Study Desk

Solomon took a census of all the foreign men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,^(w) and the total was 153,600.

Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.^(x)

Then Solomon began^(a) to build the Lord 's temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah^(b) where the Lord ^[a] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan^[b] the Jebusite.

He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

These are Solomon's foundations^[c] for building God's temple: the length^[d] was 90 feet,^[e] and the width 30 feet.^[f]

The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet^[g] wide; its height was 30 feet;^[h][i] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold.

The larger room^[j] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains.

He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim.

He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,^(c) and he carved cherubim on the walls.^(d)

Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet,^[k] and its width was 30 feet.^[l](e) He overlaid it with 45,000 pounds^[m] of fine gold.

The weight of the nails was 20 ounces^[n] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.

He made^(f) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold.

The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet:^[o] the wing of one was 7½ feet,^[p] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet,^[q] touching the wing of the other cherub.

The wing of the other^[r] cherub was 7½ feet,^[s] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet,^[t] reaching the wing of the other cherub.

The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet.^[u] They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.^[v]

He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.^(g)

In front of the temple^(h) he made two pillars, each 27 feet^[w][x] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet^[y] high.

He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.⁽ⁱ⁾ He made 100 pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork.

Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin^[z] and the one on the left Boaz.^[aa]

He made a bronze altar^(a) 30 feet^[a] long, 30 feet^[b] wide, and 15 feet^[c] high.

Then he made the cast metal reservoir,^(b) 15 feet^[d] from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet^[e] high and 45 feet^[f] in circumference.

The likeness of oxen^[g] was below it, completely encircling it, 10 every half yard,^[h] completely surrounding the reservoir. The oxen were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast.

It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.

The reservoir was three inches^[i] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold 11,000 gallons.^[j]

He made 10 basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.^(c) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,^(d) but the reservoir was used by the priests for washing.

He made the 10 gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^(e)

He made 10 tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^(f) He also made 100 gold bowls.

He made the courtyard^(g) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze.

He put the reservoir on the right side, toward the southeast.^(h)

Then Huram^[k](i) made^(j) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God's temple:

two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;

the 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals' bowls on top of the pillars^(k)).

He also made the water carts^[l](l) and the basins on the water carts.

The one reservoir and the 12 oxen underneath it,

the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi^[m](m) made them for King Solomon for the Lord 's temple. All these were made of polished bronze.

The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah.

Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

Solomon also made all the equipment in God's temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the bread of the Presence;⁽ⁿ⁾

the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;^(o)

the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold;

the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,^[n] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.

So all the work Solomon did for the Lord 's temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God's temple.