The idea behind the expression He built (which occurs twice in this verse) is that Solomon made other people to build. If the passive construction of Good News Translation (“was built”) is not an option, then it may be possible to say “he caused the workers to build.”
Twenty cubits: By using the same equivalence for cubit as in verse 2, this would be about 10 meters or 30 feet.
The rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the rafters: See the comments in verse 15 on the textual problem here. The Good News Translation rendering “and was partitioned off by cedar boards” may seem to suggest that the cedar boards only formed a wall between the Most Holy Place and the nave in front of it. But the meaning of the Hebrew seems to be that all four walls of the Most Holy Place were made of cedar boards.
The inner sanctuary (first mentioned in verse 5) was in the shape of a cube. It was about 10 meters (30 feet) long, 10 meters (30 feet) wide, and 10 meters (30 feet) high. It was located at the west end of the Temple, at the opposite end from the entrance.
The most holy place is literally “the holy of holies.” This Hebrew idiom means “the most holy place.” Based on information from elsewhere in the Old Testament, Bible en français courant supplies important information that would have been in the minds of the original readers when they heard this term, by saying “the room of the ark of the covenant, called the very holy place.” This becomes evident in the Hebrew text in verse 19 below.
The translation of the word holy is particularly difficult in some languages. It is used throughout the Old Testament to qualify more than fifty different nouns. In most cases the primary component of meaning is “set apart from ordinary use” or “dedicated to God.” The idea of moral purity is a secondary component in some contexts. In this context it is clear that the place in question is dedicated especially to God and to be used only for certain purposes; that is, it is set apart from ordinary use.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .