Building the Temple
1Then Solomon began3:1–4 1Kg 6:1–3 to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah3:1 Gn 22:2 where the Lord3:1 LXX; Tg reads the angel of the Lord; MT reads he had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan3:1 = Araunah in 2Sm 24:16–24 the Jebusite.
2He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3These are Solomon’s foundations3:3 Tg reads The measurements which Solomon decreed for building God’s temple: the length3:3 Lit length — cubits in the former measure — was ninety feet,3:3 Lit 60 cubits and the width thirty feet.3:3 Lit 20 cubits, also in vv. 4,8,11,13
4The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet;3:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads 120 cubits he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold.
5The larger room3:5 Lit The house he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains.
6He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim.
7He overlaid the temple — the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors — with gold,3:7 1Kg 6:20–22 and he carved cherubim on the walls.3:7 1Kg 6:29–35
The Most Holy Place
8Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet.3:8 1Kg 6:16 He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds3:8 Lit 600 talents of fine gold.
9The weight of the nails was twenty ounces3:9 Lit 50 shekels of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.
10He made3:10–13 1Kg 6:23–28 two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold.
11The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,3:11 Lit five cubits, also in vv. 12,15 touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub.
12The wing of the other3:12 Syr, Vg; MT reads the one cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub.
13The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.3:13 Lit the house
The Bronze Pillars
15In front of the temple3:15–17 1Kg 7:15–22; 2Kg 25:17; Jr 52:21–23 he made two pillars, each 27 feet3:15 Syr reads 18 cubits (27 feet); Hb reads 35 cubits (52½ feet) high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high.
16He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.3:16 1Kg 6:21; 7:17 He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork.
17Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin3:17 = He Will Establish and the one on the left Boaz.3:17 = Strength Is in Him
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