Chapter 3 of Divrei HaYamim II opens the account of the construction of the Beit HaMikdash by Shlomo. We hold a major foundational principle throughout the book of Divrei HaYamim, as the Malbim emphasizes here as well: Ezra does not come merely to copy what was already recorded in the earlier books of the Prophets - in Melachim, Yirmiyahu, and the other books. Rather, he comes to clarify obscure matters, to add details that were not mentioned there which he found in other records, and to present new insights. Therefore, in the narrative of the Temple, he records only the matters that were novel to him; all that is written in Melachim I chapter 6 from verse 4 to verse 16 concerning the construction of the House and the side chambers is not mentioned here at all, for nothing new was added regarding them. Whoever wishes to know the full architectural details of the Temple should consult the book of Melachim.
וַיָּחֶל שְׁלֹמֹה לִבְנוֹת אֶת־בֵּית־יְהוָה בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם בְּהַר הַמּוֹרִיָּה אֲשֶׁר נִרְאָה לְדָוִיד אָבִיהוּ אֲשֶׁר הֵכִין בִּמְקוֹם דָּוִיד בְּגֹרֶן אׇרְנָן הַיְבוּסִי׃ - Then Shlomo began to build the House of Hashem in Yerushalayim on Mount Moriah, where [Hashem] had appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place of David, at the threshing floor of Ornan the Yevusi.
Shlomo begins to build the House of Hashem in Yerushalayim on Mount Moriah, "where [Hashem] had appeared to David his father" - in this holy place, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to David, and there fire descended from Heaven. This is what was meant by the verse, "On the mount of Hashem He shall be seen," meaning that there the Holy One, blessed be He, would be revealed in the future, and there the Shechinah would dwell in the Beit HaMikdash. This is the very place where Yitzchak was bound, and where David saw the angel when the plague was halted.
"Which he prepared in the place of David, at the threshing floor of Ornan the Yevusi" - it is said of King David that he dug the foundations and covered the shitin (the subterranean channels beneath the Altar) of the Beit HaMikdash. Some say that David even built the Western Wall, for the Western Wall is not the wall of the Temple building itself, but the retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount, and that is why the Western Wall was never destroyed. Had David built the entire Beit HaMikdash, the Temple would never have been destroyed at all; then the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have poured out His wrath upon wood and stone, and it might, Heaven forbid, have brought destruction upon the people of Israel themselves. Therefore, David did not build the Beit HaMikdash.
In any case, he certainly dug the foundations and covered the shitin. And this is the meaning of "which he prepared" - that he prepared the site physically, making the preparations deep in the earth. From that time on, the site was called "the Place of David," the place that David prepared by digging the foundations for the construction of the House. This is based on David's words: "Until I find a place for Hashem." When he found the site at the threshing floor of Ornan the Yevusi, that place was named after him. Therefore, "in the place of David" does not mean that he prepared it in David's stead, but rather that this was the name of the site: the Place of David.
וַיָּחֶל לִבְנוֹת בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בַּשֵּׁנִי בִּשְׁנַת אַרְבַּע לְמַלְכוּתוֹ׃ - And he began to build in the second month, on the second day, in the fourth year of his reign.
"In the second month, on the second" - the Malbim explains that this clarifies what is written in the book of Melachim: "In the fourth year... in the month of Ziv, which is the second month of Shlomo's reign." Since the years of the kings of Israel are counted from Nisan, this was the fourth year, and the month was the second month [Iyar]. Lest one mistakenly think that the phrase "of Shlomo's reign" applies only to the year, the verse here comes and specifies: "in the second month" - according to the calendar months of the year; "on the second in the fourth year of his reign" - according to the count of the years and months of Shlomo's own reign.
