1 Kings 6

CHAPTER SIX

OTHER CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

1 Kings 7:1-51

In chapter seven the discussion of Solomon’s construction works continues. After describing concisely the royal palace complex built by Solomon (1 Kings 6:1-12), the author focuses his attention on the metal works of Hiram the artisan (1 Kings 6:13-38).

REVIEW OF Chapter S FIVE AND SIX

I. FACTS TO MASTER

A. Names: Be able to identify each of the following and relate their significance to the construction of the Temple.

1. King Hiram

2. Ziv and Bui

3. Hiram, the widow’s son

4. Jachin and Boaz

5. Lebanon

6. Succoth and Zarethan

7. Tyre

B. Numbers 1. The total number of people employed in the Temple project. 2. The number of years which elapsed between the Exodus and the commencement of the Temple work. 3. The dimensions of the Temple. 4. The length of time consumed in building the Temple. 5. The length of time involved in construction of the palace complex.

C. Other Facts

1. Name the various divisions or areas of Solomon’s Temple.
2. Name the various furnishings of each division or area of the Temple proper and the court.
3. Name the major items of the Temple constructed under the direction of Hiram.

II. QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. Why was David refused permission to build God a Temple?

2. Why was Hiram so happy to hear of Solomon’s intentions to build a Temple? 1 Kings 5:7

3. Ancient covenants usually involved mutual recognition of deities. Do you think that was the case in the covenant between Solomon and Hiram?

4. How does the organization of workers for the Temple project reveal the wisdom of Solomon?

5. What possible symbolism is there in the Holy of Holies being a cube?

6. For what purpose were side chambers built about the Temple on three sides?

7. Ancient temples were not so much places for the worshipers to enter (they were too small for this purpose) as dwelling places for deities. On what did the presence of God in Solomon’s Temple depend? 1 Kings 6:11-13

8. What were cherubim? How were they represented in Israelite art?

9. What purpose might the house of the forest of Lebanon have served? How did it get its name?

10. What is so significant about Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter?

11. What purpose did the two massive pillars before Solomon’s Temple serve?

12. What purpose did the molten sea serve? The mobile lavers?

1 Kings 6:1

II. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE 6:1-38

Chapter six is designed to present a word picture of Solomon’s Temple. The material presented here is sufficient to allow one to get a general idea of what that magnificent structure must have been like. The omission of crucial architectural details, however, renders impossible absolute certainty about many points. After a brief chronological note (1 Kings 6:1), the author discusses the exterior (1 Kings 6:2-10) and interior (1 Kings 6:15-35) of the Temple. Sandwiched between these two blocks of material is a brief passage (1 Kings 6:11-14) relating a promise which God gave to Solomon during the course of construction. The chapter concludes with some brief notes concerning other details of the Temple construction (1 Kings 6:36-38).

A. AN IMPORTANT CHRONOLOGICAL NOTE 6:1

**TRANSLATION

(1) And it came to pass in the four hundred eightieth year after the children of Israel went out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv (it is the second month), that he began to build the house of the LORD.

COMMENTS**

1 Kings 6:1 furnishes the key to Biblical chronology prior to the monarchy period. The ancients were quite time conscious and often would set their dates by referring to a number of years before or after a significant event. It would appear that up until the period of the kings, time was measured in relation to the Exodus from Egypt. The text unequivocally states that four hundred eighty years elapsed between the time the Israelites came out of Egypt and the time when Solomon began building the Temple. Since Solomon began to reign in 971 B.C., his fourth year would be 967 B.C. Figuring back four hundred eighty years from 967 B.C. would yield a date of 1447 B.C. for the Exodus. The Temple work commenced in the month of Ziv,[168] the second month of the Hebrew year, which corresponds roughly to the last part of April and the first part of May on the current calendar.

[168] Ziv, the archaic name for the second month, is found only here. Three other survivals of the archaic calendar are found in the Old Testament: Abib, the first month; Ethanim, the seventh month; and Bui, the eighth month. The Jews adopted the Babylonian names of the months during the period of the captivity.

