Solomon Builds the Temple
Solomon contracts with Hiram of Tyre for cedar and cypress from Lebanon, floated down the coast in rafts and paid for in wheat and oil, and raises a labour force of tens of thousands. The building takes seven years. One detail is noted with evident approval: the stone was dressed at the quarry, so that no hammer or iron tool was heard at the site.
The dedication is the theological centre of the account. With the ark installed and the cloud filling the house, Solomon prays — and the prayer concedes its own premise: heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house. He then asks that the temple serve as a direction to pray towards rather than a box to keep God in, and includes the foreigner who comes from a distant land.
The building stood until Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it in 586 BC.
Where in scripture
[1] Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father, and Hiram had always loved David. [2] Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, [3] “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars which were around him on every side, until Yahweh put his enemies under the soles of his feet. [4] But now Yahweh my God has given me rest on every side. There is no enemy and no evil occurrence. [5] Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place shall build the house for my name.’ …
1 Kings 5:1–18 — opening verses
[1] In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build Yahweh’s house. [2] The house which king Solomon built for Yahweh had a length of sixty cubits, and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. [3] The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house. [4] He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house. [5] Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms all around. …
1 Kings 6:1–38 — opening verses
[1] Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion. [2] All the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. [3] All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark. [4] They brought up Yahweh’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the Levites brought these up. [5] King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. …
1 Kings 8:1–66 — opening verses
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
