Chapter 6
Solomon Builds the Temple.[a] 1 And so he began to build the temple of the Lord in the four hundred and eighteenth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in Ziv, the second month.[b]
2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 3 The portico in front of the main part of the temple was as wide as the temple, that is, twenty cubits wide. It extended ten cubits in front of the temple. 4 He made windows with recessed frames for the temple. 5 He built chambers all around the outside walls of the main part and the inner sanctuary of the temple in which there were side rooms. 6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle chamber was six cubits wide, and the third level was seven cubits wide. He made narrow ledges all around the temple so that nothing had to be fastened to the walls of the temple.
7 Stone that had been made ready was used in the building of the temple so that one did not hear the sound of hammers or chisels or any other iron tool while the temple was being built.[c]
8 The entrance for the lowest level was on the right side of the temple. One went up by stairs from there to the middle level, and from the middle to the third level. 9 Thus he built the temple and completed it by roofing it with beams and cedar planks.
10 He built side rooms all along the temple. They were five cubits high, and they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.
11 The word of the Lord then came to Solomon, 12 “As for this temple that you are building, if you walk in my statutes and carry out my ordinances and observe my commandments, walking in them, then I will fulfill the promise I made to David, your father, through you. 13 I will dwell among the Israelites and I will not abandon my people Israel.”
14 Thus Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15 He lined the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards, covering the temple from the floor to its ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with fir planks.
16 He separated off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar planks that ran from the floor to the ceiling, making an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. 17 The part in front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was covered with cedar carved with buds and open flowers. Everything was covered in cedar, and no stone could be seen.
19 He set up the inner sanctuary in the temple as a place to set the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. It was covered in pure gold, as was also the cedar altar.
21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple in pure gold. He stretched gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary, and he covered it in pure gold. 22 He covered the entire temple with gold until he had completed the whole temple. He also covered the altar that was in the inner sanctuary with gold.
23 He made two cherubim for the inner sanctuary out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 The first wing of the cherub was five cubits and the other wing was also five cubits, making ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 The other cherub was also ten cubits, for the two cherubim were the same size and shape. 26 Each of the cherubim was ten cubits high. 27 He set the cherubim in the innermost room of the temple. The wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of one touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the room. 28 He covered the cherubim with gold.
29 He carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on all of the walls around the temple, both in the inner and the outer rooms. 30 The floor of the temple was covered with gold, both in the inner and outer rooms.
31 He made doors of olive wood for the entrance to the sanctuary. It had a five-sided frame. 32 There were two olive wood doors, and upon them he carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He covered the cherubim and the palm trees with beaten gold.
33 In the same way he made four-sided frames out of olive wood for the entrance to the temple itself. 34 He also made two doors out of fir wood. Each of the doors had two folding panels. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers upon them, and he carefully covered the carvings upon them with gold. 36 He built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and then a row of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year, the month of Ziv, the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid. 38 In the eleventh year, the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the temple was completely finished according to its plans. He needed seven years to build it.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 6:1 The sanctuary in the proper sense, built around 960 B.C., had the dimensions of one of our not very large churches; other structures were attached to it. But nothing more was needed to match the tabernacle built by Moses. Its grandeur came from the space around it, while the richness of the materials used ensured the desired magnificence.
- 1 Kings 6:1 The date has a religious rather than a historical significance. There is an equally long period between, on the one hand, the building of the tent in the wilderness and the building of the temple, and, on the other, the building of the temple and its rebuilding after the Exile. Each period counted twelve generations of high priests.
- 1 Kings 6:7 When Solomon had the temple built every detail was carefully planned and executed, including the respect that was shown to the Lord by cutting the stone at a distance from the building site to avoid undue noise.