Text -- 2 Chronicles 3:1--5:1 (NET)

The Building of the Temple

3:1 Solomon began building the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 3:2 He began building on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3:3 Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple; its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet. 3:4 The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its height was 30 feet. He plated the inside with pure gold. 3:5 He paneled the main hall with boards made from evergreen trees and plated it with fine gold, decorated with palm trees and chains. 3:6 He decorated the temple with precious stones; the gold he used came from Parvaim. 3:7 He overlaid the temple’s rafters, thresholds, walls and doors with gold; he carved decorative cherubim on the walls. 3:8 He made the most holy place; its length was 30 feet, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. He plated it with 600 talents of fine gold. 3:9 The gold nails weighed 50 shekels; he also plated the upper areas with gold. 3:10 In the most holy place he made two images of cherubim and plated them with gold. 3:11 The combined wing span of the cherubs was 30 feet. One of the first cherub’s wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched one wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the second cherub’s wings. 3:12 Likewise one of the second cherub’s wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched the other wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the first cherub’s wings. 3:13 The combined wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood upright, facing inward. 3:14 He made the curtain out of violet, purple, crimson, and white fabrics, and embroidered on it decorative cherubim. 3:15 In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length of 52½ feet, with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high. 3:16 He made ornamental chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments and arranged them within the chains. 3:17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and the other on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin, and the one on the left Boaz. 4:1 He made a bronze altar, 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high. 4:2 He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet. 4:3 Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every eighteen inches all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” 4:4 “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. 4:5 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons. 4:6 He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in “The Sea.” 4:7 He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. 4:8 He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made one hundred gold bowls. 4:9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the large enclosure and its doors; he plated their doors with bronze. 4:10 He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner. 4:11 Huram Abi made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. 4:12 He made the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 4:13 the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), 4:14 the ten movable stands with their ten basins, 4:15 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 4:16 and the pots, shovels, and meat forks. All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord’s temple were made from polished bronze. 4:17 The king had them cast in earthen foundries in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 4:18 Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze. 4:19 Solomon also made these items for God’s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence was kept, 4:20 the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary, 4:21 the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 4:22 the pure gold trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 5:1 When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God’s temple.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 2Ch 3:1

It was the belief of the ancient Jews, that the temple was built on that very place, where Abraham offered up Issac.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:3

By David, and by the Spirit of God.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:3

According to he measure which was first fixed.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:4

This being a kind of turret to the building.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:5

The holy place, which was thrice as large as the holy of holies.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:9

Each of the nails, screws, or pins, by which the golden plates were fastened to the walls, weighed, or rather was worth, fifty shekels, workmanship and all.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:9

Rather, the roof.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:10

Or, of moveable work, not fixed to the mercy - seat, as the Mosaical cherubim, but in a moving posture. It seems, they were designed to represent the angels, who attend the Divine Majesty.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:13

Heb. towards the house, that is, the most holy house.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:14

The inner veil before the most holy place. This denoted the darkness of that dispensation and the distance at which the worshippers were kept. But at the death of Christ this veil was rent; for thro' him we are brought nigh, and have boldness, or liberty, not only to look, but to enter into the holiest.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:17

That is, He shall establish.

Wesley: 2Ch 3:17

That is, In it is strength.

Wesley: 2Ch 4:7

The old form which God prescribed to Moses.

Wesley: 2Ch 4:8

Whereon the shew - bread was set, 2Ch 4:19. Perhaps each of these had twelve loaves on it. As the house was enlarged, so was the provision.

Wesley: 2Ch 4:16

He is so called because Solomon usually called him by that name out of that great respect which he bare to him for his excellent art and service which he did for him: it being usual to call great artists and inventors of things by this name.

Wesley: 2Ch 4:20

According to the prescription of God to Moses.

Wesley: 2Ch 4:22

In part; they were made of wood, but covered with golden plates.

Wesley: 2Ch 5:1

The remainder of those vast sums mentioned, 1Ch 22:14.

JFB: 2Ch 3:1

These words seem to intimate that the region where the temple was built was previously known by the name of Moriah (Gen 22:2), and do not afford sufficient evidence for affirming, as has been done [STANLEY], that the name was first given to the mount, in consequence of the vision seen by David. Mount Moriah was one summit of a range of hills which went under the general name of Zion. The platform of the temple is now, and has long been, occupied by the haram, or sacred enclosure, within which stand the three mosques of Omar (the smallest), of El Aksa, which in early times was a Christian church, and of Kubbet el Sakhara, "The dome of the rock," so called from a huge block of limestone rock in the center of the floor, which, it is supposed, formed the elevated threshing-floor of Araunah, and on which the great brazen altar stood. The site of the temple, then, is so far established for an almost universal belief is entertained in the authenticity of the tradition regarding the rock El Sakhara; and it has also been conclusively proved that the area of the temple was identical on its western, eastern, and southern sides with the present enclosure of the haram [ROBINSON]. "That the temple was situated somewhere within the oblong enclosure on Mount Moriah, all topographers are agreed, although there is not the slightest vestige of the sacred fane now remaining; and the greatest diversity of sentiment prevails as to its exact position within that large area, whether in the center of the haram, or in its southwest corner" [BARCLAY]. Moreover, the full extent of the temple area is a problem that remains to be solved, for the platform of Mount Moriah being too narrow for the extensive buildings and courts attached to the sacred edifice, Solomon resorted to artificial means of enlarging and levelling it, by erecting vaults, which, as JOSEPHUS states, rested on immense earthen mounds raised from the slope of the hill. It should be borne in mind at the outset that the grandeur of the temple did not consist in its colossal structure so much as in its internal splendor, and the vast courts and buildings attached to it. It was not intended for the reception of a worshipping assembly, for the people always stood in the outer courts of the sanctuary.

JFB: 2Ch 3:3

By the written plan and specifications given him by his father. The measurements are reckoned by cubits, "after the first measure," that is, the old Mosaic standard. But there is great difference of opinion about this, some making the cubit eighteen, others twenty-one inches. The temple, which embodied in more solid and durable materials the ground-form of the tabernacle (only being twice as large), was a rectangular building, seventy cubits long from east to west, and twenty cubits wide from north to south.

JFB: 2Ch 3:4

The breadth of the house, whose length ran from east to west, is here given as the measure of the length of the piazza. The portico would thus be from thirty to thirty-five feet long, and from fifteen to seventeen and a half feet broad.

JFB: 2Ch 3:4

This, taking the cubit at eighteen inches, would be one hundred eighty feet; at twenty-one inches, two hundred ten feet; so that the porch would rise in the form of a tower, or two pyramidal towers, whose united height was one hundred twenty cubits, and each of them about ninety or one hundred five feet high [STIEGLITZ]. This porch would thus be like the propylæum or gateway of the palace of Khorsabad [LAYARD], or at the temple of Edfou.

JFB: 2Ch 3:5

That is, the holy places, the front or outer chamber (see 1Ki 6:17).

JFB: 2Ch 3:6

Better, he paved the house with precious and beautiful marble [KITTO]. It may be, after all, that these were stones with veins of different colors for decorating the walls. This was an ancient and thoroughly Oriental kind of embellishment. There was an under pavement of marble, which was covered with planks of fir. The whole interior was lined with boards, richly decorated with carved work, clusters of foliage and flowers, among which the pomegranate and lotus (or water-lily) were conspicuous; and overlaid, excepting the floor, with gold, either by gilding or in plates (1Ki. 6:1-38).

JFB: 2Ch 3:8

It was a perfect cube (compare 1Ki 6:20).

JFB: 2Ch 3:8

At £4 per ounce, equal to £3,600,000.

JFB: 2Ch 3:10-13

These figures in the tabernacle were of pure gold (Exo. 25:1-40) and overshadowed the mercy seat. The two placed in the temple were made of olive wood, overlaid with gold. They were of colossal size, like the Assyrian sculptures; for each, with expanded wings, covered a space of ten cubits in height and length--two wings touched each other, while the other two reached the opposite walls; their faces were inward, that is, towards the most holy house, conformably to their use, which was to veil the ark.

The united height is here given; and though the exact dimensions would be thirty-six cubits, each column was only seventeen cubits and a half, a half cubit being taken up by the capital or the base. They were probably described as they were lying together in the mould before they were set up [POOLE]. They would be from eighteen to twenty-one feet in circumference, and stand forty feet in height. These pillars, or obelisks, as some call them, were highly ornamented, and formed an entrance in keeping with the splendid interior of the temple.

JFB: 2Ch 4:1

Steps must have been necessary for ascending so elevated an altar, but the use of these could be no longer forbidden (Exo 20:26) after the introduction of an official costume for the priests (Exo 28:42). It measured thirty-five feet by thirty-five, and in height seventeen and a half feet. The thickness of the metal used for this altar is nowhere given; but supposing it to have been three inches, the whole weight of the metal would not be under two hundred tons [NAPIER].

JFB: 2Ch 4:2

(See on 1Ki 7:23), as in that passage "knops" occur instead of "oxen." It is generally supposed that the rows of ornamental knops were in the form of ox heads.

JFB: 2Ch 4:3

The meaning is, that the circular basin and the brazen oxen which supported it were all of one piece, being cast in one and the same mould. There is a difference in the accounts given of the capacity of this basin, for while in 1Ki 7:26 it is said that two thousand baths of water could be contained in it, in this passage no less than three thousand are stated. It has been suggested that there is here a statement not merely of the quantity of water which the basin held, but that also which was necessary to work it, to keep it flowing as a fountain; that which was required to fill both it and its accompaniments. In support of this view, it may be remarked that different words are employed: the one in 1Ki 7:26 rendered contained; the two here rendered, received and held. There was a difference between receiving and holding. When the basin played as a fountain, and all its parts were filled for that purpose, the latter, together with the sea itself, received three thousand baths; but the sea exclusively held only two thousand baths, when its contents were restricted to those of the circular basin. It received and held three thousand baths [CALMET, Fragments].

JFB: 2Ch 4:6

(See on 1Ki 7:27). The laver of the tabernacle had probably been destroyed. The ten new ones were placed between the porch and the altar, and while the molten sea was for the priests to cleanse their hands and feet, these were intended for washing the sacrifices.

JFB: 2Ch 4:7

(See on 1Ki 7:49). The increased number was not only in conformity with the characteristic splendor of the edifice, but also a standing emblem to the Hebrews, that the growing light of the word was necessary to counteract the growing darkness in the world [LIGHTFOOT].

JFB: 2Ch 4:11

(See on 1Ki 7:40).

JFB: 2Ch 5:1

The immense sums and the store of valuable articles which his father and other generals had reserved and appropriated for the temple (1Ch 22:14; 1Ch 26:26).

Clarke: 2Ch 3:1

In Mount Moriah - Supposed to be the same place where Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac; so the Targum: "Solomon began to build the house of the sanctuary of the Lord at Jerusalem, in the place where Abraham had prayed and worshipped in the name of the Lord. This is the place of the earth where all generations shall worship the Lord. Here Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac for a burnt-offering; but he was snatched away by the Word of the Lord, and a ram placed in his stead. Here Jacob prayed when he fled from the face of Esau his brother; and here the angel of the Lord appeared to David, at which time David built an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor which he bought from Araunah the Jebusite."

Clarke: 2Ch 3:3

The length - after the first measure was threescore cubits - It is supposed that the first measure means the cubit used in the time of Moses, contradistinguished from that used in Babylon, and which the Israelites used after their return from captivity; and, as the books of Chronicles were written after the captivity, it was necessary for the writer to make this remark, lest it should be thought that the measurement was by the Babylonish cubit, which was a palm or one-sixth shorter than the cubit of Moses. See the same distinction observed by Ezekiel, Eze 40:5 (note); Eze 43:13 (note).

Clarke: 2Ch 3:4

The height was a hundred and twenty - Some think this should be twenty only; but if the same building is spoken of as in 1Ki 6:2, the height was only thirty cubits. Twenty is the reading of the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Septuagint in the Codex Alexandrinus. The MSS. give us no help. There is probably a mistake here, which, from the similarity of the letters, might easily occur. The words, as they now stand in the Hebrew text, are מאה ואשרים meah veesrim , one hundred and twenty. But probably the letters in מאה meah , a hundred, are transposed for אמה ammah , a cubit, if, therefore, the א aleph be placed after the מ mem , then the word will be מאה meah one hundred; if before it the word will be אמה ammah , a cubit; therefore אמה עשרים ammah esrim will be twenty cubits; and thus the Syriac, Arabic, and Septuagint appear to have read. This will bring it within the proportion of the other measures, but a hundred and twenty seems too great a height.

Clarke: 2Ch 3:6

Gold of Parvaim - We know not what this place was; some think it is the same as Sepharvaim, a place in Armenia or Media, conquered by the king of Assyria, 2Ki 17:24, etc. Others, that it is Taprobane, now the island of Ceylon, which Bochart derives from taph, signifying the border, and Parvan, i.e., the coast of Parvan. The rabbins say that it was gold of a blood-red color, and had its name from פרים parim , heifers, being like to bullocks’ blood

The Vulgate translates the passage thus: Stravit quoque pavimentum templi pretiosissimo marmore, decore multo; porro aurum erat probatissimum ; "And he made the pavement of the temple of the most precious marble; and moreover the gold was of the best quality,"etc.

Clarke: 2Ch 3:9

The weight of the nails was fifty shekels - Bolts must be here intended, as it should be preposterous to suppose nails of nearly two pounds’ weight

Clarke: 2Ch 3:9

The supper chambers - Probably the ceiling is meant.

Clarke: 2Ch 3:17

He reared up the pillars - "The name of that on the right hand was Jachin, because the kingdom of the house of David was established; and the name of the left was Boaz, from the name of Boaz the patriarch of the family of Judah, from whom all the kings of the house of Judah have descended."- Targum. See on 1Ki 7:21 (note); and see the parallel places for other matters contained in this chapter.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:3

Under it was the similitude of oxen - In 1Ki 7:24, instead of oxen, בקרים bekarim , we have knops, פקעים pekaim ; and this last is supposed by able critics to be the reading which ought to be received here. What we call knops may signify grapes, mushrooms, apples, or some such ornaments placed round about under the turned over lip or brim of this caldron. It is possible that בקרים bekarim , oxen, may be a corruption of פקעים pekaim , grapes, as the פ pe might be mistaken for a ב beth , to which in ancient MSS. it has often a great resemblance, the dot under the top being often faint and indistinct; and the ע ain , on the same account might be mistaken for a ר resh . Thus grapes might be turned into oxen. Houbigant contends that the words in both places are right; but that בקר bakar does not signify ox here, but al large kind of grape, according to its meaning in Arabic: and thus both places will agree. But I do not find that bakar , or bakarat , has any such meaning in Arabic. He was probably misled by the following, in the Arabic Lexicon, Camus, inserted under bakara , both by Giggeius and Golius, aino albikri , ox-eye, which is interpreted Genus uvae nigrae ac praeprandis, incredibilis dulcedinis. In Palaestina autem pro prunis absolute usurpatur . "A species of black grape, very large, and of incredible sweetness. It is used in Palestine for prune or plum."What is called the Damascene plum is doubtless meant; but בקרים bekarim , in the text, can never have this meaning, unless indeed we found it associated with עין ayin , eye, and then עיני בקרים eyney bekarim might, according to the Arabic, be translated plums, grapes, sloes, or such like, especially those of the largest kind, which in size resemble the eye of an ox. But the criticism of this great man is not solid. The likeliest method of reconciling the two places is supposing a change in the letters, as specified above. The reader will at once see that what are called the oxen, 2Ch 4:3, said to be round about the brim, are widely different from those 2Ch 4:4, by which this molten sea was supported.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:5

It - held three thousand baths - In 1Ki 7:26, it is said to hold only two thousand baths. As this book was written after the Babylonish captivity, it is very possible that reference is here made to the Babylonish bath which might have been less than the Jewish. We have already seen that the cubit of Moses, or of the ancient Hebrews, was longer than the Babylonish by one palm; see on 2Ch 3:3 (note). It might be the same with the measures of capacity; so that two thousand of the ancient Jewish baths might have been equal to three thousand of those used after the captivity. The Targum cuts the knot by saying, "It received three thousand baths of dry measure, and held two thousand of liquid measure.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:6

He made also ten lavers - The lavers served to wash the different parts of the victims in; and the molten sea was for the use of the priests. In this they bathed, or drew water from it for their personal purification.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:8

A hundred basons of gold - These were doubtless a sort of paterae or sacrificial spoons, with which they made libations.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:9

He made the court of the priests - This was the inner court

Clarke: 2Ch 4:9

And the great court - This was the outer court, or place for the assembling of the people.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:16

Huram his father - אב ab , father, is often used in Hebrew to signify a master, inventor, chief operator, and is very probably used here in the former sense by the Chaldee: All these Chiram his master made for King Solomon; or Chiram Abi, or rather Hiram, made for the king.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:17

In the clay ground - See on 1Ki 7:46 (note). Some suppose that he did not actually cast those instruments at those places, but that he brought the clay from that quarter, as being the most proper for making moulds to cast in.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:21

And the flowers, and the lamps - Probably each branch of the chandelier was made like a plant in flower, and the opening of the flower was either the lamp, or served to support it.

Clarke: 2Ch 4:22

The doors - were of gold - That is, were overlaid with golden plates, the thickness of which we do not know

That every thing in the tabernacle and temple was typical or representative of some excellence of the Gospel dispensation may be readily credited, without going into all the detail produced by the pious author of Solomon’ s Temple Spiritualized. We can see the general reference and the principles of the great design, though we may not be able to make a particular application of the knops, the flowers, the pomegranates, the tongs, and the snuffers, to some Gospel doctrines: such spiritualizing is in most cases weak, silly, religious trifling; being ill calculated to produce respect for Divine revelation.

Clarke: 2Ch 5:1

Brought in all the things - See the note on 1Ki 7:51.

Defender: 2Ch 3:4

This number should probably be "twenty" cubits. It is likely that the "hundred" was inadvertently added in transmission. The building itself was only thirty cubits high (1Ki 6:2), so it seems impossible that Solomon would make its porch a hundred-and-twenty cubits high. It should be remembered that the doctrine of verbal inerrance applies specifically only to the original autographs, not to copies thereof, and the original autographs have long vanished. Although the Hebrew scribes were meticulous in their attempts to make accurate copies, they could hardly avoid a few mistakes in such lengthy documents, all of which had to be transmitted by hand copying. It is significant that most mistakes in copying had to do with numbers, which were notoriously subject to misreading."

Defender: 2Ch 3:15

See note on 1Ki 7:15 in connection with the apparent disagreement of the height of these pillars."

Defender: 2Ch 4:2

Critics have claimed there is a mathematical error in this verse. To support this verse see note on 1Ki 7:23."

Defender: 2Ch 4:5

According to 1Ki 7:26, the molten sea "contained two thousand baths." Although this could represent a copyist error, both statements could be true as they stand. That is, if the sea could receive "three thousand baths" (a bath was about eight gallons), it could certainly contain two thousand."

TSK: 2Ch 3:1

am 2993, bc 1011, An, Ex, Is, 480

Solomon : 1Ki 6:1-14

in mount Moriah : Gen 22:2, Gen 22:14

where the Lord appeared unto David : or, which was seen of David

Ornan : 2Sa 24:18-25, Araunah, 1Ch 21:18, 1Ch 22:1

TSK: 2Ch 3:2

in the second : 1Ki 6:1

TSK: 2Ch 3:3

am 2993-3000, bc 1011-1004

Solomon : 1Ch 28:11-19

instructed : Heb. founded

The length : 1Ki 6:2, 1Ki 6:3

the first measure : It is supposed, with much probability, that the first measure means the cubit used in the time of Moses, contradistinguished from that used in Babylon, and which the Israelites used after their return from captivitycaps1 . acaps0 nd, as these Books were written after the captivity, it was necessary for the writer to make this remark, lest it should be thought that the measurement was by the Babylonish cubit, which was a palm or one-sixth shorter than the cubit of Moses; which may serve to reconcile some variations in the historical books, with respect to numbers when applied to measures.

TSK: 2Ch 3:4

the porch : Joh 10:23; Act 3:11, Act 5:12

an hundred and twenty : As the height of the temple was only thirty cubits, 120 seems too great a height for the porch; but the Syriac, Arabic, and the LXX in the codex Alexandrinus, have only twenty, probably reading, instead of maiah weesrim , ""one hundred and twenty,""ammoth esrim , ""twenty cubits;""which brings it within the proportion of the other measures.

TSK: 2Ch 3:5

the greater : 1Ki 6:15-17, 1Ki 6:21, 1Ki 6:22

TSK: 2Ch 3:6

garnished : Heb. covered

precious : 1Ch 29:2, 1Ch 29:8; Isa 54:11, Isa 54:12; Rev 21:18-21

Parvaim : Parvaim is supposed by Calmet to be the same as Sepharvaim in Armenia or Media; Bochart is of opinion that it is Taprobanes, now the island of Ceylon, which he drives from taph , a border, and Parvan, i.e., ""the coast of Parvan;""but the late Editor of Calmet thinks it the same as the Parvatoi mountains of Ptolemy, at the head of the Indus.

TSK: 2Ch 3:7

overlaid : Exo 26:29; 1Ki 6:20-22, 1Ki 6:30; Eze 7:20

graved cherubims : Exo 26:1; 1Ki 6:35

TSK: 2Ch 3:8

the most holy : Exo 26:33; 1Ki 6:19, 1Ki 6:20; Heb 9:3, Heb 9:9, Heb 10:19

TSK: 2Ch 3:10

two cherubims : 1Ki 6:23-28

image work : or, as some think, of movable work

TSK: 2Ch 3:13

inward : or, toward the house, Exo 25:20

TSK: 2Ch 3:14

the veil : Exo 26:31-35; Mat 27:51; Heb 9:3, Heb 10:20

wrought : Heb. caused to ascend

TSK: 2Ch 3:15

two pillars : 1Ki 7:15-24; Jer 52:20-23

thirty : The Syriac and Arabic have, agreeably to the parallel passage, ""eighteen cubits high;""but the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate have ""thirty and five cubits high.""See note on 1Ki 7:15.

high : Heb. long

TSK: 2Ch 3:16

chains : 1Ki 6:21

an hundred : 1Ki 7:20

TSK: 2Ch 3:17

reared up : 1Ki 7:21

Jachin : that is, He shall establish

Boaz : that is, In it is strength

TSK: 2Ch 4:1

an altar : 2Ch 1:5; Exo 27:1-8; 1Ki 8:22, 1Ki 8:64, 1Ki 9:25; 2Ki 16:14, 2Ki 16:15; Eze 43:13-17

TSK: 2Ch 4:2

a molten sea : Exo 30:18-21; 1Ki 7:23; Zec 13:1; Tit 3:5; Rev 7:14

brim to brim : Heb. his brim to his brim

TSK: 2Ch 4:3

And under : 1Ki 7:24-26; Eze 1:10, Eze 10:14; 1Co 9:9, 1Co 9:10; Rev 4:7

oxen : In the parallel passage of Kings, instead of bekarim , ""oxen,""we have pekaim , ""knops,""in the form of colocynths. (See note on 1Ki 6:18, and see note on 2Ki 4:39); which last is supposed by able critics to be the reading which ought to received be here; bekarim , ""oxen,""being a mistake for pekaim , ""knops.""Houbigant, however, contends that the words in both places are right; but that bakar does not signify an ox here, but a large kind of grape, according to its meaning in Arabic. But Dr. A. Clarke states that bakar , or bakarat , has no such meaning in Arabic, though the phrase aino ‘ lbikri , or ""ox-eye,""signifies a species of black grape, very large, and of incredible sweetness; that consequently the criticism of this great man is not solid; and that the likeliest method of reconciling the two places is to suppose a change in the letters as above.

TSK: 2Ch 4:4

It stood : Mat 16:18; Eph 2:20; Rev 21:14

three : Mat 28:19, Mat 28:20; Mar 16:15; Luk 24:46, Luk 24:47; Act 9:15

TSK: 2Ch 4:5

with flowers of lilies : or, like a lily flower

three thousand baths : In the parallel passage, it is said to hold only two thousand baths; which some think may be reconciled by supposing that the quantity of water which was commonly in it was 2,000 baths, but that, if filled up to the top, it would hold 3,000. But, as we have already seen that the Babylonish cubit was less than that of the ancient Hebrews, it might be the same with measures of capacity; so that 2,000 of the ancient Jewish baths might have been equal to 3,000 of those used after the captivity. The Targum cuts the knot: ""It received 3,000 baths of dry measure, and held 2,000 of liquid measure.""See note on 1Ki 7:26. 1Ki 7:26

TSK: 2Ch 4:6

ten lavers : Exo 30:18-21; 1Ki 7:38, 1Ki 7:40; Psa 51:2; 1Co 6:11; 1Jo 1:7

such things as they offered for the burnt offering : Heb. the work of burnt offering, Lev 1:9, Lev 1:13; Eze 40:38

but the sea : 2Ch 4:2; Exo 29:4; Heb 9:14, Heb 9:23; Rev 1:5, Rev 1:6, Rev 7:14

TSK: 2Ch 4:7

ten candlesticks : 1Ki 7:49; 1Ch 28:15; Zec 4:2, Zec 4:3, Zec 4:11-14; Mat 5:14-16; Joh 8:12; Rev 1:20

according to : Exo 25:31-40; 1Ch 28:12, 1Ch 28:19; Heb 8:5

TSK: 2Ch 4:8

ten tables : Exo 25:23-30, Exo 37:10-16; 1Ki 7:48; Isa 25:6; Eze 44:16; Mal 1:12; 1Co 10:21

basins : or, bowls, Jer 52:18, Jer 52:19; Zec 14:20

TSK: 2Ch 4:9

the court : 1Ki 6:36, 1Ki 7:12

TSK: 2Ch 4:10

1Ki 7:39

TSK: 2Ch 4:11

the pots : 1Ki 7:40, 1Ki 7:45

basins : or, bowls

finished : Heb. finished to make

TSK: 2Ch 4:12

To wit : 2Ch 3:15-17

the pommels : 1Ki 7:41

TSK: 2Ch 4:13

four hundred : Exo 28:33, Exo 28:34; 1Ki 7:20, 1Ki 7:42; Son 4:13; Jer 52:23

pillars : Heb. face of the pillars

TSK: 2Ch 4:14

bases : 1Kings 7:27-43

lavers : or, caldrons, 2Ch 4:6

TSK: 2Ch 4:15

2Ch 4:2-5

TSK: 2Ch 4:16

pots also : 2Ch 4:11; Exo 27:3, Exo 38:3; Zec 14:20, Zec 14:21

fleshhooks : 1Sa 2:13, 1Sa 2:14; 1Ch 28:17

Huram : 1Ki 7:13, 1Ki 7:14, 1Ki 7:45, Hiram

his father : 2Ch 2:13

bright : Heb. made bright, or scoured

TSK: 2Ch 4:17

clay ground : Heb. thicknesses of the ground

Zeredathah : 1Ki 7:46, Zarthan

TSK: 2Ch 4:18

the weight : 1Ki 7:47; 1Ch 22:3, 1Ch 22:14; Jer 52:20

TSK: 2Ch 4:19

all the vessels : 2Ch 36:10, 2Ch 36:18; 1Ki 7:48-50; 2Ki 24:13, 2Ki 25:13-15; Ezr 1:7-11; Jer 28:3; Jer 52:18, Jer 52:19; Dan 5:2, Dan 5:3, Dan 5:23

the golden : 2Ch 26:16-18; Exo 30:1-10, Exo 37:25-29; Rev 8:3, Rev 9:13

the tables : Exo 25:23-30; Lev 24:5-8; 1Ch 28:16

TSK: 2Ch 4:20

the candlesticks : 2Ch 4:7; Exo 25:31-37

burn after : Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21

the oracle : 1Ki 6:5, 1Ki 6:16, 1Ki 6:17, 1Ki 8:6; Psa 28:2

TSK: 2Ch 4:21

the flowers : Probably each branch of the chandelier was made like a plant in flower; and the opening of the flower was either the lamp, or served to support it. 2Ch 4:5; Exo 25:31-40, Exo 37:20; 1Ki 6:18, 1Ki 6:29, 1Ki 6:35

perfect gold : Heb. perfections of gold, That is, the purest and best gold.

