An attempt to reconstruct the temple plan needs, of necessity, to draw exclusively on biblical descriptions, since no structural remains of the temple survived. The fact that the texts themselves are not always clear and explicit, and are often fragmentary and contradictory, makes matters even more difficult. But, thanks to archaeological excavations, which have unearthed temples of similar dates in Israel and neighboring countries, it is possible today to trace by analogy the architectural prototypes of Solomon's temple and hypothesize on its function throughout its existence.

A detailed description of the temple appears in three main sources: 1 Kings 5, 1 Kings 6,1 Kings 7, Chronicles 3, Ezekiel 40, and Ezekiel 41. Solomon's temple was situated on Mount Moriah, replacing the threshing-floor of Arauna the Jebusite (2 Chronicles 3:1); A detailed architectural description of the structure - oriented east-west (Ezekiel 8:16) - and of its inner spaces, including measurements, modes of construction and decoration, as well as a list of the vessels within, is offered in 1 Kings 5, 1 Kings 6 and 1 Kings 7. The sources differ on some points, such as in the height of the Yakhin and Boaz columns, although these might be accounted for by 380(!) years of the Temple's existence. The description in Ezekiel is visionary: a temple to be built in the future though it may be based on a temple that the prophet had actually seen.