1 Kings Chapters 6-7
By Bro David Petersen
The Source Of The Blueprint For The Temple
King David claimed that he received divine inspiration for the design of the temple:
1 Chron 28:11-12 11 Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
12 And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things.
1 Chron 28:18-19
18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
19 All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
So David wrote down the pattern of the temple as the Spirit of God directed him. He then passed this design along to Solomon who built the temple.
The Location Of The Temple
2 Chron 3:1
Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. This was the site that David bought from Ornan.(1 Chron 21:15-30).
Figure 1.
When The Temple Was Built
1 Kings 6:1
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
Solomon began to reign about 971 B.C., so his fourth year would have been about 967 B.C. The temple was completed about 960 B.C., seven years later (1 Kings 6:37-38).
Temple Architecture
We do not know what the architectural style of the temple was. For example, it is not known whether the ceadar roof was flat or slanted. Some scholars believe that archaeology shows Solomon's Temple was likely Phoenician, as would be expected, since it was constructed by a Tyrian, Huram-Abi (1 Kings 7:13-15). This "architectual fad" theory holds that there were at least Phoenecian influences in the style. Remember that these pictures are only artist's conceptions. The purpose here is only to acquaint you with what we do know of the temple layout and the relation of its objects to each other. No one on this earth knows what the temple really looked like.
Temple Dimensions (1 Kings 6:2-4)
2 The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits (90 ft.) long, twenty wide (30 ft.) and thirty high (45 ft.). 3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits (15 ft.) from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow clerestory windows in the temple.
Figure 2.
1 Kings 6:5-8 5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. (storage rooms). 6 The lowest floor was five cubits (7.5 ft.) wide, the middle floor six cubits (9 ft.) and the third floor seven (10.5 ft.). He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. (The side annex was 3 stories tall).
7 In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.
8 The entrance to the lowest floor (of the side rooms) was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.
Figure 3.
9 So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 10 And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits (7.5 ft.) , and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.
Figure 4.
Figure 4 shows the basic layout of the temple. The temple faced east. Starting from the east end was the porch, the Holy Place and then the Most Holy Place. Store rooms surronded the temple on 3 sides: South, West and North. The 2 pillars Jachim (South) and Boaz (North) were in front of the porch. The Sea of Bronze was near the Southeast corner and the Altar was directly in front of the porch.
Figure 5.
1 Kings 6:16-20
16 He partitioned off twenty cubits (30 ft.) 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. 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits (60 ft.) long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen. 19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high (a cube). He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
Figure 6.
The Ark Of The Covenant
Although the temple was magnificent, it was not very big. The entire structure is approximately 90 cubits or 135 feet long. The sanctuary itself (Holy Place and Most Holy Place) together are 90 ft long and 30 ft. wide.
The Most Holy place was a 20 cubit cube. It did not go to the top of the temple (30 cubits). The Holy place was a 2:1 sided rectangle 40 cubits long, 20 wide and 30 tall.
The temple is not a cathedral where many people go to worship. As David the king said unto all the congregation in 1 Chron 29:1 "Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God." Instead it is a place where the priests do their work. It was where God met with his people through a mediator. Today our mediator is Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. The body of Christ represents a kingdom of priests. (Rev 5:10).
Figure 7.
1 Kings 6:21-28
21 Solomon covered 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.
The entire interior of the temple was covered with gold top to bottom.
22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
The Altar of Incense
Upon this altar incense was burned every morning and evening (Ex 30:7-8), and the blood of atonement was sprinkled upon it (v. 10). Being placed immediately before the throne of Jehovah (Ark of the Covenant), it was the symbol of believing and acceptable prayer. This is the only altar that appears in the heavenly Temple (Isa 6:6; Rev 8:3). It was the altar at which Zacharias was ministering when the angel appeared to him (Luke 1:11).
2 Chron 3:8
He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold.
2 Chron 3:14
14 He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it.
23 In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits (15 ft.) high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits (7,5 ft.) long, and the other wing five cubits-ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip.
25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
Figure 9
1 Kings 6:29-30
29 On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.
Figure 10.