TSK: 2Ch 4:22

snuffers : Exo 37:23; 1Ki 7:50; 2Ki 12:13, 2Ki 25:14; Jer 52:18

basins : or, bowls

the entry : Capellus and others suppose we should read, agreeably to 1Ki 7:50, ""The hinges also of the doors of the inner house,""etc.; the word pothoth , ""hinges,""being mistaken for paithach , ""an entry""or ""door-way.""1Ki 6:31, 1Ki 6:32

TSK: 2Ch 5:1

am 3000, bc 1004

brought in all : 1Ki 7:51; 1Ch 22:14, 1Ch 26:26-28

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Ch 3:1

Where the Lord appeared unto David - The marginal rendering, or "which was shown to David,"is preferred by some; and the expression is understood to point out to David the proper site for the temple by the appearance of the Angels and the command to build an altar 2Sa 24:17-25; 1Ch 21:16-26.

In the place that David had prepared - This seems to be the true meaning of the passage, though the order of the words in the original has been accidentally deranged.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:3

The marginal "founded"gives a clue to another meaning of this passage, which may be translated: "Now this is the ground-plan of Solomon for the building, etc."

Cubits after the first measure - i. e., cubits according to the ancient standard. The Jews, it is probable, adopted the Babylonian measures during the captivity, and carried them back into their own country. The writer notes that the cubit of which he here speaks is the old (Mosaic) cubit.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:4

The height was an hundred and twenty cubits - This height, which so much exceeds that of the main building 1Ki 6:2, is probably to be corrected by the reading of the Arabic Version and the Alexandrian Septuagint, "twenty cubits."But see 2Ch 3:9.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:5

The greater house - i. e., the holy place, or main chamber of the temple, intervening between the porch and the holy of holies (so in 2Ch 3:7).

He cieled with fir tree - Rather, "he covered,"or "lined."The reference is not to the ceiling, which was entirely of wood, but to the walls and floor, which were of stone, with a covering of planks (marginal reference). The word translated "fir"bears probably in this place, not the narrow meaning which it has in 2Ch 2:8, where it is opposed to cedar, but a wider one, in which cedar is included.

Palm trees and chains - See 1Ki 6:29. The "chains"are supposed to be garlands or festoons.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:6

Precious stones for beauty - Not marbles but gems (compare 1Ch 29:2). The phrase translated "for beauty"means "for its beautification,""to beautify it."

Parvaim is probably the name of a place, but what is quite uncertain.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:8

The most holy house - i. e., the sanctuary, or holy of holies. On the probable value of the gold, see 1Ki 10:14 note.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:9

The upper chambers - Compare 1Ch 28:11. Their position is uncertain. Some place them above the holy of holies, which was ten cubits, or fifteen feet lower than the main building (compare 1Ki 6:2, 1Ki 6:20); others, accepting the height of the porch 120 cubits 2Ch 3:4, regard the "upper chambers"or "chamber" ὑπερῷον huperōon , Septuagint), as having been a lofty building erected over the entrance to the temple; others suggest that the chambers intended are simply the uppermost of the three sets of chambers which on three sides surrounded the temple (see 1Ki 6:5-10). This would seem to be the simplest and best explanation, though we cannot see any reason for the rich ornamentation of these apartments, or for David’ s special directions concerning them.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:10

The word translated "image work,"or, in the margin, "moveable work,"occurs only in this passage, and has not even a Hebrew derivation. Modern Hebraists find an Arabic derivation, and explain the word to mean "carved work."

Barnes: 2Ch 3:11-12

The wings of the cherubims - Compare 1Ki 6:24-27.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:13

Their faces were inward - literally, as in the margin. Instead of looking toward one another, with heads bent downward over the mercy Seat, like the cherubim of Moses Exo 37:9, these of Solomon looked out from the sanctuary into the great chamber ("the house"). The cherubim thus stood upright on either side of the ark, like two sentinels guarding it.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:14

This is an important addition to the description in Kings, where the veil is not mentioned. It was made of exactly the same colors as the veil of the tabernacle Exo 26:31.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:15

Of thirty and five cubits - See 1Ki 7:15 note. Some suppose that there has been a corruption of the number in the present passage.

Barnes: 2Ch 3:16

As in the oracle - This passage is probably corrupt. Our translators supposing that a single letter had fallen out at the beginning of the word translated "in the oracle,"supplied "as."But we have no reason to suppose there were any "chains"or "festoons"in the "oracle"or most holy place.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:1

The supplementary character of Chronicles is here once more apparent. The author of Kings had omitted to record the dimensions of the brass altar. It stood in the great court 2Ch 6:12-13.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:3

For "oxen"we find in 1Ki 7:24, "knops"or "gourds."An early copyist, not comprehending the comparatively rare word here used for "gourd,"and expecting to hear of oxen, as soon as the molten sea was mentioned, changed the reading.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:5

Three thousand baths - See 1Ki 7:23 note. It is quite possible that either here or in Kings the text may have been accidentally corrupted.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:7

According to their form - Rather, "after their manner"(compare 2Ch 4:20). There is no allusion to the shape of the candlesticks, which were made, no doubt, after the pattern of the original candlestick of Moses.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:8

The number of the tables (see 2Ch 4:19) and of the basins, is additional to the information contained in Kings.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:16

Huram his father - Or, "Huram his master-workman"(2Ch 2:13 note).

Barnes: 2Ch 4:17

Zeredathah - Or, Zarthan (marginal reference). The writer of Chronicles probably uses the name which the place bore in his own day.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:19

The tables - A single table only is mentioned in 1Ki 7:48; 2Ch 29:18. It is supposed that Solomon made ten similar tables, any one of which might be used for the showbread; but that the bread was never placed on more than one table at a time.

Barnes: 2Ch 4:22

The entry of the house - The text is, by some, corrected by 1Ki 7:50, "the hinges"of the doors of the house, etc.

Barnes: 2Ch 5:1

This chapter contains one important addition only to the narrative of Kings (see the marginal references); namely, the account of the circumstances under which the manifestation of the Divine Presence took place 2Ch 5:11-13.

Poole: 2Ch 3:1

Where the Lord appeared unto David which place the Lord had consecrated by his gracious appearance there, 1Ch 21:26 . Or, which was showed unto David , to wit, to be the place where the temple should be built; which God pointed out to him, partly by his appearance, and principally by his Spirit suggesting this to David at that time. The place that David had prepared by pulling down the buildings which were upon it, or near it, by levelling the ground, and possibly by marking it out for the temple and courts, the dimensions whereof he very particularly and exactly understood by the Spirit of God. In the threshing-floor , i.e. in the place where that threshing-floor formerly stood.

Poole: 2Ch 3:2

Of this verse, and the rest of this chapter, See Poole "1Ki 6:1" .

Poole: 2Ch 3:3

Solomon was instructed partly by his father David, and partly by the Spirit of God, which inspired and guided him in the whole work. Or, these were Solomon’ s foundations , the Hebrew verb being put for the noun, as it is elsewhere. The sense is, These were the measures of the foundations upon which he intended to build the temple.

After the first measure i.e. according to the measure of the first and ancient cubit. By which it is evident that there were cubits of different sorts and sizes; which also appears from Eze 40:5 43:13 . But how big those cubits were, and how much larger than the common cubits, and whether this was the cubit used by Moses in the building of the tabernacle, which seems most probable, or some other and yet larger cubit, is not agreed among learned men, and cannot now be exactly known, nor is it of any great moment for us to know.

Poole: 2Ch 3:4

The height was an hundred and twenty this being a kind of turret to the building. The breadth of it here omitted is expressed to be ten cubits, 1Ki 6:3 .

Poole: 2Ch 3:5

The greater house i.e. the holy place, which was thrice as large as the lesser house, or the holy of holies, which is called the most holy house , De 8 . See Poole "1Ch 28:11" .

Poole: 2Ch 3:6

See Poole "1Ki 9:26" , &c.

Poole: 2Ch 3:9

Of the nails i.e. of each of the nails or heads of those nails whereby the plates were fastened to the boards.

The upper chambers of which See Poole "1Ch 28:11" .

Poole: 2Ch 3:10

Of image work made in the shape of young men or boys, as they commonly are. Or, of movable work ; so called because they were not fixed to the mercy-seat, as the Mosaical cherubims were, but stood upon their feet, as it is said here 2Ch 3:13 , in a moving posture.

Poole: 2Ch 3:13

Heb. Towards the house or rather, that house ; not the holy house, as divers understand it; for then their backs must have been turned towards the ark, which was indecent, and directly contrary to the posture of Moses’ s cherubims, which looked towards it; but the most holy house , which was last named, 1Ch 3:8 , and of which he continues yet to speak; this posture being most agreeable to their use, which was with their wings to close in the ark and cover it, as it is expressly affirmed below, 1Ch 5:8 .

