1 Kings 6 

1 In the four hundred and eightieth[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.

2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[b] 

3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[c] and projected ten cubits[d] from the front of the temple. 

4 He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. 

5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 

6 The lowest floor was five cubits[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits[f] and the third floor seven.[g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

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[h] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 

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, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 

12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 

13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 

15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. 

16 He partitioned off twenty cubits 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[i] 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. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 

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. 

22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23 For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 

24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits 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.

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.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 

32 And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33 In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 

34 He also made two doors out of juniper wood, 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.

37 The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.

38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

Observation Questions

1 Kings 6 

When did Solomon begin to build a temple for the Lord? (verse 1)

What were the dimensions of the temple? (verse 2)

How big was Solomon's  portico? (verse 3)

Where were the narrow windows made? (verse 4)

Was there a structure around the building in which there were side rooms? (verse 5)

Why did he make offset ledges around the outside of the temple? (verse 6)

Was any hammer, chisel or any other iron tool heard at the temple  site while it was being built? (verse 7)

Where was the entrance to the lowest floor? (verse 8)

What was the temple roofed with? (verse 9)

Did the word of the Lord  come to Solomon? (verse 12)

What was the floor of the temple covered with? (verse 15)

What kind of boards were from floor to ceiling in verse 16?

How big was the main hall in verse 17?

Was any stone seen inside the temple? (verse 18)

Where was the ark of the covenant going to be set? (verse 19)

Did Solomon overlay the altar of cedar with gold? (verse 20)

Did Solomon cover the inside of the temple with pure gold? (verse 21)

What were the cherubim made out of? (verse 23)

How were these cherubim placed? (verse 27)

Did Solomon overlay the  cherubim with gold? (verse 28)

What were carved on the walls around the temple? (verse 29)

Were the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple covered with gold? (verse 30)

How big were the olive doors in relation to the sanctuary? (verse 31)

What were carved on the doors? (verse 32)

How big were the doorframes for the entrance to the main hall in relation to the width of the hall? (verse 33)

What was said about the two doors made out of juniper wood? (verse 34)

Was the gold hammered evenly over the carvings? (verse 35)

What composed the inner courtyard? (verse 36)

When was the foundation of the temple of the Lord laid? (verse 37)

When was the temple finished? (verse 38)

How many years had Solomon spent building it? (verse 38)

Thoughts

The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[c] and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple.  - verse 3

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. - Acts 5:12

 Ziv is a Hebrew name, which means "light" or "glow".

The Hebrew word "Elul" can be understood to be an acronym for the phrase "Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li" – "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine".

Elul is seen as a time to search one's heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement.