3 Kings 6
6
1And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio (the same is the second month), he began to build a house to the Lord.
2And the house, which king Solomon built to the Lord, was threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.
3And there was a porch before the temple of twenty cubits in length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it was ten cubits in breadth before the face of the temple.
4And he made in the temple oblique windows.
5And upon the wall of the temple he built floors round about, in the walls of the house round about the temple and the oracle: and he made sides round about.
6The floor that was underneath, was five cubits in breadth; and the middle floor was six cubits in breadth; and the third door was seven cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on the outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple.
7And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones hewed and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house when it was in building.
8The door for the middle side was on the right hand of the house: and by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the middle to the third.
9So he built the house, and finished it. End he covered the house with roofs of cedar.
10And he built a floor over all the house five cubits in height: and he covered the house with timber of cedar.
11And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
12This house, which thou buildest, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee which I spoke to David thy father.
13And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
14So Solomon built the house and finished it.
15And he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the roofs. He covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
16And he built up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the hinder part of the temple, from the floor to the top: and made the inner house of the oracle to be the holy of holies.
17And the temple itself before the doors of the oracle was forty cubits long.
18And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought and carvings projecting out. All was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone could be seen in the wall at all.
19And he made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
20Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and overlaid it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered with cedar.
21And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure gold, and fastened on the plates with nails of gold.
22And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also with gold.
23And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive-tree, of ten cubits in height.
24One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity of one wing to the extremity of the other wing.
25The second cherub also was ten cubits. And the measure, and the work, was the same in both the cherubims:
26That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like manner the other cherub.
27And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and the cherubims stretched forth their wings. And the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one another.
28And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
29And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm-trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from the wall.
30And the floor of the house he also overlaid with gold within and without.
31And in the entrance of the oracle he made little doors of olive-tree, and posts of five corners:
32And two doors of olive-tree. And he carved upon them figures of cherubims, and figures of palm-trees, and carvings very much projecting: and he overlaid them with gold. And he covered both the cherubims and the palm-trees, and the other things with gold.
33And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive-tree four square:
34And two doors of fir-tree, one of each side. And each door was double, and so opened with folding leaves.
35And he carved cherubims, and palm-trees, and carved work standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by rule.
36And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones, and one row of beams of cedar.
37In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded in the month Zio.
38And in the eleventh year in the month Bul (which is the eighth month) the house was finished in all the works thereof, and in all the appurtenances thereof. And he was seven years in building it.
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3 Kings 6: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Kings 6
6
The Outside of the Temple Is Completed
1Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv,#6.1 Ziv: The second month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-April to mid-May. the second month of the year. It had been 4 years since Solomon became king of Israel, and 480 years since the people of Israel left Egypt.
2The inside of the Lord's temple was 27 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high. 3A four-and-a-half-meter porch went all the way across the front of the temple. 4The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.
5-6Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were just over two meters wide, the rooms on the middle level were over two and a half meters wide, and those on the top level were just over three meters wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.
7Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he gave orders for the workers to shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.
8The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. 9The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.
The workers finished building the outside of the temple. 10Storage rooms just over two meters high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.
11The Lord told Solomon:
12-13If you obey my commands and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this temple you are building, and I will not desert them.
14So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.
The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished
(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)
15The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.#6.15 from floor to ceiling: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
16 #
Ex 26.31-34. The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine meters square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling#6.16 standing … ceiling: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. separated it from the rest of the temple. 17The temple's main room was 18 meters long, and it was in front of the most holy place.
18The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.
19The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. 20-22#Ex 30.1-3. This room was nine meters long, nine meters wide, and nine meters high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.
23 #
Ex 25.18-20. Solomon had two statues of winged creatures#6.23 statues of winged creatures: These were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18-22). made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half meters tall 24-26and four and a half meters across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two meters long. 27Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. 28The creatures were also covered with gold.
29The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. 30Even the floor was covered with gold.
31-32The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.
33-34The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections#6.33,34 two sections: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. 35The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.
36The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.
37Work began on the temple during Ziv,#6.37 Ziv: See the note at 6.1. the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. 38Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul,#6.38 Bul: The eighth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-October to mid-November. the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.
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