Poole: 2Ch 3:14

The veil to wit, the inner veil before the most holy place by comparing this with Exo 26:31 1Ki 6:21 .

Poole: 2Ch 3:15

Before the house i.e. before the holy house, or before the temple as this is explained, 1Ch 3:17 , lest it should be understood of the most holy house, of which he had spoken before.

Thirty and five cubits high, to wit, both of them; of which See Poole "1Ki 7:15" .

Poole: 2Ch 3:16

As in the oracle as he had done, or like unto those which he made, in the oracle; of which see 1Ki 6:21 . The particle as is oft understood, as Gen 49:9 Deu 33:22 , &c.

An hundred pomegranates in each row, or two hundred in all, as it is said, 1Ki 7:20 .

Poole: 2Ch 4:1

Quest. How could this be, when God had said, Thou shalt not go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon , Exo 20:26 , and steps were necessary for so high an altar as this was?

Answ 1. These steps were so made that there was no fear of this inconvenience.

2. That law was useful and fit when it was made; but afterwards, when the priests were commanded to wear linen breeches in their holy ministrations to cover their nakedness, Exo 28:42 , it was not necessary.

3. Howsoever God could undoubtedly dispense with his own law, as here he did; for he it was that gave these dimensions for the altar.

Poole: 2Ch 4:2

A molten sea: of this and 2Ch 4:3-5 , &c., See Poole "1Ki 7:23" , &c.

Poole: 2Ch 4:6

Ten lavers of which see 1Ki 7:38 , &c.

Poole: 2Ch 4:7

According to their form either,

1. the form which was appointed for them by God, who signified it to David. Or rather,

2. The old form which God prescribed to Moses, Exo 25:31 , &c., for so these were made. And this clause seems to be added here, because in many things there was a great variation from the old form, as in the posture of the cherubims, the height of the altar, and divers other things.

Poole: 2Ch 4:8

Ten tables of which see 1Ki 7:48 .

Poole: 2Ch 4:11

Of these and the following verses See Poole "1Ki 7:40" , &c.

Poole: 2Ch 4:16

His father i.e. Solomon’ s father; the relative being put before the antecedent, which is not unusual in the Hebrew tongue. And he is so called here, because Solomon usually called him by that name, out of that great respect which he bore to him for his excellent art and service which he did for him; it being usual to call great artists and inventors of things by this name; of which see Gen 4:20,21 . Or, Huram Abiu , or Abif , a man so called, or Huram Abi , as 2Ch 2:18 .

Poole: 2Ch 4:19

Which were of gold; and so are distinguished from those ten tables mentioned 2Ch 4:8 , which seems to have been made of silver. Compare 1Ch 28:16 .

Poole: 2Ch 4:20

After the manner according to the prescription of God to and by Moses.

Poole: 2Ch 4:22

To wit, in part; they were made of wood, 1Ki 6:30,2Ki 18:16 , but covered with golden plates.

Haydock: 2Ch 3:1

Moria, which signifies vision; (Calmet) the place pointed out to Abraham, (Genesis xxii. 2.; St. Augustine, de C.[City of God?] xvi. 32.) and to David, 1 Paralipomenon xxi. 15., and xxii. 1.

Haydock: 2Ch 3:2

Second. Hebrew adds, (Du Hamel) "in the second day of the second month." (Protestants, &c.) (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:3

By the first, or ancient measure, used before the captivity. The Babylonian cubit was a hand smaller, as Ezechiel (xl. 3.) intimates. (Calmet) ---

Solomon used the same cubit as Moses, but doubled the proportions. (Menochius)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:4

A hundred. The Arabic and some copies of the Septuagint read only twenty. Capellus and Toinard would substitute, ten cubits. A small change in the Hebrew might occasion these variations. (Calmet) ---

In 3 Kings vi. 2., we find the height was thirty cubits: but that might be only to the first floor. Many think that the temple was 120 cubits high: but Salien (the year of the world 3024) explains it of the four-square tower, (Menochius) in the front. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:5

House. between the most holy place and the porch, (Tirinus) or it may comprise all but the porch. Hebrew, "he covered (or boarded) all this great house." (Calmet) ---

Deal boards interspersed with those of cedar, 3 Kings vi. 9. (Tirinus) ---

Fine, ( obrizi. ) Hebrew, "of Parvaim, which is probably the same as Sepharvaim, Ophir, &c., not far from Media and Colchis. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:8

Amounting to about, is not in Hebrew. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:9

Sicles. This weight seems enormous for each nail. Mariana supposes every nail weighed one sicle. But who will believe that only fifty were used? Hebrew, "And the weight of the nails was fifty," &c. The Syriac and Arabic omit this verse entirely. ---

Chambers, or rather "the ceiling."

Haydock: 2Ch 3:10

Work. Hebrew, "of the work of young men," or resembling them. (Munster) ---

Septuagint, "the work of wood." Vulgate literally, "of sculpture work," (Haydock) as Le Clerc renders the original. Some moderns translate, "of a work like men in motion." (Mariana, Buxtorf) ---

The cherubims were in an erect posture.

Haydock: 2Ch 3:11

Cubits, comprising the breadth of their body. Each occupied ten cubits.

Haydock: 2Ch 3:13

Toward. Hebrew, "inward;" looking at each other, (Exodus xxv. 20.) or towards the altar of holocausts.

Haydock: 2Ch 3:14

A veil. Abulensis places it between the court and the holy: but Jansenius would have it before the holy of holies. It seems rather that there was a veil in both places, (Barad. t. ii. b. iii. 23.; Menochius) as Josephus ([Antiquities?] viii. 2., and xii. 10.) clearly intimates; and St. Paul speaks of the second veil, Hebrews ix. 3. It is not certain which of them was torn at the death of Jesus Christ, Matthew xxvii. 51. Cherubims; extraordinary figures. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:15

Five. 3 Kings vii. 15., we read each was eighteen cubits. It is probable that each was 17½ and the other half was for the crown, (Calmet) or cornice. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:16

In, or "as in." (Sa) (Menochius) ---

Protestants supply as. (Haydock) ---

Hundred, for one row, or 200 for both, 3 Kings. (Du Hamel)

Haydock: 2Ch 3:17

Booz. "Stability and strength" are derived from God alone. Thus Solomon designed to insinuate that God established the harmony of the universe. (Haydock) ---

An orrery, or globe, was therefore placed on each of these pillars. (Parkhurst, in con. )

Haydock: 2Ch 4:1

Saredatha, or Sarthan, (3 Kings vii. 46.) not far from Bethsan, 3 Kings iv. 12. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:1

Altar of holocausts, much larger than that of Moses. The one which was built after the captivity, was a square of fifteen cubits. This of Solomon was only ten in height. A sloping ascent was made up to it, according to Josephus; (Jewish Wars vi. 5., or v. 14.) or the steps were closed in, if we believe others. See Exodus xxvii. 1., and xx. 26. It is thought (Calmet) that the inside of the altar was filled with earth, (Menochius) or with rough stones: (Exodus xx. 24.; Du Hamel) but that is not certain, with regard to the brazen altar. See 1 Machabees iv. 44, 47. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:2

Sea, or great brazen vessel, and some other things that were not in the tabernacle of Moses, whose plan was followed, but with greater magnificence. (Worthington)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:3

Oxen. In 3 Kings vii. 24., we read Hebrew, "knops," (Haydock) or "apples." ---

Of ten. Hebrew, "ten in a cubit." Hence there must have been 600 heads of oxen, as the sea was thirty cubits in circumference, and there were two rows. (Calmet) ---

Others suppose that here were only five in each row, or only one in each cubit. See Vatable and 3 Kings. The Septuagint and Syriac omit this verse. (Calmet) ---

Yet it is found in the best editions of the Septuagint. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:4

Cast. Hebrew adds, "when it (the sea) was cast." (Haydock) ---

They were done at the same time, (Tirinus) and were perhaps intended to let out the water. The twelve oxen, which supported the sea, were not cast along with it. (Du Hamel)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:5

Three. 3 Kings two, may specify the usual quantity that was contained, though the vessel would absolutely hold a thousand measures, or baths, more. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:6

Holocaust, as well as all the necessary utensils. ---

Priests. They did not bathe in the sea, but drew water into other vessels. The Chaldean supposes that the work of Beseleel was for the high priest alone. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:9

Hall, ( basilicam. ) Septuagint use the same term ( Greek: aule ) as just before is rendered court; and the Protestants make no distinction, though the Hebrew terms be different. Septuagint render chatsar, "the court" of the people. There, we know, that Solomon had his tribune, chap. vi. 13. Ezechiel (xliii. 14.) distinguishes two; the great, lower or outward, (Calmet chatsar ) or court, and that of the priests, (Haydock) which he styles the less, &c. The principal door lay to the east.

Haydock: 2Ch 4:10

Right, though to the left of those who entered the temple.

