1 Kings 6–7

Solomon Builds the Temple

6Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple. ²Inside it was 27 metres long, 9 metres wide, and 13.5 metres high. ³The entrance room was 4.5 metres deep and 9 metres wide, as wide as the sanctuary itself. ⁴The walls of the Temple had openings in them, narrower on the outside than on the inside. ⁵Against the outside walls, on the sides and the back of the Temple, a three-storied annexe was built, each storey 2.2 metres high. ⁶Each room in the lowest storey was 2.2 metres wide, in the middle storey 2.7 metres wide, and in the top storey 3.1 metres wide. The temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below so that the rooms could rest on the wall without having their beams built into it.

⁷The stones with which the Temple was built had been prepared at the quarry, so that there was no noise made by hammers, axes, or any other iron tools as the Temple was being built.

⁸The entrance to the lowest^k storey of the annexe was on the south side of the Temple, with stairs leading up to the second and third storeys. ⁹So King Solomon finished building the Temple. He put in a ceiling made of beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰The three-storied annexe, each storey^l 2.2 metres high, was built against the outside walls of the Temple, and was joined to them by cedar beams.

¹¹The Lord said to Solomon, ¹²“If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. ¹³I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them.”

¹⁴So Solomon finished building the Temple.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

¹⁵The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling, and the floor was made of pine. ^16*An inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was built in the rear of the Temple. It was 9 metres long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling.^{m 17}The room in front of the Most Holy Place was 18 metres long. ¹⁸The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers; the whole interior was covered with cedar, so that the stones of the walls could not be seen.

¹⁹In the rear of the Temple an inner room was built, where the Lord’s Covenant Box was to be placed. ²⁰This inner room was 9 metres long, 9 metres wide, and 9 metres high, all covered with pure gold. The altar was covered with cedar panels.^{n 21}The inside of the Temple was covered with gold, and gold chains were placed across the entrance of the inner room, which was also covered with gold. ^22*The whole interior of the Temple was covered with gold, as well as the altar in the Most Holy Place.

^23*Two winged creatures were made of olive wood and placed in the Most Holy Place, each one 4.4 metres tall. ^24–26*Both were of the same size and shape. Each had two wings, each wing 2.2 metres long, so that the distance from one wing tip to the other was 4.4 metres. ^27*They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place, so that two of their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls. ^28*The two winged creatures were covered with gold.

²⁹The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. ³⁰Even the floor was covered with gold.

³¹A double door made of olive wood was set in place at the entrance of the Most Holy Place; the top of the doorway was a pointed arch. ³²The doors were decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the winged creatures, and the palm trees were covered with gold. ³³For the entrance to the main room a rectangular door-frame of olive wood was made. ³⁴There were two folding doors made of pine ³⁵and decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold.

³⁶An inner court was built in front of the Temple, enclosed with walls which had one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of stone.

³⁷The foundation of the Temple was laid in the second month, the month of Ziv, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. ³⁸In the eighth month, the month of Bul, in the eleventh year of Solomon’s reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It had taken Solomon seven years to build it.

Solomon’s Palace

7Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years. ^2–3The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon^o was 44 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 13.5 metres high. It had three^p rows of cedar pillars, fifteen in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over store-rooms, which were supported by the pillars. ⁴In each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows. ⁵The doorways and the windows^q had rectangular frames, and the three rows of windows in each wall faced the opposite rows.

⁶The Hall of Columns was 22 metres long and 13.5 metres wide. It had a covered porch, supported by columns.

⁷The Throne Room, also called the Hall of Judgement, where Solomon decided cases, had cedar panels from the floor to the rafters.^r

^8*Solomon’s own quarters, in another court behind the Hall of Judgement, were made like the other buildings. He also built the same kind of house for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹All these buildings and the great court were made of fine stones from the foundations to the eaves. The stones were prepared at the quarry and cut to measure, with their inner and outer sides trimmed with saws. ¹⁰The foundations were made of large stones prepared at the quarry, some of them 3.5 metres long and others 4 metres long. ¹¹On top of them were other stones, cut to measure, and cedar beams. ¹²The palace court, the inner court of the Temple, and the entrance room of the Temple had walls with one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of cut stones.

Huram’s Task

¹³King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre, who was skilled in bronze work. ¹⁴His father, who was no longer living, was from Tyre, and had also been a skilled bronze craftsman; his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was an intelligent and experienced craftsman. He accepted King Solomon’s invitation to be in charge of all the bronze work.

The Two Bronze Columns

¹⁵Huram cast two bronze columns, each one 8 metres tall and 5.3 metres in circumference,^s and placed them at the entrance of the Temple. ¹⁶He also made two bronze capitals, each one 2.2 metres tall, to be placed on top of the columns. ¹⁷The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains,^{t 18}and two rows of bronze pomegranates.

¹⁹The capitals were shaped like lilies, 1.8 metres tall, ²⁰and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows round each^u capital.

²¹Huram placed these two bronze columns in front of the entrance of the Temple: the one on the south side was named Jachin,^v and the one on the north was named Boaz.^{w 22}The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns.

And so the work on the columns was completed.

The Bronze Tank

²³Huram made a round tank of bronze, 2.2 metres deep, 4.4 metres in diameter, and 13.2 metres in circumference. ²⁴All round the outer edge of the rim of the tank^x were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. ²⁵The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outwards, three facing in each direction. ²⁶The sides of the tank were 75 millimetres thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outwards like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 40,000 litres.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 1.8 metres long, 1.8 metres wide, and 1.3 metres high. ²⁸They were made of square panels which were set in frames, ²⁹with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. ³⁰Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. ³¹There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upwards 45 centimetres from the top of the cart and 18 centimetres down into it. It had carvings round it. ³²The wheels were 66 centimetres high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts. ³³The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. ³⁴There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. ³⁵There was a 22 centimetre band round the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. ³⁶The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all round. ³⁷This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape.

^38*Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 1.8 metres in diameter, and held about 800 litres. ³⁹He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the south-east corner.

Summary List of Temple Furnishings

⁴⁰Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the Lord’s Temple. This is what he made:

⁴¹The two columns;

The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns;

The design of interwoven chains on each capital;

⁴²The 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of a hundred each round the design on each capital;

⁴³The ten carts;

The ten basins;

⁴⁴The tank;

The twelve bulls supporting the tank;

⁴⁵The pots, shovels, and bowls.

All this equipment…