1 Kings 6:31-36
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with five-sided jambs (see figure 7). 32 And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold. 33 In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall. 34 He also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
36 And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.
Figure 11. The twin pillars Boaz and Jachin were 34.5 ft. tall.
The Pillars 1 Kings 7:15-22
15 He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits (27 ft.) high and twelve cubits around, by line. 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits (7.5 ft.) high. 17 A network of interwoven chains festooned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. 21 He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin ("Jehovah will establish his throne forever", implying stability of the kingdom), and the one to the north Boaz ("In Jehovah is the king's strength"). 22 The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.
The pillars did not support the temple. Most scholars believe that they were fire pillars. This notion is supported by archeology of contemporary temples which had similar pillars and the meaning of the word Hebrew "gulla" used in 1 Kings 7:41 which means "oil basins". "The two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars." (1 Kings 7:40-41). As such they would have been immense incense stands illuminating the facade of the temple. Such pillars flanking the main entrance of temples were common in Syria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus in the first millennium B.C. Spreading eastward, they came into vogue in Assyria.
In Revelation 10:1 a strong angel had feet "as pillars of fire" (10:1).
The pillars proclaimed the glory of the God who dwelled inside. They declared his eternal kingdom, his strength and his providence. The nature of these pillars begs further study and reconsideration of the pillar metaphors used in the New Testament. James, Cephas and John were reputed to be pillars" of the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:9); the church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15); he that overcomes is made "a pillar" in the temple of God (Rev 3:12).
1 Tim 3:14-16
What does Paul mean that the church is "the pillar and ground of truth"? Not that the authority of the scriptures depends upon that of the church, as the papists pretend. The truth doesn't need us to uphold it. But the church holds forth the scripture and the doctrine of Christ, as the pillar to which a proclamation is affixed holds forth the proclamation.
Figure 12.
The Brazen Sea: 1 Kings 7:23-30
23 He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits (15 ft.) from rim to rim and five cubits (7.5 ft.) high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it-ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths. 27 He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits (6 ft.) long, four wide and three (4.5 ft.) high. 28 This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29 On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim-and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side.
Figure 13.
The Sea of Bronze and the Ten Bronze Stands
1 Kings 7:31-37
31 On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half (2.25 ft.). Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half (2.25 ft.). 33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.
34 Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35 At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. 36 He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. 37 This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.
38 He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands.
Figure 14.
1 Kings 7:39-40
39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.
2 Chron 4:6
6 He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.
Figure 15. The Bronze Altar
2 Chron 4:1-2
4:1 He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.
Figure 16.
Figure 16 does a good job of showing the layout of the items inside the temple including the lampstands, the tables of shewbread and the altar of incense. However, it shows the 2 pillars, Jachin and Boaz on the wrong sides.
2 Chron 4:7-8
7 He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8 He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.
Figure 17. The Temple Courtyards
2 Chron 4:9-10
9 He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.
From the fact that the (inner) court of the priests is called "the upper court" (Jer 36:10), it is likely that it was on a higher level than the outer court; and it is not unlikely that the Temple itself was higher than the inner court, so that the whole would have a terracelike aspect. So far as can be gathered from subsequent statements of an incidental nature (2 Kings 23:11; Jer 35:4; 36:10; Ezek 8:1; etc.).
The measurement of the courts is not given, but following the analogy of the Tabernacle (cf. Ezek 40:27), we may venture to assume that the court of the priests was 100 cubits, and the same in breadth, measuring it on the E, or front, side of the Temple. This would make the entire measurement 100 cubits wide by 200 in length. We will then have for the outer court an area of at least 400 cubits long and 200 cubits wide.
The Book of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles
Introduction |
1 Kings 1 |
1 Kings 2 |
1 Kings 3 |
1 Kings 4 |
1 Kings 5 |
1 Kings 6-7 |
1 Kings 8 |
1 Kings 9 |
1 Kings 10 |
1 Kings 11 |
1 Kings 12 |
2 Chronicles 13 |
1 Kings 13 |
1 Kings 14 |
1 Kings 15 |
2 Chronicles 15 |
1 Kings 16 |
1 Kings 17 |
1 Kings 18 |
1 Kings 19 |
1 Kings 20 |
1 Kings 21 |
1 Kings 22