The foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign.
Parallel translations
- WEB The foundation of Yahweh’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv.
- KJV In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:
- BSB The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.
- NKJV In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.
- NASB In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The temple's foundation was laid in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in the month Ziv. This anchors the great project in real history.
Overview
Together with 1 Kings 6:1, this dating ties the temple's construction to a precise point in Israel's history, roughly 480 years after the exodus. Ziv corresponds to spring, a fitting season for beginning so significant a work. The narrator's care with dates reminds us that God acts in real time and keeps His promises within history, including the promise to David fulfilled here.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- 1 Kgs 6:1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build Yahweh’s house.
- 2 Chr 3:2He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 6:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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