1 Kings 6:2-10

B. THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE 6:2-10

**TRANSLATION

(2) As for the house which King Solomon built for the LORD: sixty cubits was its length and twenty cubits its breadth and thirty cubits its height. (3) And the porch In front of the Temple of the house, ten cubits was its breadth before the house. (4) And he made for the house windows of fixed lattices. (5) And he built against the wall of the house, floors round about, against the walls which surrounded the Temple and the Debir; and he made chambers round about. (6) And the lowest chamber was five cubits in width, the middle one was six cubits in width and the third was seven cubits in width, for he made rebatements for the house round about that (there might be) no insertion into the walls of the house. (7) And the house when it was being built was built of perfect stones from the quarry, and neither hammer, ax, nor any tool of iron, was heard in the house while it was being built. (8) The door to the middle chamber was in the right side of the house; and by winding stairs they went up into the middle chamber, and from the middle unto the third. (9) So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. (10) And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high, and it was fastened to the house with cedar beams.

COMMENTS**

The erection of Solomon’s Temple was no doubt the greatest event heretofore in the history of Jerusalem. This sanctuary made Jerusalem the religious capital of the land, the Holy City. The profound importance of this building in the eyes of the Jews is indicated by the amount of space devoted to itfour Chapter s, three of which are of considerable length. The careful and detailed dimensions are not only proofs of the tender veneration with which the Jew regarded the Temple; they are also indications of the belief that this house was for the Lord and not for man. But as exact and detailed as is the description of this edifice, it is only partial, and the account is so obscure as to leave the modern student in considerable doubt as to what Solomon’s Temple was really like. Probably more has been written about this building than about any other building in the ancient world. Yet for all that has been said of the Temple, there are few points on which modern scholars are in agreement.

1. The measurements of the main building exclusive of the porch (1 Kings 6:3) and the side chambers (1 Kings 6:5) are first given. If the cubit be reckoned as eighteen inches,[169] this building was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high (1 Kings 6:2). From these figures it is obvious that the Temple, in comparison with many church buildings, was a very small building. However, the Temple was never meant for the congregation of worshipers, but only for the presence of God and the priests who ministered before that presence. The congregation never met within this building; rather they offered their worship towards it. Worshipers congregated in the great courtyard which surrounded the Temple.

[169] A cubit was the distance from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.

2. Before the main building was a porch or vestibule which extended across the entire front or east end of the Temple, and which was fifteen feet in depth (1 Kings 6:3).

3. The windows are next discussed, and there is quite some disagreement as to the precise meaning of the Hebrew words which describe them. Most scholars now are inclined to regard the windows as being made of fixed lattices, i.e., lattices which were not movable as in domestic architecture (cf. 2 Kings 1:2; 2 Kings 13:17). As to the number of Temple windows, the text is silent. Keil[170] conjectures that, there were no more than six on each side and probably none in the back.

[170] Keil, BCOT, p. 74.

4. Around the outside wall of the entire building (exclusive of the porch or front) Solomon built three stories or floors which were divided by partitions into distinct compartments (1 Kings 6:5). The chambers varied in width, those on the first floor being 7½ feet, those on the second 9 feet, and those on the third floor 10½ feet in width. This difference in the width of each tier was due to successive rebatement of the wall from story to story. The outside of the Temple wall took the shape of three (or four) steps, and presented three ledges for the beams which supported the three floors. For some reason the builders did not wish to tie those beams into the wall itself.[171] The fact that a total rebatement of 4½ feet in the wall of the Temple furnishes an indication of the thickness of the wall.[172]

[171] Some think because they wished to preserve the great and costly stones of the Temple intact; others, because it was inappropriate to make these chambers which were not directly connected with worship, part of the sacred edifice.

[172] Keil (BCOT, p. 71) estimates the thickness at the base of the Temple wall to have been about 9 feet, a thickness quite in keeping with the remains of great buildings from antiquity. In Ezekiel’s Temple (Ezekiel 41:5) the thickness of the walls was 7 1/2 feet.

