1 Kings 8:62-65

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

8:62 The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 8:63 Solomon offered as peace offerings ¹  to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple. 8:64 That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings. ²  8:65 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt ³  in the south. ⁴ 

1 Kings 8:2

8:2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival ⁵  in the month Ethanim ⁶  (the seventh month).

1 Kings 7:4-9

7:4 There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three. ⁷  7:5 All of the entrances ⁸  were rectangular in shape ⁹  and they were arranged in sets of three. ¹⁰  7:6 He made a colonnade ¹¹  75 feet ¹²  long and 45 feet ¹³  wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. ¹⁴  7:7 He also made a throne room, called “The Hall of Judgment,” where he made judicial decisions. ¹⁵  It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. ¹⁶  7:8 The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. ¹⁷  He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. ¹⁸  7:9 All of these were built with the best ¹⁹  stones, chiseled to the right size ²⁰  and cut with a saw on all sides, ²¹  from the foundation to the edge of the roof ²²  and from the outside to the great courtyard.

Ezra 6:17

6:17 For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

[8:63]  ¹ tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”

[8:64]  ² tn Heb “to hold the burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.”

[8:65]  ³ tn Or “the Wadi of Egypt” (NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “the Egyptian Gorge.”

[8:65]  ⁴ tn Heb “Solomon held at that time the festival, and all Israel was with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days, fourteen days.”

[8:2]  ⁵ sn The festival. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.

[8:2]  ⁶ sn The month Ethanim. This would be September-October in modern reckoning.

[7:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and framed [windows in] three rows, and opening to opening three times.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain. Another option might be, “overhung [in] three rows.” This might mean they were positioned high on the walls.

[7:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “all of the doors and doorposts.”

[7:5]  ⁹ sn Rectangular in shape. That is, rather than arched.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the entrances and the doorposts [had] four frames, and in front of opening to opening three times” (the precise meaning of the description is uncertain).

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a porch of pillars.”

[7:6]  ¹² tn Heb “fifty cubits.”

[7:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “thirty cubits.”

[7:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and a porch was in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars) and pillars and a roof in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars and porch).” The precise meaning of the term translated “roof” is uncertain; it occurs only here and in Ezek 41:25-26.

[7:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and a porch for the throne, where he was making judicial decisions, the Porch of Judgment, he made.”

[7:7]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from the floor to the floor.” The second occurrence of the term הַקַּרְקָע (haqqarqa’, “the floor”) is probably an error; one should emend to הַקּוֹרוֹת (haqqorot, “the rafters”). See 6:16.

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and his house where he lived, the other court [i.e., as opposed to the great court], separated from the house belonging to the hall, was like this work [i.e., this style of architecture].”

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and a house he was making for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch.”

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

[7:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “inside and out.”

[7:9]  ²² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word טְפָחוֹת (tÿfakhot) is uncertain, but it is clear that the referent stands in opposition to the foundation.