Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

1 Kings 6

The temple’s construction frames YHWH’s word to Solomon: obedience matters, and God promises to dwell among his people.

Solomon begins building YHWH’s house in the fourth year of his reign, 480 years after Israel’s departure from Egypt. The account follows the temple’s dimensions, surrounding rooms, and cedar-lined interior, then describes the gold-covered sanctuary prepared for the ark. During construction, YHWH speaks to Solomon about obedience and his promise to David. Cherubim, palm trees, and flowers decorate the building, which takes seven years to complete.

sermon or Bible study notespraise and worshipleadership weight
Read
1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the LORD’s house.
2The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits, and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.
3The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house.
4He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.
5Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms all around.
7The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.
8The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third.
9So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
10He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.
12“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
13I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
14So Solomon built the house and finished it.
15He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood. He covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.
16He built twenty cubits of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this within, for an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place.
18There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.
19He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of the LORD’s covenant there.
20Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height. He overlaid it with pure gold. He covered the altar with cedar.
21So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. He drew chains of gold across before the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.
22He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.
23In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
27He set the cherubim within the inner house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the middle of the house.
29He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.
30He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.
31For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
34and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
36He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.
38In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
1 Kings 6:12God interrupts the building account to connect his promise to David with Solomon’s obedience to his commands.
1 Kings 6:13The promise of God’s presence among Israel states what gives the temple its significance amid the construction details.
1 Kings 6:5The surrounding floors and side rooms establish the temple’s layout before the account turns toward its inner sanctuary.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus shares the ark, cherubim, gold-covered sanctuary furnishings, and the promise of God dwelling among Israel; 2 Chronicles recounts Solomon’s temple construction with many of the same details. Ezekiel’s temple vision also describes surrounding rooms, measured spaces, and carved cherubim and palm trees.

1 Kings 6's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does YHWH’s word in verses 12–13 shape your reading of the temple’s costly construction?

Write on this

Which detail of the temple would you want to understand better, and why?

Write on this

Questions people ask about 1 Kings 6

Why were no iron tools heard during the building of Solomon’s temple?

Verse 7 says the stones were prepared at the quarry, so no hammer, ax, or iron tool was heard at the temple during construction. The verse explains how this quiet was achieved. It does not state a symbolic reason or give a general command against using iron tools.

What does God promise Solomon in 1 Kings 6:12–13?

God says that if Solomon keeps his statutes, ordinances, and commandments, he will establish the word spoken to David. He then promises to dwell among Israel and never forsake his people. The speech places the temple project within God’s covenant dealings with Solomon and Israel, with obedience given explicit weight.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on 1 Kings 6. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

1 Kings · 22 chapters

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).