The detailed description of rebatements in 1 Kings 6:6 may have been intended to emphasize the fact that no iron tool had to be used to join those chambers to the wall of the Temple proper. Verse seven then amplifies this point by noting the remarkable fact that no iron tool was used on any of the Temple stones.

The stones used in the Temple construction were perfect, i.e., they were so hewn and prepared at the quarry that no sound of any iron tool was heard at the Temple site when the stones were brought together. The King James erroneously renders the Hebrew word massa-’ before it was brought thither. The word simply means quarry. The location of this quarry is uncertain. It may have been that some of the massive foundation stones were brought from the Lebanon mountains along with the wood. But no doubt the bulk of the stone was quarried in Jerusalem itself. Dr. J.T. Barclay, the first missionary to be sent forth by churches of the Restoration movement, discovered just outside the north wall of Jerusalem the entrance to a vast quarry, which stretched back down and under the Temple mount.[173] Immense quantities of stone have been cut from this mammoth cave through the course of Jerusalem’s history.

[173] Barclay, CGK, p. 118.

The ground level chambers no doubt had doors which are passed over by the sacred historian. He does, however, feel compelled to relate how one was able to enter the second and third stories. The door leading to the second story was on the ground floor on the right (i.e., south) side of the building. This door seems to have been in the external wall[174] of the side structure, not in the wall of the sanctuary itself. This door led to a winding stairway which, it would appear, was the only means of access to the upper stories (1 Kings 6:8). It cannot certainly be ascertained whether this entrance to the upper stories was located in the middle of the right side or in the front by the side of the porch.

[174] Gray (OTL, p. 156), however, thinks this entrance to the side chambers was from within.

5. The roof of the house was made of beams and boards of cedar wood (1 Kings 6:9). The roof was most likely flat as was customary in ancient temples and houses.

The height of these side chambers is brought out in 1 Kings 6:10. Each story was 7½ feet high. The three stories would altogether measure 22½ feet. With allowance for the joists and floors, the entire exterior height of the structure would be in the neighborhood of 27-30 feet high. This would leave a clear space of something like 18-21 feet between the side structure and the top of the Temple proper, assuming, of course, that the roof of the side chambers was flat. The side chambers were fastened to the house with cedar beams, i.e., the joists which supported the different stories rested upon the rebates in the Temple wall.

There is no indication as to how many separate chambers the three tiers about the Temple contained. Keil estimates that there were thirty. Doubtlessly each chamber had a window, but this is not indicated in the text. These chambers served as storage area for Temple treasures and gifts to the Temple which were made in all kinds of produce. Perhaps some of them were occupied by the priests who were on duty in the Temple.[175]

[175] Tuck (FTK, p. 101) sees the main purpose of the side chambers as structural. They were intended as buttresses to support the walls of the main building which were liable to bulge out in consequence of the great weight of the cedar roof.

1 Kings 6:11-14

C. THE PROMISE TO SOLOMON 6:11-14

**TRANSLATION

(11) And the word of the LORD came unto Solomon, saying, (12) With regard to this house which you are building, if you continue to walk in My statutes and My judgments you execute, and you keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will establish My word with you which I spoke unto David your father. (13) And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake My people Israel. (14) So Solomon built the house and finished it.

COMMENTS**

During the course of the building of the Temple the Lord came to Solomon with a gracious promise. While this promise is absent from the Greek or Septuagint version of the Old Testament, there is no substantial reason to question its genuineness. The word of the Lord came to Solomon on this occasion (1 Kings 6:11) probably through a prophetic intermediary (Nathan?). That God spoke to Solomon directly is ruled out by 1 Kings 9:2 which alludes to the second direct revelation to that king. The promise contained in these words is essentially a renewal of that gracious promise made by Nathan to David some years earlier.

