Historical

Building the Temple

6 Now it came to pass, 480 years after the children of Israel came 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), that he began to build Adonai’s House. ² Now the House that King Solomon built for Adonai was 60 cubits^[a] long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. ³ The porch in front of the Sanctuary of the House was 20 cubits in length—corresponding to the breadth of the House—and its depth was ten cubits from the front of the House. ⁴ Also for the House he made windows with artistic frames. ⁵ Against the wall of the House he built a side-structure surrounding both the Temple and the inner Sanctuary; thus he made side-chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide. All around on the outside he provided offset ledges in the wall of the House, so that the beams would not be inserted into the walls of the House. ⁷ For the House, while being constructed, was built of stone finished at the quarry; with neither hammer, axe nor any iron tool heard in the House during its construction.

⁸ The doorway to the lowest story of the side chambers was on the right side of the House. They went up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ When he finished building the House, he covered the House with beams and planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He built the stories of the side-structure against the whole House, each five cubits high, and they were fastened to the House with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Then the word of Adonai came to Solomon saying: ¹² “As for this House which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes, execute My ordinances and keep all My mitzvot by walking in them, then I will establish My word with you, which I spoke to your father David, ¹³ I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”^[b]

¹⁴ So Solomon built the House and finished it. ¹⁵ He paneled the walls of the House on the inside with cedar planks of cedar; from the floor of the House to the ceiling he overlaid on the inside with wood; and he overlaid the floor of the House with planks of cypress. ¹⁶ Then he partitioned off 20 cubits at the rear part of the House, using cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling, building it as the inner Sanctuary—the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ The House, that is, the Sanctuary, was 40 cubits long in front of the inner Sanctuary. ¹⁸ The cedar of the interior of the House was carved as gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was visible.

¹⁹ He prepared an inner Sanctuary within the House, to set there the ark of the covenant of Adonai. ²⁰ The inner Sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in breadth and twenty cubits in height. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the cedar altar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the interior of the House with pure gold; and he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner Sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. ²² So the entire House he overlaid with gold until the entire House was finished; even the entire altar by the inner Sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

²³ In the inner Sanctuary he made two cheruvim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ The length of one wing of the cheruv was five cubits and the length of the other wing of the cheruv was five cubits—ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other, ²⁵ and the other cheruv was also ten cubits. Both cheruvim were the same in measure and form: ²⁶ the height of the one cheruv was ten cubits and so the other cheruv. ²⁷ Then he placed the cheruvim inside the inner House. When the wings of the cheruvim extended, the wing of the one touched one wall while the wing of the other cheruv touched the other wall, while their wings in the center of the House touched one another. ²⁸ He also overlaid the cheruvim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the walls surrounding the House with carved engravings of cheruvim, palm trees and open flowers, in both the inner and outer rooms, ³⁰ and he also covered the floor of both the inner and the outer rooms of the House with gold. ³¹ For the entrance of the inner Sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the frame of the doorposts having five angles. ³² As for the double doors of olive wood, he carved on them carvings of cheruvim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He beat out gold over the cheruvim and over the palm trees.

³³ He also made for the Temple entrance four-sided doorposts of olive wood ³⁴ and double doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. ³⁵ He carved cheruvim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the graven work. ³⁶ He built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, the foundation of the House of Adonai was laid, ³⁸ and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (which is the eighth month), the House was completed in all its parts and according to all its details. So he was seven years building it.

Solomon’s Palace Complex

7 But it took Solomon 13 years to build and complete his own palace. ² He also built the Forest House of Lebanon: its length was 100 cubits, its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits, built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. ³ It was paneled with cedar above the side chambers, which were on 45 pillars—15 in a row. ⁴ And there were window frames in three rows, with window opposite window in three ranks. ⁵ And all the doorways had rectangular frame, and with window opposite to window in three tiers.

⁶ He also made a portico of columns, 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide, with a porch in front, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. ⁷ He also made the Hall of the Throne where he would judge—the Hall of Justice. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the ceiling.

⁸ His house where he would dwell, set farther back of the hall, was of the same construction. He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom Solomon had taken to wife.

