1 Kings 6:37

_IN THE FOURTH YEAR WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD LAID, IN THE MONTH ZIF:_ In the fourth year was the foundation ... laid. Josephus says ('Antiquities,' b. 8:, ch. 4:, sec. 9) that the summit of the mount was leveled with incredible labour, in order that the lower parts might be raised 400 cubits, to the same height with the top of the hill upon which the temple was to stand. The building was begun in the second month of the fourth year, and completed in the eighth month of the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, comprising a period of seven and a half years, which is reckoned here in round numbers. It was not a very large, but a very splendid building, requiring great care, and ingenuity, and division of labour. The immense number of workmen employed, together with the previous preparation of the materials, serves to account for the short time occupied in the process of bui...

15-38 See what was typified by this temple. 1. Christ is the true Temple. In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead; in him meet all God's spiritual Israel; through him we have access with confidence to God. 2. Every believer is a living temple, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, 1 Corinthians 3:16. This living temple is built upon Christ as its Foundation, and will be perfect in due time. 3. The gospel church is the mystical temple. It grows to a holy temple in the Lord, enriched and beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit. This temple is built firm, upon a Rock. 4. Heaven is the everlasting temple. There the church will be fixed. All that shall be stones in that building, must, in the present state of preparation, be fitted and made ready for it. Let sinners come to Jesus as the living Foundation, that they may be built on him, a part of this spiritual house, consecrated...

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.—The preparations for the building of the Temple having been related in the preceding chapter, the historian now proceeds to describe the edifice. He begins his narrative with a precise statement of the date of its erection (1 Kings 6:1); then follows (1) a description of the shape, size, and arrangement of the exterior (1 Kings 6:2), and (2) a detailed account of its internal fittings and adornments (1 Kings 6:15-11). The promise made to Solomon during its erection finds a place in 1 Kings 6:11; while the vessels,

IN THE FOURTH YEAR WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD LAID,.... The fourth year of Solomon's reign: IN THE MONTH ZIF; 1 Kings 6:1....

ZIF Second month, that is, May....

CHAPTER 6THE DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE _ 1. The date of the beginning of the building (1 Kings 6:1)_ 2. The house, the porches and side chambers (1 Kings 6:2) 3. The divine charge (1 Kings 6:11) 4. The internal arrangements (1 Kings 6:15) 5. The cherubim (1 Kings 6:23) 6. The doors (1 Kings 6:31) 7. The inner court and the temple finished ...

DESCRIPTION OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. The Temple area is on the eastern hill of Jerusalem, which overlooks the valley of the Kidron, with the Mount of Olives on the opposite side. It was probably not the Zion captured by David (2 Samuel 5), but the site was purchased by him from Ornan, or Araunah, the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18). It is marked by an outcrop of rock, now called the _Sakrah._ The Temple hill is divided from the Upper City on the western hill by a valley called the Tyropœ an (cheese-makers). The Temple was part of a great scheme of building which has been restored by Stade, whose reconstruction is now generally adopted in descriptions of early Jerusalem. To understand aright the difficult account of Solomon's buildings in these Chapter s, Ezekiel's restored Temple (Ezekiel 40-48) and Josephus'sketch of Herod's Temple (_Wars,_...

ZIF. The second month....

Completion of Solomon's Temple (Not in Chronicles) 37. _In the fourth year_ i.e. Of king Solomon's reign. See 1 Kings 6:1. The LXX. (both _Vat._and _Alex._) omits these two verses, adding at the end of 36 καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τὸ καταπέτασμα τῆς αὐλῆς τοῦ αἰλὰμ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ ναοῦ....

E. OTHER DETAILS OF THE TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION 6:36-38 TRANSLATION (36) And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams. (37) In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the month of Ziv. (38) And in the eleventh year in the month Bui (which is the eighth month) he finished the house in all of its details and according to all specifications. So he was seven years in building it. COMMENTS The description of the building concludes with a brief reference to the construction of the inner court. This court was enclosed by a wall formed by three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. The cedar beams were used instead of coping stones. It would seem from 2 Chronicles 7:3 that this wall was low enough to permit men to look over it. Jeremiah ...