In effect the message of the Lord contained an implied commendation of Solomon for having begun such a noble work as the construction of the Temple. If Solomon continued to follow the leading and direction of the Lord, God would establish or confirm the words of promise spoken to David in 2 Samuel 7:12 ff. (1 Kings 6:12). In addition, a new element was introduced into the promise. God promised that He would dwell in the midst of His people (1 Kings 6:13). Just as God had pledged that He would occupy the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45), so now He assured Solomon that the house being constructed would be His earthly dwelling place. These verses point to the conditional character of God’s association with the Temple, a point emphasized again and again by the prophets of Israel. It was the prophetic recognition of this conditional aspect of Israel’s relation to God which made it possible for the destruction of the Temple to be recognized not as a sign of divine impotence, but rather as a result of unfaithfulness to the covenant. Thus encouraged by the gracious promise of the Lord, Solomon proceeded with the construction of the interior of the Temple (1 Kings 6:14).

1 Kings 6:15-35

D. THE INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE 6:15-35

1 Kings 6:15 resumes the description of the building of the Temple which was interrupted in 1 Kings 6:11-14 by the account of the divine communication which came to Solomon. In this paragraph the author discusses (1) the paneling and partitioning of the house (1 Kings 6:15-22); (2) the cherubim of the Debir (1 Kings 6:23-28); (3) interior decorations (1 Kings 6:29-30); and (4) the Temple doors (1 Kings 6:31-35).

1. THE PANELING AND PARTITIONING OF THE HOUSE

(1 Kings 6:15-22)

**TRANSLATION

(15) And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling; he covered the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. (16) And at twenty cubits, from the sides of the house he built planks of cedar from the floor to the walls of the ceiling; he even built them for it within, even for a Debir, the most holy place. (17) Forty cubits was the house, that is the anterior Temple. (18) And the cedar of the house within was engraved work of gourds and flower blossoms; all was cedar, no stone being seen. (19) And the Debir he prepared in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. (20) And the ulterior of the Debir was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width and twenty cubits in height; and he covered it with pure gold, and he covered the altar with cedar. (21) And Solomon covered the house within with pure gold, and he hung chains of gold before the Debir, and he covered it with gold. (22) And the whole house he covered with gold until he had finished all the house; also the entire altar which was in front of the Debir he covered with gold.

COMMENTS**

The interior stone walls of the Temple were lined with wood in order to make it possible to overlay them with gold from the floor to the walls of the ceiling, i.e., the point where the walls meet the ceiling. According to the Chronicler (2 Chronicles 3:6) the interior walls were also ornamented with precious stones. The wood flooring in the Temple was fir, more technically the Aleppo pine (1 Kings 6:15). Thirty feet from the west end of the house, Solomon constructed a partition from floor to ceiling which separated the Debir or most holy place from the rest of the house (1 Kings 6:16). That portion of the structure in front of the Debir was sixty feet long (1 Kings 6:17). The cedar paneling in the house was covered with engraved work. Authorities are divided as to the nature of this engraved work, some arguing that it was bas-relief, and others, that figures were cut into the wood. The gourds were oval ornaments (resembling the wild gourd) which ran in rows along the walls (Keil). The open flowers (lit., burstings of flowers) are probably to be understood as flower blossoms. These beautiful walls of wood completely covered the stone walls on the interior of the Temple (1 Kings 6:18).

At the rear of the Temple structure Solomon constructed the Debir,[176] the Holy of Holies, which served the primary purpose of housing the ark of the covenant (1 Kings 6:19). On the inside the Debir was a cube of thirty feet. The Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle was a cube of fifteen feet, and the New Jerusalem was a cube of twelve thousand furlongs. Geometric symbolism is obviously intended in these passages with the cube most likely symbolizing absolute perfection. The Debir was overlaid with pure (lit., shut up) gold from which all impurities had been removed. The lavish use of gold in the interior of the Temple must also have had symbolic import as it was never seen except by the priests. Perhaps the gold symbolized light and purity (Job 37:22-23; Revelation 21:18), and hence was most appropriate for the abode of Him who dwells in light (1 Timothy 6:16). The overlaying was not gilding, but little plates of gold were attached to the wood with nails. In front of the Debir was a small stone altar that Solomon covered with cedar (1 Kings 6:20). Upon the altar incense was offered before the Invisible Presence of God within the Debir.

