Temple Construction Begins// 2 Chronicles 3:1–2
1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the house of Yahweh.
- 1KI 6:1[NOTE]480 YEARS. Counting back from Solomon's fourth year, about 966 BC, puts the Exodus about 1446 BC. Many scholars date the Exodus about 1270 BC instead and read 480 as twelve generations of forty years. See the Big Question pages Who Wrote Kings?
2The house that King Solomon built for Yahweh was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out 15 feet in front of the temple.
- 1KI 6:2[FIELD NOTES]A temple with the same three room plan was found at Ain Dara in Syria. See the Solomon's Temple and Ain Dara Field Notes page and the Big Question pages The Temple.
4He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
The Chambers
5Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms. 6The bottom floor was 7½ feet wide, the middle floor 9 feet, and the third floor 10½ feet. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.
7The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
- 1KI 6:7[NOTE]NO HAMMER. The stones were cut and shaped at the quarry, so the building site stayed quiet. Many see a picture of God's quiet work in His people, 1 Peter 2:5.
8The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.
9So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar. 10He built chambers all along the temple, each 7½ feet high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.
God’s Promise to Solomon
11Then the word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying: 12“As for this temple you are building, if you walk in My statutes, carry out My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. 13And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”
The Temple’s Interior// 2 Chronicles 3:5–9
14So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.
- 1KI 6:14[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → ACTS 7:47
- 1KI 6:14[FULFILLS]David would have a son named Solomon, a man of peace who would build God's house ← 1CH 22:9-10
16He partitioned off the 30 feet 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. 17And the main hall in front of this room was 60 feet long.
18The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.
19Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there. 20The inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
21So Solomon overlaid 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. 22So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
The Cherubim// 2 Chronicles 3:10–13
23In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each 15 feet high, out of olive wood. 24One wing of the first cherub was 7½ feet long, and the other wing was 7½ feet long as well. So the full wingspan was 15 feet. 25The second cherub also measured 15 feet; both cherubim had the same size and shape, 26and the height of each cherub was 15 feet.
27And he placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Since their wings were spread out, the wing of the first cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the room their wingtips touched. 28He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
The Doors
31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts. 32The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
33In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance. 34The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels. 35He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
The Courtyard
36Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.
37The foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv. 38In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.