Study Desk

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.