Solomon’s Wisdom: Architecture

5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him as king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend for David. 2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3 “You knew David my father, that he was not able to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God, ⌊in view of the warfare⌋a which surrounded him, until Yahweh placed themb under the soles of his feet. 4 But now Yahweh my God has given me rest all around me. There is no adversary, and there is no bad occurrence. 5 Here I am, intending to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh promised to my father David, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set in your place on your throne, shall build the house for my name.’ 6 So then, command that they may cut cedars for me from Lebanon, and let my servants be with your servants. The wage of your servants I will give to you according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.” 7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and he said, “Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” 8 Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard what you have sent to me; I will do all of your desire concerning the timber of cedars and concerning the timber of cypresses. 9 My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts in the sea to float to the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry them further, and ⌊you shall meet my needs⌋c by giving food for my house.” 10 So Hiram was giving to Solomon the cedar timbers and the cypress timbers, ⌊everything he needed⌋.d 11 Then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand dry measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty dry measures of ⌊specially prepared olive oil⌋;e thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year. 12 Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them ⌊made⌋f a covenant.

13 Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand ⌊every month⌋;g the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand ⌊common laborers⌋h and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country. 16 Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work. 17 When the king commanded, they quarried great stones and precious stones to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites hewed stones, and they prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

Solomon Builds the Temple for Yahweh

6 It happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the ⌊Israelites⌋a went out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year ⌊of Solomon’s rule⌋b over Israel, the month of Ziv (that is the second month), that he began to build the house for Yahweh. 2 Now the house that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits in its length and twenty cubits in its width and thirty cubits in its height. 3 The vestibule on the face of the main hall of the templec was twenty cubits in its length, and the width of the templed was ten cubits wide on the face of the temple.e 4 And he made for the templef specially designed framed windows, 5 and he built a structure against the wall of the templeg running all along the walls of the house, for the outer sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary, and made side rooms all around. 6 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 templeh all around to the outside, so that beams would not attach to the walls of the temple.i 7 Now while the templej 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 templek as it was being built. 8 The doorway of the side room in the middle of the side of the templel was on the south; they went up with a stairway to the middle and from the middle to the third floor. 9 So he built the house and finished it. He covered the templem with rafters and wood planks and with the cedars. 10 He also built the structure against all of the templen five cubits in height and fastened it to the templeo with beams of cedar.

11 Then the word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying, 12 “Regarding this templep that you are building: if you walk in my ordinances and if you do my judgments and you keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my promise with you which I made to David your father. 13 And I will dwell ⌊among⌋q the ⌊Israelites⌋,r and I will not forsake my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the temples and finished it. 15 He lined the walls ⌊of the inside of the house⌋t with boards of cedar; from the floor of the templeu up to the rafters of the ceiling he covered them with wood ⌊on the inside⌋.v He also covered the floor of the templew with cypress boards. 16 He built twenty cubits from the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor up to the ceiling, and he built for it an inner sanctuary on the inside, as the ⌊most holy place⌋.x 17 The main hall of the templey was forty cubits ⌊in front of the inner sanctuary⌋,z 18 with the cedar within the inner house having carvings of gourds and buds of flowers. It was entirely of cedar; there was not a stone visible. 19 Now in the inner sanctuary in the middle of the templea he prepared the inside to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there. 20 In front, the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar. 21 Solomon overlaid the templeb on the inside with pure gold, and he drew across it with golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which he overlaid with gold.

22 All of the templec he overlaid with gold until all of the templed was finished; all of the altar which belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 23 He made two cherubim of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, ten cubits high. 24 Five cubits was the first wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub; ten cubits from the tip of his one wing up to the tip of his other wing. 25 The second cherub was ten cubits according to ⌊the same⌋e measurement, and there was one shape for the two cherubim. 26 The height of the first cherub was ten cubits and so was the second cherub.

27 He placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim; the wing of the first cherub touched against the wall and the wing of the second cherub was touching against the second wall; their wings spread to the middle of the house and were touching wing to wing. 28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 On all of the walls around the house, he carved engravings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers both inside and out. 30 He overlaid the floor of the house with gold both inside and out. 31 He made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner sanctuary, as well as for the doorpost of the fifth doorframe. 32 On the two doors of olive wood he made carvings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers, and he overlaid them with gold ⌊by beating⌋f out the gold on the cherubim and the palm tree images. 33 Thus he made doorframes of olive wood on four sides for the doorway of the main hall 34 and two doors of cypress wood; one door with two folding panels and the second door with two folding panels. 35 He carved cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 36 Then he built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and a row of cedar beams. 37 In the fourth year,g the house of Yahweh was founded in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished according to all his specifications and according to all his plans. He had built it in seven years.