2 Chronicles 3: Solomon builds the house: its rooms, cherubim and two pillars

In plain English: Then Solomon began to build Yahweh's house in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where he (the Hebrew does not name who; this Bible says Yahweh) had appeared to David his father, which he (the Hebrew does not name who) had prepared in David's place (this Bible: the place David had appointed), on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The Hebrew word: "Moriah" is Moriyah, which the dictionary gives as "Morijah, a hill in Palestine". The name is in 2 verses of the Bible: here and Genesis 22:2, where God tells Abraham to go "into the land of Moriah" and offer Isaac "on one of the mountains". This verse does not say the two are the same place.

The Hebrew words: Word for word the Hebrew says "where he appeared to David his father" and does not name who appeared. This Bible supplies Yahweh. 1 Chronicles 21:18 says Yahweh's angel commanded Gad to tell David to raise an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, and 21:26 says David built the altar there and Yahweh answered him from the sky by fire.

In plain English: He began to build in the second month, on the second (the Hebrew has no word "day" here; this Bible supplies it), in the fourth year of his reign.

Good to know: 1 Kings 6:1 also says he began to build in the fourth year of his reign, in the second month, and calls that month Ziv. It does not give the day.

In plain English: These are the foundations Solomon laid for building God's house: the length, in cubits by the first (or: former) measure, was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.

The Hebrew words: "The first measure" is word for word "the former measure". The text does not say what the former measure was or how it differs from another.

Good to know: 1 Kings 6:2 gives the house the same length, sixty cubits, and width, twenty, and adds a height of thirty cubits. This verse does not give a height.

In plain English: The porch in front, along the width of the house, was twenty cubits long, and the height was one hundred twenty (the Hebrew gives no unit for this number). He overlaid it inside with pure gold.

Good to know: The Hebrew gives "cubits" for the porch's length of twenty, but no unit with the number one hundred twenty for the height. 1 Kings 6:3 gives the porch a length of twenty cubits and a width of ten cubits and no height.

In plain English: He covered the larger room (word for word: the great house) with cypress wood, overlaid it with fine gold, and put palm trees and chains on it.

The Hebrew words: Word for word the Hebrew says "the house, the great one". This Bible reads it as the larger room of the house. The same Hebrew word, bayit, is "house" elsewhere in this chapter.

What changes: If "the great house" is the larger room, the cypress and gold covered that room. If it is the whole house, they covered the whole house. The text does not say which.

In plain English: He covered the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold of Parvaim.

The Hebrew word: "Parvaim" is Parvayim, which the dictionary gives as "an Oriental region". The name is in this one verse of the Bible, and the text does not say where it was.

In plain English: He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls.

In plain English: He made the most holy place (word for word: the house of the holy of holies). Its length, along the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with fine gold, six hundred talents of it.

The Hebrew words: "The most holy place" is word for word "the house of the holy of holies": the Hebrew repeats the word qodesh, which the dictionary gives as "a sacred place or thing". The same phrase is in verse 10.

Good to know: 1 Kings 6:20 gives the inner sanctuary twenty cubits in length, twenty in width and twenty in height, overlaid with pure gold. It does not give the six hundred talents.

In plain English: The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.

In plain English: In the most holy place he made two cherubim, a work of sculpture (or: castings), and they overlaid them with gold.

The Hebrew word: "Carving" is tsaatsua, which the dictionary gives as "sculpture". The Hebrew can also be read as "castings". The verse does not say what the cherubim were made of, and says "they overlaid them with gold". 1 Kings 6:23 says Solomon made two cherubim "of olive wood, each ten cubits high".

In plain English: The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of the first cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.

In plain English: One wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, joined to the wing of the first cherub.

In plain English: The wings of these cherubim spread out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house (or: toward the inside).

The Hebrew words: "Toward the house" is word for word "to the house", the same word bayit as elsewhere in the chapter, and it can also be read as "toward the inside". The text does not say which.

Good to know: 1 Kings 6:27 says the wings were stretched out so that one wing touched one wall, the other wing touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the house.

In plain English: He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson and fine linen, and put cherubim on it.

Good to know: The veil here is poreketh, which the dictionary gives as "the (sacred) screen". Exodus 36:35 says of the tabernacle's veil: "He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim."

In plain English: He also made two pillars in front of the house, thirty-five cubits high (or: long; the Hebrew does not say whether this is each pillar or both together), and the capital on the top of each was five cubits.

The Hebrew word: "High" is orek, which the dictionary gives as "length". The Hebrew says "two pillars, thirty-five cubits length".

How it is translated: This Bible says each pillar was thirty-five cubits high. The Hebrew can also be read as thirty-five cubits for the two pillars together, and the text does not say which.

What changes: Read as each, thirty-five cubits is the height of one pillar. Read as together, thirty-five cubits is the figure for both.

Good to know: 1 Kings 7:15 says the two bronze pillars were "eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them", and 7:16 says each capital was five cubits. The text does not explain the difference in the pillars.

In plain English: He made chains in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.

Good to know: The verse puts the chains "in the inner sanctuary" (debir, "the shrine or innermost part of the sanctuary") and also "on the tops of the pillars", which stood in front of the house (verses 15 and 17). The text does not explain how. 1 Kings 7:20 says there were "two hundred pomegranates in rows around the other capital"; this verse says one hundred.

In plain English: He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right (or: south) and one on the left (or: north). He called the name of the one on the right Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz.

The Hebrew words: "Right" and "left" are yamin and semol. The dictionary gives yamin as "the right hand or side... locally, the south" and semol as "properly, dark (as enveloped), i.e. the north; hence (by orientation), the left hand". The text does not say which is meant.

Good to know: The text gives the two names, Jachin and Boaz, and does not explain them. 1 Kings 7:21 says the same: he set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin, and the left pillar and called its name Boaz. The name Boaz is also the name of David's ancestor, per the dictionary.