1 Kings 6 commentary

The temple is called the house of the Lord, because it was directed and modelled by him, and was to be employed in his service. This gave it the beauty of holiness, that it was the house of the Lord, which was far beyond all other beauties. It was to be the temple of the God of peace, therefore no iron tool must be heard; quietness and silence suit and help religious exercises. God's work should be done with much care and little noise. Clamour and violence often hinder, but never further the work of God. Thus the kingdom of God in the heart of man grows up in silence, Mr 5:27.

None employ themselves for God, without having his eye upon them. But God plainly let Solomon know that all the charge for building this temple, would neither excuse from obedience to the law of God, nor shelter from his judgments, in case of disobedience.

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, 1Co 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 in body and soul to the glory of God.

CHAPTER 6

1Ki 6:1-4. The Building of Solomon's Temple.

2. the house which king Solomon built for the Lord--The dimensions are given in cubits, which are to be reckoned according to the early standard (2Ch 3:3), or holy cubit (Eze 40:5; 43:13), a handbreadth longer than the common or later one. It is probable that the internal elevation only is here stated.

3. the porch--or portico, extended across the whole front (see on 2Ch 3:4).

4. windows of narrow lights--that is, windows with lattices, capable of being shut and opened at pleasure, partly to let out the vapor of the lamps, the smoke of the frankincense, and partly to give light [Keil].

1Ki 6:5-10. The Chambers Thereof.

5. against the wall of the house he built chambers--On three sides, there were chambers in three stories, each story wider than the one beneath it, as the walls were narrowed or made thinner as they ascended, by a rebate being made, on which the beams of the side floor rested, without penetrating the wall. These chambers were approached from the right-hand side, in the interior of the under story, by a winding staircase of stone, which led to the middle and upper stories.

7. there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building--A subterranean quarry has been very recently discovered near Jerusalem, where the temple stones are supposed to have been hewn. There is unequivocal evidence in this quarry that the stones were dressed there; for there are blocks very similar in size, as well as of the same kind of stone, as those found in the ancient remains. Thence, probably, they would be moved on rollers down the Tyropean valley to the very side of the temple [Porter, Tent and Kahn].

9-10. built the house--The temple is here distinguished from the wings or chambers attached to it--and its roofing was of cedar-wood.

11-13. the word of the Lord came to Solomon--probably by a prophet. It was very seasonable, being designed: first, to encourage him to go on with the building, by confirming anew the promise made to his father David (2Sa 7:12-16); and secondly, to warn him against the pride and presumption of supposing that after the erection of so magnificent a temple, he and his people would always be sure of the presence and favor of God. The condition on which that blessing could alone be expected was expressly stated. The dwelling of God among the children of Israel refers to those symbols of His presence in the temple, which were the visible tokens of His spiritual relation to that people.

1Ki 6:15-22. The Ceiling and Adorning of It.

15-21. he built the walls of the house within--The walls were wainscotted with cedar-wood; the floor, paved with cypress planks; the interior was divided (by a partition consisting of folding doors, which were opened and shut with golden chains) into two apartments--the back or inner room, that is, the most holy place, was twenty cubits long and broad; the front, or outer room, that is, the holy place, was forty cubits. The cedar-wood was beautifully embellished with figures in relievo, representing clusters of foliage, open flowers, cherubims, and palm trees. The whole interior was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood nor stone was seen; nothing met the eye but pure gold, either plain or richly chased.

31-35. for the entering of the oracle--The door of the most holy place was made of solid olive tree and adorned with figures. The door of the holy place was made of cypress wood, the sides being of olive wood.

36. the inner court--was for the priests. Its wall, which had a coping of cedar, is said to have been so low that the people could see over it.

1Ki 6:37, 38. The time Taken to Build It.

37. In the fourth year was the foundation laid--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 labor. 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 building.

In the four hundred and eightieth year - The Septuagint has the four hundred and fortieth year. It need scarcely be noticed, that among chronologists there is a great difference of opinion concerning this epocha. Glycas has 330 years; Melchior Canus, 590 years; Josephus, 592 years; Sulpicius Severus, 588; Clemens Alexandrinus, 570; Cedrenus, 672; Codomanus, 598; Vossius and Capellus, 580; Serarius, 680; Nicholas Abraham, 527; Maestlinus, 592; Petavius and Valtherus, 520. Here are more than a dozen different opinions; and after all, that in the common Hebrew text is as likely to be the true one as any of the others.

The month Zif - This answers to a part of our April and May; and was the second month of the sacred year, but the eighth month of the civil year. Before the time of Solomon, the Jews do not appear to have had any names for their months, but mentioned them in the order of their consecutive occurrence, first month, second month, third month, etc. In this chapter we find Zif and Bul; and in 1Kgs 8:2, we find another, Ethanim; and these are supposed to be borrowed from the Chaldeans; and consequently this book was written after the Babylonish captivity. Before this time we find only the word Abib mentioned as the name of a month, Exo 13:4. Whether there were any others at that time, or whether Abib was really intended as the name of a month, we cannot absolutely say. The present names of the Hebrew months are: - Tisri, answering to a part of September and October, Marchesvan, Cisleu, Tebeth, Shebat, Adar, Nisan, Ijar, Sivan, Tamuz, Ab, and Elul.

The length thereof was threescore cubits - A cubit, according to Bishop Cumberland, is 21 inches, and 888 decimals, or 1 foot, 9 inches, and 888 decimals. According to this Yds. Ft. Inch. The length, 60 cubits, was 36 1 5.28 The breadth, 20 cubits, was 12 0 5.76 The height, 30 cubits, was 18 0 8.64 This constituted what was called the temple or house, the house of God, etc. But, besides this, there were courts and colonnades, where the people might assemble to perform their devotions and assist at the sacrifices, without being exposed to the open air. The court surrounded the temple, or holy place, into which the priests alone entered. Sometimes the whole of the building is called the temple; at other times that, the measurement of which is given above. But as no proper account can be given of such a building in notes; and as there is a great variety of opinion concerning the temple, its structure, ornaments, etc., as mentioned in the books of Kings and Chronicles, in Ezekiel, and by Josephus; and as modern writers, such as Vilalpandus, Dr. Lightfoot, and Dr. Prideaux, professing to be guided by the same principles, have produced very different buildings; I think it best to hazard nothing on the subject, but give that description at the end of the chapter which Calmet with great pains and industry has collected: at the same time, pledging myself to no particular form or appearance, as I find I cannot give any thing as the likeness of Solomon's temple which I could say, either in honor or conscience, bears any affinity to it. For other particulars I must refer the reader to the three large volumes of Vilalpandus, Dr. Lightfoot's Works, and to the Connections of Dr. Prideaux.

Windows of narrow lights - The Vulgate says, fenestras obliquas, oblique windows; but what sort of windows could such be?

The Hebrew is חלוני שקפים אטמים challoney shekuphim atumim, windows to look through, which shut. Probably latticed windows: windows through which a person within could see well; but a person without, nothing. Windows, says the Targum, which were open within and shut without. Does he mean windows with shutters; or, are we to understand, with the Arabic, windows opening wide within, and narrow on the outside; such as we still see in ancient castles? This sense our margin expresses. We hear nothing of glass or any other diaphanous substance. Windows, perhaps originally windore, a door to let the wind in, in order to ventilate the building, and through which external objects might be discerned.

The house - was built of stone - It appears that every stone was hewn and squared, and its place in the building ascertained, before it came to Jerusalem: the timbers were fitted in like manner. This greatly lessened the trouble and expense of carriage. On this account, that all was prepared at Mount Lebanon, there was neither hammer, axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the building; nothing except mallets to drive the tenons into the mortises, and drive in the pins to fasten them, was necessary: therefore there was no noise. But why is this so particularly marked? Is it not because the temple was a type of the kingdom of God; and the souls of men are to be prepared here for that place of blessedness? There, there is no preaching, exhortations, repentance, ears, cries, nor prayers; the stones must be all squared and fitted here for their place in the New Jerusalem, and, being living stones, must be built up a holy temple for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

Covered the house with beams and boards of cedar - The Eastern custom is very different from ours: we ceil with plaster, and make our floors of wood; they make their floors of plaster or painted tiles, and make their ceilings of wood. But it may not be improper to observe that, in ancient times, our buildings were somewhat similar. Westminster Hall is a proof of this.

The word of the Lord came to Solomon - Some think that this is the same revelation as that mentioned 1Kgs 9:2, etc., which took place after the dedication of the temple: but to me it appears different; it was a word to encourage him while building; to warn him against apostasy, and to assure him of God's continued protection of him and his family, if they continued faithful to the grace which God had given.

The walls of the ceiling - See the note on 1Kgs 6:9.

The oracle he prepared - See the description of the temple at the end of this chapter, 1Kgs 6:38 (note).

The whole house he overlaid with gold - It is impossible to calculate this expense, or the quantity of gold employed in this sacred building.

The height of the one cherub was ten cubits - Concerning the cherubs, their form, etc., see my note on Exo 25:18 (note). The height of each cherub was about eighteen feet and three inches.

Three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams - Does not this intimate that there were three courses of stone, and then one course of timber all through this wall? Three strata of stone and one stratum of timber, and so on. If so, could such a building be very durable? This is also referred to in the succeeding chapter, 1Kgs 7:11; and as both the temple and Solomon's house were built in the same manner, we may suppose that this was the ordinary way in which the better sort of buildings were constructed. Calmet thinks that to this mode of building the prophet alludes, Hab 2:11 : The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. But it should be observed that this was in the inner court, and therefore the timber was not exposed to the weather. The outer court does not appear to have been built stratum super stratum of stone and wood.

In the eleventh year - was the house finished - It is rather strange that this house required seven years and about six months to put all the stones and the timbers in their places, for we have already seen that they were all prepared before they came to Jerusalem; but the ornamenting, gilding, or overlaying with gold, making the carved work, cherubim, trees, flowers, etc., must have consumed a considerable time. The month Bul answers to a part of our October and November, as Zif, in which it was begun, answers to a part of April and May.

The dedication did not take place till the following year, the twelfth of Solomon, because then, according to Archbishop Usher, the jubilee happened.

So was he seven years in building it - Properly seven years and six months; but the Scripture generally expresses things in round numbers.

Diana's temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world. It is said that almost all Asia was employed in the building of it for about two hundred years; but it was certainly more extensive than the temple at Jerusalem, for it may be justly questioned, notwithstanding the profusion of gold, silver, precious stones, etc., employed in the temple of Solomon, whether it cost any thing like the money expended on the temple of Diana.

