1 Kings 6

Dimensions and Design 1 Kings 6:3–10

³Verse 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. ⁴Verse 4. He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house. ⁵Verse 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. ⁶Verse 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.

⁷Verse 7. The house, when it was under 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. ⁸Verse 8. The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third. ⁹Verse 9. So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar. ¹⁰Verse 10. He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

Divine Assurance 1 Kings 6:11–13

¹¹Verse 11. Yahweh’s word came to Solomon, saying, ¹²Verse 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. ¹³Verse 13. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”

Interior Construction 1 Kings 6:14–28

¹⁴Verse 14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it. ¹⁵Verse 15. He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards. ¹⁶Verse 16. He built twenty cubits on the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built them for it within, for an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place. ¹⁷Verse 17. In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits. ¹⁸Verse 18. There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.

¹⁹Verse 19. He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of Yahweh’s covenant there. ²⁰Verse 20. Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height; and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he covered the altar with cedar. ²¹Verse 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. ²²Verse 22. He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.

²³Verse 23. In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴Verse 24. Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits. ²⁵Verse 25. The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form. ²⁶Verse 26. One cherub was ten cubits high, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷Verse 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.

²⁸Verse 28. He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

Artistic Details 1 Kings 6:29–36

²⁹Verse 29. He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside. ³⁰Verse 30. He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside. ³¹Verse 31. For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall. ³²Verse 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. ³³Verse 33. He also did so for the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;

³⁴Verse 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. ³⁵Verse 35. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work. ³⁶Verse 36. He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.

Completion of the Temple 1 Kings 6:37–38

³⁷Verse 37. The foundation of Yahweh’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv. ³⁸Verse 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.