The Temple's interior construction is detailed from floor to ceiling. Solomon overlays the entire interior with cedar, then gold. He constructs the inner sanctuary -- the devir -- as a perfect twenty-cubit cube, places two massive cherubim of olive wood overlaid with gold inside it, and carves the walls throughout with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors of olivewood are carved and gilded. The chapter concludes with the completion date: the house was finished in the month of Bul, the eighth month, in Solomon's eleventh year -- seven years of construction.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
This chapter is the architectural fulfillment of the entire biblical narrative from Eden to Sinai to Zion. Every decorative element points backward and forward. The cherubim recall the guardians stationed at Eden's entrance (Genesis 3:24) -- but now they are inside the sanctuary, guarding the ark rather than barring access. The palm trees and open flowers carved on every wall recreate a garden paradise in gold and cedar: the Temple is Eden restored, a space where God and humanity dwell together again. The inner sanctuary -- the devir -- is a perfect cube of twenty cubits, the same geometric proportion as the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:16. The bayit ('house') wordplay from 2 Samuel 7 reaches its physical fulfillment here: God promised to build David a bayit (dynasty), and David's son builds God a bayit (temple). The word bayit appears more than twenty times in this single chapter, hammering the connection. No stone was visible inside -- every surface was covered with cedar, then with gold. The worshiper entering the Temple saw no quarried stone, only living wood and pure gold, as though the building were a living organism plated in divine glory.
Translation Friction
The architectural terminology in this chapter is extremely difficult. Many Hebrew terms for structural elements appear only here and have no clear parallels in other Semitic languages. Words like tsela ('side room' or 'rib'), yatsia ('side structure'), and tselaat ('planks' or 'ribs') have been debated for centuries. Measurements and spatial relationships are sometimes ambiguous, and scholarly reconstructions of the Temple's floor plan differ significantly. We render architectural terms with the most widely accepted English equivalents while noting uncertainty. The relationship between the KJV chapter 5 material and KJV chapter 6 (which corresponds to WLC chapter 6) should also be noted: we follow the WLC versification, where chapter 6 begins with the Temple dimensions and construction details.
Connections
The devir as a perfect cube connects to the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:33-34) and anticipates the cubic New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:16). The two cherubim spanning the inner sanctuary with their wings recall the cherubim on the mercy seat of the ark (Exodus 25:18-20) but at monumental scale -- what was handheld metalwork in the wilderness becomes room-sized sculpture in the Temple. The carved palm trees connect to Ezekiel's future temple vision (Ezekiel 41:18-20) and to the Garden of Eden. The seven-year construction period echoes the seven days of creation (Genesis 1-2:3): as God built the cosmos in seven units and rested, Solomon builds God's house in seven years. The parallels between temple-building and world-building in ancient Near Eastern literature are well documented, and the biblical writer appears to exploit them deliberately.
In the four hundred and eightieth 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 -- he began to build the house of the LORD.
KJV And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse is identical in content to WLC 5:19. In the KJV versification, this is 6:1 and serves as the chapter opening. The chronological anchor to the Exodus remains the dominant framework: the Temple is the destination of the redemption journey that began in Egypt 480 years earlier. The month of Ziv (later called Iyyar) falls in April-May, the beginning of the dry construction season in the Levant.
The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
KJV And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The overall dimensions -- sixty by twenty by thirty cubits -- establish the rectangular shell of the Temple. At roughly 90 by 30 by 45 feet, the building was modest by imperial standards but precisely proportioned. The 3:1:1.5 ratio (length to width to height) created a narrow, tall interior space that drew the eye forward and upward toward the inner sanctuary. These proportions exactly double the tabernacle's dimensions, marking the Temple as the tabernacle's permanent successor.
The vestibule in front of the temple hall was twenty cubits across, matching the width of the house, and ten cubits deep from front to back.
KJV And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The ulam ('vestibule, entrance hall') was an open or semi-open porch forming the approach to the main hall. Its twenty-cubit width matched the building's full width, and its ten-cubit depth added to the overall length of the complex. Visitors would pass through this vestibule before entering the heikhal. Analogous vestibules have been found in excavated temples at Ain Dara in Syria and Tell Tayinat in Turkey, confirming the architectural type.
He made windows for the house with narrowing frames.
KJV And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The challonei shequfim atumim ('framed and narrowed windows') were likely clerestory windows set high in the walls above the side chambers. They admitted light into the main hall while maintaining the enclosed, sacred character of the space. The exact design is debated -- they may have been splayed (wider inside than outside), latticed, or partially blocked. Their placement above the side structure ensured that the Temple received natural light without compromising the wall space used for carved decoration.
