6
1 Kings

Solomon Builds the Temple

1 Kings 6:1-38
1It was in the eightieth year and the four hundredth year after the sons of Israel came out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv (that is the second month), when Solomon began to reign over Israel, that he built the house for the LORD. 2The house that Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height. 3The hall in front of the temple of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and ten cubits wide in front of the house. 4He made for the house framed, shuttered windows. 5He built upon the wall of the house floor upon floor around, the walls of the house around, for the temple and for the sanctuary, and he made sides around. 6The lower story was five cubits wide, the middle six cubits wide, and the third seven cubits wide, for he made offsets for the house all around on the outside, so that they would not be fastened into the walls of the house. 7The house, when it was being built, was built of complete quarry stone, so that hammer and axe and every iron tool were not heard in the house while it was being built. 8The entrance of the middle story was on the right side of the house, and stairs went up to the middle story and from the middle to the third. 9So he built the house and finished it, and he covered the house with beams and rows of cedar. 10He built the story upon the whole house, five cubits its height, and he covered the house with cedar beams. 11Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, 12This house that you are building: if you walk in my statutes and do my ordinances and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my word with you that I spoke to David your father. 13I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel. 14So Solomon built the house and finished it. 15He built the walls of the house on the inside with cedar boards from the floor of the house to the ceiling; he covered the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards. 16He built twenty cubits from the rear of the house with cedar boards from the floor to the walls, and he built it within the house as the inner sanctuary, the most holy place. 17Forty cubits was the house; it was the temple before it. 18Cedar was toward the house within, carving of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, no stone was visible. 19He prepared the inner sanctuary in the midst of the house to place there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 20The space in front of the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold, and he overlaid the altar with cedar. 21Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. 22He overlaid all the house with gold until he finished all the house, and all the altar that belonged to the sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 23In the sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits its height. 24Five cubits was the wing of the first cherub, and five cubits the wing of the second cherub; ten cubits from the ends of its wings to the ends of its wings. 25Ten cubits was the second cherub; one measure and one shape for the two cherubim. 26The height of the first cherub was ten cubits, and so the second cherub. 27He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and they spread the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched the wall and the wing of the second cherub touched the second wall, and their wings touched wing to wing in the midst of the house. 28He overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29All the walls of the house around he carved with engravings of cherubim and palms and open flowers, from within and to the outer. 30He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, within and without. 31For the entrance of the sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the doorposts were a fifth part. 32Two doors of olive wood, and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palms and open flowers, and he overlaid gold, and he brought down gold upon the cherubim and upon the palms. 33So he did for the entrance of the temple: doorposts of olive wood from the fourth. 34Two doors of cypress: the two leaves of the one door turned, and the two leaves of the second door turned. 35He carved cherubim and palms and open flowers, and he overlaid smoothed gold upon the engraved. 36He built the inner court with three courses of dressed stone and a course of cedar beams. 37In the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, the house of the LORD was founded. 38In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (that is the eighth month), the house was finished according to all its words and according to all its ordinances; he built it in seven years.

Key words in this passage

Cross-references

Study notes

Solomon's work on the house for the LORD moves from outer dimensions and quarry stone to interior cedar and gold, yet the report pauses after the lower walls to deliver the LORD's word. That word links the establishment of the promise spoken to David with the king's walking in the statutes and keeping the commandments. The condition stands inside the construction sequence itself, so the completed sanctuary with its cherubim and gold-covered surfaces remains tied to the requirement of obedience rather than standing apart from it. The finished structure carries forward both the physical achievement and the open question of whether the divine presence will rest there.

What is Solomon Builds the Temple about?

Solomon begins work on the house for the LORD in the fourth year of his reign. The account fixes that moment by counting four hundred and eighty years from the departure from Egypt and names the month of Ziv as the starting point. From there the description moves at once to the building’s outer measurements and then inward through successive stages of construction.

The central tension appears when the word of the LORD interrupts the building report. God states that the house Solomon is erecting will receive the promised presence only if the king walks in the statutes and keeps the commandments given to David. The condition stands directly between the account of the stonework and the later overlay of cedar and gold, so the physical project and the requirement of obedience remain joined throughout the chapter.

These verses therefore matter because they record the actual erection of the sanctuary that will later receive the ark. The surrounding narrative has already shown the gathering of materials and labor; what follows immediately is the construction of the royal palace and then the dedication. By placing the divine word inside the construction sequence, the chapter keeps the success of the entire enterprise tied to the same obedience that shaped David’s earlier promise.

Where does this passage sit in 1 Kings?

Chapter 6 follows directly from the timber and stone shipments arranged with Hiram in the previous chapter. Those preparations conclude with the materials ready at the building site, and the account here begins by fixing the start date in the fourth year before describing the outer frame, the side chambers, and the quiet assembly of quarry stone. The divine address in verses 11 through 13 arrives once the lower walls stand but before any interior cedar or gold appears, so the condition attached to David’s line interrupts the physical progress at the midpoint of the report.

