^6:5He built an extension all around the walls of the temple’s main hall and holy place and constructed side rooms in it.⁷^6:6The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet⁸ wide, the middle floor nine feet⁹ wide, and the third floor ten and a half¹⁰ feet wide. He made ledges¹¹ on the temple’s outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls.¹²^6:7As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry¹³ were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. ^6:8The entrance to the bottom¹⁴ level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up¹⁵ to the middle floor and then on up to the third¹⁶ floor.

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Footnotes

7 Heb “and he built on the wall of the temple an extension all around, the walls of the temple all around, for the main hall and for the holy place, and he made side rooms all around.”
8 Heb “five cubits.”
9 Heb “six cubits.”
10 Heb “seven cubits.”
11 Or “offsets” (, , , ); “offset ledges.”
12 Heb “so that [the beams] would not have a hold in the walls of the temple.”
13 Heb “finished stone of the quarry,” i.e., stones chiseled and shaped at the time they were taken out of the quarry.
14 The Hebrew text has “middle,” but the remainder of the verse suggests this is an error.
15 Heb “by stairs they went up.” The word translated “stairs” occurs only here. Other options are “trapdoors” or “ladders.”
16 The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew , the , and הַשְּׁלִשִׁית (hashélishit, “the third”) rather than הַשְּׁלִשִׁים (hashélishim, “the thirty”).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

He then built a chambered structure along the temple wall, encircling the walls of the temple, that is, the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. The lowest chamber was 7½ feet wide, the middle was 9 feet wide, and the third was 10½ feet wide. He also provided offset ledges for the temple all around the outside so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. The temple’s construction used finished stones cut at the quarry so that no hammer, chisel, or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

The door for the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the temple. They went up a stairway to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third.

NLTNew Living Translation

He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7½ feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10½ feet wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves.

The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.

The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

and he built a structure against the wall of the temple running all along the walls of the house, for the outer sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary, and made side rooms all around. The lower structure was five cubits in its width and the middle was six cubits in its width and the third was seven cubits in its width, for he made niches for the temple all around to the outside, so that beams would not attach to the walls of the temple. Now while the temple was being built, it was built with stones finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the temple as it was being built. The doorway of the side room in the middle of the side of the temple was on the south; they went up with a stairway to the middle and from the middle to the third floor.

KJV 1900King James Version

And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

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