “Ornan,” another spelling of the name (see 2 Samuel 24.18-25; 1 Chronicles 21.18—22.1).
- 3.3 according to the older standards: There were possibly two different standards of measurement during Israel's history.
- 3.4 9 meters: Some manuscripts of two ancient translations; Hebrew “54 meters.”
- 3.6 Parvaim: An unknown place.
- 3.9 The walls … gold: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 3.10 statues of winged creatures: These were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18-22).
- 3.14 A curtain: To separate the most holy place from the main room of the temple.
- 3.16 designs that looked like chains: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 3.16 pomegranates: A pomegranate is a small red fruit that looks like an apple. In ancient times, it was a symbol of life.
- 3.17 Jachin: Or “He (God) makes secure.”
- 3.17 Boaz: Or “He (God) is strong.”