⁹ All these were made of expensive stones—stone cut to size and sawed with saws inside and outside—from the foundation to the top and from the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was also made of expensive stones—huge stones, stones eight cubits and stones ten cubits. ¹¹ Above were expensive stones, cut to measure, and cedar wood. ¹² The surrounding great courtyard had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams, the same as the inner court of the House of Adonai and the portico of the House.

Hiram the Bronze Craftsman

¹³ King Solomon sent for and had Hiram brought from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, while his father was a man of Tyre, a coppersmith, and he was filled with wisdom, understanding and skill to do any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and executed all his work. ¹⁵ He fashioned the two bronze pillars, 18 cubits high and 12 cubits in circumference each. ¹⁶ He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set upon the tops of the pillars (the height of each capital was five cubits), ¹⁷ nettings of latticework and twisted threads of chain work for the capitals were on top of the pillars—seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸ So he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates all around on the netting covering the capitals on top of each capital. ¹⁹ The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the portico were of lily design, four cubits high. ²⁰ So also the capitals on the two pillars—close to the belly next to the netting were the pomegranates in rows of 200 around both capitals.

²¹ Thus he set up the pillars at the porticos of the Temple. He set up the right pillar and named it Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz. ^{[c] 22} On the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.

²³ Next he made the sea of cast metal, ten cubits across from brim to brim, circular in form, five cubits in its height and 30 cubits in circumference. ²⁴ Under its brim there were gourds encircling it, ten per cubit, completely surrounding the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with it. ²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts were inward. ²⁶ It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the petals of a lily; it held 11,000 gallons.

²⁷ Then he made ten bases of bronze—the length of each base was four cubits, the width four cubits and the height three cubits. ²⁸ The structure of the bases was as follows: they had borders, and borders between the frames, ²⁹ and on the borders that were below the frames were lions, oxen and cheruvim. On the frames there was a pedestal manner above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. ³⁰ Each base had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Its four legs had brackets; the brackets were beneath the laver, cast with wreaths at each side. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit high, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half, and also on its opening were engravings, and their borders were square, not round. ³² The four wheels were underneath the borders, and the axles of the wheels were in the base. The height of a wheel was a cubit and half. ³³ And the structure of the wheels was like the structure of a chariot wheel; their axletrees, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast metal. ³⁴ There were four brackets at the four corners of each base; each bracket was of one piece with the base itself. ³⁵ On top of the base there was a band half a cubit high encircling it—its braces and its borders were part of it. ³⁶ On the plates of the braces and on its borders, he engraved cheruvim, lions and palm trees, wherever there was clear space around each, with encircling wreaths. ³⁷ He made the ten bases like this—all of them cast from the same mold, the same size and same shape.

³⁸ Then he made ten basins of bronze: one basin held 220 gallons. Each basin was four cubits, and on each of the ten bases was one basin. ³⁹ Then he set up the laver stands, five on the right side of the House and five on the left side of the House, and set up the sea of cast metal on the right side of the House eastward, toward the south. ⁴⁰ Then Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls.

So Hiram finished doing all the work that he performed for King Solomon on Adonai’s House: ⁴¹ the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, the two nettings to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, ⁴² the 400 pomegranates for the two nettings, two rows of pomegranates for each to cover the two bowls of the capitals on top of the pillars, ⁴³ the ten bases and the ten basins on the bases, ⁴⁴ the one sea and the 12 oxen under the sea, ⁴⁵ the pots, the shovels and the basins. All these vessels Hiram made for King Solomon in the House of Adonai were made of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king had them cast in the plain of the Jordan, with clay of the ground between Sukkot and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were too many—the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸ So Solomon made all the equipment that was to be in the House of Adonai: the golden altar, the table on which was the bread of the presence, of gold; ⁴⁹ the menorahs—five on the right side and five on the left in front of the inner Sanctuary—of pure gold; the flowers, the lamps and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, the snuffers, the bowls, the wick trimmers and the fire pans, of pure gold; the hinges for the doors of the inner House, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the House, that is, of the Temple, of gold.

⁵¹ When all the work that King Solomon did in Adonai’s House was finished, Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the House of Adonai.