The Temple on Moriah

The words

1. Cedar

   Cedar boards cover the interior walls, with carved ornament and open flowers; the narrator says no stone is visible.

   1 Kings 6:15–18 (opens a new tab)

2. Chapiters

   Hiram casts two chapiters for the tops of the pillars; the description adds chainwork and rows of pomegranates around them.

   1 Kings 7:16–18 (opens a new tab)

3. Dedication

   Solomon and Israel dedicate the temple with animal sacrifices after the priests bring the ark beneath the cherubim’s wings.

   1 Kings 8:6–7 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 8:62–63 (opens a new tab)

4. Hiram

   Solomon summons Hiram from Tyre, a craftsman skilled in the brass work of the temple’s pillars and other furnishings.

   1 Kings 7:13–15 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 7:40–45 (opens a new tab)

5. Jachin

   Probably “he establishes,” according to the NET Bible’s name note.

   Hiram names the right-hand pillar Jachin and the left-hand pillar Boaz when he sets them in the temple’s porch.

   2 Chronicles 3:17 · 1 Kings 7:21 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 2 Chronicles 3:17 (opens a new tab)

6. Laver

   Hiram makes ten brass lavers, each resting on a base; five bases stand on each side of the temple.

   1 Kings 7:38–40 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 7:40–47 (opens a new tab)

7. Lily Work

   The tops of the temple’s porch pillars have lily decoration; the great basin’s rim also has flowers of lilies.

   1 Kings 7:19; 1 Kings 7:22 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 7:26 (opens a new tab)

8. Molten Sea

   “Molten” means made from melted metal.

   The great round basin stands on twelve ox figures, arranged in four groups of three facing north, west, south and east.

   1 Kings 7:23–26 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Kings 7:23-26 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: molten (opens a new tab)

9. Moriah

   Second Chronicles places Solomon’s temple on mount Moriah in Jerusalem, at the threshing floor of Ornan prepared by David.

   2 Chronicles 3:1–2 (opens a new tab)

10. Olive Tree

    Solomon uses olive wood for the two cherubim inside the oracle and for its doors, covering both with gold.

    1 Kings 6:23; 1 Kings 6:28; 1 Kings 6:31–32 (opens a new tab)

11. Oracle

    Solomon prepares the oracle for the ark of the covenant; the priests later place the ark there beneath the cherubim’s wings.

    Did you know?

    At the ark’s arrival in the temple, First Kings says it contains only the two stone tablets placed there by Moses at Horeb.

    1 Kings 6:19 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 8:6–9 (opens a new tab)

12. Pillars

    Hiram casts two pillars, called brass in the KJV and bronze in the NET Bible, and sets them in the temple’s porch.

    Did you know?

    The chapter places the metalwork’s casting in clay ground in the Jordan plain, between Succoth and Zarthan.

    1 Kings 7:15; 1 Kings 7:21 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Kings 7:13-16 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 7:40–46 (opens a new tab)

13. Stones

    The building stones arrive already prepared; First Kings says no hammer, axe or iron tool is heard inside during construction.

    1 Kings 6:7 (opens a new tab)

14. Temple

    First Kings describes Solomon completing a house for the LORD, with its interior overlaid in gold.

    Did you know?

    Kings dates the foundation to the fourth year of Solomon’s reign and completion to the eleventh, describing seven years of building.

    1 Kings 6:14; 1 Kings 6:21–22 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 6:37–38 (opens a new tab)

15. Tyre

    Tyre is Hiram the craftsman’s city; earlier, Solomon asks its king, also named Hiram, for cedar from Lebanon.

    1 Kings 7:13 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 5:1–6 (opens a new tab)