Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary: 3 Kings
would therefore, in vain, allege the greater antiquity of his religion, as it prefigured and foretold the author and finisher of our faith. And Protestants will act very childishly if they suppose, with Mr. Slack, a Methodist preacher, at Whitby, that this can in any degree enervate the argument of Catholics, who always arraign them before the tribunal of the apostolic ages, in which they confess our bishops, Linus, &c., existed, and were ordained by the apostles themselves. "Setting aside the apostles, Linus, agreeably to the common opinion, was the first bishop of the Roman see, who was ordained before the martyrdom both of Peter and Paul." Campbell, 12 lect., quoted by Mr. Slack; (p. 63) who says that he was the first pope, and of course, that our religion mounts up to the age of the apostles; and, if he thinks to evade this difficulty, by saying, that the Jewish religion was more ancient still, and yet rejected, we may desire him to point out where the Scripture mentions that the religion of Christ was to be rendered more perfect than he left it; as we know from that source, that he was to establish a new law, founded on better promises than those which had been made to the Jew? How will this state of fluctuation, and this relapsing into abominable errors and idolatry, for many hundred years, accord with the promises of Christ? (Matthew xxviii., &c.) (Haydock) --- Building it. The dedication was deferred till the following year, probably on account of the jubilee recurring at that time. (Usher, the year of the world 3000.) (Calmet) --- But this is very uncertain. Salien fixes upon the year 3030, which was not a year of jubilee; and he rather thinks that the delay was occasioned by the vessels, the brazen sea, &c., which had to be brought from the other side of the Jordan. We may also recollect, that the rainy season was set in before the temple was quite finished; so that it would have been very inconvenient for all Israel to assemble at that time. After the dedication, the temple continued to be adorned, till it was destroyed by Nebuchadonoser, (Haydock) in the year 3416, and lay in ruins fifty-two years, when the Jews were authorized by Cyrus to rebuild it. They could not however finish the work, so as to proceed to a fresh dedication, till the reign of Darius Hystaspes, in the year 3489. Herod undertook to rebuild (Button) the greatest part of this second temple, and to adorn it, in the most magnificent manner, in the year 3986.
This place was honoured by the presence of the Son of God, who foretold the destruction, which took place within that generation, [in] A.D. 70. (Haydock)
Bible Text & Cross-references:
The building of Solomon's temple.
1 And *it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio, (the same is the second month) he began to build a house to the Lord.
2 And the house, which king Solomon built to the Lord, was threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.
3 And there was a porch before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it was ten cubits in breadth, before the face of the temple.
4 And he made in the temple oblique windows.
5 And upon the wall of the temple, he built floors round about, in the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle, and he made chambers in the sides round about.
6 The floor that was underneath was five cubits in breadth, and the middle floor was six cubits in breadth, and the third door was seven cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on the outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple.
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones, hewed and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house when it was in building.
8 The door, for the middle side, was on the right hand of the house: and by winding-stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the middle to the third.
9 So he built the house, and finished it: and he covered the house with roofs of cedar.
10 And he built a floor over all the house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with timber of cedar.
11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
12 As for this house, which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee, *which I spoke to David thy father.
13 *And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the roofs, he covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
16 And he built up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the hinder part of the temple, from the floor to the top: and made the inner house of the oracle to be the holy of holies.
17 And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits long.
18 And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought, and carvings projecting out: all was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone could be seen in the wall at all.
19 And he made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
20 Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered it, and overlaid it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered with cedar.
21 And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure gold, and fastened on the plates with nails of gold.
22 And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also with gold.
23 And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive-tree, of ten cubits in height.
24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity of one wing to the extremity of the other wing.
25 The second cherub also was ten cubits: and the measure, and the work was the same in both the cherubims:
26 That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like manner the other cherub.
27 And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and the cherubims stretched forth their wings, and the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one another.
28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
29 And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm-trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from the wall.
30 And the floor of the house he also overlaid with gold within and without.
31 And in the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors of olive-tree, and posts of five corners,
32 And two doors of olive-tree: and he carved upon them figures of cherubims, and figures of palm-trees, and carvings very much projecting; and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the cherubims and the palm-trees, and the other things, with gold.
33 And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive-tree four-square:
34 And two doors of fir-tree, one of each side: and each door was double, and so opened with folding-leaves.
35 And he carved cherubims, and palm-trees, and carved work standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by rule.
36 And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones, and one row of beams of cedar.
37 In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded, in the month Zio:
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, (which is the eighth month) the house was finished in all the works thereof, and in all the appurtenances thereof: and he was seven years in building it.
1: Year of the World 2992, Year before Christ 1012.; 2 Paralipomenon iii. 1.
13: 1 Paralipomenon xxii. 9.