Pliny informs us, Hist. Nat., lib. xxxvi., cap. 12, that, in order to build one of the pyramids in Egypt, no less than three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed for the space of twenty years. But neither was the temple any such work as this. We may also observe that the temple was never intended to hold a vast concourse of people; it was only for the service of the Lord, and the priests were those alone who were employed in it. The courts, chambers, and other apartments, were far more extensive than the temple itself; it was never designed to be a place to worship in, but a place to worship at. There God was known to have a peculiar residence, and before him the tribes came, and the priests were a sort of mediators between him and the people. In short, the temple was to the Jews in the promised land what the tabernacle was to the Hebrews in the wilderness; the place where God's honor dwelt, and whither the people flocked to pay their adoration. "Solomon laid the foundation of the temple in the year of the world 2992, before Christ 1008, before the vulgar era, 1012; and it was finished in the year of the world 3000, and dedicated in 3001, before Christ 999, before the vulgar era 1003; 1Kgs 8:1 etc.; 2Chr 5:1; 2Chr 7:1; 2Chr 8:1 etc. The place that was pitched on for erecting this magnificent structure was on the side of Mount Sion called Moriah. Its entrance or frontispiece stood towards the east, and the most holy or most retired part was towards the west. The author of the first book of Kings, and of the second of Chronicles has chiefly made it his business to describe the temple properly so called, that is the sanctuary, the sanctum, and the apartments belonging to them, as also the vessels, the implements, and the ornaments of the temple, without giving any description scarcely of the courts and open areas, which, however, made a principal part of the grandeur of this august edifice. "But Ezekiel has supplied this defect by the exact plan he has delineated of these necessary parts. Indeed it must be owned that the temple as described by Ezekiel was never restored after the captivity of Babylon, according to the model and the mensuration that this prophet has given of it. But as the measures he sets down for the sanctum and the sanctuary are, within a small matter, the same as those of the temple of Solomon; and as this prophet, who was himself a priest, had seen the first temple; it is to be supposed that the description he gives us of the temple of Jerusalem is the same as that of the temple of Solomon. "The ground-plot upon which the temple was built was a square of six hundred cubits, or twenty-five thousand royal feet; Eze 45:1 etc. This space was encompassed with a wall of the height of six cubits, and of the same breadth. Beyond this wall was the court of the Gentiles, being fifty cubits wide. After this was seen a great wall, which encompassed the whole court of the children of Israel. This wall was a square of five hundred cubits. The court of Israel was a hundred cubits square, and was encompassed all round with magnificent galleries supported by two or three rows of pillars. It had four gates or entrances; one to the east, another to the west, a third to the north, and the fourth to the south. They were all of the same form and largeness, and each had an ascent of seven steps. The court was paved with marble of divers colors, and had no covering; but the people in case of need could retire under the galleries that were all round about. These apartments were to lodge the priests in, and to lay up such things as were necessary for the use of the temple. There were but three ways to come in, to the east, to the north, and to the south, and they went to it by an ascent of eight steps. Before, and over against the gate of the court of the priests, in the court of Israel, was erected a throne for the king, being a magnificent alcove, where the king seated himself when he came into the temple. Within the court of the priests, and over against the same eastern gate, was the altar of burnt-offerings, of twelve cubits square, according to Eze 43:16, or of ten cubits high and twenty broad, according to 2Chr 4:1. They went up to it by stairs on the eastern side. "Beyond this, and to the west of the altar of burnt-offerings was the temple, properly so called, that is to say, the sanctuary, the sanctum, and the porch of entrance. The porch was twenty cubits wide and six cubits deep. Its gate was fourteen cubits wide. The sanctum was forty cubits wide and twenty deep. There stood the golden candlestick, the table of shew-bread, and the golden altar, upon which the incense was offered. The sanctuary was a square of twenty cubits. There was nothing in the sanctuary but the ark of the covenant, which included the tables of the law. The high priest entered here but once a year, and none but himself was allowed to enter. Solomon had embellished the inside of this holy place with palm trees in relief, and cherubim of wood covered with plates of gold, and in general the whole sanctuary was adorned, and as it were overlaid, with plates of gold. "Round the sanctum and sanctuary were three stories of chambers, to the number of thirty-three. Ezekiel makes them but four cubits wide; but the first book of Kings, 1Kgs 6:6, allows five cubits to the first story, six to the second, and seven to the third. "Since the consecration or dedication of the temple by Solomon in the year of the world 3001, this edifice has suffered many revolutions, which it is proper to take notice of here. "In the year of the world 3033, before Christ 967, before the vulgar era 971, Shishak, king of Egypt, having declared war with Rehoboam, king of Judah, took Jerusalem, and carried away the treasures of the temple; 1Kgs 14:25, 1Kgs 14:26; 2Chr 12:1-9. "In 3146, Jehoash, king of Judah, got silver together to go upon the repairs of the temple; they began to work upon it in earnest in 3148, before Christ 852, before the vulgar era 856; 2Kgs 12:4, 2Kgs 12:5, and 2Chr 24:7-9, etc. "Ahaz king of Judah having called to his assistance Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, against the kings of Israel and Damascus, who were at war with him, robbed the temple of the Lord of its riches to give away to this strange king, 2Chr 28:21, 2Chr 28:22, etc., in the year of the world 3264, before Christ 736, before the vulgar era 740, and not contented with this, he profaned this holy place by setting up there an altar like one he had seen at Damascus, and taking away the brazen altar that Solomon had made; 2Kgs 16:10-12, etc. He also took away the brazen sea from off the brazen oxen that supported it, and the brazen basons from their pedestals, and the king's throne or oratory, which was of brass. These he took away to prevent their being carried away by the king of Assyria. Nor did he stop here, but carried his wickedness so far as to sacrifice to strange gods, and to erect profane altars in all the corners of the streets of Jerusalem; 2Chr 28:24, 2Chr 28:25. He pillaged the temple of the Lord, broke the sacred vessels, and, lastly, shut up the house of God. This happened in the year of the world 3264, before Christ 736, before the vulgar era 740, to his death, which happened in 3278, before Christ 722, before the vulgar era 726. "Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, opened again and repaired the gates of the temple which his father had shut up and robbed of their ornaments; 2Chr 29:3, 2Chr 29:4, etc., in the year of the world 3278, before Christ 722, before the vulgar era 726. He restored the worship of the Lord and the sacrifices, and made new sacred vessels in the place of those that Ahaz had destroyed. But in the fourteenth year of his reign, 2Kgs 18:15, 2Kgs 18:16, in the year of the world 3291, before Christ 709, before the vulgar era 713, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, coming with an army into the land of Judah, Hezekiah was forced to take all the riches of the temple, and even the plates of gold that he himself had put upon the gates of the temple, and give them to the king of Assyria. But when Sennacherib was gone back into his own country, there is no doubt that Hezekiah restored all these things to their first condition. "Manasseh, son and successor of Hezekiah, profaned the temple of the Lord, by setting up altars to all the host of heaven, even in the courts of the house of the Lord; 2Kgs 21:4-7; 2Chr 33:5-7; in the year of the world 3306, and the following years. He set up idols there, and worshipped them. God delivered him into the hands of the king of Babylon, who loaded him with chains, and carried him away beyond the Euphrates; 2Chr 33:11, 2Chr 33:12, etc.; in the year of the world 3328, before Christ 672, before the vulgar era 676. There he acknowledged and repented of his sins; and being sent back to his own dominions, he redressed the profanations he had made of the temple of the Lord, by taking away the idols, destroying the profane altars, and restoring the altar of burnt-offering, upon which he offered his sacrifices. "Josiah, king of Judah, labored with all his might in repairing the edifices of the temple, (2Kgs 22:4-6, etc.; 2Chr 34:8-10; in the year of the world 3380, before Christ 620, before the vulgar era 624), which had been either neglected or demolished by the kings of Judah, his predecessors. He also commanded the priests and Levites to replace the ark of the Lord in the sanctuary, in its appointed place; and ordered that it should not any more be removed from place to place as it had been during the reigns of the wicked kings, his predecessors, 2Chr 35:3. "Nebuchadnezzar took away a part of the sacred vessels of the temple of the Lord, and placed them in the temple of his god at Babylon, under the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah; 2Chr 36:6, 2Chr 36:7, in the year of the world 3398, before Christ 602, before the vulgar era 606. He also carried away others under the reign of Jehoiachin, 2Chr 36:10; in the year of the world 3405, before Christ 595, before the vulgar era 599. Lastly, he took the city of Jerusalem, and entirely destroyed the temple, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the year of the world 3416, before Christ 584, before the vulgar era 588; 2Kgs 25:1-3, etc.; 2Chr 36:18, 2Chr 36:19. "The temple continued buried in its ruins for the space of fifty-two years, till the first year of Cyrus at Babylon, in the year of the world 3468, before Christ 532, before the vulgar era 536. Then Cyrus gave permission to the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and there to rebuild the temple of the Lord, Ezr 1:1-3, etc. The following year they laid the foundation of the second temple; but they had hardly been at work upon it one year, when either Cyrus or his officers, being gained over by the enemies of the Jews, forbade them to go on with their work; Ezr 4:5; in the year of the world 3470, before Christ 530, before the vulgar era 534. After the death of Cyrus and Cambyses, they were again forbidden by the magian, who reigned after Cambyses, and whom the Scripture calls by the name of Artaxerxes; Ezr 4:7, Ezr 4:17, Ezr 4:18, etc.; in the year of the world 3483, before Christ 517, before the vulgar era 521. Lastly, these prohibitions being superseded, under the reign of Darius, son of Hystaspes, (Ezr 5:1; Ezr 6:14; Hag 1:1, etc.; in the year of the world 3485, before Christ 515, before the vulgar era 519), the temple was finished and dedicated four years after, in the year of the world 3489, before Christ 511, before the vulgar era 515, twenty years after the return from the captivity. "This temple was profaned by order of Antiochus Epiphanes in the year of the world 3837. The ordinary sacrifices were discontinued therein, and the idol of Jupiter Olympus was set up upon the altar. It continued in this condition for three years; then Judas Maccabeus purified it, and restored the sacrifice and the worship of the Lord, 1 Maccabees 4:36; in the year of the world 8840, before Christ 160, before the vulgar era 164. "Herod the Great undertook to rebuild the whole temple of Jerusalem anew, in the eighteenth year of his reign, and in the year of the world 3986; Joseph., Antiq., lib. xv., cap. 14. He began to lay the foundation of it in the year of the world 3987, forty-six years before the first passover of Jesus Christ, as the Jews observe to him by saying, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? Joh 2:20. This is not saying that Herod had employed six and forty years in building it; for Josephus assures us that he finished it in nine years and a half; Joseph., Antiq., lib. xv., cap. 14. But, after the time of this prince, they all continued to make some new addition to it; and the same Josephus tells us that they went on working upon it, even to the beginning of the Jewish war; Joseph., Antiq., lib. xx., cap. 8. "This temple, built by Herod, did not subsist more than seventy-seven years, being destroyed in the year of the world 4073, of Christ 73, of the vulgar era 69. It was begun by Herod in 3987, finished in 3996, burnt and destroyed by the Romans in 4073. "This temple of Herod was very different from that of Solomon, and from that which was rebuilt by Zerubbabel after the captivity. This is the description that Josephus has left us of it, who himself had seen it: - "The temple, properly so called, was built sixty cubits high, and as many broad; but there were two sides of front, like two arms or shoulderings, which advanced twenty cubits on each side, which gave in the whole front a hundred cubits wide, as well as in height. The stones made use of in this building were white and hard, twenty-five cubits long, eight in height, and twelve in width; Joseph., de Bell., lib. vi., p. 917. "The front of this magnificent building resembled that of a royal palace. The two extremes of each face were lower than the middle, which middle was so exalted that those who were over against the temple, or that approached towards it at a distance, might see it, though they were many furlongs from it. The gates were almost of the same height as the temple; and on the top of the gates were veils or tapestry of several colors, embellished with purple flowers. On the two sides of the doors were two pillars, the cornices of which were adorned with the branches of a golden vine, which hung down with their grapes and clusters, and were so well imitated, that art did not at all yield to nature. Herod made very large and very high galleries about the temple, which were suitable to the magnificence of the rest of the building, and exceeded in beauty and sumptuousness all of the kind that had been seen before. "The temple was built upon a very irregular mountain, and at first there was hardly place enough on the top of it for the site of the temple and altar. The rest of it was steep and sloping: Joseph., de Bell, lib. vi., p. 915, εκφιδ.; Antiq., lib. xv., c. 14. But when King Solomon built it, he raised a wall towards the east, to support the earth on that side; and after this side was filled up, he then built one of the porticoes or galleries. At that time this face only was cased with stone, but in succeeding times, the people endeavoring to enlarge this space, and the top of the mountain being much extended, they broke down the wall which was on the north side, and enclosed another space as large as that which the whole circumference of the temple contained at first. So that at last, against all hope and expectation, this work was carried so far that the whole mountain was surrounded by a treble wall. But, for the completing of this great work whole ages were no more than sufficient; and all the sacred treasures were applied to this use, that the devotion of the people had brought to the temple from all the provinces of the world. In some places these walls were above three hundred cubits high, and the stones used in these walls were some forty cubits long. They were fastened together by iron cramps and lead, to be able to resist the injuries of time. The platform on which the temple was built was a furlong square, or one hundred and twenty-five paces." Thus far Calmet and Josephus.

