World English Bible
- In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the LORD’s house.
- The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits, and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.
- The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house.
- He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.
- Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms all around.
- The lowest floor was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around, that the beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
- The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.
- The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third.
- So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
- He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.
- The LORD’s word came to Solomon, saying,
- “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
- I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
- So Solomon built the house and finished it.
- He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood. He covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.
- He built twenty cubits of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this within, for an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place.
- In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.
- There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.
- He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of the LORD’s covenant there.
- Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height. He overlaid it with pure gold. He covered the altar with cedar.
- So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. He drew chains of gold across before the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.
- He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.
- In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
- Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits was the length of the other wing of the cherub. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.
- The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.
- One cherub was ten cubits high, and so was the other cherub.
- He set the cherubim within the inner house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out, 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 middle of the house.
- He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
- He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.
- He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.
- For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.
- So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
- He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall,
- and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
- He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
- He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.
- The foundation of the LORD’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv.
- In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.
“Building for the God who chooses to dwell with us”
Yesterday we stood with Solomon as the cedars of Lebanon were felled and the stone blocks were shaped in distant quarries (1 Kings 5). Today, in chapter 6, the silence of those quarries reaches Jerusalem itself. The Temple begins to rise, stone upon stone, yet no hammer is heard on the holy hill. The hush invites us to listen for something deeper than masonry—the Word of the Lord that promises, “I will live among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people” (v. 13, New International Version).
• “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came
out of Egypt… in the month of Ziv.”
Scripture opens the chapter with a date. Ancient writers did not waste
ink; the point is theological. The God who redeemed slaves now asks for
a house among a free people.
Cross-reference: Exodus 12 – 40; 2 Chronicles 3:2; 1 Peter 2:9–10.
Archaeological note: Egyptian records from the 15th–13th centuries BC
mention Semitic labor crews, hinting at the broad historical setting of
Israel’s long memory of bondage.
Dimensions, materials, and windows that are “narrowed and recessed”
(Hebrew ḥalônê šĕqûpîm ʾăṭûmîm) seem mundane until one remembers the
tabernacle (Exodus 25 – 40). Much is doubled: height, length, and
storage rooms. The Temple is the tabernacle become permanent. God’s
story is advancing.
Patristic lens: Origen read the three levels of side chambers as faith,
hope, and love ascending toward the Holy of Holies. Calvin saw the
windows as a subtle reminder that light comes from God, not the
builder.
Modern insight: Archaeologists have uncovered eighth-century BC shrines
at ʿAin Dara in Syria with strikingly similar measurements, confirming
that 1 Kings 6 is historically plausible yet theologically unique—only
Israel’s Temple housed no idol.
“No hammer, chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it
was being built.”
Meditation: Holiness grows in quiet obedience long before anyone sees
the finished sanctuary. Paul echoes the same principle: “You are God’s
building… Let each one take care how he builds” (1 Corinthians
3:9-10).
Spurgeon tied this verse to the secret shaping of character in
affliction: “God digs the quarry of grief so the living stones may fit
into His eternal palace.”
While walls are still rising, God interrupts the schedule with
covenant words—His voice becomes the true cornerstone.
Key Hebrew word: dabar (“word”) sounds like debir (“inner sanctuary”).
The play on sound hints that the house is meaningless without the
Word.
Theology: Presence is conditional on obedience, not architecture.
Augustine later argued that this foreshadows Christ, in whom God’s
presence is secured by perfect obedience.
Gold overlays wood, and wood covers stone. Beauty rises layer upon
layer. In a world where gold often enslaves, here it serves
worship.
Practical application: The costliness of worship is not in money alone
but in “presenting your bodies as living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1).
Two fifteen-foot cherubim of olive wood stretch their wings across
the sanctuary. Olive, not cedar: the tree of anointing oil. The
cherubim’s posture whispers Genesis 3:24—guardians of Eden’s gate now
welcome humanity back through sacrifice.
Literary device: The repeating phrase “he made” (vav-consecutive with
imperfect verb) creates a heartbeat rhythm, emphasizing relentless,
joyful craftsmanship.
Floral motifs—palm trees, open flowers, gourds—turn the interior into
a carved garden. Eden is reborn inside walls of cedar.
Western readers often miss: Such decorative language mirrors
contemporary Phoenician temples, yet Israel’s version avoids mythic
scenes. Beauty is redeemed from pagan stories to serve the Living
God.
Solomon finishes in the month of Bul, roughly October. Agricultural
Israel is storing grain while the palace stores up worship. The number
seven whispers completeness. By contrast, Solomon’s own palace will take
thirteen years (1 Kings 7:1). Even wise kings can grow imbalanced; the
narrator quietly warns us to keep first things first.
Historical echo: Josephus, Chrysostom, and later Wesley all cite the
seven-year build as a moral check on lavish personal projects.
• Presence: The Temple advances the tabernacle and points to Emmanuel
(Matthew 1:23).
• Priesthood: A house with no image honors a God who speaks, not one who
can be fashioned (Hebrews 9).
• People as Temple: By Pentecost, the divine fire moves from gold-plated
walls to human hearts (Acts 2; 1 Corinthians 6:19).
• Future glory: Revelation 21:22—no temple is needed when the Lamb is
its light.
Consider singing “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” (Johannes Brahms, based on Psalm 84). Its longing echoes the carved flowers and silent stones of 1 Kings 6.
• Exodus 40:34-38 – Glory fills the tabernacle
• 2 Samuel 7:12-16 – The promise behind the Temple
• Psalm 132 – “Arise, O Lord, to your resting place”
• John 2:19-22 – “Destroy this temple…”
• Ephesians 2:19-22 – A household built together
• Hebrews 8-9 – A better sanctuary in Christ
Builder of the cosmos,
who shapes living stones in hidden quarries and overlays humble hearts
with the gold of Your grace,
silence our restless hammering.
Speak Your Word anew in the rooms we are raising,
that everything we craft—homes, ministries, decisions—may become a
dwelling place for Your glory.
Through Jesus, the true Temple, we pray.
Amen.