Haydock: 2Ch 4:12

Pommels, ( epistylia. ) Hebrew, "cordons," or rows of pomegranates, (3 Kings vii. 18.) each consisting of one hundred; so that at the two pillars were adorned with a double row, both together would have four hundred. (Calmet) ---

The precise number is fixed at ninety-six for each row, Jeremias lii. 23. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:16

His father. Hebrew Abib, which is considered by some as a surname, (Menochius) or the title may be given to Hiram, on account of his skill. (Calmet) ---

He is so called by the king of Tyre, (chap. ii. 13.) for having instructed him in the true faith. (Worthington)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:21

Flowers. They represented lilies or other flowers (Tirinus) full-blown, when the lamps were burning. All the branches were of pure gold. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ch 4:22

Mortars, to hold the fine flour. (Menochius) ---

And thus. Here the fifth chapter commences, in Hebrew and Septuagint.

Haydock: 2Ch 5:1

God, under the care of Selemith. See 1 Paralipomenon xxvi. 26. (Calmet)

Gill: 2Ch 3:1-17

See Chapter Introduction

Gill: 2Ch 4:1-22

See Introduction to Chapter 4

Gill: 2Ch 5:1-14

See Chapter Introduction

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:1

¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

² tn In 2 Sam 24:16 this individual is called אֲרַוְנָא (“Aravna”; traditionally “Araunah”). The form of the name found here also occurs in 1 Chr 21:15; 18-28.

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:2

¹ sn This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:3

¹ tn Heb “and these are the founding of Solomon to build the house of God.”

² tn Heb “the length [in] cubits by the former measure was sixty cubits, and a width of twenty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches (45 cm) for the standard cubit, the length of the foundation would be 90 feet (27 m) and its width 30 feet (9 m).

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:4

¹ tc Heb “and the porch which was in front of the length corresponding to the width of the house, twenty cubits.” The phrase הֵיכַל הַבַּיִת (heykhal habbayit, “the main hall of the temple,” which appears in the parallel account in 1 Kgs 6:3) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton after עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿney, “in front of”). Note that the following form, הָאֹרֶךְ (ha’orekh, “the length”), also begins with the Hebrew letter he (ה). A scribe’s eye probably jumped from the initial he on הֵיכַל to the initial he on הָאֹרֶךְ, leaving out the intervening letters in the process.

² tc The Hebrew text has “one hundred and twenty cubits,” i.e. (assuming a cubit of 18 inches) 180 feet (54 m). An ancient Greek witness and the Syriac version read “twenty cubits,” i.e., 30 feet (9 m). It is likely that מֵאָה (me’ah, “a hundred”), is a corruption of an original אַמּוֹת (’ammot, “cubits”).

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:5

¹ tn Heb “covered.”

² tn Heb “the large house.”

³ tn Heb “wood of evergreens.”

⁴ tn Heb “and he put up on it palm trees and chains.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:6

¹ tn Heb “and he plated the house [with] precious stone for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim.”

sn The location of Parvaim, the source of the gold for Solomon’s temple, is uncertain. Some have identified it with modern Farwa in Yemen; others relate it to the Sanskrit parvam and understand it to be a general term for the regions east of Palestine.

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:8

¹ tn Heb “the house of the holy place of holy places.”

² tn Heb “twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), this would give a length of 30 feet (9 m).

³ tc Heb “twenty cubits.” Some suggest adding, “and its height twenty cubits” (see 1 Kgs 6:20). The phrase could have been omitted by homoioteleuton.

⁴ tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold plating was 40,380 lbs. (18,360 kg).

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:11

¹ tn Heb “and the wings of the cherubs, their length was twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the wingspan of the cherubs would have been 30 feet (9 m).

² tn Heb “the wing of the one was five cubits from the touching of the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits from the touching of the wing of the other cherub.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), each wing would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m) long.

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:12

¹ tn Heb “and the wing of the one (הָאֶחָד, ha’ekhad, “the one”; this should probably be emended to הָאַחֵר, ha’akher, “the other”) cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, clinging to the wing of the other cherub.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:13

¹ tn Heb “the wings of these cherubs were spreading twenty cubits.”

² tn Heb “and they were standing on their feet, with their faces to the house.” An alternative translation of the last clause would be, “with their faces to the main hall.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:15

¹ sn The figure given here appears to refer to the combined length of both pillars (perhaps when laid end-to-end on the ground prior to being set up; cf. v. 17); the figure given for the height of the pillars in 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21 is half this (i.e., eighteen cubits).

² tc The Syriac reads “eighteen cubits” (twenty-seven feet). This apparently reflects an attempt at harmonization with 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21.

³ tn Heb “and he made before the house two pillars, thirty-five cubits [in] length, and the plated capital which was on its top [was] five cubits.” The significance of the measure “thirty-five cubits” (52.5 feet or 15.75 m, assuming a cubit of 18 inches) for the “length” of the pillars is uncertain. According to 1 Kgs 7:15, each pillar was eighteen cubits (27 feet or 8.1 m) high. Perhaps the measurement given here was taken with the pillars lying end-to-end on the ground before they were set up.

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:16

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds here, “in the inner sanctuary,” but the description at this point is of the pillars, not the inner sanctuary.

NET Notes: 2Ch 3:17

¹ tn Or “one on the south and the other on the north.”

² tn The name “Jachin” appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”

³ tn The meaning of the name “Boaz” is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בֹּעַז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name asבְּעֹז (bÿ’oz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:1

¹ tn Heb “twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 30 feet (9 m).

² tn Heb “twenty cubits.”

³ tn Heb “ten cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:2

¹ tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”

sn The large bronze basin known as “The Sea” was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (see v. 6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).

² tn Heb “ten cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the diameter would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).

³ tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).

⁴ tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:3

¹ tn Heb “ten every cubit.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:4

¹ tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:5

¹ tn Heb “3,000 baths” (note that the capacity is given in 1 Kings 7:26 as “2,000 baths”). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so 3,000 baths was a quantity of about 18,000 gallons (66,000 liters).

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:9

¹ tn Heb “and the doors for the enclosure.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:11

¹ tn Heb “Huram,” but here this refers to Huram Abi (2 Chr 2:13). The complete name has been used in the translation to avoid possible confusion with King Huram of Tyre.

² tn Heb “Huram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of God.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:12

¹ tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:14

¹ tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (’asah, “he made”), which is probably a corruption of עֶשֶׂר (’eser, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).

² tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (’asah, “he made”), which is probably a corruption of עֲשָׂרָה (’asarah, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:16

¹ tc Some prefer to read here “bowls,” see v. 11 and 1 Kgs 7:45.

² tn Heb “Huram Abi made for King Solomon [for] the house of the Lord.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:17

¹ tn Or perhaps, “molds.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:18

¹ tn Heb “Solomon made all these items in great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 4:19

¹ tn Heb “the bread of the face/presence.”

sn This bread offered to God was viewed as a perpetual offering to God. See Lev 24:5-9.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:1

Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount ^{( a )} Moriah, where [the LORD] appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

^{( a )} Which is the mountain where Abraham was thought to have sacrificed his son, (Gen 22:2).

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:3

Now these [are the things wherein] Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first ^{( b )} measure [was] threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

^{( b )} According to the whole length of the temple,

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:4

And the porch that [was] in the front [of the house], the length [of it was] according to the ^{( c )} breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height [was] an ^{( d )} hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

^{( c )} It contained as much as the breadth of the temple did, (1Ki 6:3).

^{( d )} From the foundation to the top: for in the book of the kings mention is made from the foundation to the first stage.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:6

And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold [was] gold of ^{( e )} Parvaim.

^{( e )} Some think it is Peru.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:14

And he made the ^{( f )} vail [of] blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

^{( f )} Which separated the temple from the most holy place.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:15

Also he made before the house two pillars of ^{( g )} thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that [was] on the top of each of them [was] five cubits.

^{( g )} Every one was eighteen cubits long, but the half cubit could not be seen, for it was hid in the roundness of the chapiter, and therefore he gives to every one only 17 and a half.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 3:16

And he made chains, [as] in the oracle, and put [them] on the heads of the pillars; and made an ^{( h )} hundred pomegranates, and put [them] on the chains.

^{( h )} For every pillar a hundred, read (1Ki 7:20).

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:2

Also he made a molten ^{( a )} sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

^{( a )} A great vessel of brass, so called because of the great quantity of water which it contained, (1Ki 7:24).

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:3

And under ^{( b )} it [was] the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ^{( c )} ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen [were] cast, when it was cast.

^{( b )} Meaning, under the brim of the sea, (1Ki 7:24).

^{( c )} In the length of every cubit were ten heads or knops which in all are 300.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:5

And the thickness of it [was] an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; [and] it received and held ^{( d )} three thousand baths.

^{( d )} In the first book of the kings, (1Ki 7:26), mention is only made of 2000, but the lesser number was taken there, and here according as the measures proved afterwards, is declared.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:7

And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to ^{( e )} their form, and set [them] in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

^{( e )} Even as they should be made.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:9

Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great ^{( f )} court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

^{( f )} Called also the porch of Solomon, (Act 3:11). It is also taken for the temple where Christ preached, (Mat 21:23).

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:16

The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram ^{( g )} his father make to king Solomon for the house of the LORD of bright brass.

^{( g )} Whom Solomon reverenced for the gifts that God had given him, as a father; he had the same name as Huram the king of Tyrus, his mother was a Jewess, and his father a Tyrian. Some read, for his father, the author of this work.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:19

And Solomon made all the vessels that [were for] the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the ^{( h )} shewbread [was set];

^{( h )} In Hebrew, the bread of the faces because they were set before the ark, where the Lord showed his presence.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 4:22

And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, [of] pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy [place], and the doors of the house of the temple, [were ^{( i )} of] gold.

