Reference: Temple, Solomon's
Easton
Before his death David had "with all his might" provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the summit of Mount Moriah (1Ch 22:14; 29:4; 2Ch 3:1), on the east of the city, on the spot where Abraham had offered up Isaac (Ge 22:1-14). In the beginning of his reign Solomon set about giving effect to the desire that had been so earnestly cherished by his father, and prepared additional materials for the building. From subterranean quarries at Jerusalem he obtained huge blocks of stone for the foundations and walls of the temple. These stones were prepared for their places in the building under the eye of Tyrian master-builders. He also entered into a compact with Hiram II., king of Tyre, for the supply of whatever else was needed for the work, particularly timber from the forests of Lebanon, which was brought in great rafts by the sea to Joppa, whence it was dragged to Jerusalem (1Ki 5). As the hill on which the temple was to be built did not afford sufficient level space, a huge wall of solid masonry of great height, in some places more than 200 feet high, was raised across the south of the hill, and a similar wall on the eastern side, and in the spaces between were erected many arches and pillars, thus raising up the general surface to the required level. Solomon also provided for a sufficient water supply for the temple by hewing in the rocky hill vast cisterns, into which water was conveyed by channels from the "pools" near Bethlehem. One of these cisterns, the "great sea," was capable of containing three millions of gallons. The overflow was led off by a conduit to the Kidron.
In all these preparatory undertakings a space of about three years was occupied; and now the process of the erection of the great building began, under the direction of skilled Phoenician builders and workmen, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, 480 years after the Exodus (1Ki 6; 2Ch 3). Many thousands of labourers and skilled artisans were employed in the work. Stones prepared in the quarries underneath the city (1Ki 5:17-18) of huge dimension (see Quarries) were gradually placed on the massive walls, and closely fitted together without any mortar between, till the whole structure was completed. No sound of hammer or axe or any tool of iron was heard as the structure arose (1Ki 6:7). "Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprang." The building was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. The engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund, in their explorations around the temple area, discovered what is believed to have been the "chief corner stone" of the temple, "the most interesting stone in the world." It lies at the bottom of the south-eastern angle, and is 3 feet 8 inches high by 14 feet long. It rests on the solid rock at a depth of 79 feet 3 inches below the present surface. (See Pinnacle.) In examining the walls the engineers were "struck with admiration at the vastness of the blocks and the general excellence of the workmanship."
Illustration: Stone with Phoeincian Marks Illustration: Phoenician Pitcher
At length, in the autumn of the eleventh year of his reign, seven and a half years after it had been begun, the temple was completed in all its architectural magnificence and beauty. For thirteen years there it stood, on the summit of Moriah, silent and unused. The reasons for this strange delay in its consecration are unknown. At the close of these thirteen years preparations for the dedication of the temple were made on a scale of the greatest magnificence. The ark was solemnly brought from the tent in which David had deposited it to the place prepared for it in the temple, and the glory-cloud, the symbol of the divine presence, filled the house. Then Solomon ascended a platform which had been erected for him, in the sight of all the people, and lifting up his hands to heaven poured out his heart to God in prayer (1Ki 8; 2Ch 6; 6:7). The feast of dedication, which lasted seven days, followed by the feast of tabernacles, marked a new era in the history of Israel. On the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles, Solomon dismissed the vast assemblage of the people, who returned to their homes filled with joy and gladness, "Had Solomon done no other service beyond the building of the temple, he would still have influenced the religious life of his people down to the latest days. It was to them a perpetual reminder and visible symbol of God's presence and protection, a strong bulwark of all the sacred traditions of the law, a witness to duty, an impulse to historic study, an inspiration of sacred song."
The temple consisted of, (1.) The oracle or most holy place (1Ki 6:19; 8:6), called also the "inner house" (1Ki 6:27), and the "holiest of all" (Heb 9:3). It was 20 cubits in length, breadth, and height. It was floored and wainscotted with cedar (1Ki 6:16), and its walls and floor were overlaid with gold (1Ki 6:20-21,30). There was a two-leaved door between it and the holy place overlaid with gold (2Ch 4:22); also a veil of blue purple and crimson and fine linen (2Ch 3:14; comp. Ex 26:33). It had no windows (1Ki 8:12). It was indeed the dwelling-place of God. (2.) The holy place (q.v.), 1Ki 8:8-10, called also the "greater house" (2Ch 3:5) and the "temple" (1Ki 6:17). (3.) The porch or entrance before the temple on the east (1Ki 6:3; 2Ch 3:4; 29:7). In the porch stood the two pillars Jachin and Boaz (1Ki 7:21; 2Ki 11:14; 23:3). (4.) The chambers, which were built about the temple on the southern, western, and northern sides (1Ki 6:5-10). These formed a part of the building.