AND it came to pass in the four hundred and fourscore year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt , in the fourth year of Solomons reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to b[illegible: 1+ letters]ild the house of the LORD.

This Chronological difficulty, is too vast and comprehensive to be fully discussed here, or to be determined by Unlearned Readers: and for the Learned, I refer them to what is largely digested in my Latine Synopsis upon this place. It may suffice at present to suggest these particulars, 1. That Israels coming out of Egypt is variously understood in Scripture, and with some latitude, so as not onely to note the time when first they came out of Egypt, but the time of their being in, or coming out of the Wilderness; as is manifest from Deut. 4. 45. where the Words in the Hebrew are not after, &c. as we translate it, but in their coming forth out of Egypt: And Psal. 114. 1, 2, 3. When Israel came forth, &c. Heb. in their coming forth, &c. And it is not impossible it may be so understood here; after they were come out, &c. to wit, compleatly; i. e. towards the end of their Expedition out of Egypt into Canaan. Nor doth the difference between the Hebrew Praepositions, Lamed and Beth, which a Learned Man objects, hinder this sence; for as Beth signifies (as he saith) after; so also doth Lamed, Gen. 7. 4, 10. Numb. 33. 38. 2. That whereas the times of the Judges do chiefly cause this difficulty, there are many things which will relieve us therein; as, 1. That divers of the years there mentioned belong to one and the same time, as is evident from Iairs 22 years, within which fell out, as divers Learned Chronologers agree, the 18 years of the Oppression of the Ammonites, and several years of the Philistine Tyranny, who oppressed Israel in the West, whilest the Ammonites vexed them in the East: and the like might be observed in other cases. 2. That the years of Rest are not necessarily to be understood of so many distinct years, besides those of War, and Servitude; and those words which are generally rendred, the land had rest forty, or eighty years, or the like; may be thus rendred, and that very agreeable to the Hebrew, The land had rest, or began to rest, or recovered its rest, in the fortieth, or in the eightieth (the Cardinal Numbers being frequently put for the Ordinal, especially where the Number exceeds Ten) year, to be computed from some remarkable time; and so that Phrase doth not note how long time, or till what time the Rest continued, but at what time it began. As for instance, in Iudg. 3. 11. the land had rest, not forty years, as it is in our Translation, but in the fortieth year; to wit, from, and after their first Rest in, or quiet Possession of, the Land of Canaan, which Ioshua gave them; which time may very probably he made up of the days of Ioshua, after he had setled them in a state of Rest; and of the elders that out-lived him; Iudg. 2. 7. and the time of their Corruption after the Death of those Elders; and the Eight years of Servitude under the King of Mesopotamia. So Iudg. 3. 30. The land had rest in the eightieth year; to wit, from, and after the rest which Othoniel obtained for them, ver. 11. And Iudg. 5. 31. It rested in the fortieth year; to wit, after that Rest got by Ehud, Iudg. 3. 30. And Iudg. 8. 28. It rested in the fortieth year; to wit, from the last Rest got by Deborah. And thus the computation of Years is more plain and certain, being thus made from Rest to Rest, than theirs that proceed the other way. And this is the more considerable, because it was the Opinion of that famously Learned and Pious Bishop of Armagh. All which considered, it will be very easie to contain all the parts and passages of Sacred Story, from the coming out of Egypt, to this time, within the compass of 480 Years▪ of the several parcels whereof, See my Latine Synopsis. And as for other Scriptures, which some conceit to be contradictory to this, I shall by God's help Vintlicate them in their several places.

His three first Years being spent, partly, in settling the Affairs of his Kingdome; without which, neither Civil nor Ecclesiastical Concerns could have any Consistency; and partly, in making necessary Preparations for the Work.

For so it is expressed, 2 Chron. 3 1. And so it is explained here below, ver. 37. The foundation of the house was laid: though in the Hebrew it be onely, he built. Thus active words are oft understood of the beginning of the Action, as Gen. 5. 32. and 11. 26.

Marginal references: 2 Chron. 3. 1▪; Heb. built▪

2 And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits , and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.

Properly so called, as distinct from all the Walls and Buildings which were adjoyning to it; to wit, the Holy, and Most Holy Place.

From East, and to West. And this, and the other Measures may seem to belong to the inside from Wall to Wall.

Cubits of the Sanctuary; of which, See on Gen. 6. 15.

To wit, of the House: for the Porch was 120 Cubits high, 2 Chron. 3. 4. So that all the measures compared each with other, were harmonious. For 60 to 20. (the length to the breadth) is triple: or as 3 to 1: And 60 to 30 (the length to the height) is double, or as 2 to 1: And 30 to 20 (the heighth to the breadth) is Sesquialter, or one and a half, as 3 to 2. Which are the Proportions answering to the Three great Concords in Musick, commonly called, a Twelfth, an Eighth, and a Fifth. Which therefore must needs be a graceful Proportion to the Eye, as that in Musick is graceful to the Ear.

3 And the porch before the temple of the house , twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

In the Front of, or Entrance into the house, 2 Chron. 3. 4. Being a Peristilium or Portico, a Walk or Gallery, at one end of the Building (from side to side.) And the measures of this were Harmonious also. For 20 to 10 (the length of the Portico to the breadth of it) is double, or as 2 to 1. And, if the height within, be the same with that of the House, that is 30; it will be to the length of it, as 3 to 2; and to its breadth, as 3 to 1. Or, if we take in the whole height mentioned 2 Chron. 3. 4. which is a 120; there is in this no disproportion (being to its length as 6 to 1; and to its breadth as 12 to 1; especially when this height conveniently divided into several Galleries, one over another, each of which had their due Proportions.

4 And for the house, he made windows of narrow lights .

Narrow outward, to prevent the inconveniencies of the Weather; widening by degrees inward, that so the House might better receive, and more disperse the Light. Or, for prospect, i. e. to give light; yet shut, i. e. so far closed as to keep out Weather, and let in Light.

Marginal references: Or, windows broad within, and narrow without: or, skewed and closed.

5 ¶ And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about , both of the temple, and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about.

Or, upon it; or, joyning to it: for the Beams of the Chambers were not fastned into the Wall, but leaned upon the Buttresses of the Wall.

For the laying the Priests Garments, and other Utensils belonging to the Temple, or to the Worship of God, therein; See 2 King. 11. 2. 1 Chron. 28. 12. Ezek. 42. 13, 14.

Not simply, for there were none on the East-side; and it may seem, that there were some spaces left for the Windows, which being narrow outwardly, little spaces would suffice; but in a manner, i. e. on all the sides except the East, where the Porch was; and except some very small passages for the Light. And yet these Lights might be in the Five uppermost Cubits of the Wall, which were above all these Chambers, for these were onely 15 Cubits high, and the Wall was 20 Cubits high.

Heb. Ribs; i. e. Either, other Chambers above, and besides the former: or rather, long Galleries which encompassed all the Chambers, as the Ribs do Mans Body; and which were necessary for passage to all the several Chambers.

Marginal references: Or, upon, or, joyning to.; Heb. Floor.; Heb. Ribs.

6 The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad , and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastned in the walls of the house .

To wit, on the inside, and besides the Galleries mentioned above.

Or, narrowings: as in our Buildings the Walls of an House are thicker, or broader at the bottom, and narrower towards the top: onely these Narrowings were in the outside of the Wall, which at each of the Three Stories was a Cubit narrower than that beneath it. And this is mentioned, as the reason of the differing breadth of the Chambers; because the Wall being narrower, allowed more space for the upper Chambers.

That there might be no holes made in the Wall for the fastening of them; and that the Chambers might be removed, if occasion were, without any inconvenience to the House.

Marginal references: Heb. narrowings, or, rebatements.

7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone, made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer, nor ax, nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building .

Hewed, and Squared, and fitted exactly according to the direction of the Architect.

So it was ordered, partly for the ease and conveniency of Carriage: partly, for the Magnificence of the Work, and Commendation of the Workmens skill and diligence: and partly, for Mystical Signification. And as this Temple was a manifest Type both of Christs Church upon Earth, and of the Heavenly Ierusalem: so this Circumstance signified as to the former, That it is the duty of the Builders and Members of the Church, as far as in them lies, to take care that all things be transacted there with perfect peace and quietness; and that no noise of Contention, or Division, or Violence, be heard in that Sacred Building: and for the latter, that no Spiritual Stone, no Person, shall bear a part in that Heavenly Temple, unless he be first hewed, and squared, and made meet for it in this Life.

8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber , and out of the middle into the third.

i. e. By which they entred to go up to the middle Chamber or Chambers; to wit, such as were in the middle Story.

i. e. In the South-side, called the right-side here, and in the Hebrew Text, Psal. 89. 12. and in other Authors; because when a man looks towards the East, or Sun-rising, which is esteemed the most Glorious part of the Heavens, and to which Men most frequently look for divers reasons; the South is on his right-hand. Whereby it is implyed, That there was another Door on the left, or the North-side, leading to the Chambers on that side; though for brevity sake it be not mentioned here.

Which were either, 1. Within the thickness of the Temple-wall, as many think, which is not probable, as tending to the great weakning of the Wall; especially in the upper parts, where the Wall was much narrower. And if such care was taken to preserve the Walls intire and unbroken, that there might not be small holes made into it for the fastning of the Beams of the Chambers, ver. 6. it seems very absurd and incredible, that there should be made such great breaches within them, as the Stairs would require. Or rather, 2. Without the Wall, and without the Chambers too, as leading up to the Gallery out of which they went into the several Chambers.

Or rather, into the middle Story, or row of Chambers; and so in the following words, out of the middle Story: for these Stairs could not lead up into each of the Chambers; nor was it needful, or convenient it should do so, but onely into the Story, which was sufficient for the use of all the Chambers.

Marginal references: Heb. shoulder.

9 So he built the house, and finished it i; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar .

Or, the house, i. e. the top of the House: for the like is said of the sides, and bottom; ver. 15. even the beams and boards; (or, the vault-beams, and the cielings; the Arched Beams and Boards wherewith the top of the House was covered, which was made of other Wood, which was more playable than Cedar, and would better endure bowing and bending) with Cedars.

z To wit, the Bulk, and the Body of the House.

Marginal references: Or, the [illegible: 1 word] ▪ beams▪ and the cielings with Cedar.

10 And then he built chambers against all the house , five cubits high : and they rested on the house with timber of cedar .

Which Interpreters understand of those Chambers described ver. 5, 6. But why should that be repeated again, and that so darkly and confusedly, after he had particularly and exactly treated of them? (unless to give an account of the height of each Chamber, or Story, which before was not done.) And the Hebrew words may be truly and properly rendred thus, He built a roof, (to wit, a flat and plain Roof, called Yatziah, because of the exact resemblance it hath with the Floor of an House) over all the house, according to the manner of all the Israelitish Buildings, which were flat at the top; of which, See Deut. 22. 8. Iosh. 2. 6. 2 Sam. 11. 2. The inner Roof was Arched, ver. 9. that it might be more beautiful and glorious to behold; but the outward Roof was flat.

Above the Walls of the Temple; which was necessary, that it might be a little higher than the Arched Roof, which it was designed to cover and secure.

Heb. it rested, to wit, the Roof: for the Hebrew Verb is of the singular Number.

Which rested upon the top of the Wall, as the Chambers, ver. 5, 6. rested upon the sides of the Wall. But all this I submit to the Learned and Judicious.

11 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to Solomon , saying,

Either by some Prophet, or rather in a Vision or Dream, as it did before.

12 Concerning this house which thou art in building , if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them: then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.

