1 Kings · chapter 6 of 22
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1 Kings 6 describes the building of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, which began in the four hundred eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt and took seven years. It gives its measurements, its cedar walls overlaid with gold, the most holy place with two cherubim, and the carved doors. In the middle of the work, the Lord promises to dwell among the Israelites if Solomon obeys.
After the preparations in 1 Kings 5, chapter 6 moves to the work itself. The temple is the center of Israel's worship and the place where God puts his name, so the narrator lingers on the details of its construction and reminds us that God's presence depends on his people's obedience.
The temple was begun in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in the month of Ziv. The house was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high, with a porch in front. It had narrow windows and, around its walls, three stories of side chambers. The stones were dressed at the quarry, so that no hammer, axe or iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
In the middle of the construction, the Lord spoke to Solomon: if he walked in his statutes and kept his commands, the Lord would keep his word to David, dwell among the people of Israel and not abandon his people. The interior is then described: the walls were paneled in cedar carved with cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and the floor was cypress. The most holy place, a cube of twenty cubits, was overlaid with pure gold.
In it were placed two cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits high, with outstretched wings that touched the walls and met in the middle. The doors of olive and cypress were carved and overlaid with gold. The inner court was built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams. The foundation was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, and the house was finished in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, after seven years.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The work begins in the four hundred eightieth year after the exodus, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. The text ties the temple to the story of deliverance and shows it as a work of gratitude for what God did for his people.
The stones were dressed at the quarry, and no hammer or axe was heard in the temple while it was built. The detail suggests reverence and order in the work of building a place for God.
The Lord tells Solomon that if he walks in his statutes and obeys, he will keep his word to David, dwell among the people of Israel and not abandon his people. The temple is an important building, but God's presence depends on obedience, not on stone.
The house was finished in all its parts and details in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, after seven years of building. The closing note underlines the dedication and care put into the work.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: In the four hundred eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt, the fourth year of his reign. — 1 Kings 6:1
Answer: Sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. — 1 Kings 6:2
Answer: No hammer, axe or any iron tool. — 1 Kings 6:7
Answer: That he would dwell among the people of Israel and not abandon his people, if Solomon obeyed his commands. — 1 Kings 6:11-13
Answer: Two cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits high, overlaid with gold. — 1 Kings 6:23-28
Answer: Seven years, from the fourth year to the eleventh year of Solomon. — 1 Kings 6:37-38
The Lord's word in the middle of the work is the key to the chapter: what matters is not only how beautiful the temple is but that God dwells among a people who obey him. In a class or small group, ask what it means today for the church to care for its worship with beauty and order without forgetting that God looks first at obedience and the heart.
The seven years of care also remind us of the value of doing slow, unglamorous tasks well. Think of a work in your church or family that requires patience and detail, and how to offer it to God with perseverance.
1 Kings 6 presents the finished temple, but still without its furnishings or dedication. In 1 Kings 7, the text turns to Solomon's palace and to the work of Hiram of Tyre, who makes the pillars, the molten sea and other vessels.
It was the inner room of the temple, a cube-shaped space where the ark of the covenant would be placed, a symbol of God's presence. Only the high priest entered it, once a year. The New Testament teaches that through Christ believers have direct access to God.
They were angelic beings associated with the presence and glory of God. In the temple, two great olive-wood figures covered with gold guarded the place where the ark stood. Other passages of Scripture describe the Lord as enthroned between the cherubim.
The numbers and materials show the care taken over a house worthy of the Lord's name and helped the original readers see that the temple followed an orderly design. They also suggest that the temple is the work of God and his people working together.