Against the wall of the house he built a side structure all around, encircling the walls of both the temple hall and the inner sanctuary, and he constructed side rooms all around.
KJV And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
דְּבִירdevir
"inner sanctuary"—innermost room, oracle chamber, Holy of Holies, speaking-place
devir may derive from davar ('to speak'), making it 'the place of the word' or 'the oracle' -- the room from which God speaks. Alternatively, it may relate to a root meaning 'back room' or 'innermost chamber.' It designates the Holy of Holies, the cube-shaped room housing the ark of the covenant and the cherubim, entered only by the high priest on the Day of Atonement.
Translator Notes
The yatsia ('side structure') wrapped around three sides of the building (north, south, and west), leaving only the eastern entrance facade open. The tsela'ot ('side rooms') within this structure served as storage for sacred vessels, priestly garments, treasury, and other Temple apparatus. The structure surrounded both the heikhal and the devir, reinforcing the concentric zones of holiness: side rooms (accessible), main hall (priestly), inner sanctuary (high priest only, once a year).
The lowest level was five cubits wide, the middle level six cubits wide, and the third level seven cubits wide, because he had made offset ledges in the outer wall of the house all around so that the beams would not be set into the walls of the house.
KJV The nethermost chamber 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 house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The progressively wider stories (five, six, seven cubits) resulted from migraot ('recessions, stepped offsets') in the Temple's exterior wall. At each level, the wall stepped inward, creating a wider ledge for the floor beams of the next story. The design principle is stated explicitly: le-vilti achoz be-qirot ha-bayit ('so that nothing would grip the walls of the house'). The sacred walls were not to be penetrated by construction elements from the side rooms.
The house was built with whole stones finished at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor chisel nor any iron tool was heard at the house while it was being built.
KJV And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase even shelemah massa ('complete quarried stone') means every block was fully dressed before leaving the quarry. The result was a sacred construction site of silence -- no metallic ringing, no chipping of stone. The ban on iron tools at the Temple site connects to Exodus 20:25, where hewn-stone altars are forbidden because the sword (iron tool) profanes the stone. Iron was the metal of warfare; its exclusion from the construction site made the Temple a space untouched by violence from its very foundation.
The entrance to the lowest side room was on the south side of the house. Winding stairs led up to the middle level, and from the middle to the third.
KJV The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle to the third.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The ketef ha-bayit ha-yemanit ('the right shoulder of the house') means the south wall when facing east (the Temple's orientation). The belullim ('winding stairs') provided vertical circulation within the side structure. This architectural detail -- a spiral staircase connecting three levels of service rooms -- reveals a sophisticated building plan where all support functions were physically integrated but liturgically separated from the worship spaces.
So he built the house and completed it, and roofed it with cedar beams and cedar planks.
KJV So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb vayyispon ('he covered, he roofed') with gevim ('beams, rafters') and sederot ('rows, planks') describes the ceiling and roof construction. Cedar was chosen for its fragrance, durability, and resistance to insects and rot. A cedar roof would have filled the interior with its distinctive scent -- a sensory dimension of worship that is easy to overlook in architectural descriptions.
He built the side structure against the entire house, five cubits high on each level, and it was joined to the house by cedar timbers.
KJV And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedars.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Each level of the side structure stood five cubits high (approximately 7.5 feet), creating functional but compact service spaces. The cedar timbers connecting the side structure to the main building rested on the offset ledges without penetrating the sacred walls -- a design detail repeated for emphasis.
1 Kings 6:11
וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־שְׁלֹמֹ֥ה לֵאמֹֽר׃
Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon:
KJV And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The prophetic formula interrupts the construction narrative. God does not wait until the building is finished to speak -- he intervenes mid-project, inserting a theological condition into the heart of the architectural description. The placement is deliberate: between the exterior shell (verses 1-10) and the interior decoration (verses 14-38), God establishes the spiritual terms under which this building will function.
"This house that you are building -- if you walk in my statutes, carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments by living according to them, then I will fulfill my word to you, the word I spoke to your father David.
KJV Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The condition is absolute: im telekh be-chuqqotai ('if you walk in my statutes'). Three parallel demands cover the full Torah obligation: chuqqot ('statutes' -- fixed ordinances), mishpatim ('judgments' -- case law and judicial decisions), and mitsvot ('commandments' -- direct imperatives). God ties the Temple's effectiveness to the king's obedience. A beautiful building with a disobedient builder is an empty shell.
I will dwell among the Israelites, and I will not abandon my people Israel."
