# Solomon builds the temple

United Kingdom · Draft · BSB

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Date: Solomon’s fourth–eleventh years · Temple construction

Solomon obtains timber and skilled help through Hiram of Tyre and organizes labor for the temple. The narrative describes the building, its furnishings and the royal palace complex, while the LORD reminds Solomon that obedience remains essential.

Temple construction runs from Solomon’s fourth to eleventh year, described as seven years. The palace takes thirteen years; its description inside this section is not used to prove that the dedication waited for every palace project. The labor demands, including the Israelite levy in 5:13, belong to the account.

## Primary Scripture

[1 Kings 5:1–7:51 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%205%3A1%E2%80%937%3A51&version=BSB)

5:1 Now when Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father’s place, he sent envoys to Solomon; for Hiram had always been a friend of David.

5:2 And Solomon relayed this message to Hiram:

5:3 “As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD had put his enemies under his feet.

5:4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.

5:5 So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God, according to what the LORD said to my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the house for My Name.’

5:6 Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.”

5:7 When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day! He has given David a wise son over this great people!”

5:8 Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying: “I have received your message; I will do all you desire regarding the cedar and cypress timber.

5:9 My servants will haul the logs from Lebanon to the Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. And in exchange, you can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”

5:10 So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,

5:11 and year after year Solomon would provide Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil.

5:12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

5:13 Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.

5:14 He sent them to Lebanon in monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

5:15 Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,

5:16 not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.

5:17 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.

5:18 So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.

6:1 In 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 the LORD.

6:2 The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

6:3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.

6:4 He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.

6:5 Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.

6:6 The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.

6:7 The 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.

6:8 The 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.

6:9 So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.

6:10 He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.

6:11 Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:

6:12 “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.

6:13 And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”

6:14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it.

6:15 He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.

6:16 He partitioned off the twenty cubits 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.

6:17 And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.

6:18 The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.

6:19 Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

6:20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

6:21 So 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.

6:22 So 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.

6:23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

6:24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

6:25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,

6:26 and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.

6:27 And 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.

6:28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

6:29 Then 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.

6:30 And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

6:31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.

6:32 The 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.

6:33 In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.

6:34 The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.

6:35 He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

6:36 Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.

6:37 The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.

6:38 In 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.

7:1 Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.

7:2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.

7:3 The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars—forty-five beams, fifteen per row.

7:4 There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers.

7:5 All the doorways had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers.

7:6 Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico.

7:7 In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.

7:8 And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

7:9 All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

7:10 The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long.

7:11 Above these were costly stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.

7:12 The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.

7:13 Now King Solomon sent to bring Huram from Tyre.

7:14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.

7:15 He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.

7:16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars, each capital five cubits high.

7:17 For the capitals on top of the pillars he made a network of lattice, with wreaths of chainwork, seven for each capital.

7:18 Likewise, he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates around each grating to cover each capital atop the pillars.

7:19 And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.

7:20 On the capitals of both pillars, just above the rounded projection next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows encircling each capital.

7:21 Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz.

7:22 And the tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work of the pillars was completed.

7:23 He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.

7:24 Below the rim, ornamental buds encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea.

7:25 The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center.

7:26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.

7:27 In addition, he made ten movable stands of bronze, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.

7:28 This was the design of the stands: They had side panels attached to uprights,

7:29 and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work.

7:30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and a basin resting on four supports, with wreaths at each side.

7:31 The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.

7:32 There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter.

7:33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.

7:34 Each stand had four handles, one for each corner, projecting from the stand.

7:35 At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The supports and panels were cast as a unit with the top of the stand.

7:36 He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around.

7:37 In this way he made the ten stands, each with the same casting, dimensions, and shape.

7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.

7:39 He set five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north, and he put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.

7:40 Additionally, Huram made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of the LORD:

7:41 the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars; the two sets of network covering both bowls of the capitals atop the pillars;

7:42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars);

7:43 the ten stands; the ten basins on the stands;

7:44 the Sea; the twelve oxen underneath the Sea;

7:45 and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were made of burnished bronze.

7:46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan.

7:47 Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.

7:48 Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD: the golden altar; the golden table on which was placed the Bread of the Presence;

7:49 the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;

7:50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

7:51 So all the work that King Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed. Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

## Related Scripture

[2 Samuel 7:12–13 · prophecy](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%207%3A12%E2%80%9313&version=BSB)

The building is connected with the promise that David’s descendant would build the house.

[Deuteronomy 12:5–11 · teaching](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2012%3A5%E2%80%9311&version=BSB)

Moses anticipates worship at the LORD’s chosen place; Deuteronomy itself does not name Jerusalem.

## Location evidence

Jerusalem is identified. The city marker does not claim a verified reconstruction of the temple footprint or the transport routes from Lebanon.

Event map marker: Identified site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[35.234167, 31.776667\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.

Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.234167, 31.776667\]. Classification source: editorial.

[OpenBible.info: Jerusalem (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a15257a/jerusalem)

[OpenBible.info: Jerusalem (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a15257a/jerusalem)

## For the class

Why does the LORD speak about obedience in the middle of the building description?

## Interpretation and reuse

Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.

Record source: editorial (content/authored/united-kingdom.json)

Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.

Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm

[Use this atlas with AI / data documentation](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/ai/)