1 Raja-raja 6:14-31

6:14 So Solomon finished building the temple. ¹  6:15 He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters ²  of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens. 6:16 He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the most holy place. ³  He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters. ⁴  6:17 The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long. ⁵  6:18 The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible. ⁶ 

6:19 He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there. 6:20 The inner sanctuary was 30 feet ⁷  long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold, ⁸  as well as the cedar altar. ⁹  6:21 Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold. ¹⁰  He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary ¹¹  with gold. 6:22 He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary. ¹² 

6:23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubs of olive wood; each stood 15 feet ¹³  high. 6:24 Each of the first cherub’s wings was seven and a half feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet. ¹⁴  6:25 The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape. ¹⁵  6:26 Each cherub stood 15 feet high. ¹⁶  6:27 He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. ¹⁷  Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub’s wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub’s wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub’s other wing touched the second cherub’s other wing in the middle of the room. ¹⁸  6:28 He plated the cherubs with gold.

6:29 On all the walls around the temple, inside and out, ¹⁹  he carved ²⁰  cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. 6:30 He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out. ²¹  6:31 He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided. ²² 

[6:14]  ¹ tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”

[6:15]  ² tc The MT reads קִירוֹת (qirot, “walls”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.

[6:16]  ³ tn Heb “He built twenty cubits from the rear areas of the temple with cedar planks from the floor to the walls, and he built it on the inside for an inner sanctuary, for a holy place of holy places.”

[6:16]  ⁴ tc The MT has קְלָעִים (qÿla’im, “curtains”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.

[6:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the house was forty cubits, that is, the main hall before it.”

[6:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “Cedar was inside the temple, carvings of gourds (i.e., gourd-shaped ornaments) and opened flowers; the whole was cedar, no stone was seen.”

[6:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “twenty cubits” (this measurement occurs three times in this verse).

[6:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).

[6:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “he plated [the] altar of cedar.”

[6:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).

[6:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it.”

[6:22]  ¹² tn Heb “all the temple he plated with gold until all the temple was finished; and the whole altar which was in the inner sanctuary he plated with gold.”

[6:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “ten cubits” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).

[6:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “The first wing of the [one] cherub was five cubits, and the second wing of the cherub was five cubits, ten cubits from the tips of his wings to the tips of his wings.”

[6:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the second cherub was ten cubits, the two cherubs had one measurement and one shape.”

[6:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the height of the first cherub was ten cubits; and so was the second cherub.”

[6:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the midst of the inner house,” i.e., in the inner sanctuary.

[6:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and their wings were in the middle of the room, touching wing to wing.”

[6:29]  ¹⁹ sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.

[6:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “carved engravings of carvings.”

[6:30]  ²¹ sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.

[6:31]  ²² tn Heb “the pillar, doorposts, a fifth part” (the precise meaning of this description is uncertain).