3 Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed [1] for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. 5 And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains. 6 And he garnished [2] the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.

Other Translations of 2 Chronicles 3:3-7

New International Version

3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wideThat is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide (using the cubit of the old standard). 4 The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubitsThat is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13 long across the width of the building and twentySome Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew "and a hundred and twenty" cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.

English Standard Version

3 These are Solomon's measurementsSyriac; Hebrew foundations for building the house of God: the length, in cubitsA cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house,Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold and made palms and chains on it. 6 He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 So he lined the house with gold--its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors-- and he carved cherubim on the walls.

The Message

3 These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. 4 The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high. 5 He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. 6 He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. 7 Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.

New King James Version

3 This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. 4 And the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 The larger room he paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house--the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors--with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

New Living Translation

3 These are the dimensions Solomon used for the foundation of the Temple of God (using the old standard of measurement). It was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. 4 The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main room of the Temple with cypress wood, overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with carvings of palm trees and chains. 6 He decorated the walls of the Temple with beautiful jewels and with gold from the land of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors throughout the Temple with gold, and he carved figures of cherubim on the walls.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Chronicles 3:3-7

Chapter Contents

The building of the temple.

There is a more particular account of the building of the temple in 1 Kings 6. It must be in the place David had prepared, not only which he had purchased, but which he had fixed on by Divine direction. Full instructions enable us to go about our work with certainty and to proceed therein with comfort. Blessed be God, the Scriptures are enough to render the man of God thoroughly furnished for every good work. Let us search the Scriptures daily, beseeching the Lord to enable us to understand, believe, and obey his word, that our work and our way may be made plain, and that all may be begun, continued, and ended in him. Beholding God, in Christ, his true Temple, more glorious than that of Solomon's, may we become a spiritual house, a habitation of God through the Spirit.