The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Kings 06
1 In the four hundred and eightieth year
after the children of Israel had come 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, he began
to build Yahweh’s house.
2 The house which King Solomon built
for Yahweh had a length of sixty cubits,†
and its width twenty, and its height thirty
cubits.
3 The porch in front of the temple of the
house had a length of twenty cubits, which
was along the width of the house. Ten
cubits was its width in front of the house.
4 He made windows of fixed lattice work
for the house.
5 Against the wall of the house, he built
floors all around, against the walls of the
house all around, both of the temple and
of the inner sanctuary; and he made side
rooms all around.
6 The lowest floor was five cubits wide,
and the middle was six cubits wide, and
the third was seven cubits wide; for on the
outside he made offsets in the wall of the
house all around, that the beams should
not be inserted into the walls of the house.
7 Thehouse, whenit wasunder construction, was built of stone prepared at the
quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool
of iron was heard in the house while it was
under construction.
8 The door for the middle side rooms was
in the right side ofthe house. They went up
by winding stairs into the middle floor, and
out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the house and finished it;
and he covered the house with beams and
planks of cedar.
10 He built the floors all along the house,
each five cubits high; and they rested on
the house with timbers of cedar.
11 Yahweh’s word came to Solomon, saying,
12 “Concerning this house which you are
building, if you will walk in my statutes,
and execute my ordinances, and keep all
my commandments to walk in them, then
I will establish my word with you, which I
spoke to David your father.
13 I will dwell among the children of
Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
14 So Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 He built the walls of the house within
with boards of cedar; from the floor of the
house to the walls ofthe ceiling, he covered
them on the inside with wood. He covered
the floor of the house with cypress boards.
16 He built twenty cubits of the back part
of the house with boards of cedar from the
floor to the ceiling. He built this within, for
an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy
place.
17 In front of the temple sanctuary was
forty cubits long.
18 There was cedar on the house within,
carved with buds and open flowers. All
was cedar. No stone was visible.
19 He prepared an inner sanctuary in the
middle ofthe house within,to setthe ark of
Yahweh’s covenant there.
20 Within the inner sanctuary was
twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits
in width, and twenty cubits in its height.
He overlaid it with pure gold. He covered
the altar with cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house within
with pure gold. He drew chains of gold
across before the inner sanctuary, and he
overlaid it with gold.
22 He overlaidthe wholehouse withgold,
until all the house was finished. He also
overlaid the whole altar that belonged to
the inner sanctuary with gold.
23 In the inner sanctuary he made two
cherubim‡ of olive wood, each ten cubits
high.
24 Five cubits was the length of one wing
of the cherub, and five cubits was the
length of the other wing of the cherub.
From the tip of one wing to the tip of the
other was ten cubits.
25 The other cherub was ten cubits. Both
the cherubim were of one measure and
one form.
26 One cherub was tencubitshigh, and so
was the other cherub.
27 He set the cherubim within the inner
house. The wings of the cherubim were
stretched out, so that the wing of the one
touched the one wall and the wing of the
other cherub touched the other wall; and
their wings touched one another in the
middle of the house.
28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 He carved all the walls of the house
around with carved figures of cherubim,
palm trees, and open flowers, inside and
outside.
30 He overlaid the floor of the house with
gold, inside and outside.
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The
lintel and door posts were afifth part ofthe
wall.
32 So he made two doors of olive wood;
and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and
overlaid them with gold. He spread the
gold on the cherubim and on the palm
trees.
33 He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth
part of the wall,
34 and two 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 cherubim, palm trees, and
open flowers; and he overlaid them with
gold fitted on the engraved work.
36 He built the inner court with three
courses of cut stone and a course of cedar
beams.
37 The foundation of Yahweh’s house
was laid in the fourth year, in the month
Ziv.
38 In the eleventh year, in the month
Bul, which is the eighth month, the house
was finished throughout all its parts and
according to all its specifications. So he
spent seven years building it.