Study Desk

Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(aa) residing in Israel, after the census^(ab) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600.

He assigned^(ac) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(a)

Then Solomon began to build^(b) the temple of the Lord ^(c) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah^[a](d) the Jebusite, the place provided by David.

He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.^(e)

The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide^[b](f) (using the cubit of the old standard).

The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits^[c] long across the width of the building and twenty^[d] cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree^(g) and chain designs.

He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim.

He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim^(h) on the walls.

He built the Most Holy Place,⁽ⁱ⁾ its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents^[e] of fine gold.

The gold nails^(j) weighed fifty shekels.^[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

For the Most Holy Place he made a pair^(k) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold.

The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits^[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub.

Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub.

The wings of these cherubim^(l) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.^[h]

He made the curtain^(m) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim⁽ⁿ⁾ worked into it.

For the front of the temple he made two pillars,^(o) which together were thirty-five cubits^[i] long, each with a capital^(p) five cubits high.

He made interwoven chains^[j](q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates^(r) and attached them to the chains.

He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin^[k] and the one to the north Boaz.^[l]

The Temple's Furnishings^(a)

He made a bronze altar^(b) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.^[a]

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

Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.^[d] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

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

He made a bronze altar^(b) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.^[a] He made the Sea^(c) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits^[b] high. It took a line of thirty cubits^[c] to measure around it. Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.^[d] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.^(d) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth^[e] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.^[f]

He then made ten basins^(e) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings^(f) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

He made ten gold lampstands^(g) according to the specifications^(h) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

He made ten tables⁽ⁱ⁾ and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.^(j)

He made the courtyard^(k) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze.

He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished^(l) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

the stands^(m) with their basins;

the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles. All the objects that Huram-Abi⁽ⁿ⁾ made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze.

The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth^(o) and Zarethan.^[g]

All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze^(p) could not be calculated.

Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God's temple: the golden altar; the tables^(q) on which was the bread of the Presence;

the lampstands^(r) of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;

the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);

the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes^(s) and censers;^(t) and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.

When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished,^(a) he brought in the things his father David had dedicated^(b)—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God's temple.