God speaks thus, partly to encourage him to proceed in his Work; and partly, to purge out that Pride and Vainglory, (which God, the searcher of hearts, saw either then did, or would arise in Solomon's Mind, as being the Author and Builder of so glorious a Work:) and that Presumption and Security which was very likely to grow, and God foresaw would grow both in Solomon, and in the People; as if God was now in a manner engaged to continue his Presence with them, and in his own Temple; and that they had now no great reason to fear God's departure from them, though they should provoke him. Therefore he expresseth the Condition upon which his Promise and Favour is suspended; and by assuring him thereof in case of Obedience, he plainly intimates the contrary, upon his Disobedience.

Marginal references: Chap. 2. 4. [illegible: 1+ letters]d 9. 4.; 2 Sam. 7. 13. Chron. 22. [illegible: 1 word].

15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling , and he covered them on the inside with wood , and covered the floor of the house m with planks of fir.

Or rather, from the floor, as it is in the Hebrew: for the floor it self was not covered with Cedar, but with fir, as it here follows.

Or rather, as it is in the Hebrew, unto the walls of the cieling, or of the roof; i. e. unto the top of the Wall, which was even with the Roof: for the Roof it self was not of Stone, but Wood. Or, unto the walls of the cieling, i. e. unto the Cieling it self; which performing the office of a Wall, may well be called by that name. For the name of a wall is not appropriated to Stone or Brick, because we read of a Brazen wall, Ier. 15. 20. and a wall of Iron, Ezek. 4. 3. And that wall into which Saul smote his javelin, 1 Sam. 19. 10. seems more probably to be understood of Wood, than of Stone; especially, considering that it was the Room where the King used to dine. So by this Periphrasis, from the floor of the house, unto the walls of the cieling, he disigns all the side-walls of the house.

To wit, the side-walls of the House, now mentioned.

i. e. With other kind of Wood, even with Fir; as appears from 2 Chron. 3. 5. wherewith the Floor is here said to be covered; and this [illegible: 1+ letters]s here spoken onely concerning the Floor, because there was nothing but Planks of Fir; whereas there was both Cedar and Fir in the sides of the House, the Fir being either put above, or upon the Cedar; or, intermixed with, or put between the boards or ribs of Cedar: as may be gathered from the said Parallel place, 2 Chron. 3. 5.

Marginal references: Or, from the [illegible: 1 word] of the [illegible: 1 word], unto the [illegible: 1 word], &c. and ver. 16.

16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the ‡ most holy place .

i. e. The Most Holy Place, which contained in the Length of the House twenty Cubits, by comp. this with ver. 2. and ver. 17. which may be said to be on the sides of the house, because this part took off 20 Cubits in length from each side of the House, and was also 20 Cubits from side to side, so it was 20 Cubits every way; or on the sides, (i. e. on all the sides, as indeed it was) of the house, or of that house; to wit, The most holy place, as it here follows. Or, from the sides of the house; i. e. from one side to the other. And so this is meant onely of the Partition Wall, which was between the Holy and the Most Holy Place.

Or rather, as ver. 15. from the floor to the wall, or cieling, or roof. So it is not necessary, at least by vertue of these words, to understand this, as they generally do, That the Floor it self was built with Cedar; but onely all the sides of it from the bottom 20 Cubits upward. If it be said, that the whole House, and consequently the Most Holy Place, was 30 Cubits high, ver. 2. it may be replied, either, That that is true onely of the greater House, or the Holy Place, which is called the house, ver. 17. and that the lesse[illegible: 1+ letters], or the Most holy Place, was but 20 Cubits high, as divers think; or that the ten cubits at the top, were covered with some other Wood or thing; or were left open, that it might thereby receive both Light from the Candlesticks, and Smoke from the Altar of Incense.

i. e. That it might be the Oracle, or, the most holy place. Or, on the inner side (whereby the might imply, that the outside of the Partition Wall which looked towards the Holy Place, was not so covered.) Of (for the Hebrew Lamed is very oft a note of the Genitive Case) the Oracle, even of the most holy place: which last words are added, to explain what he means by the word Oracle, which he had not used before.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] holiness holiness.

17 And the house , that is, the temple before it , was forty cubits long.

i. e. The Holy Place.

This is added, to restrain the signification of the Word house, which otherwise notes the whole Building.

i. e. Before the Oracle. Or, as it is in the Hebrew, before my face; i. e. before the place of my Presence. Or, it may be said to be before God, because he being pleased to describe himself as sitting upon the Cherubims, hath his face towards this house, where he beholds the services of his People. So this part of the House distinct from the Most Holy, hath its harmonious proportions also. The Length 40, to the Height 30, is Sesquitertian, or 4 to 3; (which is that of a Fourth in Musick:) The Length to the Breadth, 40 to 20; as 2 to 1: the Height to the Breadth, 30 to 20, as 3 to 2.

18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops, and open flowers, all was cedar , there was no stone seen.

i. e. All the House was covered with Cedar. Quest. How was this true, when it was covered with Fir, 2 Chron. 3. 5? Answ. 1. It was done both with Cedar and Fir: of which see on ver. 15. 2. It may be said to be all cedar, because the greatest part was so, Universal Particles being oft so used. 3. Cedar is here named, not to exclude all other Wood, but Stone onely; as the following Words shew. 4. Or, all was of Cedar; that is, all the Carving was of Cedar.

Marginal references: Or, Gourds.; Heb. openings of flowrs.

19 And the oracle he prepared in the house within , to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

i. e. Adorned and fitted it for the Receit of the Ark.

Heb. In the middle of the house, or building; not the middle Mathematically or exactly, but in general within the House, as that Phrase, in the middle, oft signifies; as Deut. 4. 11. Iosh. 7. 21. Dan. 3. 26.

Or, in the innermost part of the House; for so this was, the entrance into the House being at the other end.

20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof : and he overlaid it with pure gold, and so covered the altar which was of cedar .

Or rather, which was in the inner part, to wit of the House, called here in Hebrew the fore-part; not because a man first enters there, but because when a man is entring, or newly entred into the House, it is still before him. Thus the same or the like Word proceeding from the same Root, is oft used, as Levit. 10. 18. 1 King. 6. 19, 29, 30, 36. 1 Chron. 28. 11.

Object. The great House was 30 Cubits high, above, ver. 2. Answ. It is probably Affirmed by divers, That the Most Holy Place was not so high as the Holy Place, by ten Cubits: which was no way inconvenient, nor against the Rules of Proportion observed in Buildings. And as the second part of the Building was far lower than the first, which was the Porch; so the third part might be considerably lower than the second. And it might be lower either, 1. Outwardly, or in respect of the Walls of it, which might be onely 20 Cubits high, and at that height covered with a Flat Roof; it being but decent that that eminently Holy Place should be distinguished from the less Holy, even by its outward and visible shape. Or, 2. Inwardly, or within the Walls of that part. For although this part might be Vaulted at the top, as the Holy Place was, which Vaulted Roof some think was Ten Cubits high; yet here might be the difference, That the Vaulted Roof of the Holy Place lay open to view; whereas that of the Most Holy was covered with a Flat Roof from Wall to Wall, at the height of 20 Cubits.

i. e. VVith Gold, Chap. 7. 48. 1 Chron. 28. 18.

To wit, The Altar of Incense, which was put next to the Most Holy Place, ver. 22.

Object. This Altar was made of Shittim Wood, Exod. 30. 1. Answ. Either that was covered with Cedar, that it might be agreeable to the rest, all being Cedar, as was said, ver. 18. Or this was a new Altar which Solomon made by Divine Command and Direction, delivered to him, either immediately, or by his Father: of which, See 1 Chron. 28. 12, &c. But this place may seem to be better Translated thus, and he covered the altar with Cedar, either to make it like the rest; or because this was a new Altar made of Stone, and therefore sit to be covered with Cedar, that it might better receive and retain the Gold wherewith this Cedar was over-laid, ver. 22.

Marginal references: Heb. shut up, or beaten gold

21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold : and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle , and he overlaid it with gold.

Or, that house, to wit, the Oracle.

Compare 2 Chron▪ 3. 8.

i. e. He made a Veil, which was upon, or before the Partition; or which was a further Partition between the Holy, and the Most Holy; which Veil did hang upon these Golden Chains. Others render it thus, he closed or shut (as the Word signifies in the Chaldee Dialect, from which divers Hebrew Words borrow their signification) it (i. e. the House now mentioned; to wit, the door of it) with chains or bars of gold.

i. e. In the outward part of the Wall, or Partition, which was Erected between the Oracle and the Holy Place; which is properly said to be before the Oracle, which was the space within, and beyond that Partition: for there the Veil was hung; and there the Chains or Bars, or whatsoever it was which fastned the doors of the Oracle, were placed.

To wit, the Partition; which he here distinguisheth from the house, or the main Walls of the House, which he had in the former part of this Verse told us were overlaid with Gold; and now he affirms as much of the Partition.

22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle ▪ he overlaid with gold .

Not onely the Oracle, but all the Holy Place; and, as some add, even the Chambers belonging to it.

i. e. The Altar of Incense, which was set in the Holy Place close by the doors of the Oracle.

As before he overlaid it with Cedar: of which, see the notes on ver. 20.

23 ¶ And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive-tree , each ten cubits high.

Besides those two made by Moses, Exod. 25. 18. which were of Gold, and far less than these, and fixed in another place and posture.

Or, of oily trees, which sometimes are distinguished from the Olive-trees, as Isa. 41. 19.

Marginal references: Oily.; Heb. trees of oil.

29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims , and palm-trees , and open flowers, within and without .

As signs of the Presence and Protection of the Angels vouchsafed by God to that Place.

Emblems of that Peace and Victory over their Enemies, which the Israelites duly serving God in that place might expect.

Within the Oracle and without it, in the Holy Place.

Marginal references: Heb. openings of flowers

31 ¶ And for the entring of the oracle, he made doors of olive-tree: the lintel and side-posts were a fifth part of the wall .

i. e. Four Cubits in height or breadth, whereas the Wall was 20 Cubits. Or, a fifth part of the door now mentioned. Or rather, five square, having 5 sides, and 5 Angles, which is not incongruous, nor unusual in Buildings.

Marginal references: Or, five square.

33 So also made he for the door of the temple, posts of olive-trees a fourth part of the wall .

Or rather, four-square. See on ver. 31.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1+ letters] square.

36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar-beams .

i. e. The Priests Court, 2 Chron. 4. 9. so called, because it was next to the Temple which it did encompass.

Which is understood, either 1. Of the thickness of the Wall, the three rows of Stones being one within another, and the Cedar innermost as a li[illegible: 1+ letters]ing to the Wall. Or, 2. Of the height of the Wall, which was onely 3 Cubits high, that the People might see the Priests Sacrificing upon the Altar, which was in their Court; each row of Stones being about a Cubit, and possibly of a differing Colour from the rest, and all covered with Cedar. Or rather, 3. Of so many Galleries, one on each side of the Temple, whereof the Three first were of Stone, and the Fourth of Cedar, all supported with rows of Pillars: upon which there were many Chambers for the uses of the Temple, and of the Priests: for it is hard to think, that onely the making of a low Wall about the Court would be called a Building of the Court. And that a great number of Buildings and Rooms were necessary for the various Offices and Works which were to be done, and the Treasures of all sorts which were to be laid up in the Temple, largely so called, is sufficiently evident from the nature of the things, and divers passages in Scripture: See among others, 1 Chron. 28. 11, 12.

38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, (which is the eighth month) was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it: so was he seven years in building it.

Compleat, and 6 Months, as appears by computation. But smaller Sums are usually neglected, and swallowed up in the greater, both in Scripture, as Iudg. 20. 46. 2 Sam. 5. 5. 1 King. 2. 11▪ and in other Authors. It is not strange that this Work took up so much time: for 1. The Temple properly so called, was for Quantity the least part of it, there being very many and great Building both above ground in the several Courts, (for though onely the Court of the Priests be mentioned, yet it is thereby implied, that the same thing was proportionably done in the others) and under ground. 2. The great curiosity of Art which was used here, and the fewness of exquisite Artists, required the longer time for the doing of it. And if the Building of Diana's Temple did imploy all Asia for 200 Years; and the Building of one Pyramid employed 360 Thousand Men, for 20 Years together; both which, Pliny Affirms: no reasonable man can wonder that this Temple was 7 Years in Building.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word] all the [illegible: 1+ letters] tenances thereof, [illegible: 1 word] with all [illegible: 1 word] ordinanc[illegible: 1+ letters] thereof.

1Ki 6:1

The Outside of the Building. - 1Ki 6:1. The building of the temple, a fixed and splendid house of Jehovah as the dwelling-place of His name in the midst of His people, formed an important epoch so far as the Old Testament kingdom of God was concerned, inasmuch as, according to the declaration of God made through the prophet Nathan, an end would thereby be put to the provisional condition of the people of Israel in the land of Canaan, since the temple was to become a substantial pledge of the permanent possession of the inheritance promised by the Lord. The importance of this epoch is indicated by the fact, that the time when the temple was built is defined not merely in relation to the year of Solomon’s reign, but also in relation to the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt. “In the 480th year after the Exodus of the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the second month of the year, Solomon built the house of the Lord.” The correctness of the number 480, as contrasted with the 440th year of the lxx and the different statements made by Josephus, is now pretty generally admitted; and we have already proved at Jdg 3:7 that it agrees with the duration of the period of the Judges when rightly estimated.In opposition to the hypothesis of Böttcher, which has been repeated by Bertheau, viz., that the number 480 merely rests upon the computation of 12 x 40 years, or twelve generations of forty years each, Thenius himself has observed with perfect justice, that “where both the year and the month of the reign of the king in question are given, the principal number will certainly rest upon something more than mere computation; and if this had not been the case, the person making such a computation, if only for the purpose of obtaining the appearance of an exact statement, would have made a particular calculation of the years of Solomon’s reign, and would have added them to the round number obtained, and written ‘in the year 484.’ Moreover, the introduction to our chapter has something annalistic in its tone; and at this early period it would be undoubtedly well known, and in a case like the present a careful calculation would be made, how long a time had elapsed since the most memorable period of the Israelitish nation had passed by.” Compare with this Ed. Preuss (Die Zeitrechnung der lxx, p. 74ff.), who has endeavoured with much greater probability to show that the alteration made by the lxx into 440 rests upon nothing more than a genealogical combination.

The name of the month Ziv, brilliancy, splendour, probably so called from the splendour of the flowers, is explained by the clause, “that is, the second month,” because the months had no fixed names before the captivity, and received different names after the captivity. The second month was called Jyar after the captivity. - The place where the temple was built is not given in our account, as having been sufficiently well known; though it is given in the parallel text, 2Ch 3:1, namely, “Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David” at the time of the pestilence, and where David had built an altar of burnt-offering by divine command (see at 2Sa 24:25).

1Ki 6:2-4 Plan and dimensions of the temple-house. - The measure of the temple-house and its several subdivisions are all given in the clear, i.e., as the spaces were seen. The house, i.e., the main building of the temple (lit., as for the house, or shell of the building), its length was sixty cubits, its breadth twenty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, and that, according to 2Ch 3:3, “after the earlier measure,” i.e., after the old Mosaic or sacred cubit, which was a hand-breadth longer, according to Eze 40:5 and Eze 43:13, than the civil cubit of the time of the captivity. The Mosaic cubit, according to the investigations of Thenius, was 214,512 Parisian lines long, i.e., 20 1/2 Dresden inches, or 18 1/2 Rhenish inches (see at Gen 6:10).

1Ki 6:5-8 The side building. - 1Ki 6:5. “He built against the wall of the house an outwork round about (i.e., against the two longer sides and against the hinder wall, and not against the front also, where the porch was built), against the walls of the house round about, against the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, and he made side chambers round about.” יצוּע (written constantly יציע in the Keri) signifies literally stratum, here the lower building or outwork erected against the rooms mentioned. The word is gen. comm., but so construed that the masculine is used in a collective sense to denote the whole of the outworks, consisting as they did of three stories, whereas the feminine is used for one single story of the building (1Ki 6:6). On this use of the masculine and feminine genders to distinguish the whole mass and the individual parts, which is very common in Arabic, though it is rare in Hebrew, in which the distinction is generally expressed by a peculiar feminine form. as for example אני a fleet, and אניּה a single ship, compare Ewald, Lehrbuch der hebr. Spr. §175, d., and 176, a., and gramm. crit. ling, arab. i. §295. את־קירות does not mean cum parietibus (Seb. Schmidt and J. H. Michaelis), but את is a sign of the accusative, “as for the walls,” and introduces the more precise definition. צלעות signifies, both here and in Eze 41:6., side chambers or side stories, from צלע, to incline to one side, hence to limp, i.e., to lean constantly to one side. From this there were derived for צלע the meanings side, side piece or side wall, e.g., of the ark, Exo 25:12, Exo 25:14, etc., of the dwelling, Exo 26:20, Exo 26:26, etc., of the altar, Exo 27:7, etc., the side wall or slope of a mountain, 2Sa 16:13, the side portion of the human body, i.e., the rib, Gen 2:21-22, the sides or leaves of a door in 1Ki 6:34 of the present chapter, and when used of buildings, the side pieces or portions built out which lean against the main building; and lastly, the idea of a piece which shows a large side, i.e., a broad plank (1Ki 6:15-16). The meaning planks or beams, as it were ribs or rib-work, is unfounded.

1Ki 6:9-10

In 1Ki 6:9 and 1Ki 6:10 the description of the exterior of the temple building is brought to a close. “So he built the house, and finished it, and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.” ויּספּן is not to be understood as relating to the internal panelling of the temple-house, for this is spoken of first in the section which follows (1Ki 6:15), but to the roofing; ספן means to conceal (Deu 33:21) and cover in all the other passages, even in Hag 1:4 and Jer 22:14, where ספוּן is generally, though incorrectly, translated “panelled.” As a verb signifying clothing, it is construed with the accusative. גּבים does not mean boards, but beams, though not “an arched covering” (Thenius), because beams cut in the form of an arch would have been too weak in the middle, nor yet rafters (Böttcher), because the roofs of oriental buildings are flat. בּארזים שׂדרת, “rows, i.e., tablets (consisting) of cedars,” i.e., cedar tablets, which were inserted in rows between the beams. This cedar-work was certainly provided with a strong covering to protect the roof and the building itself against rain; and at the sides it had no doubt a parapet, as in the case of dwelling-houses (Deu 22:8).

1Ki 6:12-13 וגו הבּית is placed at the head absolutely: “As for the house which thou art building (בּנה, a participle), if thou walkest in my statutes, ... I will set up my word, which I spake to thy father David.” The reference is to the promise in 2Sa 7:12. of the everlasting establishment of this throne. God would fulfil this for Solomon if he would walk in the commandments of the Lord, as his father had already urged upon him when he handed over the kingdom (1Ki 2:3). The promise in 1Ki 6:13, “I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel,” does not contain a second promise added to the one given in 2Sa 7:12., but simply a special application of it to the building of the temple which had already been commenced. The eternal establishment of the throne of David involved the dwelling of God among His people, or rather is founded upon it. This dwelling of God is now to receive a new and lasting realization. The temple is to be a pledge that the Lord will maintain for His people His covenant of grace and His gracious presence. In this respect the promised, “I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and not forsake my people Israel,” is a confirmation of the word which Jehovah had spoken to David, although, so far as the actual words are concerned, it is more closely connected with Lev 26:11, when the highest blessing attendant upon the faithful observance of the commandments of God is summed up in the promise, “I will make my abode among you, and my soul will not despise you.”

1Ki 6:14

The Internal Arrangements of the Temple-House. - 1Ki 6:14-22. Internal covering of the house, and division into Holy and Most Holy. - 1Ki 6:14 (cf. 1Ki 6:9) resumes the description of the building of the temple, which had been interrupted by the divine promise just communicated.

1Ki 6:15 “He built (i.e., so far as the sense is concerned, he covered) the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling he overlaid it with wood within, and overlaid the floor with cypress boards.” The expression הסּפּן קירות, “walls of the ceiling,” is very striking here, and renders it probable that קירות is only a copyist’s error for קורות, “beams of the ceiling.” The whole of the inside of the house was covered with wood, so that nothing was to be seen of the stone wall (1Ki 6:18). On the other hand, the biblical text knows nothing of any covering of the outer walls also with wood, as many have assumed.

1Ki 6:16-18 “And he built אמּה את־עשׂרים, the twenty cubits (i.e., the space of twenty cubits), of the hindermost side of the house with boards of cedar,” from the floor to the beams (of the roof). עד־הקּירות is to be explained from הסּפּן קירות עד in 1Ki 6:15. “And built them for it (the house - לו pointing back to הבּית) into the hinder room, into the Most Holy.” דּביר is more precisely defined by the apposition הקּדשׁים קדשׁ, and therefore denotes the Most Holy Place. But there is a doubt as to its derivation and true meaning. Aquila and Symmachus render it χρηματιστήριον, Jerome λαλητήριον, or in the Vulg. oraculum, so that they derive it from דּבר, to speak; and Hengstenberg adopts this derivation in Psa 28:2 : דּביר, lit., that which is spoken, then the place where the speaking takes place. Most of the more recent commentators, on the other hand, follow the example of C. B. Michaelis and J. Simonis, and render it, after the Arabic, the hinder portion or back room, which is favoured by the antithesis לפני היכל, the front sanctuary (1Ki 6:17). The words of the text, moreover, are not to be understood as referring to a cedar wall in front of the Most Holy Place which rose to the height of twenty cubits, but to all four walls of the Most Holy Place, so that the wall which divided the hinder room from the Holy Place is not expressly mentioned, simply because it is self-evident. The words also imply that the whole of the hinder space of the house to the length of twenty cubits was cut off for the Most Holy Place, and therefore the party wall must also have filled the whole height of the house, which was as much as thirty cubits, and reached, as is expressly stated, from the floor to the roof. There remained therefore forty cubits of the house (in length) for לפני היכל, the front palace, i.e., the Holy Place of the temple (1Ki 6:17). לפני, anterior, formed from לפני (cf. Ewald, §164, a.). - In 1Ki 6:18 there is inserted in a circumstantial clause the statement as to the internal decoration of both rooms; and the further description of the Most Holy Place is given in 1Ki 6:19. “And cedar wood was (placed) against the house inside, sculpture of gourds (colocynthides) and open buds.” מקלעת is in apposition to ארז, containing a more minute description of the nature of the covering of cedar. מקלעת signifies sculpture, half-raised work (basso relievo); not, however, “that kind of bas-relief in which the figures, instead of rising above the surface on which they are wrought, are simply separated from it by the chiselling out of their outlines, and their being then rounded off according to these outlines” (Thenius). For although the expression מקלעות פּתּוּחי (1Ki 6:29) appears to favour this, yet “merely engraved work” does not harmonize with the decorations of the brazen stands in 1Ki 7:31, which are also called מקלעות. פּקעים are figures resembling the פּקּעת, or wild gourds (2Ki 4:39), i.e., oval ornaments, probably running in straight rows along the walls. צצּים פּטוּרי are open flower-buds; not hangings or garlands of flowers (Thenius), for this meaning cannot be derived from פּטר in the sense of loosening or setting free, so as to signify flowers loosened or set free (= garlands), which would be a marvellous expression! The objection that, “flowers not yet opened, i.e., flower-buds, were not צצּים, but פּרחים,” rests upon a false interpretation of the passage referred to.

