The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 6 -

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

Then it happened that, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel departed from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the house of the Lord began to be built.

Now the house, which king Solomon was building to the Lord, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height.

And a portico was before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, in accord with the measure of the width of the temple. And it had ten cubits of width before the face of the temple.

And he made oblique windows in the temple.(a)

The Chambers

And upon the wall of the temple, he built panels on all sides, in the walls of the house around the temple and the oracle. And he made side chambers all around.(b)

(c)

(d)

The flooring on the bottom level held five cubits in width, and the middle floor was six cubits in width, and the third floor held seven cubits in width. Then he positioned beams on the house all around the outside, in such a way that they would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.

Now the house, while it was being built, was made from cut and finished stones. And so, neither mallet, nor chisel, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.(e)

The door at the side of the middle section was to the right of the house. And they would ascend along winding stairs to the middle level, and from the middle level to the third level.

And he built the house, and finished it. And he overlaid the house with boards of cedar.

And he built a paneling over the entire house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with cedar wood.

God’s Promise to Solomon

And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:

“Concerning this house, which you are building: if you will walk in my precepts, and carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments, advancing by them, I will confirm my word to you, which I spoke to your father David.

And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

And so, Solomon built the house, and finished it.

And he built the walls of the house, on the interior, with panels of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the top of the walls, and even to the ceiling. He covered it with cedar wood on the interior. And he overlaid the floor of the house with panels of spruce.

And he built panels of cedar, of twenty cubits, at the back part of the temple, from the floor even to the top. And he made the inner house of the oracle as the Holy of Holies.

And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits.

And the entire house was clothed with cedar on the interior, having its turnings and junctures artfully wrought, with carvings projecting outward. Everything was clothed with panels of cedar. And no stone at all was able to be seen in the wall.

Now he made the oracle in the middle of the house, in the inner part, so that he might station the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

And the oracle held twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and clothed it with the purest gold. Then, too, he clothed the altar in cedar.

Also, the house before the oracle, he covered with the purest gold, and he fastened the plates with nails of gold.

And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold. Moreover, the entire altar of the oracle he overlaid with gold.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

And he made in the oracle two cherubim from wood of the olive tree, of ten cubits in height.

One wing of a cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of a cherub was five cubits, that is, having ten cubits from the summit of one wing even to the summit of the other wing.

Likewise, the second cherub was ten cubits. And the measure was equal and the work was one, in the two cherubim,

that is, one cherub had a height of ten cubits, and similarly the second cherub.

And he stationed the cherubim in the middle of the inner temple. And the cherubim extended their wings, and the wing of the one was touching the wall, and the wing of the second cherub was touching the other wall. But the other wings, in the middle of the temple, were touching each another.

He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

And all the walls of the temple all around he engraved with diverse carvings and turnings. And he made in them cherubim, and palm trees, and various images, as if these were projecting out, and going forth from, the wall.

Then, too, the floor of the house he overlaid with gold within and without.

The Doors

And at the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors, from wood of the olive tree, with posts of five corners.

And there were two doors, from wood of the olive tree. And he carved upon them pictures of cherubim, and images of palm trees, and very prominent figures. And he overlaid these with gold. And he covered the cherubim, as well as the palm trees and the other things, with gold.

And he made, at the entrance of the temple, posts from wood of the olive tree, with four corners,

and two doors, from wood of the spruce tree, on the other side. And each door was double, and so it opened by folding upon itself.

And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and very prominent engravings. And he covered everything with gold plates, worked to be perfectly square.

The Courtyard

And he built the inner atrium with three rows of polished stones, and one row of cedar wood.

In the fourth year, the house of the Lord was founded, in the month of Ziv.

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was perfected in all its works and in all its equipment. And he built it for seven years.(f)

Footnotes

(a)6:4 This was probably done so that the sun could not shine in directly.(Conte)

(b)6:5 Upon the wall:That is, joining to the wall.(Challoner)

(c)6:5 He built floors round about:Chambers or cells adjoining to the temple, for the use of the temple and of the priests, so contrived as to be between the inward and outward wall of the temple, in three stories, one above another.(Challoner)

(d)6:5 The oracle:The inner temple or holy of holies, where God gave his oracles.(Challoner)

(e)6:7 Made ready, etc:So the stones for the building of God’s eternal temple in the heavenly Jerusalem, (who are the faithful,) must first be hewn and polished here by many trials and sufferings, before they can be admitted to have a place in that celestial structure.(Challoner)

(f)6:38 The Jews would count any portion of a year as a whole year, so from the fourth to the eleventh would be eight years: seven years to build the temple and one year (or portion of a year) to complete all the works and equipment (articles used for worship such as lampstands, vessels for burning incense and offering sacrifices, etc.).(Conte)

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the LORD’s house.

The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits,(a) and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

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.

He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.

The Chambers

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.

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.

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.

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.

So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.

He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.

God’s Promise to Solomon

The LORD’s word came to Solomon, saying,

“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.

I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

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. He covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.

He built twenty cubits of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this within, for an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place.

In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.

He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of the LORD’s covenant there.

Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height. He overlaid it with pure gold. He covered the altar with cedar.

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.

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.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim

(b)

of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits was the length of the other wing of the cherub. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.

The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.

One cherub was ten cubits high, and so was the other cherub.

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.

He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.

He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.

The Doors

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.

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.

He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall,

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.

He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.

The Courtyard

He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.

The foundation of the LORD’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv.

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.

Footnotes

(a)6:2 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(b)6:23 “Cherubim” is plural of “cherub”, an angelic being.