After the word of the LORD, the narrative returns to the same language of finishing and covering the house, now turning to the inner sanctuary, the cherubim, and the gold overlay. This resumption shows the building work continuing under the stated requirement rather than apart from it. The chapter then ends by recording the seven-year completion in the month of Bul, at which point the next section shifts to Solomon’s palace, a project that occupies thirteen years. The shorter span given to the house for the LORD and the longer span given to the royal residence sit side by side, marking a difference in duration that the book does not further explain.

Within the larger sequence, the temple report stands between the initial alliances and the later dedication scenes. The repeated notices of cedar beams and finished work therefore frame the divine speech, keeping the covenant reminder inside the construction narrative itself rather than before or after it.

How is the passage structured?

The account opens with a precise date that anchors the start of construction to the exodus and to Solomon’s fourth year, then immediately supplies the outer dimensions of the house. From that fixed point the description moves inward: the hall before the temple, the framed windows, and the three successive stories of side chambers whose increasing widths rest on offsets rather than on the main walls. A single sentence notes that the entire structure rose from finished quarry stone so that no iron tool sounded inside while the work proceeded. The entrance to the middle story appears on the right side, and stairs ascend through the three levels. Cedar beams and rows then cover the whole house.

At this point the narrative halts. The word of the LORD reaches Solomon and states the condition under which the divine presence will rest in the completed house. After the brief divine speech the report resumes with the same verb of completion used earlier, yet the focus has shifted from outer shell to interior finish. Cedar boards now line the walls from floor to ceiling, cypress covers the floor, and a cedar partition creates the inner sanctuary twenty cubits deep. Gold overlay begins on the walls of that most holy space and spreads until every surface inside and outside receives it. Two olive-wood cherubim, each ten cubits high with wings spanning the full width of the room, stand inside the sanctuary; their wings touch both side walls and each other. Carvings of cherubim, palms, and flowers cover the remaining walls, doors of olive wood and cypress receive matching decoration, and the inner court is formed with alternating courses of stone and cedar.

The chapter closes by returning to the calendar: foundation laid in the fourth year, month of Ziv; completion in the eleventh year, month of Bul, after exactly seven years.

What is the historical background?

The account measures the temple in cubits, the standard forearm-based unit used across the Levant for royal and sacred construction. Sixty cubits long and twenty wide placed the main structure on a scale comparable to other monumental buildings of the period, while the thirty-cubit height and the progressively wider side chambers reflect an offset technique that kept the added stories from bearing directly on the primary walls. The requirement that only finished quarry stone be used, with no iron tool heard inside the house, aligns with older instructions that treated iron as ritually incompatible with spaces set apart for the LORD.

Cedar beams and boards, together with cypress for floors and doors, point to timber imported from the coastal ranges north of Israel. The extensive gold overlay on walls, floors, chains, and the two olive-wood cherubim further indicates access to precious metal through established trade networks. These cherubim, each ten cubits high with wings spanning the inner sanctuary, follow the conventional placement of such figures as guardians flanking the divine throne or ark.

The building calendar itself follows the agricultural year. Work began in the month of Ziv, the second month, and concluded in Bul, the eighth month, seven years later. The same months frame both the foundation and the completion notices, underscoring that the project occupied a fixed cycle of dry-season labor. The divine word that reaches Solomon while the stonework is underway recalls the longstanding expectation that a sanctuary’s legitimacy depended on the ruler’s adherence to prior covenant obligations rather than on the structure alone.

What does this passage teach about God?

The word of the LORD interrupts the construction account to tie the completed house directly to Solomon’s obedience. God states that the structure Solomon is raising will receive the promised presence only if the king walks in the statutes, does the ordinances, and keeps the commandments given to David. This condition appears between the report of the stonework and the later overlay of cedar and gold, so the physical project and the requirement of covenant loyalty remain joined throughout the chapter.

The inner sanctuary receives special attention as the place prepared for the ark of the covenant. Twenty cubits square and overlaid with pure gold, it stands at the center of the house, flanked by two olive-wood cherubim whose wings stretch wall to wall. These details present the sanctuary as the designated location where the LORD’s word to David will find its resting place, provided the king remains faithful.

The extensive gold covering on walls, floor, altar, and doors, together with the carved cherubim, palms, and open flowers, marks the entire building as set apart for divine glory rather than human display. No iron tool sounds inside during construction, and the stones arrive already dressed, so the work itself proceeds in a manner that respects the holiness of the site.

God’s closing promise in the chapter declares that he will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel and will not forsake his people. That assurance stands alongside the earlier condition, showing that the LORD’s presence is both promised and contingent. The seven-year building period, begun in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign and finished in the eleventh, records the steady labor required to bring the house to completion according to all its words and ordinances.

What are the interpretive difficulties?

The divine word arrives in the middle of the construction account. After the description of the lower, middle, and third stories with their offsets, and after the note that no iron tool was heard inside the house, the text records that the word of the LORD came to Solomon. The condition that follows ties the establishment of the earlier promise to David directly to Solomon’s walking in the statutes and keeping the commandments. The chapter does not record any reply from Solomon or any immediate change in the building work that follows.

