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,1 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. 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. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten Longitudinal Section of Solomon's Temple, according to Stade's Restoration. p Pillar; a Porch; b Hall; c Oracle; d Side-chambers; w Windows. |. cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. And against the wall of the house he built stories round about the temple and the oracle: and he made side-chambers round about: 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. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, 1 This 480 years is evidently part of a chronological scheme. The 430 years assigned to the reigns of the kings of Judah, plus the 50 years of exile, give another 480 years from the foundation of the temple to the return from captivity. 2 "Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan [Araunah] the Jebusite." 2 Chron. iii. 1. 3 These figures give roughly 100 ft. x 333 ft. x 50 ft. for the inner dimensions of the building. 4 the temple of the house. The great hall of the temple, as distinguished from the inner shrine, here called the oracle. while it was in building. The door for the lowest side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chambers, and out of the middle into the third. So he built the house, and finished it; and roofed the house with cedar. And then he built the stories against all the house, [each] five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the beams of the ceiling he overlaid them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. And the twenty cubits from the hinder part of the house he built for an oracle. And the temple before the oracle was forty cubits long. And within, the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he made an altar of cedar before the oracle.1 And within the oracle he made two cherubim of olive tree, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub. And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and they stretched forth their wings 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.2 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 3 And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part. The two doors also were of olive tree. So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part. And the two doors were of cypress: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: "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 and I will 1 The 'oracle,' like the Kaaba at Mecca, is cube-shaped. The is the table for shew-bread. altar of cedar' 2 "And they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward." 2 Chron. iii. 13. The exact form of these cherubim is not known. 3 the lintel... fifth part. This probably means that the door was of pentagonal shape, whereas the door of the great hall was square. dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel." So Solomon built the house, and finished it. In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Zif: 1 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. The Temple Furnishings (1 Kings vii. 13-27, 38-51). And king Solomon sent and fetched Huram-abi out of Tyre. He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. For he cast two pillars of brass. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits compassed it about, and the thickness of the pillar was four finger-breadths. It was hollow; and the second pillar was like unto it. And he made two chapiters 2 of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits: and nets (of checker work, chainwork) for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars. And he made the pomegranates, and that in two rows upon the one network; and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about the one chapiter and so he made for the other chapiter. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.3 And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the 1 In the old Hebrew calendar Ziv, the 'flower month ' was the second month, and fell within April-May; Bul, the 'rainy month' fell within Oct.-Nov. 2 chapiters. Capitals. The meanings of Jachin and Boaz are not certainly known. Jachin occurs as a name of deity in a Phoenician inscription. A glass dish (3d or 4th cent.) found in 1882 shows the temple of Jerusalem with these pillars standing free in front of the building. They may have symbolized the presence of Jehovah, representing, in this function, the mazzebahs or sacred stones that in the more primitive religion had been thought of as the abode of the deity. Herodotus (ii. 44) mentions that two such pillars stood in the temple of Melkarth at Tyre. other it was round all about, and its height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.1 And he made the ten bases2 of brass; then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south. And Huram-abi made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. 3 So Huram-abi made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the Lord: the two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars; and the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; and one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: and all these vessels, which Huram-abi made to king Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of bright brass. In the plain of Jordan did he cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels which he had made in the house of the Lord. So was ended all the work that king Solomon Lord. And Solomon brought in father had dedicated; even the vessels, did he put among the Lord. made for the house of the the things which David his silver, and the gold, and the treasures of the house of the Dedication of the Temple (1 Kings viii. 1-13). Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David (which is Zion), in the month Ethanim (which is the seventh 1 two thousand baths. Over 16,000 gallons. 2 bases. Movable carriages for supporting the lavers. 8 bowls of the chapiters. The bowl-shaped 'bells' of the capitals. month). And all the elders of Israel came, and they brought up the ark of the Lord. And king Solomon, and all Israel, went before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the oracle of the house, even under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with all the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Then spake Solomon : "The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, A settled place for thee to abide in for ever." 1 Solomon's Palace (1 Kings vii. 1, 2, 6–8; ix. 24; vii. 9-12). But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years. And he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon three rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. And he made a porch. of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and a porch before them and pillars and a threshold before them. Then he made a porch for the throne 1 The text of Solomon's dedicatory verses should be restored by help of the Greek version, from which it is further gathered that they occurred in the Book of Jasher (see note, p. 159). They probably formed a quatrain, as follows:"Jehovah hath set the sun in the heavens, But himself hath willed to dwell in thick darkness: A place for thee to abide in forever." 2 house of the forest of Lebanon. So called from the appearance of the great hall with its numerous pillars of cedar from Lebanon. |