ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for 1 Kings 6

1 Kings 6:1–7:51 With preparation for the temple complete, the text describes the building and its furnishings. This is interrupted in 7:1–12 by a description of the building of Solomon’s palace. The writer seems to suggest that Solomon’s concern for his own house delayed the completion of the temple.

1 Kings 6:1–10 The authors(s) describe the temple’s overall proportions and its basic form (vv. 2–3); its windows (v. 4); and the structure around it with its side chambers (vv. 5–6, 8, 10). The work was carried out with reverence, avoiding the use of iron tools at the temple site: neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron (see Ex. 20:25 and Deut. 27:5–6 for the restrictions that appear to be in mind here). The temple was 90 feet (27 m) long, 30 feet (9 m) wide, and 45 feet (14 m) high (see illustration).

1 Kings 6:1 The four hundred and eightieth year after Israel’s release from slavery and the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel was around the year 966 b.c. This verse is important for calculating the date of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The figure of 480 years would seem to support the traditional “early” date for the exodus, c. 1446 b.c. On the other hand, some scholars believe the 480 might be symbolic, i.e., that it could stand for 12 generations of 40 years each. This would match a “late” date for the exodus, about 1260 b.c. See Introduction to Exodus.

1 Kings 6:12–13 God will certainly dwell among his people once the temple is built, but the people must still obey his law (see Lev. 26:11–12). This was something the Israelites were always forgetting (see Jeremiah 7).

1 Kings 6:14–35 Solomon built the house and finished it. The repetition of v. 9a in v. 14 marks a return to the main story line of vv. 1–10 after the detour of vv. 11–13. Now the inside of the temple is described. Most attention is paid to the inner sanctuary (vv. 16, 19–32), the Most Holy Place where the ark of the covenant was to be placed (v. 19). It was within the inner sanctuary that the Lord sat. He was enthroned on the cherubim (v. 23; see 1 Sam. 4:4; Ps. 99:1).

1 Kings 6:36 This verse moves back outside the temple, to the inner court.

1 Kings 6:38–7:1 the house was finished. Solomon spent much more time building his own palace than he did building God’s house. This is an early sign that he was not fully committed to the Lord. The author probably intended the following emphasis in 7:1: “But his own house Solomon spent thirteen years building.”