Bible Question:
I picked up the Bible for the first time and flicking through it I have came across King Solomon, the son of David. God asked David to build Him a temple. My question is, who helped Solomon to build the temple or who designed it.
Bible Answer:
King Solomon (Tenth Century B.C.) was the son of King David (Tenth Century B.C.). King David and King Solomon greatly loved God and wanted to build God a temple. We discover in 1 Chronicles 28:11-21 that God initially gave the plans for building the temple to King David who passed them onto Solomon.
Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan of the porch of the temple, its buildings, its storehouses, its upper rooms, its inner rooms and the room for the mercy seat . . . and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the model of the chariot, even the cherubim that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. “All this,” said David, “the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern.” Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.” 1 Chronicles 28:11-20 (NASB)
1 Kings 5-7 and 2 Chronicles 3-4 provide an overview of the plans for building the temple. 1 Kings 5 tells us that King Hiram helped King Solomon by sending men to help with the construction of the temple.
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David. (NASB) 1 Kings 5:1
2 Chronicles 2 seems to suggest that most of the manpower for building the temple came from thousands of King Hiriam’s servants. Who helped Solomon build the temple? The answer is King Hiram and thousands of his servants along with thousands of Jewish people.
Conclusion
The dedication of the temple is recorded in 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5-6. May the Lord bless you.