וְאֵלֶּה הוּסַד שְׁלֹמֹה לִבְנוֹת אֶת־בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים הָאֹרֶךְ אַמּוֹת בַּמִּדָּה הָרִאשׁוֹנָה אַמּוֹת שִׁשִּׁים וְרֹחַב אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים׃ - And these are the foundations which Shlomo laid to build the House of God: the length by cubits after the ancient measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
"Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid" (ve-eileh husad Shlomo) - the Radak explains: these are the specifications and dimensions with which Solomon was established to build the House of God. The term husad connotes consultation, as in "for so the king had established (yissad)" and "they took counsel together (nosdu yachdav)." The connection between counsel (eitzah) and foundation (yesod) is clear: counsel and consultation (sod) are the foundation of any construction. When people consult on how to proceed, they lay the foundation for how to put the plan into action. Therefore, we find the concept of taking counsel expressed through the root of foundation, nosdu yachdav - they conferred together to establish a foundation for how to act moving forward.
The foundation and the plan for the construction of the Beit HaMikdash were received from his father David, as it is said, "Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch..." and so forth. That is, the foundations were already handed down from David, and all Solomon needed to do was carry out the actual work.
"The length by cubits after the first measure" - the first measure is the standard by which the Mishkan and the vessels were constructed. The Mishnah states that the building was measured with a cubit (amah) of six handbreadths (tefachim), and the vessels with a cubit of five handbreadths, and the Gemara explains that there were two standards of cubits: an amah of six handbreadths and an amah of five handbreadths. Today, when people speak of an amah, they generally mean an amah of six handbreadths. Since a tefach is roughly eight centimeters, an amah is approximately 48 centimeters, whereas an amah of five handbreadths is approximately 40 centimeters.
The Malbim explains that the measurement is "the length in cubits was sixty," and the words "cubits after the first measure" are parenthetical. They serve to tell you - in accord with the Radak - that this refers to the six-handbreadth cubit used to measure the building in the days of Moshe. Standard cubits were often smaller, as we find in Sefer Yechezkel regarding the dimensions of the Third Temple, where Yechezkel was guided by an angel through the future Sanctuary, and the measurements there are in the smaller cubit of five handbreadths. Furthermore, the Malbim adds that the verse teaches that David was the one who measured the number of cubits when he excavated the foundations, and Solomon made no changes; Solomon built the House according to the very cubits David had originally laid out.
וְהָאוּלָם אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֹרֶךְ עַל־פְּנֵי רֹחַב־הַבַּיִת אַמּוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וְהַגֹּבַהּ מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים וַיְצַפֵּהוּ מִפְּנִימָה זָהָב טָהוֹר׃ - And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height was a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
Here, the Malbim introduces a novel explanation beyond what we learned in Sefer Melachim, where it says: "And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house." The term Heichal refers to the Dvir, the innermost chamber of the House, while the term Bayit refers to the Great Hall in front of the Dvir. In the Dvir, dimensions were reckoned along its length from south to north, as it is written: "And he made the most holy house: the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house..." whereas in the Bayit, the length was measured from west to east.
To explain: entry into the Beit HaMikdash was from the direction of the Mount of Olives, so that the person entering had his back to the Mount of Olives and his face turned westward. Consequently, length was measured from the direction of the Mount of Olives heading west, while width was measured from north to south, with the right side being north and the left side south - like someone standing in a synagogue with his back to the Ark holding the Torah scrolls. Incidentally, there is common confusion among people who imagine that prostration was performed just as it is at the Western Wall today; but in the Beit HaMikdash, the orientation was reversed. One entering from the east, from the side of the Mount of Olives, walked westward and prostrated toward the Holy of Holies in the west. One's face is always directed toward the Holy of Holies: someone coming from the Mount of Olives bows toward the west, whereas someone at the Western Wall bows toward the east. This is why our synagogues face east, as we bow toward the Beit HaMikdash, toward the dwelling place of the Shechinah.
Returning to our subject: the Dvir is measured along its length from south to north, that is, from right to left, whereas the Bayit and the Courtyard are measured from east to west. Thus, the length of the Porch (Ulam), which ran from south to north, aligned with the length of the Heichal of the House, but not with the length of the Bayit itself.