1Ki 6:19 “And (= namely) he prepared a hinder room in the house within, to place the ark of the covenant of Jehovah there.” תתּן, as 1Ki 17:14 shows, is not a future (ut reponeres), but the infinitive תּת with a repeated syllable תן (see Ewald, §238, c.).

1Ki 6:20 “And the interior of the hinder room was twenty cubits the length, twenty cubits the breadth, and twenty cubits its height.” The word לפני I agree with Kimchi in regarding as the construct state of the noun לפנים, which occurs again in 1Ki 6:29 in the sense of the inner part or interior, as is evident from the antithesis לחיצום (on the outside). “And he overlaid it with fine gold.” סגוּר זהב (= סגור =( ז in Job 28:15) unquestionably signifies fine or costly gold, although the derivation of this meaning is still questionable; viz., whether it is derived from סגר in the sense of to shut up, i.e., gold shut up or carefully preserved, after the analogy of כּתם; or is used in the sense of taking out or selecting, i.e., gold selected or pure; or in the sense of closed, i.e., gold selected or pure; or in the sense of closed, i.e., gold condensed or unadulterated (Fürst and Delitzsch on Job 28:15).

The Most Holy Place had therefore the form of a perfect cube in the temple as well as in the tabernacle, only on an enlarged scale. Now, as the internal elevation of the house, i.e., of the whole of the temple-house, the hinder portion of which formed the Most Holy Place, was thirty cubits, there was a space of about ten cubits in height above the Most Holy Place and below the roof of the temple-house for the upper rooms mentioned in 2Ch 3:9, on the nature and purpose of which nothing is said in the two accounts.This upper room does not presuppose, however, that the party wall, which follows as a matter of course from 1Ki 6:16, was not merely a cedar wall, but a wall two cubits thick. The supposed difficulty of setting up a cedar wall thirty cubits high is not so great as to necessitate assumptions opposed to the text. For we cannot possibly see why it could not have been made secure “without injuring the temple wall.” The wood panelling must have been nailed firmly to the wall without injuring the wall itself; and therefore this could be done just as well in the case of the cedar beams or boards of the party wall. “And he overlaid (clothed) the altar with cedar wood.” There is something very striking in the allusion to the altar in this passage, since the verse itself treats simply of the Most Holy Place; and still more striking is the expression לדּביר אשׁר המּזבּח, “the altar belonging to the Debir,” in 1Ki 6:22, since there was no altar in the Most Holy Place. We cannot remove the strangeness of these sentences by such alterations as Thenius and Böttcher propose, because the alterations suggested are much too complicated to appear admissible. The allusion to the altar in both these verses is rather to be explained from the statements in the Pentateuch as to the position of the altar of incense; viz., Exo 30:6, “Thou shalt place it before the curtain, which is above the ark of the testimony before the capporeth over the testimony;” and Exo 40:5, “before the ark of the testimony;” whereby this altar, although actually standing “before the inner curtain,” i.e., in the Holy Place, according to Exo 40:26, was placed in a closer relation to the Most Holy Place than the other two things which were in the Holy Place. The clothing of the altar with cedar presupposes that it had a heart of stone; and the omission of the article before מזבּח may be explained on the ground that it is mentioned here for the first time, just as in 1Ki 6:16, where דּביר was first mentioned, it had no article.

1Ki 6:21-22

To the gilding of the Most Holy Place, and the allusion to the altar of incense, which in a certain sense belonged to it, there is now appended in 1Ki 6:21 the gilding of the Holy Place. “Solomon overlaid the house from within with fine gold.” מפּנימה הבּית cannot be the party wall between the Holy Place and the Most Holy, as I formerly supposed, but is the Holy Place as distinguished from the Most Holy. The following words וגו ויעבּר are very obscure. If we rendered them, “he caused to pass over in (with) golden chains before the hinder room,” we could only think of an ornament consisting of golden chains, which ran along the wall in front of the hinder room and above the folding doors. But this would be very singularly expressed. We must therefore take עבּר, as Gesenius, de Wette, and many of the earlier commentators do, according to the Chaldaean usage in the sense of bolting or fastening: “he bolted (fastened) with golden chains before the hinder room;” and must assume with Merz and others that the doors into the Most Holy Place (except on the day of atonement) were closed and fastened with golden chains, which were stretched across the whole breadth of the door and stood out against the wall.The conjecture of Thenius, that את־הפּרכת (the curtain) has dropped out of the text and should be restored (“he carried the curtain across with golden chains”), is very properly described by Merz as “certainly untenable,” since, apart from the fact that not one of the older versions contains the missing words, chains would have impeded the moving of the curtain. It is true that, according to 2Ch 3:14, there was a curtain before the Most Holy Place; but as it is not mentioned so early as this even in the Chronicles, this would not be its proper position in the account before us, but it would be most suitably mentioned either in connection with or after the reference to the doors of the Most Holy Place in 1Ki 6:31, 1Ki 6:32.  - The following expression, זהב ויצפּהוּ, “and he overlaid it with gold,” can only refer to the altar mentioned in the previous verse, the gilding of which has not yet been noticed, however surprising the separation of these words from 1Ki 6:20 may be. - In 1Ki 6:22 what has already been stated with regard to the gilding is repeated once more in a comprehensive manner, which brings this subject to a close. The whole house (כּל־הבּית) is the Holy Place and the Most Holy, but not the porch or hall, as this is expressly distinguished from the house. המּזבּח, the whole altar, not merely a portion of it.

1Ki 6:23-28 The large cherub-figures in the Most Holy Place. - 1Ki 6:23. He made (caused to be made) in the hinder room two cherubs of olive wood, i.e., wood of the oleaster or wild olive-tree, which is very firm and durable, and, according to 2Ch 3:10, צעצעים מעשׂה, i.e., according to the Vulgate, opus statuarium, a peculiar kind of sculpture, which cannot be more precisely defined, as the meaning of צוּע is uncertain. “Ten cubits was the height of it” (i.e., of the one and of the other). The figures had a human form, like the golden cherubs upon the ark of the covenant, and stood upright upon their feet (2Ch 3:13), with extended wings of five cubits in length, so that one wing of the one reached to one wing of the other in the centre of the room, and the other wing of each reached to the opposite wall, and consequently the four extended wings filled the entire breadth of the Most Holy Place ( a breadth of twenty cubits), and the two cherubs stood opposite to one another and ten cubits apart. The wings were evidently fastened to the back and placed close to one another upon the shoulder-blades, so that the small space between their starting-points is not taken into consideration in the calculation of their length. The figures were completely overlaid with gold. The ark of the covenant was placed between these cherubs, and under the wings which pointed towards one another. As they were made like those upon the ark, they had evidently the same meaning, and simply served to strengthen the idea which was symbolized in the cherub, and which we have expounded in the Commentary on Exo 25:20. Only their faces were not turned towards one another and bent down towards the ark, as in the case of the golden cherubim of the ark; but, according to 2Ch 3:13, they were turned לבּית, towards the house, i.e., the Holy Place, so as to allow of the extension of the wings along the full length of the Most Holy Place.Ornaments of the walls; the floors and doors. - 1Ki 6:29. All the walls of the house (the Holy Place and the Most Holy) round about (מסב, adverb) he made engraved work (carving) of cherubs, palms, and open flowers from within to the outside (i.e., in the Most Holy as well as in the Holy Place). ול...מן = אל...מן; and לפנים as in 1Ki 6:20. This completes the account of the nature of the covering of wood. In addition to the oval figures and open flowers (1Ki 6:18), there were also figures of cherubim and palm-trees carved in the wooden panels. Nothing is said as to the distribution of these figures. But a comparison with Eze 41:18 shows at any rate so much, that the palm-trees alternated with the cherubs, so that there was always one cherub standing between two palm-trees. The gourd-shaped figures and the open flowers probably formed the upper and lower setting of the rows of palms and cherubs, the flowers hanging in the form of garlands above the palms and cherubs, and the rows of gourds arranged in bars constituting the boundary lines both above and blow. It is a disputed question whether there was only one row of palms and cherubs running round the walls, or whether there were two, or possibly even three. There is more probability in the second or third of these assumptions than in the first, inasmuch as on the walls of the Egyptian temples there were often three or four rows of mythological characters in relief arranged one above another (compare my work on the Temple, pp. 70ff.).

1Ki 6:30

The floor of the house he overlaid with gold within and without, i.e., in the Most Holy Place and in the Holy Place also.

1Ki 6:31-32

He made the entrance to the back room, doors (i.e., consisting of doors; cf. Ewald, §284, a., β) of olive wood, which moved, according to 1Ki 7:50, on golden hinges. וגו האיל, “the projection of the door-posts was fifth” (מזוּזות( ” is construed freely as an explanatory apposition to האיל, to which it is really subordinate; cf. Ewald, §290, e.). These obscure words, which have been interpreted in very different ways (see Ges. Thes. pp. 43f.), can hardly have any other meaning than this: the projecting framework of the doors occupied the fifth part of the breadth of the wall. For the explanation given by Böttcher and Thenius, “the entrance framework with posts of fifth strength,” has no real support in Eze 41:3. To justify the rendering given to המשּׁית (fifth strength), האיל is supplied, though not in the sense of projection, but in the thoroughly unwarranted sense of strength or thickness of the wall; and in addition to this, a wall two cubits thick is postulated between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, in direct contradiction to 1Ki 6:16. The further evidence, which Thenius finds in 1Ki 8:8, in support of this explanation, has been already rejected by Böttcher as unsustained. It would indeed be extremely strange for the thickness of the door-posts which formed the setting of the entrance to be given, whereas nothing is said about the size of the doors. According to our explanation, “a fifth of the breadth of the wall,” the entrance was four cubits broad including the projecting door-posts, and each of the two wings of the folding doors about a cubit and a half broad, if we reckon the projecting framework on either side at half a cubit in breadth.

1Ki 6:33-34 “And thus he made upon the door of the Holy Place posts of olive wood from a fourth (of the wall),” i.e., a framework which occupied a fourth of the breadth of the wall, or was five cubits broad (see at 1Ki 6:31), “and two doors of cypress wood, two leaves each door turning,” i.e., each of the folding doors consisting of two leaves, each of which was made to turn by itself, so that it could be opened and shut alone (without the other; קלעים is probably only a copyist’s error for צלעים). Cypress wood was chosen for the folding doors of the Holy Place, and not olive wood, as in the case of the Most Holy Place, probably because it is lighter in weight, and therefore less likely to sink. It is questionable here what idea we are to form of the division of each folding door into two leaves, each of which turned by itself: whether we are to think of each wing as divided lengthwise into two narrow leaves, or as divided half way up, so that the lower half could be opened without the upper. I agree with Merz in thinking the latter the more probable assumption; for the objection made by Thenius, on the ground that doors of this kind are only seen in the houses of the peasantry, is an idle assertion which cannot be proved. In a doorway of five cubits in breadth, after reckoning the doorposts the width of the two wings could not be more than two cubits each. And if such a door had been divided into two halves, each half would have been only one cubit wide, so that when open it would not have furnished the requisite room for one man conveniently to pass through. On the other hand, we may assume that a folding door of four cubits in breadth, if made in just proportions, would be eight cubits high. And a door of such a height might easily be divided into two halves, so that only the lower half (of two cubits in breadth and about four in height) was opened for the daily entrance of the priests into the Holy Place. These doors probably opened outwards, like those in front of the Most Holy Place.

1Ki 6:35

Carving and gilding: as upon the doors before the hinder room. The gold was levelled or smoothed over that which had been engraved, i.e., it was beaten out thin and laid upon the carving in such a manner that the gold plate fitted closely to the figures. Gilding was generally effected in ancient times by the laying on of gold plate, which was fastened with tacks (compare 2Ch 3:9).