KJV And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The twin promises -- positive (I will dwell) and negative (I will not forsake) -- define what the Temple is for. It is not a container for God but a location of reliable encounter. The verb shakhan ('to dwell, to tabernacle') connects the Temple to the wilderness tabernacle and forward to the incarnation. God's presence is the purpose of the building; obedience is the condition for its continuation.
1 Kings 6:14
וַיִּ֥בֶן שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה אֶת־הַבָּ֑יִת וַיְכַלֵּֽהוּ׃
Solomon built the house and completed it.
KJV So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The terse statement vayyiven Shelomoh et ha-bayit vayekhalleihu functions as a transition. The external structure is done; the narrative now turns inward to describe the interior work. The verb kalah ('to complete, to finish') signals the end of the structural phase and the beginning of the decorative and liturgical fitting.
He lined the interior walls of the house with cedar planks from the floor to the ceiling beams, paneling the inside with wood. He covered the floor of the house with cypress planks.
KJV And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood; and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase mibbaytah ('from the inside') emphasizes that this is interior work. The cedar planks (tsalot arazim) ran from floor (qarqa) to ceiling (sipun), completely concealing the stone walls. The floor was laid with beroshim ('cypress' or 'juniper') planks. The result was a fully wood-paneled interior: cedar walls, cedar ceiling, cypress floor. No stone was visible from inside the Temple. The worshiper entering the house of God stood in a room of living wood, as though inside a vast, fragrant forest.
He built the rear twenty cubits of the house with cedar planks from floor to walls, constructing it as the inner sanctuary -- the Holy of Holies.
KJV And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁיםqodesh ha-qodashim
"Holy of Holies"—holiest place, most sacred space, inner sanctuary, supreme sanctum
qodesh ha-qodashim is a Hebrew superlative formed by placing a noun in construct with its own plural: 'the holiness of holinesses,' meaning 'the holiest of all holy spaces.' This grammatical construction (like 'king of kings' or 'song of songs') indicates the absolute superlative. Only the high priest entered this room, and only on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16).
Translator Notes
The rear twenty cubits of the sixty-cubit-long building were partitioned off as the devir, here explicitly identified as qodesh ha-qodashim ('the Holy of Holies,' literally 'the holiness of holinesses'). This superlative construction -- the most holy of holy spaces -- designated the room as the supreme sacred zone in all Israel. The cedar paneling continued into this room, creating a continuous interior with no visible division between ordinary and supreme holiness except the partition wall and doors.
The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary -- that is, the temple hall -- was forty cubits long.
KJV And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
With twenty cubits allocated to the devir, the remaining forty cubits formed the heikhal ('temple hall, main hall'). This was the larger worship space containing the altar of incense, the ten lampstands, and the tables of showbread. The phrase lifnai ('before it' or 'in front') orients the reader: the forty-cubit hall was the space you encountered before reaching the twenty-cubit inner sanctuary behind it.
The cedar inside the house was carved with gourd-shaped ornaments and open flowers. Everything was cedar -- no stone was visible.
KJV And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The peqa'im ('gourds, gourd-shaped ornaments') are the same decorative motif found on the rim of the bronze sea (7:24). The peturei tsitsim ('opening flowers, blossoming buds') represent flowers in various stages of opening. Together they create a botanical motif covering all interior cedar surfaces -- a garden carved in wood.
He prepared the inner sanctuary within the house to place there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
KJV And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְהוָהaron berit YHWH
"ark of the covenant of the LORD"—chest, box, coffin; covenant chest, sacred container
aron means simply 'chest' or 'box.' Its sacredness comes entirely from its contents (the covenant tablets) and its function (the footstool/throne-base of God's presence). The title aron berit YHWH identifies it by its relational content: this is the container of the covenant terms between God and Israel.
Translator Notes
The devir exists for one purpose: latet sham et aron berit YHWH ('to place there the ark of the covenant of the LORD'). The entire building -- the administrative system that funds it, the labor force that builds it, the cedar forests that supply it -- converges on this single object in this single room. The ark is the throne-base of God's invisible presence, the chest containing the tablets of the covenant. The Temple is a house built around a box that contains the terms of a relationship.
The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with refined gold and also overlaid the cedar altar.
KJV And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.
zahav sagur appears only in connection with the Temple. The term sagur ('closed, enclosed') may indicate gold refined to the point where no impurities remain -- the metal is 'closed' or 'sealed' against contamination. It represents the highest grade of gold available in the ancient world.