^{( i )} That is, covered with plates of gold.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Ch 3:1-17

1 The place and time of building the temple.

3 The measure and ornaments of the house.

11 The cherubims.

14 The vail and pillars.

TSK Synopsis: 2Ch 4:1-22

1 The altar of brass.

2 The molten sea upon twelve oxen.

6 The ten lavers, candlesticks, and tables.

9 The courts, and the instruments of brass.

19 The instruments of gold.

TSK Synopsis: 2Ch 5:1-14

1 The dedicated treasures.

2 The solemn induction of the ark into the oracle.

11 God being praised, gives a visible sign of his favour.

MHCC: 2Ch 3:1-17

There is a more particular account of the building of the temple in 1 Kings 6. It must be in the place David had prepared, not only which he had purchased, but which he had fixed on by Divine direction. Full instructions enable us to go about our work with certainty and to proceed therein with comfort. Blessed be God, the Scriptures are enough to render the man of God thoroughly furnished for every good work. Let us search the Scriptures daily, beseeching the Lord to enable us to understand, believe, and obey his word, that our work and our way may be made plain, and that all may be begun, continued, and ended in him. Beholding God, in Christ, his true Temple, more glorious than that of Solomon's, may we become a spiritual house, a habitation of God through the Spirit.

MHCC: 2Ch 4:1-22

Here is a further account of the furniture of God's house. Both without doors and within, there was that which typified the grace of the gospel, and shadowed out good things to come, of which the substance is Christ. There was the brazen altar. The making of this was not mentioned in the book of Kings. On this all the sacrifices were offered, and it sanctified the gift. The people who worshipped in the courts might see the sacrifices burned. They might thus be led to consider the great Sacrifice, to be offered in the fulness of time, to take away sin, and put an end to death, which the blood of bulls and goats could not possibly do. And, with the smoke of the sacrifices, their hearts might ascend to heaven, in holy desires towards God and his favour. In all our devotions we must keep the eye of faith fixed upon Christ. The furniture of the temple, compared with that of the tabernacle, showed that God's church would be enlarged, and his worshippers multiplied. Blessed be God, there is enough in Christ for all.

MHCC: 2Ch 5:1-10

The ark was a type of Christ, and, as such, a token of the presence of God. That gracious promise, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, does, in effect, bring the ark into our religious assemblies, if we by faith and prayer plead that promise; and this we should be most earnest for. When Christ is formed in a soul, the law written in the heart, the ark of the covenant settled there, so that it becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost, there is true satisfaction in that soul.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 3:1-9

Here is, I. The place where the temple was built. Solomon was neither at liberty to choose nor at a loss to fix the place. It was before determined (1Ch 22:1), which was an ease to his mind. 1. It must be at Jerusalem; for that was the place where God had chosen to put his name there. The royal city must be the holy city. There must be the testimony of Israel; for there are set the thrones of judgment, Psa 122:4, Psa 122:5. 2. It must be on Mount Moriah, which, some think, was that very place in the land of Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac, Gen 22:2. So the Targum says expressly, adding, But he was delivered by the word of the Lord, and a ram provided in his place. That was typical of Christ's sacrifice of himself; therefore fitly was the temple, which was likewise a type of him, built there. 3. It must be where the Lord appeared to David, and answered him by fire, 1Ch 21:18, 1Ch 21:26. There atonement was made once; and therefore, in remembrance of that, there atonement was made once; and therefore, in remembrance of that, there atonement must still be made. Where God has met with me it is to be hoped that he will still manifest himself. 4. It must be in the place which David has prepared, not only which he had purchased with his money, but which he had purchased with his money, but which he had pitched upon divine direction. It was Solomon's wisdom not to enquire out a more convenient place, but to acquiesce in the appointment of God, whatever might be objected against it. 5. It must be in the threshold floor of Ornan, which, if (as a Jebusite) it gives encouragement to the Gentiles, obliges us to look upon temple-work as that which requires the labour of the mind, no less than threshing-work dos that of the body.

II. The time when it was begun; not till the fourth year of Solomon's reign, 2Ch 3:2. Not that the first three years were trifled away, or spent in deliberating whether they should build the temple or no; but they were employed in the necessary preparations for it, wherein three years would be soon gone, considering how many hands were to be got together and set to work. Some conjecture that this was a sabbatical year, or year of release and rest to the land, when the people, being discharged from their husbandry, might more easily lend a hand to the beginning of this work; and then the year in which it was finished would fall out to be another sabbatical year, when they would likewise have leisure to attend the solemnity of the dedication of it.

III. The dimensions of it, in which Solomon was instructed (2Ch 3:3), as he was in other things, by his father. This was the foundation (so it may be read) which Solomon laid for the building of the house. This was the rule he went by, so many cubits the length and breadth, after the first measure, that is, according to the measure first fixed, which there was no reason to make any alteration of when the work came to be done; for the dimensions were given by divine wisdom, and what God does shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, or taken from it, Ecc 3:14. His first measure will be the last.

IV. The ornaments of the temple. The timber-work was very fine, and yet, within, it was overlaid with pure gold (2Ch 3:4), with fine gold (2Ch 3:5). and that embossed with palm-trees and chains. It was gold of Parvaim (2Ch 3:6), the best gold. The beams and posts, the walls and doors, were overlaid with gold, 2Ch 3:7. The most holy place, which was ten yards square, was all overlaid with fine gold (2Ch 3:8), even the upper chambers, or rather the upper floor or roof - top, bottom, and sides, were all overlaid with gold. Every nail, or screw, or pin, with which the golden plates were fastened to the walls that were overlaid with them, weighed fifty shekels, or was worth so much, workmanship and all. A great many precious stones were dedicated to God (1Ch 29:2, 1Ch 29:8), and these were set here and there, where they would show to the best advantage. The finest houses now pretend to no better garnishing than good paint on the roof and walls; but the ornaments of the temple were most substantially rich. It was set with precious stones, because it was a type of the new Jerusalem, which has no temple in it because it is all temple, and the walls, gates, and foundations of which are said to be of precious stones and pearls, Rev 21:18, Rev 21:19, Rev 21:21.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 3:10-17

Here is an account of 1. The two cherubim, which were set up in the holy of holies. There were two already over the ark, which covered the mercy-seat with their wings; these were small ones. Now that the most holy place was enlarged, though these were continued (being appurtenances to the ark, which was not to be made new, as all the other utensils of the tabernacle were), yet those two large ones were added, doubtless by divine appointment, to fill up the holy place, which otherwise would have looked bare, like a room unfurnished. These cherubim are said to be of image-work (2Ch 3:10), designed, it is likely, to represent the angels who attend the divine Majesty. Each wing extended five cubits, so that the whole was twenty cubits (2Ch 3:12, 2Ch 3:13), which was just the breadth of the most holy place, 2Ch 3:8. They stood on their feet, as servants, their faces inward toward the ark (2Ch 3:13), that it might appear they were not set there to be adored (for then they would have been made sitting, as on a throne, and their faces towards their worshippers), but rather as themselves attendants on the invisible God. We must not worship angels, but we must worship with angels; for we have come into communion with them (Heb 12:22), and must do the will of God as the angels do it. The thought that we are worshipping him before whom the angels cover their faces will help to inspire us with reverence in all our approaches to God. Compare 1Co 11:10 with Isa 6:2. 2. The veil that parted between the temple and the most holy place, 2Ch 3:14. This denoted the darkness of that dispensation, and the distance which the worshippers were kept at; but, at the death of Christ, this veil was rent; for through him we are made nigh, and have boldness not only to look, but to enter, into the holiest. On this he was wrought cherubim. Heb. he caused them to ascend, that is, they were made in raised work, embossed. Or he made them on the wing in an ascending posture, as the other two that stood on their feet in an attending posture, to remind the worshippers to lift up their hearts, and to soar upwards in their devotions. 3. The two pillars which were set up before the temple. Both together were somewhat above thirty-five cubits in length (2Ch 3:15), about eighteen cubits high a-piece. See 1Ki 7:15, etc., where we took a view of those pillars, Jachin and Boaz, establishment and strength in temple-work and by it.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 4:1-10

David often speaks with much affection both of the house of the Lord and of the courts of our God. Both without doors and within there was that which typified the grace of the gospel and shadowed out good things to come, of which the substance is Christ.

I. There were those things in the open court, in the view of all the people, which were very significant.

1. There was the brazen altar, 2Ch 4:1. The making of this was not mentioned in the Kings. On this all the sacrifices were offered, and it sanctified the gift. This altar was much larger than that which Moses made in the tabernacle; that was five cubits square, this was twenty cubits square. Now that Israel had become both numerous and more rich, and it was to be hoped more devout (for every age should aim to be wiser and better than that which went before it), it was expected that there would be a greater abundance of offerings brought to God's altar than had been. It was therefore made such a capacious scaffold that it might hold them all, and none might excuse themselves from bringing those temptations of their devotion by alleging that there was not room to receive them. God had greatly enlarged their borders; it was therefore fit that they should enlarge his altars. Our returns should bear some proportion to our receivings. It was ten cubits high, so that the people who worshipped in the courts might see the sacrifice burnt, and their eye might affect their heart with sorrow for sin: "It is of the Lord's mercies that I am not thus consumed, and that this is accepted as an expiation of my guilt."They might thus be led to consider the great sacrifice which should be offered in the fulness of time to take away sin and abolish death, which the blood of bulls and goats could not possibly do. And with the smoke of the sacrifices their hearts might ascend to heaven in holy desires towards God and his favour. In all our devotions we must keep the eye of faith fixed upon Christ, the great propitiation. How they went up to this altar, and carried the sacrifices up to it, we are not told; some think by a plain ascent like a hill: if by steps, doubtless they were so contrived as that the end of the law (mentioned Exo 20:26) might be answered.

