Bible Study 2 Chronicles 3
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2 Chronicles 3 · WEB

Solomon Builds the Temple

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he had prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building God's house. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.
4The porch that was in front of the house, its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its height was one hundred twenty cubits; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5He lined the greater house with cypress wood, and overlaid it with fine gold, and worked palm trees and chains on it.
6He garnished the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim.
7He also overlaid the house with gold — the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and its doors — and engraved cherubim on the walls.
8He made the most holy place: its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10In the most holy place he made two cherubim of sculpted work; and they were overlaid with gold.
11The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long in all: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
12The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits also, reaching to the wing of the first cherub.
13The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, with their faces toward the house.
14He made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it.
15Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16He made chains in the inner sanctuary, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.
17He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
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Summary

Solomon begins construction of the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem — the site where God stopped the plague and where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac. The chapter describes the basic dimensions, the lavish gold overlay throughout, the two massive cherubim in the Most Holy Place with 20-cubit wingspans, the embroidered veil, and the two bronze pillars at the entrance named Jachin ("He establishes") and Boaz ("In him is strength"). The temple's beauty and craftsmanship expressed Israel's highest devotion to God.

Themes

  • God's dwelling place as worthy of the finest human skill and materials
  • The continuity of sacred history — Moriah links Abraham, David, and Solomon
  • Sacred space as a visible statement of God's greatness

Key verses

  • 2 Chr 3:1 — “Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father.”
  • 2 Chr 3:17 — “He set up the pillars before the temple... and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.”

Context & background

Mount Moriah (modern Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Israel) is identified in Genesis 22:2 as the site where Abraham was commanded to offer Isaac — and where God provided the ram. David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan/Araunah on this same mountain (1 Chronicles 21). Now Solomon builds the temple here, creating a continuous thread of sacred history across centuries. The temple dimensions (60 x 20 cubits for the main hall) doubled the proportions of the Mosaic tabernacle. The two pillars — Jachin and Boaz — likely had symbolic meaning: "Yahweh establishes [the throne of David] in [his] strength." The Dome of the Rock mosque and Al-Aqsa mosque now occupy the Temple Mount.

Cross-references

  • 1 Chronicles 21:18-26 — David purchases the threshing floor; the temple's origin site
  • 1 Kings 6 — More detailed parallel account of the temple construction
  • Exodus 26 — The tabernacle's design; the temple scaled it up and made it permanent
  • Genesis 22:2 — Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah; same location
  • Hebrews 9:1-14 — The earthly sanctuary as a shadow of the heavenly; Jesus as the true tabernacle

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    Where did Solomon begin to build the temple, and what was the historical significance of the location?

  2. Observe

    What were the two pillars in front of the temple named, and where were they positioned?

  3. Interpret

    What theological message is conveyed by the accumulation of sacred history at Mount Moriah — Abraham, David, and now Solomon?

  4. Interpret

    What is the theological statement made by overlaying the entire interior — even the nails — with pure gold (600 talents in the Most Holy Place alone)?

  5. Apply

    Since Paul says your body is now a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), what does Solomon's care for the temple's beauty teach about your stewardship of yourself?

  6. Apply

    What can you learn from the named pillars Jachin ("He establishes") and Boaz ("In him is strength") for the entrance points of your own life?

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