Translator Notes
The cubic dimensions distinguish the devir from every other room in the building and from every other sacred space in the ancient Near East. The zahav sagur ('shut gold, enclosed gold, refined gold') may refer to gold purified to maximum fineness. The total gold coverage would have made the room glow in lamplight, creating the visual impression of entering a space made of light itself.
Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with refined gold. He drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.
KJV So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold that were before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The rattuqot zahav ('chains of gold') stretched across the entrance to the devir, creating a boundary marker between the main hall and the Holy of Holies. These were not barriers in the physical sense but sacred boundary indicators -- a visible line that only the high priest could cross, and only once a year. The repeated phrase vayyetsappeihu zahav ('he overlaid it with gold') emphasizes that gold covered everything: walls, ceiling, floor partition, altar, chains.
He overlaid the entire house with gold until the whole house was covered. He also overlaid the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.
KJV And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase ad tom kol ha-bayit ('until the completion of all the house') indicates total coverage -- no surface was left ungilded. The altar associated with the devir is the incense altar (mizbach ha-qetoret), which stood in the main hall directly before the entrance to the Holy of Holies. Its complete gold overlay made it functionally and visually part of the devir's golden zone.
In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits tall.
KJV And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The keruvim were carved from atsei shemen ('oil-tree wood'), most likely olive wood, chosen for its fine grain and durability. At ten cubits (approximately fifteen feet) each, these were monumental sculptures filling the twenty-cubit-high room. The cherubim of the Temple are dramatically larger than the small figures atop the ark's mercy seat (Exodus 25:18-20). What was miniature metalwork in the tabernacle becomes architectural sculpture in the Temple -- the same forms scaled to the permanence of the new setting.
One wing of the first cherub was five cubits, and the other wing was five cubits -- ten cubits from wingtip to wingtip.
KJV And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Each cherub had a ten-cubit wingspan (five cubits per wing), meaning its wingspan equaled its height. The measurement mi-qetsot kenafav ve-ad qetsot kenafav ('from the ends of its wings to the ends of its wings') emphasizes the full spread. These are not folded wings but fully extended, outstretched wings filling the room.
The second cherub was also ten cubits. Both cherubim had the same dimensions and the same form.
KJV And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase middah achat ve-qetsev echad ('one measure and one form') indicates the two cherubim were identical -- mirror images of each other. The word qetsev ('form, shape, contour') refers to their overall design, not just their size. Perfect symmetry flanking the ark created a throne composition: the two cherubim formed the sides of God's invisible throne, with the mercy seat of the ark as the footstool.
The height of the first cherub was ten cubits, and so was the second.
KJV The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The height is restated for emphasis. At ten cubits each in a twenty-cubit-high room, the cherubim's heads reached exactly halfway to the ceiling. Their outstretched wings, at ten cubits each, collectively spanned the entire twenty-cubit width of the room. The inner sanctuary was entirely filled with cherubim -- there was no empty space above the ark.
He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room. Their wings were spread out so that the wing of the first touched one wall and the wing of the second cherub touched the opposite wall, and their inner wings met each other in the center of the room -- wing touching wing.
KJV And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb vayyiferesu ('they spread out') describes a deliberate, active extension of the wings. The touching of wall and wing (noga'at baqqir) and wing meeting wing (nog'ot kanaf el kanaf) creates an unbroken line across the room. The ark of the covenant sat beneath this canopy of wings on the floor of the devir.
1 Kings 6:28
וַיְצַ֥ף אֶת־הַכְּרוּבִ֖ים זָהָֽב׃
He covered the cherubim in gold overlay.
KJV And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The olive wood cherubim, already masterworks of carving, were then completely covered in gold leaf. In the lamplight of the inner sanctuary, the cherubim would have appeared as two fifteen-foot beings of solid gold, their wings spanning the room, standing guard over the ark. The gold overlay transforms wood into glory -- the material of the earth covered with the metal of heaven.
On all the walls of the house, all around, he carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers -- in both the inner and outer rooms.
KJV And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase millifnim ve-la-chitson ('on the inside and on the outside') means both the devir (inner room) and the heikhal (outer room) bore the same carved program. The entire interior was a unified garden scene. The carving technique (pituchei miqlaat, 'engravings of carving') describes relief work -- figures raised from the flat surface of the cedar panels.
kavod does not appear explicitly in this verse but pervades the chapter's logic. The root meaning is 'heaviness, weightiness.' The sheer quantity of gold -- floors, walls, ceiling, cherubim, altar, chains -- creates the physical weight that corresponds to divine kavod. When God's glory fills this Temple in chapter 8, the gold interior will become the visual correlate of the invisible weight of divine presence.
