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1 Kings 6:38

in 1 Kings 6

In his eleventh year and eighth month, the month of Bul, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.

KJV

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.

This verse in 1 Kings 6

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

In the eleventh year - was the house finished - It is rather strange that this house required seven years and about six months to put all the stones and the timbers in their places, for we have already seen that they were all prepared before they came to Jerusalem; but the ornamenting, gilding, or overlaying with gold, making the carved work, cherubim, trees, flowers, etc., must have consumed a considerable time. The month Bul answers to a part of our October and November, as Zif, in which it was begun, answers to a part of April and May.

This site's exposition

the inner court with three rows

on 1 Kings 6:36-38

The inner court is built the same way as the great court of the later palace complex at 7:9-12, three rows of hewed stone and a row of cedar beams, one masonry vocabulary running through the kingdom's whole public architecture. The foundation is laid in the month Zif, Solomon's fourth year, and the house stands finished in the month Bul, his eleventh year, seven years in the building; both months keep their old Israelite names rather than a number, a detail the text preserves without translating it for a later reader. The chapter that opened by dating everything against the exodus closes by dating everything against Solomon's own reign.

This site's exposition

So he built the temple in seven years.

From Ziv of the fourth year to Bul of the eleventh is seven years and six months, which the verse rounds to seven, as Albert Barnes counts. Adam Clarke credits the time to carving and gilding. Matthew Henry and John Wesley read the finished house as a picture of the church, a temple built on Christ.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.1-2 · Written before 735.

proposed

The allegorical meaning of the fact that the house of the Lord was built in seven years is plain, because, of course, the holy church is being built of the souls of the elect for the entire duration of this world, which is also completed …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

We are wonderfully made by the Divine Providence, but more wonderfully made anew by the Divine grace. And as Solomon's temple was built on a rock, so are we built on Christ. The church is a mystical temple, enriched and beautified, not with gold and precious stones, but with the gifts and graces of the spirit.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

We are not only wonderfully made by the divine providence, but more wonderfully made anew by the divine grace. This living temple is built upon Christ as its foundation and will be perfected in due time. The gospel church is the mystical temple; it grows to a holy temple in the Lord ( Eph. ii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

In the eleventh year,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Seven years - More exactly, “seven years and six months,” since Zif was the second, and Bul the eighth month. 1Ki 6:1.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וּבַשָּׁנָה֩and in the year

    uvashanahH8141877 times

  • הָאַחַ֨ת<the> one [plus]

    haachatH259971 times

  • עֶשְׂרֵ֜הten

    ʾesrehH6240338 times

  • בְּיֶ֣רַחin [the] month of

    beyerachH339112 times

  • בּ֗וּלBul

    bulH945

  • ה֚וּאthat

    hu'H19311879 times

  • הַחֹ֣דֶשׁ[was] the month

    hachodeshH2320284 times

  • הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י<the> eighth

    hasheminiH806628 times

  • כָּלָ֣הit was complete

    kalahH3615208 times

  • הַבַּ֔יִתthe house

    habayitH10042046 times

  • לְכָל־to all

    lekholH36055413 times

  • דְּבָרָ֖יוparts its

    devaravH16971440 times

  • וּלְכָל־and to all

    ulekhol-H36055413 times

  • מִשְׁפָּטָ֑יוplans its

    mishpatovH4941422 times

  • וַיִּבְנֵ֖הוּand he built it

    vaiyivnehuH1129376 times

  • שֶׁ֥בַעseven

    sheva'H7651394 times

  • שָׁנִֽים׃years

    shanimH8141877 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Kings 7:1

    Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 9:10

      Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built these two houses, the house of the LORD and the royal palace,

    • 2 Chronicles 8:1

      Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own palace,

  • Through

    1 Kings 6:1

    In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 3:1–2

      Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the…

  • Through

    Zechariah 4:9

    “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 6:12–13

      And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build…

    • Ezra 6:14–15

      So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees…

    • Ezra 5:16

      So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, but it has not yet been completed.”

    • Hebrews 12:2

      Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…

    • Zechariah 6:15

      Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey…

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 2.18.1-2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.