1 Kings 6:1

The Building of the Temple

6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv ¹  (the second month), he began building the Lord’s temple.

1 Kings 6:9

6:9 He finished building the temple ²  and covered it ³  with rafters ⁴  and boards made of cedar. ⁵ 

1 Kings 7:1

The Building of the Royal Palace

7:1 Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. ⁶ 

Ezra 3:8-13

3:8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem, ⁷  in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work, ⁸  along with the rest of their associates, ⁹  the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed ¹⁰  the Levites who were at least twenty years old ¹¹  to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple. 3:9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ¹²  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ¹³ ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ¹⁴  the Levites. 3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ¹⁵  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ¹⁶  King David of Israel. ¹⁷  3:11 With antiphonal response they sang, ¹⁸  praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud ¹⁹  shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established. 3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ²⁰  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ²¹  – were weeping loudly, ²²  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout. 3:13 People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ²³  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Ezra 6:15

6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth ²⁴  year of the reign of King Darius.

John 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ²⁵  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ²⁶  for forty-six years, ²⁷  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

¹ sn During the month Ziv. This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.

² tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”

³ tn Heb “the house.”

⁴ tn The word occurs only here; the precise meaning is uncertain.

⁵ tn Heb “and rows with cedar wood.”

⁶ tn Heb “His house Solomon built in thirteen years and he completed all his house.”

⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁸ tn Heb “began”; the phrase “the work” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “their brothers.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “stood.”

¹¹ tn Heb “from twenty years and upward.”

¹² tn Heb “brothers.”

¹³ sn The name יְהוּדָה (Yehudah; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB “Judah”) is probably a variant of Hodaviah (see Ezra 2:40; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

¹⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁵ sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

¹⁶ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

¹⁷ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

¹⁸ tn Heb “they answered.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “great.”

²⁰ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

²¹ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

²² tn Heb “with a great voice.”

²³ tn Heb “a great shout.”

²⁴ sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

²⁵ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

²⁶ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

²⁷ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.