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Temple Construction(A)

So Solomon began construction of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord[a] had appeared to his father David, that is, where David had prepared Ornan the Jebusite’s threshing floor. He began construction on the second day[b] of the second month of the fourth year of his reign.

Dimensions of the Temple

These are the foundations that Solomon set in place for God’s Temple. The length in terms of the former standard measurements: 60 cubits;[c] its width: 20 cubits.[d] A portico extended in front of the Temple for its entire width of 20 cubits,[e] and was[f] 120 cubits[g] high. Inside he had it overlaid with pure gold. The main room of the Temple was trimmed with a wainscoting composed of cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold ornamented with palm trees and chains. The Temple was adorned with precious stones, including gold from the Orient.[h] The Temple was overlaid with gold, including the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls. With respect to the Most Holy Place in the Temple, its length across the width of the Temple was 20 cubits,[i] and its width extended 20 cubits.[j]

Materials of the Temple

Solomon[k] overlaid it with 600 talents[l] of pure gold. The gold nails weighed 50 shekels.[m] He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold. 10 He crafted two cherubim from wood, overlaid them with gold, and placed them in the Most Holy Place in the Temple. 11 The wingspan of the cherubim was 20 cubits;[n] the wing of one, five cubits[o] long, touched the wall of the Temple, and its other wing, five cubits[p] long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other cherub, five cubits[q] long, touched the opposite[r] wall of the Temple and its other wing, five cubits[s] long, touched the wing of the first[t] cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended for 20 cubits[u] as they stood on their feet and faced the front of[v] the Temple. 14 He constructed the veil from blue,[w] purple, crimson, and fine linen, embroidering cherubim on it. 15 He also made two pillars 35 cubits[x] high for the front of the Temple, topped by a capital that was five cubits[y] high. 16 He crafted chains for the inner sanctuary and placed them on top of the pillars, attaching 100 pomegranates to each of the chains. 17 He set up the pillars at the front of the Temple, one on the south side of the entrance[z] and the other on the north side of the entrance.[aa] He named the south pillar Jachin[ab] and the north pillar Boaz.[ac]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 The Heb. lacks the Lord
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:2 The Heb. lacks day
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:3 I.e. about 90 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:3 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:4 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:4 The Heb. lacks was
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:4 I.e. about 180 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:6 Lit. from Parvaim
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:8 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:8 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:8 Lit. He
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:8 I.e. about 45,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  13. 2 Chronicles 3:9 I.e. about 20 ounces; a shekel weighed about 0.4 ounces
  14. 2 Chronicles 3:11 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  15. 2 Chronicles 3:11 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  16. 2 Chronicles 3:11 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  17. 2 Chronicles 3:12 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  18. 2 Chronicles 3:12 The Heb. lacks opposite
  19. 2 Chronicles 3:12 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  20. 2 Chronicles 3:12 Lit. other
  21. 2 Chronicles 3:13 I.e. about 30 feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  22. 2 Chronicles 3:13 The Heb. lacks the front of
  23. 2 Chronicles 3:14 Or violet
  24. 2 Chronicles 3:15 I.e. about 52 and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  25. 2 Chronicles 3:15 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  26. 2 Chronicles 3:17 The Heb. lacks of the entrance
  27. 2 Chronicles 3:17 The Heb. lacks of the entrance
  28. 2 Chronicles 3:17 The Heb. name means He will establish
  29. 2 Chronicles 3:17 The Heb. name means In him is strength

Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

Then Solomon began to build(B) the temple of the Lord(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(E)

The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[c] long across the width of the building and twenty[d] cubits high.

He overlaid the inside with pure gold. He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(G) and chain designs. He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(H) on the walls.

He built the Most Holy Place,(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[e] of fine gold. The gold nails(J) weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[h]

14 He made the curtain(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(N) worked into it.

15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(O) which together were thirty-five cubits[i] long, each with a capital(P) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(R) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[k] and the one to the north Boaz.[l]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.