The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 6 -

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

In the four hundred and eightieth

(a)

year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv,(b) the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD.

The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.(c)

The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits (d) long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits (e) in front of the temple.

He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.

The Chambers

Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.

The bottom floor was five cubits wide,(f) the middle floor six cubits,(g) and the third floor seven cubits.(h) He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.

The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

The entrance to the bottom (i) floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.

So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.

He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.

God’s Promise to Solomon

Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:

“As for this temple you are building, if you walk in My statutes, carry out My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.

And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

So Solomon built the temple and finished it.

He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress

(j)

boards.

He partitioned off the 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.(k)

And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.(l)

The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.

Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.(m)

So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains

(n)

across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,

and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.

And he placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Since their wings were spread out, the wing of the first cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the room their wingtips touched.

He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

The Doors

For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.

The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.

In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.

The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.

He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold, hammered evenly over the carvings.

The Courtyard

Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.

The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.

In his eleventh year and eighth month, the month of Bul,(o) the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.

Footnotes

(a)6:1 Hebrew; LXX four hundred and fortieth

(b)6:1 Ziv was the second month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of April and May; also in verse 37.

(c)6:2 The house was approximately 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high (27.4 meters long, 9.1 meters wide, and 13.7 meters high).

(d)6:3 20 cubits is approximately 30 feet or 9.1 meters; also in verses 16 and 20.

(e)6:3 10 cubits is approximately 15 feet or 4.6 meters; also in verses 23–26.

(f)6:6 5 cubits is approximately 7.5 feet or 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24.

(g)6:6 6 cubits is approximately 9 feet or 2.7 meters.

(h)6:6 7 cubits is approximately 10.5 feet or 3.2 meters.

(i)6:8 LXX and Targum; Hebrew middle

(j)6:15 Or pine or juniper or fir; also in verse 34

(k)6:16 Or the Holy of Holies

(l)6:17 40 cubits is approximately 60 feet or 18.3 meters.

(m)6:20 Or with cedar

(n)6:21 Or made gold chains to draw (the curtains)

(o)6:38 Bul was the eighth month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of October and November.

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the LORD’s house.

The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits,(a) and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house.

He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.

The Chambers

Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms all around.

The lowest floor was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around, that the beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.

The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third.

So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.

He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.

God’s Promise to Solomon

The LORD’s word came to Solomon, saying,

“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.

I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood. He covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.

He built twenty cubits of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this within, for an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place.

In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.

He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of the LORD’s covenant there.

Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height. He overlaid it with pure gold. He covered the altar with cedar.

So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. He drew chains of gold across before the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.

He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim

(b)

of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits was the length of the other wing of the cherub. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.

The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.

One cherub was ten cubits high, and so was the other cherub.

He set the cherubim within the inner house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the middle of the house.

He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.

He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.

The Doors

For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.

So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall,

and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.

The Courtyard

He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.

The foundation of the LORD’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv.

In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.

Footnotes

(a)6:2 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(b)6:23 “Cherubim” is plural of “cherub”, an angelic being.