The crowning achievement of King Solomon’s reign was the erection of the magnificent Temple (Hebrew- Beit haMikdash) in the capital city of ancient Israel – Jerusalem.

His father, King David, had wanted to build the great Temple a generation earlier, as a permanent resting place for the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments. 

A divine edict, however, had forbidden him from doing so: “You will not build a house for My name,” God said to David, “for you are a man of battles and have shed blood” (I Chronicles 28:3).

The constructing of Solomon’s Temple

The construction of the temple was successfuly done via the keeping of the holy seasons of the God of Israel, as Israel kept the holy seasons of their God (on the hebrew Jewish calendar), this enabled them to prosper in all the undertakes which were related to the building of the temple and personal lives, and they were also able to overcome the conspiracy of antisemitism that could hinder the building.

According to the biblical sources, the temple was constructed under Solomon, during the united monarchy of Israel and Judah. 1 Kings 6:1 puts the date of the beginning of building the temple “in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel”.

The temple which was built by king Solomon was located in the exact place where God formed the body of Adam from the dust as it is written  in Gen 2:7.

The Bible’s description of Solomon’s Temple (also called The First Temple) suggests that the inside ceiling was was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high. The highest point on the Temple that King Solomon built was actually 120 cubits tall (about 20 stories or about 207 feet).

The first temple built by king Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC (2 Kings 25:8-10), the destruction was followed by the exile of the Jews to Babylon which took a period of 70 years.

The Babylonians took almost all the holy vessels (Menorah, the holy cups, etc) which were found in the temple, and on top of that they also took captive all levites and those who did the holy services which pertained to the temple.

A fter the 70 years were completed Cyrus the King of Persia ordered the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple 

Read more about; the second temple which was rebuilt by the Jews who returned from Babylon.