To make the layout clear: the building was shaped like an inverted letter T. First, extending to the right and left, was the Ulam (the Porch) - the broad section protruding on both sides, forming the top crossbar of the T. Located there was the Beit HaChalifot (Chamber of Knives), where the slaughtering knives were kept (chalifot from the term chalaf, a slaughtering knife), and it contained various compartments. Further in, along the stem of the T, in the narrower area, stood the Heichal (the Sanctuary). Inside the Heichal stood the Inner Altar (the Golden Altar, the Incense Altar), the Menorah on the south side - "one who wishes to become wise should turn south" - and the Shulchan (Table) on the right, to the north. As one proceeded further inward, he reached the Amah Traksin: a partition wall one cubit thick that separated the Heichal from the Holy of Holies. In the Second Temple there was no wall there, but rather two curtains (parochot); in the First Temple, however, there was an actual stone wall with doors leading into the Holy of Holies, and before the doors hung a curtain - much like the Aron Kodesh in a synagogue, which has both doors and a parochet.
It turns out that the Heichal and the Dvir were of identical width, and their measurement ran parallel - from north to south; however, this did not parallel the dimensions of the Azarah. The Azarah was not a roofed building but an open courtyard enclosed by walls, within which stood the outer altar, the slaughtering rings, and the chambers flanking the sides of the courtyard: the Water Chamber, the Chamber of Beit Avtinas, the Wood Chamber, Beit HaMoked, and so forth - some situated in the Azarah and some in the Ezrat Nashim. The outer altar was made of stone, yet it was called the "copper altar" after the ancient name it bore since the days of Moshe, and as we will see further on, even the stone altar is sometimes called the copper altar.
The height given here is one hundred and twenty amot, whereas in Kings it says, "and thirty amot was its height." How did the height quadruple? Ezra comes to teach: thirty amot was the height up to the ceiling on the inside, but the overall roof was exceptionally tall - one hundred and twenty amot. And where could this be seen? In the Ulam (Vestibule). The Ulam was built without an interior ceiling; only the Heichal and the Dvir were ceilinged. Therefore, anyone who entered the Ulam and looked up saw the entire height, unlike when one went inside into the Heichal, where he saw a ceiling at only thirty amot.
Thus there is no contradiction: from inside the height was thirty amot, while externally it was one hundred and twenty, because there was also a second story, an upper chamber (aliyah) above the Kodesh HaKodashim. From there they would lower anyone who needed to descend into the Kodesh HaKodashim for repairs, lowering him in an enclosure closed on three sides so that he would not feast his eyes upon the holy precincts. The sanctity of this upper chamber was likewise considered equal to the sanctity of the Kodesh HaKodashim, and this story was not used for any Temple service.
"And he overlaid it on the inside with pure gold" - he overlaid the Ulam with gold as well, a detail that does not appear in the Book of Kings. Therefore, Ezra saw fit to emphasize here that the Ulam too was overlaid with gold, and not only the Heichal and the Dvir.
וְאֵת הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל חִפָּה עֵץ בְּרוֹשִׁים וַיְחַפֵּהוּ זָהָב טוֹב וַיַּעַל עָלָיו תִּמֹרִים וְשַׁרְשְׁרֹת׃ - And the great house he paneled with cypress wood, and he overlaid it with fine gold, and carved upon it palm trees and chains.
The Malbim explains that this interprets what is stated in I Kings 6:15: "and he covered the floor of the house with planks of cypress" - from the floor up along the walls.
וַיְצַף אֶת־הַבַּיִת אֶבֶן יְקָרָה לְתִפְאָרֶת וְהַזָּהָב זְהַב פַּרְוָיִם׃ - And he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was Parvaim gold.