Round about the building were, (1.) The court of the priests (2Ch 4:9), called the "inner court" (1Ki 6:36). It contained the altar of burnt-offering (2Ch 15:8), the brazen sea (2Ch 4:2-5,10), and ten lavers (1Ki 7:38-39). (2.) The great court, which surrounded the whole temple (2Ch 4:9). Here the people assembled to worship God (Jer 19:14; 26:2).
This temple erected by Solomon was many times pillaged during the course of its history, (1) 1Ki 14:25-26; (2) 2Ki 14:14; (3) 2Ki 16:8,17-18; (4) 2Ki 18:15-16. At last it was pillaged and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 24:13; 2Ch 36:7). He burned the temple, and carried all its treasures with him to Babylon (2Ki 25:9-17; 2Ch 36:19; Isa 64:11). These sacred vessels were at length, at the close of the Captivity, restored to the Jews by Cyrus (Ezr 1:7-11).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it happened [that] after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I [am]." And he said, "Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where I will tell you." read more. And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son. And he chopped wood for a burnt offering. And he got up and went to the place which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place at a distance. And Abraham said to his servants, "You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go up there. We will worship, then we will return to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed [it] on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and the two of them went together. And Isaac said to Abraham his father, "My father!" And he said, "Here I [am], my son." And he said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "{God will provide} the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went together. And they came to the place that God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar atop the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. And the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I [am]." And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the boy; do not do anything to him. For now I know that you are {one who fears} God, since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a ram was caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place "Yahweh {will provide}," {for which reason} it is said today, "on the mountain of Yahweh {it shall be provided}."
And you will put the curtain under the clasps, and you will bring the ark of the testimony there inside the curtain, and the curtain will separate for you between the holy and the {most holy place}.
When the king commanded, they quarried great stones [and] precious stones to lay [the] foundation of the house [with] hewn stones. So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites hewed [stones], and they prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
The vestibule on the face of the main hall of the temple [was] twenty cubits [in] its length, and the width of the temple [was] ten cubits wide on the face of the temple.
and he built a structure against the wall of the temple [running] all along the walls of the house, for the outer sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary, and made side rooms all around. The lower structure [was] five cubits in its width and the middle [was] six cubits in its width and the third [was] seven cubits in its width, for he made niches for the temple all around to the outside, [so that] beams [would] not attach to the walls of the temple. read more. Now while the temple was being built, it was built [with] stones finished [at the] quarry, [so that] no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the temple as it was being built.
Now while the temple was being built, it was built [with] stones finished [at the] quarry, [so that] no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the temple as it was being built. The doorway of the side room in the middle of the side of the temple [was] on the south; they went up with a stairway to the middle and from the middle to the third [floor]. read more. So he built the house and finished it. He covered the temple [with] rafters and wood planks and with the cedars. He also built the structure against all of the temple five cubits in height and fastened it to the temple with beams of cedar.
He built twenty cubits from the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor up to the ceiling, and he built for it an inner sanctuary on the inside, as the {most holy place}. The main hall of the temple was forty cubits {in front of the inner sanctuary},
Now [in] the inner sanctuary in the middle of the temple he prepared the inside to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there. In front, the inner sanctuary [was] twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it [with] pure gold and covered the altar [with] cedar. read more. Solomon overlaid the temple on the inside [with] pure gold, and he drew across it with golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which he overlaid with gold.
He placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim; the wing of the first cherub touched against the wall and the wing of the second cherub [was] touching against the second wall; their wings [spread] to the middle of the house [and were] touching wing to wing.
He overlaid the floor of the house with gold both inside and out.
Then he built the inner courtyard [with] three rows of dressed stone and a row of cedar beams.
He set up the pillars for the porch of the main hall; he erected the pillar on the right and called its name Jakin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.