Translator Notes
Even the floor -- the cypress planks laid in verse 15 -- was overlaid with gold. The phrase lifnimah ve-lachitson ('on the inside and on the outside') means both the devir floor and the heikhal floor received gold overlay. The priest entering the Temple walked on gold, stood beneath a gold ceiling, and was surrounded on all sides by gold-covered walls. Every surface -- up, down, left, right, forward, behind -- was gold.
For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood. The doorframe -- lintel and posts -- spanned a fifth of the wall.
KJV And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The daltot atsei shemen ('doors of oil-wood/olive-wood') guarded the entrance to the devir. The phrase ha-ayil mezuzot chamishit is architecturally obscure -- it likely means the doorframe (ayil, 'pillar/projection' and mezuzot, 'doorposts') occupied one-fifth of the wall width. In a twenty-cubit-wide room, this would make the doorway approximately four cubits (six feet) wide. The narrow entrance to the Holy of Holies reinforced its restrictive access.
The two doors were of olive wood, and he carved on them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold, pressing the gold onto the cherubim and the palm trees.
KJV The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The same three-motif program (cherubim, palm trees, open flowers) that covered the walls now appears on the doors. The verb vayyared ('he pressed down, he hammered down') describes the technique of fitting gold leaf into the carved relief so that the gold followed the contours of the carving. The result was golden doors with three-dimensional golden figures in relief -- cherubim and palm trees standing out from the golden surface.
In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the temple hall, spanning a fourth of the wall.
KJV So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The heikhal entrance had olive-wood doorposts occupying a fourth (not a fifth) of the wall width -- making this entrance slightly wider than the devir entrance. The widening from outer to inner (one-fourth to one-fifth) creates a progressive narrowing as one moves deeper into the sacred space: the closer to God's presence, the narrower the access.
The two doors were of cypress wood. Each door had two folding leaves that turned on pivots.
KJV And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Unlike the olive-wood doors of the devir, the heikhal doors were beroshim ('cypress'). Each door consisted of two panels (tsela'im, 'halves, leaves') mounted on gelilim ('pivots, rollers'). These were bi-fold doors: each half of the doorway had a door that itself folded in half, allowing the wide entrance to be opened partially or fully. The engineering accommodated both practical daily access and ceremonial full opening.
He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold fitted precisely to the carved surfaces.
KJV And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase meyushar al ha-mechuqqeh ('leveled upon the engraving, fitted precisely upon the carved work') describes the gold leaf being smoothed and pressed into the relief so that it followed every contour. The gold did not flatten the carving but conformed to it, preserving the three-dimensional quality of the cherubim, palms, and flowers. The technique required extraordinary skill to apply thin gold without tearing it over complex surfaces.
He built the inner courtyard with three courses of dressed stone and one course of cedar beams.
KJV And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The chatser ha-penimit ('inner courtyard') surrounded the Temple building itself, distinct from the outer courtyard. Its walls were built in a distinctive pattern: sheloshah turei gazit ve-tur kerutot arazim ('three rows of cut stone and a row of trimmed cedars'). This three-to-one ratio of stone to wood created a layered wall with cedar beams serving as horizontal ties, a construction technique that also provided earthquake resistance -- the wooden courses could absorb seismic stress without cracking. The same technique appears in Ezra 6:4 for the rebuilt Temple.
In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv.
KJV In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse recapitulates the starting date from verse 1: Solomon's fourth regnal year, the month of Ziv (the second month, April-May). The verb yussad ('was founded') specifically marks the laying of the foundation. This verse pairs with verse 38 to create a chronological bracket: foundation in Ziv of year four, completion in Bul of year eleven.
In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul -- the eighth month -- the house was finished in every detail and according to its entire plan. He built it in seven years.
KJV And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
בַּיִתbayit
"house"—house, household, dynasty, temple, family line, palace
bayit here reaches its fullest resonance. In 2 Samuel 7, David wanted to build God a bayit; God responded by promising to build David a bayit (dynasty). Now David's son has built the physical bayit, fulfilling one side of the wordplay. But the other side -- the dynastic bayit -- depends on obedience (verse 12). The Temple stands as the intersection of the two meanings: a physical house that embodies a covenant promise about a royal house.
Translator Notes
The month name Bul may derive from a root meaning 'produce' or 'rain' -- it marks the transition from dry to wet season. The phrase le-khol devarav u-le-khol mishpatav ('in all its matters and all its designs') means the building was completed exactly as planned, with no deviation or omission. The seven-year total (year 4 to year 11) is counted inclusively in the ancient manner.