[176] The word Debir is derived from a Semitic root signifying back or behind, i.e., the hindmost or inner most room. There is no reason to relate this word to daber, to speak and thereby associate the word with an oracle. Honor, JCBR, p. 92.

Since the height of the Debir was thirty feet and the height of the entire Temple structure was forty-five feet, there must have been some space above the Debir.[177] Keil identifies this space as the upper chambers of 2 Chronicles 3:9 which were overlaid with gold. But what purpose would such a space serve? Perhaps this chamber was empty and served only to procure the cubical shape of the Debir beneath. It has also been suggested that the relics of the Tabernacle were stored in this upper chamber.

[177] This assumes (1) that the Temple had a flat roof, and (2) that the height of the roof was uniform throughout the whole structure. It is possible that the roof of the Debir section of the building was some fifteen feet lower than that of the house.

1 Kings 6:21 is extremely difficult to translate and interpret, and opinions as to its meaning are quite varied. It would seem that gold chains hung in front of the partition which separated the Debir from the remainder of the building. Whether these chains had some functional purpose[178] or were placed there purely for aesthetic reasons cannot be ascertained. The clause, and he covered it with gold, probably refers to the cedar partition itself, though this is by no means certain.[179] As a matter of fact the whole house, possibly including the porch (2 Chronicles 3:4), was covered with gold[180] as well as the altar of incense which stood before the Debir (1 Kings 6:22).

[178] Keil (BCOT, p. 78) believes that the door to the Debir was fastened shut with these gold chains until the Day of Atonement.

[179] Keil (13COT, p. 79) thinks it is the cedar-covered stone altar mentioned in 1 Kings 6:20 which is being alluded to here.

[180] Stinespring (ID13, R-Z, 537) suggests that the text refers to inlay rather than overlay. Pfeiffer (UK, p. 63) concurs in this interpretation.

2. THE CHERUBIM IN THE DEBIR (1 Kings 6:23-28)

**TRANSLATION

(25) And within the Debir he made two cherubim with olive wood, ten cubits was the height of each one. (24) And five cubits was the wing of one cherub, and five cubits the wing of the other cherub, ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. (25) And the other cherub was ten cubits; the two cherubim were of one measurement and one shape. (26) The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so also was the other cherub. (27) And he put the cherubim within the inner house and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of one touched a wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. (28) And he covered the cherubim with gold.

COMMENTS**

Two giant cherubim made of the precious wood of the wild olive tree dominated the interior of the Debir. Each was fifteen feet high (1 Kings 6:23) and had a wingspan of fifteen feet (1 Kings 6:24). The two figures were exactly the same size and shape (1 Kings 6:25-26). It is useless to conjecture as to the appearance of the cherubim.[181] Modern scholars tend to think of them as resembling the Egyptian sphinxhuman-headed, winged lions.[182] Archaeological discoveries in Palestine have brought to light representations of such creatures which may well be the Biblical cherubim. Keil, on the other hand, thinks of the cherubim as having human form and as standing upright on their feet.[183] The Temple cherubim did not face each other as did their Tabernacle counterparts; but faced east toward the Holy Place (2 Chronicles 3:13).

[181] Josephus (Ant. VIII, 3.3): Nobody can tell or even conjecture what was the shape of these.

[182] See the article Cherubim in NBD, pp. 208-209; and the article Angel in IDB, A-D, 131. [183] Keil, BCOT, p. 79.

Each wing of the cherubim was five cubits long. The four wings stretched out across the entire width (20 cubits) of the Debir. The wing tips of the two figures touched in the center of that Holy Place (1 Kings 6:27).[184]

[184] The wings were evidently fastened to the back of each cherub and placed so close to one another on the shoulder blades that the small space between their starting points is not taken into consideration in the calculation of their length.

Between the bodies of the cherubim there was a clear space of several feet where the ark of the covenant would rest. These cherubim too were overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:28). No function is assigned to the cherubim. From other Scripture references, however, it seems that they symbolized God’s presence.