The measurements themselves raise questions the verses do not answer. The house is given as sixty cubits long, twenty wide, and thirty high, with the hall in front specified separately. The inner sanctuary is set off at twenty cubits, yet the text supplies no explicit reason for these proportions or for the progressive widening of the side chambers. Later verses describe the cherubim whose wings touch both walls and each other, and the complete covering of walls, floor, and doors with gold, but they offer no further comment on what these features are meant to convey beyond their presence in the finished structure.

The seven-year period stated at the end stands beside the earlier reference to four hundred and eighty years from the exodus. The chapter presents both numbers without reconciling them to other chronological notices elsewhere in the book or explaining why the construction time receives such precise notice. The text also remains silent on whether the ark has yet been brought in or whether the LORD has taken up residence; it ends with the house finished according to all its words and ordinances.

These silences leave open how the condition given in verses twelve and thirteen will be tested and whether the physical completion of the house already satisfies or still awaits the divine response promised to David. The narrative joins the building project and the requirement of obedience at this point without resolving their future relation.

Movement by movement

Dimensions and outer structure6:1-10

The account anchors the start of work to the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out from the land of Egypt, in Solomon’s fourth year and the month of Ziv. From that fixed moment the description turns at once to the house itself: sixty cubits long, twenty wide, and thirty high. The hall in front adds twenty cubits across the width and projects ten cubits outward. Framed, shuttered windows are set into the walls. Around the main structure rise three stories of side chambers whose widths increase from five to seven cubits because the walls rest on offsets rather than on the house itself. The entire building rises from complete quarry stone so that no hammer, axe, or iron tool sounds inside while the work proceeds. An entrance on the right side gives access by stairs to the middle and third stories. Once the frame stands, cedar beams and rows cover the house, and a further five-cubit story is added across the whole. These outer measurements and construction details stand complete before any word from the LORD reaches Solomon about the conditions attached to the promise given David.

The LORD's word during building6:11-13

The word of the LORD arrives once the lower walls stand but before any interior cedar or gold appears. It addresses Solomon directly about the house he is building and ties its future to a clear condition: if he walks in the statutes, does the ordinances, and keeps all the commandments by walking in them, then the earlier word spoken to David will stand. The promise that follows states that the LORD will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel and will not forsake the people. This condition is placed between the report of finished quarry stone and the later account of cedar boards and gold overlay, so the physical work and the requirement of covenant loyalty remain joined in the narrative. The text records no reply from Solomon and describes no pause or alteration in the construction that follows. The promise itself repeats the language of presence among the people rather than limiting it to the completed structure alone, leaving the link between royal obedience and divine dwelling open for the rest of the account to unfold.

Interior cedar and gold work6:14-22

So Solomon built the house and finished it. The account then turns at once to the interior surfaces. Cedar boards run from floor to ceiling along every wall, while cypress boards cover the floor itself. Twenty cubits from the rear, another cedar partition rises from floor to walls, creating the inner sanctuary, the most holy place, where the ark of the covenant of the LORD will stand. The remaining forty cubits form the temple space before it. Within these rooms cedar conceals every stone, its surface worked with gourds and open flowers. Pure gold then spreads across the entire inner space, including the twenty-cubit cube in front of the sanctuary and the altar that stands there. Chains of gold stretch across the front of the inner sanctuary, and the same gold covers the altar that belongs to it. The description records no further interruption; the work proceeds directly from the divine word that had required obedience for the LORD’s presence to rest among the people.

Cherubim and carved walls6:23-30

Two cherubim of olive wood stand ten cubits high inside the inner sanctuary. Each has a wing of five cubits, so that the full span from wingtip to wingtip measures ten cubits, and both figures share one measure and one shape. Solomon sets them in the middle of the inner house so that the outer wing of each touches a side wall while their inner wings meet in the center. He then overlays the cherubim with gold. The same winged figures reappear on every wall around the house, cut together with palms and open flowers that extend from the inner room to the outer sections. The floor itself receives gold overlay both within the sanctuary and outside it. These repeated carvings surround the space prepared for the ark, filling the area with the same motifs already worked into the cedar boards that line the larger temple. The account gives no further description of the cherubim’s faces or stance, leaving their precise appearance to the reader’s imagination while fixing their size, material, placement, and covering.

Doors, court, and completion6:31-38

Olive wood supplies the doors at the sanctuary entrance, their posts taking a fifth of the opening, while two leaves carry the same cherubim, palms, and open flowers already cut into the surrounding walls and receive gold overlay that brings the figures into relief. The same pattern repeats at the temple entrance, though the posts are measured from the fourth part and the leaves are cypress that swing on their pivots. Inside the larger enclosure the inner court rises in three courses of dressed stone capped by a single course of cedar beams. The account then fixes the entire project between its start in the fourth year, month of Ziv, and its finish in the eleventh year, month of Bul, a span the narrator simply records as seven years. No further word from the LORD appears after the earlier condition attached to the promise given David, so the completed structure stands with that requirement still in force and with no recorded reply from Solomon about his own obedience.

Notes accompany the Anselm Project Bible, an AI translation from the original languages. Tap any verse above for the committee's word-level decisions.

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