1Ki 6:36 The courts. - ”He built the inner court three rows of hewn stones and one row of hewn cedar beams.” The epithet inner court applied to the “court of the priests” (2Ch 4:9) presupposes an outer one, which is also mentioned in 2Ch 4:9, and called “the great court.” The inner one is called the upper (higher) court in Jer 36:10, from which it follows that it was situated on a higher level than the outer one, which surrounded it on all sides. It was enclosed by a low wall, consisting of three rows of hewn stones, or square stones, laid one upon another, and a row of hewn cedar beams, which were either laid horizontally upon the stones, after the analogy of the panelling of the temple walls on the inside, or placed upright so as to form a palisading, in order that the people might be able to see through into the court of the priests. According to 2Ch 4:9, the outer court had gates lined with brass, so that it was also surrounded with a high wall. Around it there were chambers and cells (2Ki 23:11; Jer 35:4; Jer 36:10) for the priests and Levites, the plans for which had already been made by David (1Ch 28:12). The principal gate was the east gate (Eze 11:1). Other gates are mentioned in 2Ki 11:6; 2Ch 23:5, Jer 20:2 2Ki 12:10; 2Ch 24:8. The size of these courts is not given. At the same time, following the analogy of the tabernacle, and with the reduplication of the rooms of the tabernacle which is adopted in other cases in the temple, we may set down the length of the court of the priests from east to west at 200 cubits, and the breadth from south to north at 100 cubits; so that in front of the temple-building on the east there was a space of 100 cubits in length and breadth, or 10,000 square cubits, left free for the altar of burnt-offering and the other vessels, in other words, for the sacrificial worship. The outer or great court will therefore, no doubt, have been at least twice as large, namely, 400 cubits long and 200 cubits broad, i.e., in all, 80,000 square cubits; so that the front space before the court of the priests (on the eastern side) was 150 cubits long from east to west, and 200 cubits broad from south to north, and 50 cubits in breadth or depth still remained for the other three sides.

1Ki 6:37-38 The time consumed in building. - The foundation was laid in the fourth year in the month Ziv (see 1Ki 6:1), and it was finished in the eleventh year in the month Bul, i.e., the eighth month, so that it was built in seven years, or, more precisely, seven years and a half, “according to all its matters and all its due.” בּוּל for יבוּל signifies proventus; בּוּל ירח is therefore the fruit month, the month of tree fruits. The name probably originated with the Phoenicians, with whom the fruit ripened later; and it is said to be found upon the great Sidonian inscription (compare Dietrich on Ges. Lex. s. v.). For the other explanations see Ges. Thes. p. 560. In comparison with other large buildings of antiquity,According to Pliny (H. N. 36, c. 14), all Asia was building at the celebrated temple of Diana at Ephesus for 220 years. and also of modern times, the work was executed in a very short time. But we must bear in mind that the building was not a very large one, notwithstanding all its splendour; that an unusually large number of workmen were employed upon it; and that the preparation of the materials, more especially the hewing of the stones, took place at Lebanon, and for the most part preceded the laying of the foundation of the temple, so that this is not to be included in the seven years and a half.

Moreover, the period mentioned probably refers to the building of the temple-house and court of the priests only, and to the general arrangement of the outer court, and does not include the completion of the underground works which were necessary to prepare the space required for them, and of which only a portion may have been carried out by Solomon.The account given by Josephus of these substructures does not show very clearly how much originated with Solomon, and how much belongs to the following centuries. At the close of his description of Solomon’s temple (Ant. viii. 3, 9), he states that, in order to obtain the same level for the ἔξωθεν ἱερόν, i.e., the outer court of the temple, as that of the ναός, he had large valleys filled up, into which it was difficult to look down on account of their depth, by raising the ground to the height of 400 cubits, so as to make them level with the top of the mountain; and in the de Bell. Jud. v. 5, 1, after describing the temple-mountain as a mighty hill, the summit of which hardly sufficed for the temple-house and altar when the building was commenced, because it sloped off on all sides, he adds: “Solomon therefore caused a wall to be raised on the eastern side, and had a porch built upon the ground that was heaped up, and on the other sides the temple (ναός) was naked (γυμνός).” But in the description of the temple of Herod (Ant. xv. 11, 3) he says: “The temple was surrounded by enormous porticos (στοαί), which rested upon a large wall, and were the largest work of which men have ever heard. It was a steep rocky hill, rising gradually towards the eastern part of the city up to the highest point. This hill Solomon surrounded with a wall by very great works up to the very apex, and walled it round, commencing at the root, which is surrounded by a deep ravine, with stones which were fastened together with lead, ... and continuing to the top, so that the size and height of the building, which was completed as a square, were immense,” etc. The flat obtained in this manner is then described by Josephus as a περίβολος of four stadia in circumference, namely, one stadium on each side. Now, although it was the outer court of the temple of Herod (the court of the Gentiles) which first had this circumference (see my bibl. Archäol. i. pp. 143,144), and Josephus, de Bell. Jud. v. 5, 1, relates that subsequently (τοῖς ἑξῆς αἰῶσιν) the levelling of the hill was carried out to even a greater extent, as the people still continued to heap up earth, it is quite conceivable that Solomon may have planned the area of the temple with this circumference. And this conjecture acquires great probability from the fact that, according to the researches of Robinson (Pal. i. pp. 420ff.; Recent Investigations concerning the Topography of Jerusalem, pp. 68ff.; and Later Biblical Researches, pp. 173ff.), there are layers of enormous square stones in the lowest part of the south-western and south-eastern corners of the present Haram wall, the dimensions of which, apart from the fact that they are hewn with grooved edges, point to an early Israelitish origin, so that they might very well be relics of the Solomonian substructures of the temple-hill. There is also a remnant of the arch of a bridge of the same construction on the southern portion of the western wall of the Haram, which points to a bridge that led across from Moriah to Zion, and “appears to remove all the objections to the identity of this part of the enclosure of the mosque with that of the ancient temple” (Rob. Pal. i. p. 426). “Here then,” adds Robinson (Pal. i. pp. 427,428, “we have indisputable remains of Jewish antiquity, consisting of an important portion of the western wall of the ancient temple area. They are probably to be referred to a period long antecedent to the days of Herod; for the labours of this splendour-loving tyrant appear to have been confined to the body of the temple and the porticos around the court. The magnitude of the stones also, and the workmanship, as compared with other remaining monuments of Herod, seem to point to an earlier origin. In the accounts we have of the destruction of the temple by the Chaldaeans, and its rebuilding by Zerubbabel under Darius, no mention is made of these exterior walls. The former temple was destroyed by fire, which would not affect these foundations; nor is it probable that a feeble colony of returning exiles could have accomplished works like these. There seems, therefore, little room for hesitation in referring them back to the days of Solomon, or rather of his successors, who, according to Josephus, built up here immense walls, ‘immoveable for all time.’ ”

But however probable this assumption may be, the successors of Solomon cannot come into consideration at all, since Josephus says nothing of the kind, and the biblical accounts are not favourable to this conjecture. With the division of the kingdom after the death of Solomon the might of the kings of Judah was broken; and the accounts of the new court which Jehoshaphat built, i.e., of the restoration of the inner court (2Ch 20:5), and of the repairs of the temple by Joash (2Ki 12:5.; 2Ch 24:4.) and Josiah (2Ki 22:5.; 2Ch 34:8.), do not produce the impression that the walls so costly or so large could have been built at that time. The statement of Josephus (l.c. de Bell. Jud. v. 5, 1) concerning the gradual extension of the levelled hill, has reference to the enlargement of the temple area towards the north, inasmuch as he adds to the words already quoted: “and cutting through the north wall, they took in as much as was afterwards occupied by the circumference of the whole temple.” - If, therefore, the remains of the ancient wall which have been mentioned, with their stones of grooved edges, are of early Israelitish origin, we must trace them to Solomon; and this is favoured still further by the fact, that when Solomon had a magnificent palace built for himself opposite to the temple (see 1Ki 7:1-12), he would assuredly connect the temple-mountain with Zion by a bridge. - Even J. Berggren (Bibel u. Josephus über Jerus. u. d. heil. Grab.) thinks it probable that “the so-called remains of an arch in the western Haram wall may be, as Robinson at first indicated, a relic of that ancient and marvellous xystus bridge, with which the Davidic steps on the two steep sides of the valley of the Tyropoeum, constructed for the purpose of going from Moriah to Zion or from Zion to Moriah, were connected.”)

The importance of the temple is clearly expressed in 1Ki 8:13, 1Ki 8:27; 1Ki 9:3; 2Ch 6:2, and other passages. It was to be a house built as the dwelling-place for Jehovah, a place for His seat for ever; not indeed in any such sense as that the house could contain God within its space, when the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him (1Ki 8:27), but a house where the name of Jehovah is or dwells (1Ki 8:16.; 2Ch 6:5; cf. 2Sa 7:13, etc.), i.e., where God manifests His presence in a real manner to His people, and shows Himself to them as the covenant God, so that Israel may there worship Him and receive an answer to its prayers. The temple had therefore the same purpose as the tabernacle, whose place it took, and which it resembled in its fundamental form, its proportions, divisions, and furniture. As the glory of the Lord entered into the tabernacle in the cloud, so did it into the temple also at its dedication, to sanctify it as the place of the gracious presence of God (1Ki 8:10; 2Ch 5:14). The temple thereby became not only a visible pledge of the lasting duration of the covenant, by virtue of which God would dwell among His people, but also a copy of the kingdom of God, which received at its erection an embodiment answering to its existing condition at the time. As the tabernacle, with its resemblance to a nomad’s tent, answered to the time when Israel had not yet found rest in the promised land of the Lord; so was the temple, regarded as an immoveable house, a pledge that Israel had not acquired its lasting inheritance in Canaan, and that the kingdom of God on earth had obtained a firm foundation in the midst of it. - This relation between the temple and the tabernacle will serve to explain all the points of difference which present themselves between these two sanctuaries, notwithstanding their agreement in fundamental forms and in all essential particulars. As a house or palace of Jehovah, the temple was not only built of solid and costly materials, with massive walls of square stones, and with floors, ceilings, walls, and doors of cedar, cypress, and olive woods - these almost imperishable kinds of wood - but was also provided with a hall like the palaces of earthly kings, and with side buildings in three stories in which to keep the utensils requisite for a magnificent ceremonial, though care was taken that there adjoining and side buildings were not attached directly to the main building so as to violate the indestructibility and perfectness of the house of God, but merely helped to exalt it and elevate its dignity. And the increased size of the inner rooms, whilst the significant forms and measures of the tabernacle were preserved, was also essentially connected with this. Whereas the length and breadth of the dwelling were doubled, and the height of the whole house tripled, the form of a cube was still retained for the Most Holy Place as the stamp of the perfected kingdom of God (see Comm. on Pent. p. 441), and the space was fixed at twenty cubits in length, breadth, and height. On the other hand, in the case of the Holy Place the sameness of height and breadth were sacrificed to the harmonious proportions of the house or palace, as points of inferior importance; and the measurements were thirty cubits in height, twenty cubits in breadth, and forty cubits in length; so that ten as the number of perfectness was preserved as the standard even here. And in order to exhibit still further the perfectness and glory of the house of God, the walls were not constructed of ordinary quarry-stone, but of large square stones prepared at the quarry, and the walls were panelled within with costly wood after the manner of the palaces of Hither Asia, the panelling being filled with carved work and overlaid with gold plate. And whereas the overlaying of the whole of the interior with gold shadowed forth the glory of the house as the residence of the heavenly King, the idea of this house of God was still more distinctly expressed in the carved work of the walls. In the tabernacle the walls were decorated with tapestries in costly colours and interwoven figures of cherubim; but in the temple they were ornamented with carved work of figures of cherubim, palms, and opening flowers. To the figures of cherubim, as representations of the heavenly spirits which surround the Lord of glory and set forth the psychical life at its highest stage, there are thus added flowers, and still more particularly palms, those “princes of the vegetable kingdom,” which, with their fine majestic growth, and their large, fresh, evergreen leaves, unite within themselves the whole of the fulness and glory of the vegetable life; to set forth the sanctuary (probably with special reference to Canaan as the land of palms, and with an allusion to the glory of the King of peace, inasmuch as the palm is not only the sign of Palestine, but also the symbol of peace) “as a place that was ever verdant, abiding in all the freshness of strength, and enfolding within itself the fulness of life,” and thereby to make it a scene of health and life, of peace and joy, a “paradise of God,” where the righteous who are planted there flourish, and blossom, and bear fruit to old age (Psa 92:13). And this idea of the house, as an immoveable dwelling-place of God, is in perfect harmony with the setting up of two colossal cherubim in the Most Holy Place, which filled the whole space with their outspread wings, and overshadowed the ark of the covenant, to show that the ark of the covenant with its small golden cherubim upon the Capporeth, which had journeyed with the people through the desert to Canaan, was henceforth to have there a permanent and unchangeable abode.