3. INTERIOR DECORATIONS (1 Kings 6:29-30)

**TRANSLATION

(29) And all the walls of the house round about he carved with reliefs of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers within and without. (30) And the floor of the house he covered with gold within and without.

COMMENTS**

Two further details of the interior decoration are added in 1 Kings 6:29-30. The entire wall of the house, the Debir, the main sanctuary and perhaps even the porch, were decorated with reliefs of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers (1 Kings 6:29). The palm trees may represent the tree of life in the Garden of Eden which was to be guarded by cherubim, (Genesis 3:24).[185] The flowers may well have been lilies such as decorated the top of the front pillars (1 Kings 7:19). There can be no certainty about the precise form or about the arrangement of these ornamental figures.[186] Caution must also be exercised in speculating about the possible symbolic import of these figures. A second detail in these verses is that the floor of the house both in the Debir and outside of it was covered with gold (1 Kings 6:30).

[185] The motif of cherubim guarding palm trees, probably thought of as a tree of life, is well known in the art of the ancient Near East. See Matheney and Honeycutt, BC, p. 175.

[186] Arguing from the analogy of Egyptian temples, Keil contends for two or three rows. In Ezekiel’s Temple description, the palm trees alternated with the cherubim, so that there was always one cherub standing between two palm trees (Ezekiel 41:18).

5. THE TEMPLE DOORS (1 Kings 6:31-35)

**TRANSLATION

(31) And the entrance of the Debir he made doors of olive, and the lintel and the side posts were a fifth part. (32) And two of the doors were of olive wood, and he carved upon them cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and covered It with gold, and spread the gold over the cherubim and the palm trees. (33) So also for the entrance of the Temple he made posts of olive wood, a fourth part. (34) And the two doors were of fir wood, the one door being two leaves folding, and the other door two leaves folding. (35) And he carved on them cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and he spread gold evenly over the engraving**.

COMMENTS

The words describing the olive wood doors which led to the Debir are an enigma. Literally the Hebrew reads the frame, doorposts, fifth, which is obviously capable of various interpretations. Some suggest that the frame of the entrance was pentagonal, having the form of a triangle set on the top of a rectangle.[187] But pentagonal doorways are without parallel in the architecture of the Near East. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that the entrance to the Debir, inclusive of the side posts which helped to form it, occupied one-fifth of the cedar partition which separated the holy from the most holy place (1 Kings 6:31). These doors to the Debir had relief carvings upon them similar to those on the walls, and they were overlaid with gold as well. He spread the gold upon the cherubim and palms so that all the figuresthe elevations and depressions of the carved workwere impressed into the gold leaf and were thus plainly seen (1 Kings 6:32). The author of Kings does not mention the curtain which hung inside the Debir and which prevented any priest from gazing into the Debir when the doors were opened once each year on the day of atonement (2 Chronicles 3:14).

[187] Slotki, SBB, p. 45. Honor (JCBR, p. 97) suggests that the doorposts had five sides instead of the usual four. Such a construction might serve to let the doors of the Debir swing wider than would normally be the case with a conventional square doorpost.

In a similar manner Solomon made doors for the entire Temple structure. These doors occupied the fourth part of the width of the front wall of the Temple. Since the width of the Temple was thirty feet, the doorway consequently would measure 7 1/2 feet. While the doorposts were of olive wood (1 Kings 6:33), the doors themselves were of fir. Each door consisted of two leaves or panels which opened on hinges (1 Kings 6:34). It is impossible to determine whether the doors were divided lengthwise into two narrow leaves (Hammond) or widthwise about half way up (Keil). These doors, like the inner doors of the Debir, were decorated with figures of cherubim, palm trees and flowers and then were overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:35).

1 Kings 6:36-38

E. OTHER DETAILS OF THE TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION 6:36-38

**TRANSLATION

(36) And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams. (37) In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the month of Ziv. (38) And in the eleventh year in the month Bui (which is the eighth month) he finished the house in all of its details and according to all specifications. So he was seven years in building it.

