1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.
2 And the house that king Solomon built for Jehovah was sixty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.
3 And the porch, in front of the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, [and] ten cubits was its breadth, in front of the house.
4 And for the house he made closed windows with fixed lattices.
5 And against the wall of the house he built floors round about, [against] the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about.
6 The lowest floor was five cubits broad, and the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for in the [thickness of the wall of] the house he made resets round about outside, that nothing should be fastened in the walls of the house.
7 And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone entirely made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built.
8 The entrance to the side-chambers of the middle [floor] was in the right side of the house; and they went up by winding stairs into the middle [floor], and out of the middle into the third.
9 And he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
10 And he built the floors against all the house, five cubits high; and they held to the house by the timbers of cedar.
11 And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon saying,
12 As to this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and practise mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I perform my word as to thee which I spoke unto David thy father;
13 and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
14 And Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the roof; he overlaid [them] on the inside with wood, and overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
16 And he built twenty cubits of the innermost part of the house, both floor and walls, with boards of cedar; and he built [them] for it within, to [be] the oracle, the most holy place.
17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits [long].
18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with colocynths and half-open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
19 And he prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.
20 And the oracle within was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he overlaid the cedar-wood altar --
21 and Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and shut off the oracle in front with chains of gold, and overlaid it with gold.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, the whole house entirely; also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 And he made in the oracle two cherubim of olive-wood, ten cubits high;
24 and one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub, ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing;
25 and the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so of the other cherub.
27 And he set the cherubim in the midst of the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched, wing to wing, in the midst of the house.
28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved sculptures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel [and] side posts were the fifth part [of the breadth of the house].
32 The two doors were of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees and half-open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm-trees.
33 And he also made for the doorway of the temple posts of olive-wood, of the fourth part [of the breadth of the house].
34 And the two folding-doors were of cypress-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved on them cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers; and overlaid them with gold fitted on the carved work.
36 And he built the inner court of three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar-beams.
37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Zif;
38 and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished in all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was seven years in building it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 6
Commentary on 1 Kings 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
1Ki 6:1-4. The Building of Solomon's Temple.
2. the house which king Solomon built for the Lord—The dimensions are given in cubits, which are to be reckoned according to the early standard (2Ch 3:3), or holy cubit (Eze 40:5; 43:13), a handbreadth longer than the common or later one. It is probable that the internal elevation only is here stated.
3. the porch—or portico, extended across the whole front (see on 2Ch 3:4).
4. windows of narrow lights—that is, windows with lattices, capable of being shut and opened at pleasure, partly to let out the vapor of the lamps, the smoke of the frankincense, and partly to give light [Keil].
1Ki 6:5-10. The Chambers Thereof.
5. against the wall of the house he built chambers—On three sides, there were chambers in three stories, each story wider than the one beneath it, as the walls were narrowed or made thinner as they ascended, by a rebate being made, on which the beams of the side floor rested, without penetrating the wall. These chambers were approached from the right-hand side, in the interior of the under story, by a winding staircase of stone, which led to the middle and upper stories.
7. there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building—A subterranean quarry has been very recently discovered near Jerusalem, where the temple stones are supposed to have been hewn. There is unequivocal evidence in this quarry that the stones were dressed there; for there are blocks very similar in size, as well as of the same kind of stone, as those found in the ancient remains. Thence, probably, they would be moved on rollers down the Tyropean valley to the very side of the temple [Porter, Tent and Kahn].
9, 10. built the house—The temple is here distinguished from the wings or chambers attached to it—and its roofing was of cedar-wood.
10. chambers … five cubits high—The height of the whole three stories was therefore about fifteen cubits.
they rested on the house with timber of cedar—that is, because the beams of the side stones rested on the ledges of the temple wall. The wing was attached to the house; it was connected with the temple, without, however, interfering injuriously with the sanctuary [Keil].
1Ki 6:11-14. God's Promises unto It.
11-13. the word of the Lord came to Solomon—probably by a prophet. It was very seasonable, being designed: first, to encourage him to go on with the building, by confirming anew the promise made to his father David (2Sa 7:12-16); and secondly, to warn him against the pride and presumption of supposing that after the erection of so magnificent a temple, he and his people would always be sure of the presence and favor of God. The condition on which that blessing could alone be expected was expressly stated. The dwelling of God among the children of Israel refers to those symbols of His presence in the temple, which were the visible tokens of His spiritual relation to that people.
1Ki 6:15-22. The Ceiling and Adorning of It.
15-21. he built the walls of the house within—The walls were wainscotted with cedar-wood; the floor, paved with cypress planks; the interior was divided (by a partition consisting of folding doors, which were opened and shut with golden chains) into two apartments—the back or inner room, that is, the most holy place, was twenty cubits long and broad; the front, or outer room, that is, the holy place, was forty cubits. The cedar-wood was beautifully embellished with figures in relievo, representing clusters of foliage, open flowers, cherubims, and palm trees. The whole interior was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood nor stone was seen; nothing met the eye but pure gold, either plain or richly chased.
31-35. for the entering of the oracle—The door of the most holy place was made of solid olive tree and adorned with figures. The door of the holy place was made of cypress wood, the sides being of olive wood.
36. the inner court—was for the priests. Its wall, which had a coping of cedar, is said to have been so low that the people could see over it.
1Ki 6:37, 38. The time Taken to Build It.
37. In the fourth year was the foundation laid—The building was begun in the second month of the fourth year and completed in the eighth month of the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, comprising a period of seven and a half years, which is reckoned here in round numbers. It was not a very large, but a very splendid building, requiring great care, and ingenuity, and division of labor. The immense number of workmen employed, together with the previous preparation of the materials, serves to account for the short time occupied in the process of building.