Solomon Builds the Temple
1wThen Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem xon Mount Moriah, where the Lord1 had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, yon the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3These are Solomon's zmeasurements2 for building the house of God: athe length, in cubits3 of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house,4 and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5bThe nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold cand made palms and chains on it. 6He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—cand he carved cherubim on the walls.
8dAnd he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents5 of fine gold. 9The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels.6 And he overlaid ethe upper chambers with gold.
10fIn the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood7 and overlaid8 them with gold. 11The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim9 stood on their feet, gfacing the nave. 14hAnd he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
15iIn front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16He made chains like a necklace10 and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17jHe set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.
Footnotes
- 1 3:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks the Lord
- 2 3:3 Syriac; Hebrew foundations
- 3 3:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- 4 3:4 Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 5 3:8 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
- 6 3:9 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
- 7 3:10 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 8 3:10 Hebrew they overlaid
- 9 3:13 Hebrew they
- 10 3:16 Hebrew chains in the inner sanctuary
The Partial Kingdom: God’s King
Judges 1:1 – 2 Chronicles 36:23 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 44:21 • ID: 2389Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.