Study Desk

The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand^(ad) on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.^(ae)

And Solomon ruled^(af) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River^(ag) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.^(ah) These countries brought tribute^(ai) and were Solomon's subjects all his life.

Solomon's daily provisions^(aj) were thirty cors^[a] of the finest flour and sixty cors^[b] of meal,

ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.^(ak)

For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah^(al) to Gaza, and had peace^(am) on all sides.

During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,^(an) lived in safety,^(ao) everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.^(ap)

Solomon had four^[c] thousand stalls for chariot horses,^(aq) and twelve thousand horses.^[d]

The district governors,^(ar) each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king's table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

God gave Solomon wisdom^(as) and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand^(at) on the seashore.

Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,^(au) and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.^(av)

He was wiser^(aw) than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.

He spoke three thousand proverbs^(ax) and his songs^(ay) numbered a thousand and five.

He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop^(az) that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.

From all nations people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings^(ba) of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.^[e]

Preparations for Building the Temple^(a)

^[a]When Hiram^(b) king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David.

Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

"You know that because of the wars^(c) waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build^(d) a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^(e)

But now the Lord my God has given me rest^(f) on every side, and there is no adversary^(g) or disaster.

I intend, therefore, to build a temple^(h) for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.'⁽ⁱ⁾

"So give orders that cedars^(j) of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."

When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said, "Praise be to the Lord ^(k) today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation."

So Hiram sent word to Solomon: "I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs.

My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea^(l), and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food^(m) for my royal household."

In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted,

and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors^[b] of wheat as food⁽ⁿ⁾ for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths^[c][d] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year.

The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,^(o) just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.^(p)

King Solomon conscripted laborers^(q) from all Israel—thirty thousand men.

He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram^(r) was in charge of the forced labor.

Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills,

as well as thirty-three hundred^[e] foremen^(s) who supervised the project and directed the workers.

At the king's command they removed from the quarry^(t) large blocks of high-grade stone^(u) to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple.

The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram^(v) and workers from Byblos^(w) cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(a)

In the four hundred and eightieth^[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,^(b) he began to build the temple of the Lord .^(c)

The temple^(d) that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.^[b]

The portico^(e) at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,^[c] and projected ten cubits^[d] from the front of the temple.

He made narrow windows^(f) high up in the temple walls.

Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.^(g)

The lowest floor was five cubits^[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits^[f] and the third floor seven.^[g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

In building the temple, only blocks dressed^(h) at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool⁽ⁱ⁾ was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

The entrance to the lowest^[h] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.

So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar^(j) planks.

And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

The word of the Lord came^(k) to Solomon:

"As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands^(l) and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise^(m) I gave to David your father.

And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon⁽ⁿ⁾ my people Israel."

So Solomon^(o) built the temple and completed^(p) it.

He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling,^(q) and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.^(r)

He partitioned off 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.^(s)

The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits^[i] long.

The inside of the temple was cedar,^(t) carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

He prepared the inner sanctuary^(u) within the temple to set the ark of the covenant^(v) of the Lord there.

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

Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim^(y) out of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip.

The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape.

The height of each cherub was ten cubits.

He placed the cherubim^(z) inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.

He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

On the walls^(aa) all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim,^(ab) palm trees and open flowers.

He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary.

And on the two olive-wood doors^(ac) he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.

In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall.

He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets.

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

And he built the inner courtyard^(ad) of three courses^(ae) of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.

In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details^(af) according to its specifications.^(ag) He had spent seven years building it.

Solomon Builds His Palace

It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.^(a)

He built the Palace^(b) of the Forest of Lebanon^(c) a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high,^[a] with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams.

It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row.

Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other.

All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.^[b]

He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide.^[c] In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge,^(d) and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.^[d](e)

And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.^(f)

All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces.

The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits^[e] and some eight.^[f]

Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.

The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses^(g) of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord with its portico.

King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,^[g](j)

whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom,^(k) with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all^(l) the work assigned to him.

He cast two bronze pillars,^(m) each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.^[h]

He also made two capitals⁽ⁿ⁾ of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits^[i] high.

A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital.

He made pomegranates in two rows^[j] encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.^[k] He did the same for each capital.

The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits^[l] high.

On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates^(o) in rows all around.

He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin^[m] and the one to the north Boaz.^[n](p)

The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars^(q) was completed.

He made the Sea^(r) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line^(s) of thirty cubits^[o] to measure around it.

Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

The Sea stood on twelve bulls,^(t) three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center.

It was a handbreadth^[p] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.^[q]

He also made ten movable stands^(u) of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.^[r]

This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights.

On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work.

Each stand^(v) had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side.

On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit^[s] deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half.^[t] Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round.

The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half.

The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand.

At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit^[u] deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand.

He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around.

This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

He then made ten bronze basins,^(w) each holding forty baths^[v] and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands.

He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.