COMMENTS**

The description of the building concludes with a brief reference to the construction of the inner court. This court was enclosed by a wall formed by three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. The cedar beams were used instead of coping stones. It would seem from 2 Chronicles 7:3 that this wall was low enough to permit men to look over it. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:10) refers to this court as the higher court because it occupied a higher level than the great court mentioned by the Chronicler. Several passages suggest that there may have been chambers in or around this inner court.[188] There is no indication, however, that these chambers were built in the time of Solomon. The size of this court remains a matter of conjecture. If, as in other matters, the dimensions of the Tabernacle were doubled, this court would measure three hundred feet east to west and a hundred fifty feet north to south.

[188] 2 Kings 23:11; Jeremiah 35:2; Jeremiah 36:10.

The account of the Temple construction concludes with a note as to the time involved in the building operation. As already related in 1 Kings 6:1, the foundation of the Temple was laid in the fourth year of Solomon and the second month, the month of Ziv (1 Kings 6:37). The work was completed in the eleventh year of Solomon, in the eighth month, the month of But (October-November). This means the house was 7½ years in the building, and the sacred historian rounds this off to seven years. The construction period was short if one considers the magnitude of the undertaking, but long enough, if one considers the enormous numbers of people engaged in the project.

How the roof of the Temple was supported is not indicated. Some have argued that such a massive roof would have to be supported by pillarsfour in the Debir and ten in the holy place.

CAPSULE HISTORY OF SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

EVENT

REFERENCES

DATE B.C.

Construction of the Temple by Solomon

1 Kings 6-7; 2 Chronicles 3-4

966-960

Dedication of the Temple

1Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5-6

960

House filled with the glory of the Lord

1 Kings 8:10-11;

2 Chronicles 5:13-14

960

Temple plundered by Shishak

1 Kings 14:25-28;

2 Chronicles 12:2-9

927

Abomination introduced to Temple worship by Maacah, mother of Abijam

1 Kings 15:2; 1 Kings 15:12-13

913-911

Asa cleanses the Temple

1 Kings 15:11-15; 2 Chronicles 15:8-16

911-900

Asa uses Temple treasures to bribe Benhadad

1 Kings 15:18-19; 2 Chronicles 16:1-2

895

Jchoshaphat enlarged the Temple court

2 Chronicles 20:5

870-853

Temple repairs made by Joash

2 Kings 12:4-16: 2 Chronicles 24:4-14

835

Uzziah tried to enter Holy Place-smitten with leprosy

2 Chronicles 26:16

750

Jotham refuses to enter Temple

2 Chronicles 27:2

750-731

Jorham built a new gate for the Temple

2 Kings 15:35; 2 Chronicles 27:3

739-735

Ahaz bribes Tiglarh-pileser with Temple treasure

2 Kings 16:8

733

Ahaz introduces a pagan altar-removes bronze altar, bases and ornaments of lavers and oxen under the Sea

2 Kings 16:10-17

732

Hezckiah eleanses the Temple

2Chronicles 29

720-715

Hezekiah removes the gold leaf from the doors of Temple (which he himself had put there) as payment to Senna-cherib

2 Kings 18:14-16; 2 Chronicles 32:31

701

Idolatrous altars erected in Temple by Manasseh-an Asherah-worship of host of heaven-horses and chariot dedicated to the sun in Temple court

2 Kings 21:3-7; 2 Kings 23:7; 2 Kings 23:11

Josiah cleansed the Temple-law book discovered within

2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles 34-35

632-621

Pagan practices reintroduced under jehoiakim and Zedekiah

Ezekiel 8:7-18

609-587

Nebuchadnezzar carries off some Temple vessels

Daniel 1:1-3

605

Additional Temple vessels carried to Babylon

2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chronicles 36:7

597

Temple destroyed by Babylonians-pillars, Sea broken up, carried off along with lesser vessels.

2 Kings 25:13-16

587

MOBILE LAVER FOR THE TAMPLE