He also made ten bronze basins, [each] holding forty baths; each basin [was] four cubits, one basin on each of the ten stands. He placed five of the stands on the south side of the house and five on the north side of the house, and the sea he set on the southeast side of the house.
The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the {most holy place}, under the wings of the cherubim,
The poles [were] long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place {in front of} the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen [from] the outside, and they are there until this day. There was not [anything] in the ark {except} the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh {made} [a covenant] with the {Israelites} after they went out from the land of Egypt. read more. When the priests went out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh.
Then Solomon said, "Yahweh has said that [he] would dwell in the very thick cloud.
It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and he took all the treasures of the king's house. He took the small gold shields that Solomon had made,
He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the {hostages}; then he returned to Samaria.
Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, and he sent a gift to the king of Assyria.
Then King Ahaz cut off the side panels of the water carts and removed from upon them the basin, and the sea he took down from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone base. The covering for the Sabbath which they had built in the palace and in the entrance of the king to the outside, he removed [from] the temple of Yahweh because of the presence of the king of Assyria.
Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria.
Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold.
He burned the temple of Yahweh, the palace of the king, and all of the houses of Jerusalem; every large house he burned with fire. He and all the army of [the] Chaldeans who [were with] the imperial guard tore down the wall of Jerusalem all around. read more. The remainder of the people left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the remainder of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard deported. But the poor of the land the commander of the imperial guard left for the vineyards and for tilling. The bronze pillars which [were in] the temple of Yahweh, the water carts, and the bronze sea that was in the temple of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke into pieces and carried their bronze to Babylon. The pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the dishes, and the vessels of bronze with which they served there, they took. The firepans and the basins, whatever was gold, the commander of the imperial guard took [for] the gold and whatever was silver, [for] the silver. The two pillars, the one sea, and the water cart which Solomon had made for the temple of Yahweh, there was no weighing to the bronze of all of these vessels. The height of the one pillar [was] eighteen cubits; a bronze capital was on it, with the height of the capital [being] three cubits. The latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around were bronze, and likewise on the latticework for the second pillar.
Now see, with great effort I have made provision for the house of Yahweh: 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron [that] cannot be weighed, for there is an abundance. Also timber and stone I have provided, but to these you should add.
three thousand talents of gold from the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses,
And the great house [itself] he covered with cypress wood, then he overlaid it with pure gold. And he put on it palm tree [images] and [ornate] chains.
And he made the curtain of blue and purple and crimson and fine linen, and put cherubim on it.
Then he made the sea of molten metal, from brim to brim [it was] ten cubits, completely round. And [it was] five cubits in height, and {its circumference measured} thirty cubits. Under it [were] figures of oxen all around it, ten cubits [high], encircling the sea all around. The oxen [were] in two rows {cast as one piece with it}. read more. [It was] standing upon twelve oxen, three facing north, and three facing west, and three facing south, and three facing east. The sea [was set] upon them from above, and all their hindquarters [faced] {inward}. And its thickness [was] a handbreadth, and its brim [was] like the working of the lip of a cup, the blossom of a lily. And it held three thousand baths.
And he made the courtyard of the priests and the great outer courtyard and the doors for the outer court. And he overlaid their doors with bronze.
And he made the courtyard of the priests and the great outer courtyard and the doors for the outer court. And he overlaid their doors with bronze. And he set the sea at the southeast [corner of the temple].
and the snuffers, the drinking bowls, the dishes, and the firepans, of solid gold; and the entrance to the house, the inner doors to {the most holy place}, and the doors to the house of the temple [were] of gold.
And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the vile idols from all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was in front of the portico of Yahweh.
And Cyrus the king brought out the objects of the house of Yahweh that Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus the king of Persia let them go out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. read more. Now these were the inventories: thirty gold metal dishes, one thousand silver metal dishes, twenty-nine vessels, thirty bowls of gold, four hundred and ten matching silver metal bowls, and one thousand other objects. All of the objects of gold and silver metal [were] five thousand four hundred. All this Sheshbazzar brought up along with the exiles from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
{Our holy and beautiful temple}, where our ancestors praised you has {been burned} [by] fire, and all our precious objects have become ruins.
Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh and said to all the people,
"Thus says Yahweh: 'Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship [in] the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word.