Solomon's Temple

Brief History

Solomon's Temple had stood on the site of Mount Moriah for over 350 years before the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC beyond the possibility of repair.

Solomon built the temple on the east side of Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, "where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite" (1 Chron 21:28; 2 Chron 3:1). King David was forbidden to build God’s house:

"But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'You have shed much blood, and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me'" (1 Chron 22:8).

But David’s son Solomon was a man of peace and began the project of constructing God a house of worship. To secure an adequate site for the Temple and its courts, an area of at least 600 by 300 feet was required. The summit of the hill had to be leveled and slightly enlarged by means of fill and retaining walls built on the sides. The construction was completed in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, (in seven and a half years, 953 BC).

1 Chron 22:9-10 Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'

The highest part of Mount Moriah is now the site of the building called The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

The Destruction of Solomon’s Temple

Jer 52:12-14 "Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around."