The Building of the Temple. (b. c. 1011.)

1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord . 2 And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord , the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. 3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. 4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. 5 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: 6 The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. 8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third. 9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

Here, I. The temple is called the house of the Lord (v. 1), because it was, 1. Directed and modelled by him. Infinite Wisdom was the architect, and gave David the plan or pattern by the Spirit, not by word of mouth only, but, for the greater certainty and exactness, in writing (1 Chron. xxviii. 11, 12), as he had given to Moses in the mouth a draught of the tabernacle. 2. Dedicated and devoted to him and to his honour, to be employed in his service, so his as never any other house was, for he manifested his glory in it (so as never in any other) in a way agreeable to that dispensation; for, when there were carnal ordinances, there was a worldly sanctuary, Heb. ix. 1, 10. This gave it its beauty of holiness, that it was the house of the Lord, which far transcended all its other beauties.

II. The time when it began to be built is exactly set down. 1. It was just 480 years after the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt. Allowing forty years to Moses, seventeen to Joshua, 299 to the Judges, forty to Eli, forty to Samuel and Saul, forty to David, and four to Solomon before he began the work, we have just the sum of 480. So long it was after that holy state was founded before that holy house was built, which, in less than 430 years, was burnt by Nebuchadnezzar. It was thus deferred because Israel had, by their sins, rendered themselves unworthy of this honour, and because God would show how little he values external pomp and splendour in his service: he was in no haste for a temple. David's tent, which was clean and convenient, though it was neither stately nor rich, nor, for aught that appears, ever consecrated, is called the house of the Lord (2 Sam. xii. 20), and served as well as Solomon's temple; yet, when God gave Solomon great wealth, he put it into his heart thus to employ it, and graciously accepted him, chiefly because it was to be a shadow of good things to come, Heb. ix. 9. 2. It was in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, the first three years being taken up in settling the affairs of his kingdom, that he might not find any embarrassment from them in this work. It is not time lost which is spent in composing ourselves for the work of God, and disentangling ourselves from every thing which might distract or divert us. During this time he was adding to the preparations which his father had made (1 Chron. xxii. 14), hewing the stone, squaring the timber, and getting every thing ready, so that he is not to be blamed for slackness in deferring it so long. We are truly serving God when we are preparing for his service and furnishing ourselves for it.

III. The materials are brought in, ready for their place (v. 7), so ready that there was neither hammer nor ax heard in the house while it was in building. In all building Solomon prescribes it as a rule of prudence to prepare the work in the field, and afterwards build, Prov. xxiv. 27. But here, it seems, the preparation was more than ordinarily full and exact, to such a degree that, when the several parts came to be put together, there was nothing defective to be added, nothing amiss to be amended. It was to be the temple of God of peace, and therefore no iron tool must be heard in it. Quietness and silence both become and befriend religious exercises: God's work should be done with as much care and as little noise as may be. The temple was thrown down with axes and hammers, and those that threw it down roared in the midst of the congregation (Ps. lxxiv. 4, 6); but it was built up in silence. Clamour and violence often hinder the work of God, but never further it.

IV. The dimensions are laid down (v. 2, 3) according to the rules of proportion. Some observe that the length and breadth were just double to that of the tabernacle. Now that Israel had grown more numerous the place of their meeting needed to be enlarged (Isa. liv. 1, 2), and now that they had grown richer they were the better able to enlarge it. Where God sows plentifully he expects to reap so.

V. An account of the windows (v. 4): They were broad within, and narrow without, Marg. Such should the eyes of our mind be, reflecting nearer on ourselves than on other people, looking much within, to judge ourselves, but little without, to censure our brethren. The narrowness of the lights intimated the darkness of that dispensation, in comparison with the gospel day.

VI. The chambers are described (v. 5, 6), which served as vestries, in which the utensils of the tabernacle were carefully laid up, and where the priests dressed and undressed themselves and left the clothes in which they ministered: probably in some of these chambers they feasted upon the holy things. Solomon was not so intent upon the magnificence of the house as to neglect the conveniences that were requisite for the offices thereof, that every thing might be done decently and in order. Care was taken that the beams should not be fastened in the walls to weaken them, v. 6. Let not the church's strength be impaired under pretence of adding to its beauty or convenience.

11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,   12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. 14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

Here is, I. The word God sent to Solomon, when he was engaged in building the temple. God let him know that he took notice of what he was doing, the house he was now building, v. 12. None employ themselves for God without having his eye upon them. "I know thy works, thy good works." He assured him that if he would proceed and persevere in obedience to the divine law, and keep in the way of duty and the true worship of God, the divine loving-kindness should be drawn out both to himself (I will perform my word with thee) and to his kingdom: "Israel shall be ever owned as my people; I will dwell among them, and not forsake them." This word God sent him probably by a prophet, 1. That by the promise he might be encouraged and comforted in his work. Perhaps sometimes the great care, expense, and fatigue of it, made him ready to wish he had never begun it; but this would help him through the difficulties of it, that the promised establishment of his family and kingdom would abundantly recompense all his pains. An eye to the promise will carry us cheerfully through our work; and those who wish well to the public will think nothing too much that they can do to secure and perpetuate to it the tokens of God's presence. 2. That, by the condition annexed, he might be awakened to consider that though he built the temple ever so strong the glory of it would soon depart, unless he and his people continued to walk in God's statutes. God plainly let him know that all this charge which he and his people were at, in erecting this temple, would neither excuse them from obedience to the law of God nor shelter them from his judgments in case of disobedience. Keeping God's commandments is better, and more pleasing to him, than building churches.

II. The work Solomon did for God: So he built the house (v. 14), so animated by the message God had sent him, so admonished not to expect that God should own his building unless he were obedient to his laws: "Lord, I proceed upon these terms, being firmly resolved to walk in thy statutes." The strictness of God's government will never drive a good man from his service, but quicken him in it. Solomon built and finished, he went on with the work, and God went along with him till it was completed. It is spoken both to God's praise and his: he grew not weary of the work, met not with any obstructions (as Ezra iv. 24), did not out-build his property, nor do it by halves, but, having begun to build, was both able and willing to finish; for he was a wise builder.

15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. 16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. 17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. 18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19 And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord . 20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. 22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold. 23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, 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 midst of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without. 31 And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall. 32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. 33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall. 34 And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work. 36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams. 37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Zif: 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.

Here, I. We have a particular account of the details of the building.

1. The wainscot of the temple. It was of cedar (v. 15), which was strong and durable, and of a very sweet smell. The wainscot was curiously carved with knops (like eggs or apples) and flowers, no doubt as the fashion then was, v. 18.

2. The gilding. It was not like ours, washed over, but the whole house, all the inside of the temple (v. 22), even the floor (v. 30), he overlaid with gold, and the most holy place with pure gold, v. 21. Solomon would spare no expense necessary to make it every way sumptuous. Gold was under foot there, as it should be in all the living temples: the abundance of it lessened its worth.

3. The oracle, or speaking-place (for so the word signifies), the holy of holies, so called because thence God spoke to Moses, and perhaps to the high priest, when he consulted with the breast-plate of judgment. In this place the ark of the covenant was to be set, v. 19. Solomon made every thing new, and more magnificent than it had been, except the ark, which was still the same that Moses made, with its mercy-seat and cherubim; that was the token of God's presence, which is always the same with his people whether they meet in tent or temple, and changes not with their condition.

4. The cherubim. Besides those at the ends of the mercy-seat, which covered the ark, (1.) Solomon set up two more, very large ones, images of young men (as some think), with wings made of olive-wood, and all overlaid with gold, v. 23, &c. This most holy place was much larger than that in the tabernacle, and therefore the ark would have seemed lost in it, and the dead wall would have been unsightly, if it had not been thus adorned. (2.) He carved cherubim upon all the walls of the house, v. 29. The heathen set up images of their gods and worshipped them; but these were designed to represent the servants and attendants of the God of Israel, the holy angels, not to be themselves worshipped (see thou do it not), but to show how great he is whom we are to worship.

5. The doors. The folding doors that led into the oracle were but a fifth part of the wall (v. 31), those into the temple were a fourth part (v. 33); but both were beautified with cherubim engraven on them, v. 32, 35.

6. The inner court, in which the brazen altar was at which the priests ministered. This was separated from the court where the people were by a low wall, three rows of hewn stone tipped with a cornice of cedar (v. 36), that over it the people might see what was done and hear what the priests said to them; for, even under that dispensation, they were not kept wholly either in the dark or at a distance.

7. The time spent in this building. It was but seven years and a half from the founding to the finishing of it, v. 38. Considering the vastness and elegance of the building, and the many appurtenances to it which were necessary to fit it for use, it was soon done. Solomon was in earnest in it, had money enough, had nothing to divert him from it, and many hands made quick work. He finished it (as the margin reads it) with all the appurtenances thereof, and with all the ordinances thereof, not only built the place, but set forward the work for which it was built.

II. Let us now see what was typified by this temple. 1. Christ is the true temple; he himself spoke of the temple of his body, John ii. 21. God himself prepared him his body, Heb. x. 5. In him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead, as the Shechinah in the temple. In him meet all God's spiritual Israel. Through him we have access with confidence to God. All the angels of God, those blessed cherubim, have a charge to worship him. 2. Every believer is a living temple, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, 1 Cor. iii. 16. Even the body is such by virtue of its union with the soul, 1 Cor. vi. 19. We are not only wonderfully made by the divine providence, but more wonderfully made anew by the divine grace. This living temple is built upon Christ as its foundation and will be perfected in due time. 3. The gospel church is the mystical temple; it grows to a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. ii. 21), enriched and beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, as Solomon's temple with gold and precious stones. Only Jews built the tabernacle, but Gentiles joined with them in building the temple. Even strangers and foreigners are built up a habitation of God, Eph. ii. 19, 22. The temple was divided into the holy place and the most holy, the courts of it into the outer and inner; so there are the visible and the invisible church. The door into the temple was wider than that into the oracle. Many enter into profession that come short of salvation. This temple is built firm, upon a rock, not to be taken down as the tabernacle of the Old Testament was. The temple was long in preparing, but was built at last. The top-stone of the gospel church will, at length, be brought forth with shoutings, and it is a pity that there should be the clashing of axes and hammers in the building of it. Angels are ministering spirits, attending the church on all sides and all the members of it. 4. Heaven is the everlasting temple. There the church will be fixed, and no longer movable. The streets of the new Jerusalem, in allusion to the flooring of the temple, are said to be of pure gold, Rev. xxi. 21. The cherubim there always attend the throne of glory. The temple was uniform, and in heaven there is the perfection of beauty and harmony. In Solomon's temple there was no noise of axes and hammers. Every thing is quiet and serene in heaven; all that shall be stones in that building must in the present sate of probation and preparation be fitted and made ready for it, must be hewn and squared by divine grace, and so made meet for a place there.