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And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Bnei Yisroel were come out of Eretz Mitzrayim , in the fourth year of Sh’lomo’s reign over Yisroel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the Beis Hashem.

And the Beis [Hamikdash] which king Sh’lomo built for Hashem, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.

And the Ulam (Portico) in front of the Heikhal of the Beis [Hamikdash], twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the Beis [Hamikdash]; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof projecting in front of the Beis [Hamikdash].

And for the Beis [Hamikdash] he made embrasures.

And against the wall of the Beis [Hamikdash] he built chambers round about, against the walls of the Beis [Hamikdash] round about, both of the Heikhal and of the Debir; and he made chambers round about;

The lowest story 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 Beis [Hamikdash] he made narrow ledges round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the Beis [Hamikdash].

And the Beis [Hamikdash], when it was under construction, was built of stone made ready before it was brought there; so was neither hammer nor chisel nor any tool of iron heard in the Beis [Hamikdash], while it was under construction.

The door for the middle story was in the right side of the Beis [Hamikdash]; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

So he built the Beis [Hamikdash], and finished it; and covered the Beis [Hamikdash] with beams and boards of cedar.

10 And then he built chambers against all the Beis [Hamikdash], five cubits high; and they rested on the Beis [Hamikdash] with timber of cedar.

11 And the Devar Hashem came to Sh’lomo, saying,

12 Concerning this Beis [Hamikdash] which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in My statutes, and execute My judgments, and be shomer over all My mitzvot to walk in them; then will I perform My word (promise) with thee, which I spoke unto Dovid thy father;

13 And I will dwell among the Bnei Yisroel, and will not forsake My people Yisroel.

14 So Sh’lomo built the Beis [Hamikdash], and finished it.

15 And he built the walls of the Beis [Hamikdash] within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the Beis [Hamikdash] to the rafters of the ceiling; and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the Beis [Hamikdash] with planks of cypress.

16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the Beis [Hamikdash], from the floor to the rafters with boards of cedar; he even built them for it within, even for the Debir, even for the Kodesh HaKodashim.

17 And the Beis, that is, the Heikhal in front of it, was forty cubits long.

18 And the cedar of the Beis [Hamikdash] within was carved with gourds and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

19 And the Devir he prepared in the Beis [Hamikdash] within, to set there the Aron Brit Hashem.

20 And the Devir was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure zahav (gold); and so covered the mizbe’ach which was of cedar.

21 So Sh’lomo overlaid the Beis [Hamikdash] within with pure zahav (gold); and he drew chains of zahav (gold) across, in front of the Devir; and he overlaid it with zahav.

22 And the whole interior he overlaid with zahav (gold), in order that kol haBeis be perfect; also the whole Mizbe’ach that belonged to the Devir he overlaid with zahav (gold).

23 And within the Devir he made two keruvim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

24 And five cubits was the one wing of the keruv, and five cubits the other wing of the keruv; from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

25 And the other keruv was ten cubits; both the keruvim were of one measure and one size.

26 The height of the one keruv was ten cubits, and so was it of the other keruv.

27 And he set the keruvim within the inner room; and they stretched forth the wings of the keruvim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other keruv touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of HaBayit.

28 And he overlaid the keruvim with zahav (gold).

29 And he carved all the walls of the Beis [Hamikdash] round about with carved figures of keruvim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

30 And the floor of the Beis [Hamikdash] he overlaid with zahav (gold), within and without.

31 And for the entering of the Devir he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and the five-sided door posts.

32 The two doors also were of olive wood; and he carved upon them carvings of keruvim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with zahav, and spread zahav upon the keruvim, and upon the palm trees.

33 So also made he for the entrance of the Heikhal foursided door posts of olive wood.

34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

35 And he carved thereon keruvim and palm trees and open flowers; and covered them with zahav fitted upon the carved work.

36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.

37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the Beis Hashem laid, in the month Ziv;

38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the Beis [Hamikdash] finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he sheva shanim (seven years) in building it.

Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

In the four hundred and eightieth[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,(B) he began to build the temple of the Lord.(C)

The temple(D) that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[b] The portico(E) at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[c] and projected ten cubits[d] from the front of the temple. He made narrow windows(F) high up in the temple walls. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.(G) The lowest floor was five cubits[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits[f] and the third floor seven.[g] 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(H) at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool(I) was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

The entrance to the lowest[h] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar(J) planks. 10 And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

11 The word of the Lord came(K) to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands(L) and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise(M) I gave to David your father. 13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon(N) my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon(O) built the temple and completed(P) it. 15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling,(Q) and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.(R) 16 He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.(S) 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits[i] long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar,(T) carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary(U) within the temple to set the ark of the covenant(V) of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary(W) was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.(X) 21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23 For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim(Y) out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim(Z) inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 On the walls(AA) all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim,(AB) palm trees and open flowers. 30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32 And on the two olive-wood doors(AC) he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33 In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34 He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

36 And he built the inner courtyard(AD) of three courses(AE) of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

37 The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details(AF) according to its specifications.(AG) He had spent seven years building it.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:1 Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth
  2. 1 Kings 6:2 That is, about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high
  3. 1 Kings 6:3 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20
  4. 1 Kings 6:3 That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26
  5. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24
  6. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 9 feet or about 2.7 meters
  7. 1 Kings 6:6 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters
  8. 1 Kings 6:8 Septuagint; Hebrew middle
  9. 1 Kings 6:17 That is, about 60 feet or about 18 meters