1 And it cometh to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year -- in the month of Zif, it `is' the second month -- of the reigning of Solomon over Israel, that he buildeth the house for Jehovah.
2 As to the house that king Solomon hath built for Jehovah, sixty cubits `is' its length, and twenty its breadth, and thirty cubits its height.
3 As to the porch on the front of the temple of the house, twenty cubits `is' its length on the front of the breadth of the house; ten by the cubit `is' its breadth on the front of the house;
4 and he maketh for the house windows of narrow lights.
5 And he buildeth against the wall of the house a couch round about, `even' the walls of the house round about, of the temple and of the oracle, and maketh sides round about.
6 The lowest couch, five by the cubit `is' its breadth; and the middle, six by the cubit `is' its breadth; and the third, seven by the cubit `is' its breadth, for withdrawings he hath put to the house round about, without -- not to lay hold on the walls of the house.
7 And the house, in its being built, of perfect stone brought `thither' hath been built, and hammer, and the axe -- any instrument of iron -- was not heard in the house, in its being built.
8 The opening of the middle side `is' at the right shoulder of the house, and with windings they go up on the middle one, and from the middle one unto the third.
9 And he buildeth the house, and completeth it, and covereth the house `with' beams and rows of cedars.
10 And he buildeth the couch against all the house, five cubits `is' its height, and it taketh hold of the house by cedar-wood.
11 And the word of Jehovah is unto Solomon, saying,
12 `This house that thou art building -- if thou dost walk in My statutes, and My judgments dost do, yea, hast done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father,
13 and have tabernacled in the midst of the sons of Israel, and do not forsake My people Israel.'
14 And Solomon buildeth the house and completeth it;
15 and he buildeth the walls of the house within with beams of cedar, from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling; he hath overlaid with wood the inside, and covereth the floor of the house with ribs of fir.
16 And he buildeth the twenty cubits on the sides of the house with ribs of cedar, from the floor unto the walls; and he buildeth for it within, for the oracle, for the holy of holies.
17 And forty by the cubit was the house, it `is' the temple before `it'.
18 And the cedar for the house within `is' carvings of knobs and openings of flowers; the whole `is' cedar, there is not a stone seen.
19 And the oracle in the midst of the house within he hath prepared, to put there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.
20 And before the oracle `is' twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits `is' its height; and he overlayeth it with gold refined, and overlayeth the altar with cedar.
21 And Solomon overlayeth the house within with gold refined, and causeth `it' to pass over in chains of gold before the oracle, and overlayeth it with gold.
22 And the whole of the house he hath overlaid with gold, till the completion of all the house; and the whole of the altar that the oracle hath, he hath overlaid with gold.
23 And he maketh within the oracle two cherubs, of the oil-tree, ten cubits `is' their height;
24 and five cubits `is' the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub, ten cubits from the ends of its wings even unto the ends of its wings;
25 and ten by the cubit `is' the second cherub, one measure and one form `are' to the two cherubs,
26 the height of the one cherub `is' ten by the cubit, and so `is' the second cherub;
27 and he setteth the cherubs in the midst of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubs, and a wing of the one cometh against the wall, and a wing of the second cherub is coming against the second wall, and their wings `are' unto the midst of the house, coming wing against wing;
28 and he overlayeth the cherubs with gold,
29 and all the walls of the house round about he hath carved with openings of carvings, cherubs, and palm trees, and openings of flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he hath overlaid with gold, within and without;
31 as to the opening of the oracle, he made doors of the oil-tree; the lintel, side-posts, a fifth.
32 And the two doors `are' of the oil-tree, and he hath carved upon them carvings of cherubs, and palm-trees, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with gold, and he causeth the gold to go down on the cherubs and on the palm-trees.
33 And so he hath made for the opening of the temple, side-posts of the oil-tree, from the fourth.
34 And the two doors `are' of fir-tree, the two sides of the one door are revolving, and the two hangings of the second door are revolving.
35 And he hath carved cherubs, and palms, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with straightened gold the graved work.
36 And he buildeth the inner court, three rows of hewn work, and a row of beams of cedar.
37 In the fourth year hath the house of Jehovah been founded, in the month Zif,
38 and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul -- `that is' the eighth month -- hath the house been finished in all its matters, and in all its ordinances, and he buildeth it seven years.
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.