In Kings it says in verse 20: "And the interior of the Dvir was twenty cubits... and twenty amot was its height, and he overlaid it with pure gold." The commentators have already wondered: after all, the height of the Dvir was equal to the height of the Heichal, thirty amot, so if he overlaid only twenty amot, what was on the remaining ten? Did he leave bare walls? The Malbim explained there that the internal structure was wood paneled with gold, and this extended only to a height of twenty amot; that is why regarding the Dvir it does not say "unto the rafters of the ceiling," as it does regarding the Heichal. Still, we did not know what covered the remaining ten amot, and so Ezra comes to teach us: with precious stones for beauty.
"And he overlaid the house" - this refers to the smaller house, namely the Dvir, since the Heichal was already mentioned previously as "the great house." In Kings it says, "And he paneled the house within... there was no stone seen," and our verse comes to qualify this regarding the Dvir, where precious gems were set upon the overlay in the upper third. We find, then, that in the outer sanctuary everything was overlaid with gold, whereas in the inner sanctum precious stones adorned the upper ten amot.
"And the gold was the gold of Parvaim" - here too Ezra teaches us a new distinction: the gold with which the Dvir was overlaid was Parvaim gold, an exceedingly precious gold, unlike the gold used in the outer sanctuary. For the Dvir, the Holy of Holies, was always crafted to a higher standard than the outer section, because it is a more sacred place. The commentary attributed to Rashi explains: according to the simple meaning, Parvaim is the name of a place, meaning gold brought from Parvaim; and he cites Chazal's exposition that it is called Parvaim because it resembles the blood of bulls (*dam parim*) - the finest gold, which possesses a reddish hue. Unlike nowadays, when people make white gold out of gold; the finest gold was red gold. Perhaps today they wish to transform judgments into mercies and therefore make it white; one must judge them favorably.
וַיְחַף אֶת־הַבַּיִת הַקּוֹרוֹת הַסִּפִּים וְקִירוֹתָיו וְדַלְתוֹתָיו זָהָב וּפִתַּח כְּרוּבִים עַל־הַקִּירוֹת׃ - He overlaid the house, the beams, the doorposts, its walls, and its doors with gold; and he carved cherubim upon the walls.
The Malbim explains that this clarifies what is written in the Book of Melachim (I Melachim 6:21): "And Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold." *Vayetzaph* (overlaid) and *vayechafe* (covered) are one and the same matter, both referring to overlaying and plating. And there it further says, "And the entire house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished," which seems superfluous; and verse 23 discusses overlaying the ceilings, the thresholds, and the doors, and the engravings of the cherubim on the walls. Ezra comes and explains the verses in Melachim: "He overlaid the house, the beams, the doorposts, its walls, and its doors with gold; and he carved cherubim" - specifically upon the walls.
And from this do not raise a contradiction: sometimes you find cherubim and sometimes you do not - it depends on the location. On the floor there were no carvings of cherubim, whereas on the walls he carved cherubim, and that is what Ezra emphasizes here. "The thresholds" (*ha-sippim*) - these are the doorposts, as in the threshold of the house; "and its walls" - these are the inner walls.
In this chapter, Shlomo begins to build the House on Mount Moriah, in the place where Hashem appeared to David, in the place that David himself prepared and where he dug the foundations, such that it was named after him, "the place of David." The Malbim teaches us throughout the chapter that Ezra does not merely repeat the words of Melachim, but adds and clarifies: the start date of construction according to the months and regnal years; that the measurements were according to the original cubit of six handbreadths, and that these were the very same cubits measured by David, from which Shlomo did not deviate; that the exterior height was one hundred and twenty cubits compared to thirty cubits inside; that the Ulam was also overlaid with gold; that the upper ten cubits in the Dvir were overlaid with precious stones for glory, and its gold was the finest Parvaim gold; and that the engravings of the cherubim were specifically on the walls. Every detail of the Temple was executed with utmost precision, and the closer one approaches inward toward the Holy of Holies - the greater the sanctity and splendor become.