2. There was the molten sea, a very large brass pan, in which they put water for the priests to wash in, 2Ch 4:2, 2Ch 4:6. It was put just at the entrance into the court of the priests, like the font at the church door. If it were filled to the brim, it would hold 3000 baths (as here, 2Ch 4:5), but ordinarily there were only 2000 baths in it, 1Ki 7:26. The Holy Ghost by this signified, (1.) Our great gospel privilege, that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, 1Jo 1:7. To us there is a fountain opened for all believers (who are spiritual priests, Rev 1:5, Rev 1:6), nay, for all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to wash in, from sin, which is uncleanness. There is a fulness of merit in Jesus Christ for all those that by faith apply to him for the purifying of their consciences, that they might serve the living God, Heb 9:14. (2.) Our great gospel duty, which is to cleanse ourselves by true repentance from all the pollutions of the flesh and the corruption that is in the world. Our hearts must be sanctified, or we cannot sanctify the name of God. Those that draw nigh to God must cleanse their hands, and purify their hearts, Jam 4:8. If I was thee not, thou hast no part with me; and he that is washed still needs to wash his feet, to renew his repentance, whenever he goes in to minister, Joh 13:10.

3. There were ten lavers of brass, in which they washed such things as they offered for the burnt-offerings, 2Ch 4:6. As the priests must be washed, so must the sacrifices. We must not only purify ourselves in preparation for our religious performances, but carefully put away all those vain thoughts and corrupt aims which cleave to our performances themselves and pollute them.

4. The doors of the court were overlaid with brass (2Ch 4:9), both for strength and beauty, and that they might not be rotted with the weather, to which they were exposed. Gates of brass we read of, Psa 107:16.

II. There were those things in the house of the Lord (into which the priests alone went to minister) that were very significant. All was gold there. The nearer we come to God the purer we must be, the purer we shall be. 1. There were ten golden candlesticks, according to the form of that one which was in the tabernacle, 2Ch 4:7. The written word is a lamp and a light, shining in a dark place. In Moses's time they had but one candlestick, the Pentateuch; but the additions which, in process of time, were to be made of other books of scripture might be signified by this increase of the number of the candlesticks. Light was growing. The candlesticks are the churches, Rev 1:20. Moses set up but one, the church of the Jews; but, in the gospel temple, not only believers, but churches, are multiplied. 2. There were ten golden tables (2Ch 4:8), tables whereon the show-bread was set, 2Ch 4:19. Perhaps every one of the tables had twelve loaves of show-bread on it. As the house was enlarged, the house-keeping was. In my father's house there is bread enough for the whole family. To those tables belonged 100 golden basins, or dishes; for God's table is well furnished. 3. There was a golden altar (2Ch 4:19), on which they burnt incense. It is probable that this was enlarged in proportion to the brazen altar. Christ, who once for all made atonement for sin, ever lives, making intercession, in virtue of that atonement.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 4:11-22

We have here such a summary both of the brass-work and the gold-work of the temple as we had before (1Ki 7:13, etc.), in which we have nothing more to observe than, 1. That Huram the workman was very punctual: He finished all that he was to make (2Ch 4:11), and left no part of his work undone. Huram, his father, he is called, 2Ch 4:16. Probably it was a sort of nickname by which he was commonly known, Father Huram; for the king of Tyre called him Huram Abi, my father, in compliance with whom Solomon called him his, he being a great artist and father of the artificers in brass and iron. He acquitted himself well both for ingenuity and industry. 2. Solomon was very generous. He made all the vessels in great abundance (2Ch 4:18), many of a sort, that many hands might be employed, and so the work might go on with expedition, or that some might be laid up for use when others were worn out. Freely he has received, and he will freely give. When he had made vessels enough for the present he could not convert the remainder of the brass to his own use; it is devoted to God, and it shall be used for him.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 5:1-10

This agrees with what we had 1Ki 8:2, etc., where an account was given of the solemn introduction of the ark into the new-erected temple. 1. There needed no great solemnity for the bringing in of the dedicated things, 2Ch 5:1. They added to the wealth, and perhaps were so disposed as to add to the beauty of it; but they could not add to the holiness, for it was the temple that sanctified the gold, Mat 23:17. See how just Solomon was both to God and to his father. Whatever David had dedicated to God, however much he might have liked it himself, he would by no means alienate it, but put it among the treasures of the temple. Those children that would inherit their godly parents' blessing must religiously pursue their pious intentions and not defeat them. When Solomon had made all the vessels of the temple in abundance (2Ch 4:18), many of the materials were left, which he would not convert to any other use, but laid up in the treasury for a time of need. Dedicated things must not be alienated. It is sacrilege to do it. 2. But it was fit that the ark should be brought in with great solemnity; and so it was. All the other vessels were made new, and larger, in proportion to the house, than they had been in the tabernacle. But the ark, with the mercy-seat and the cherubim, was the same; for the presence and the grace of God are the same in little assemblies that they are in large ones, in the poor condition of the church that they are in its prosperous estate. Wherever two or three are gathered together in Christ's name there is he as truly present with them as if there were 2000 or 3000. The ark was brought in attended by a very great assembly of the elders of Israel, who came to grace and solemnity; and a very sumptuous appearance no doubt they made, 2Ch 5:2-4. It was carried by the priests (2Ch 5:7), brought into the most holy place, and put under the wings of the great cherubim which Solomon had set up there, 2Ch 5:7, 2Ch 5:8. There they are unto this day (2Ch 5:9), not the day when this book was written after the captivity, but when that was written out of which this story was transcribed. Or they were there (so it might be read) unto this day, the day of Jerusalem's desolations, that fatal day, Psa 137:7. The ark was a type of Christ, and, as such, a token of the presence of God. That gracious promise, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, does in effect bring the ark into our religious assemblies if we by faith and prayer put that promise in suit; and this we should be most solicitous and earnest for. Lord, if thy presence go not up with us, wherefore should we go up? The temple itself, if Christ leave it, is a desolate place, Mat 23:38. 3. With the ark they brought up the tabernacle and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, 2Ch 5:5. Those were not alienated, because they had been dedicated to God, were not altered or melted down for the new work, though there was no need of them; but they were carefully laid up as monuments of antiquity, and probably as many of the vessels as were fit for use were still used. 4. This was done with great joy. They kept a holy feast upon the occasion (2Ch 5:3), and sacrificed sheep and oxen without number, 2Ch 5:6. Note, (1.) The establishment of the public worship of God according to his institution, and with the tokens of his presence, is, and ought to be, matter of great joy to any people. (2.) When Christ is formed in a soul, the law written in the heart, the ark of the covenant settled there, so that it becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost, there is true satisfaction in that soul. (3.) Whatever we have the comfort of we must, by the sacrifice of praise, give God the glory of, and not be straitened therein; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. If God favour us with his presence, we must honour him with our services, the best we have.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:1-2

The building of the temple . - 2Ch 3:1-3. The statements as to the place where the temple was built (2Ch 3:1) are found here only. Mount Moriah is manifestly the mountain in the land of Moriah where Abraham was to have sacrificed his son Isaac (Gen 22:2), which had received the name המּוריּה , i.e., "the appearance of Jahve,"from that event. It is the mountain which lies to the north-east of Zion, now called Haram after the most sacred mosque of the Mohammedans, which is built there; cf. Rosen, das Haram von Jerusalem , Gotha 1866. לד נראה אשׁר is usually translated: "which was pointed out to David his father."But ראה has not in Niphal the signification "to be pointed out,"which is peculiar to the Hophal (cf. Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30; Deu 4:35, etc.); it means only "to be seen,""to let oneself be seen,"to appear, especially used of appearances of God. It cannot be shown to be anywhere used of a place which lets itself be seen, or appears to one. We must therefore translate: "on mount Moriah, where He had appeared to David his father."The unexpressed subject יהוה is easily supplied from the context; and with אשׁר בּהר , "on the mountain where,"cf. אשׁר בּמּקום , Gen 35:13., and Ew. §331, c , 3. הכין אשׁר is separated from what precedes, and connected with what follows, by the Athnach under אביהוּ , and is translated, after the lxx, Vulg., and Syr., as a hyperbaton thus: "in the place where David had prepared," scil. the building of the temple by the laying up of the materials there (1Ch 22:5; 1Ch 29:2). But there are no proper analogies to such a hyperbaton, since Jer 14:1 and Jer 46:1 are differently constituted. Berth. therefore is of opinion that our text can only signify, "which temple he prepared on the place of David,"and that this reading cannot be the original, because הכין occurs elsewhere only of David's activity in preparing for the building of the temple, and "place of David"cannot, without further ceremony, mean the place which David had chosen. He would therefore transpose the words thus: דויד הכין אשׁר בּמקום . But this conjecture is by no means certain. In the first place, the mere transposition of the words is not sufficient; we must also alter בּמקום into בּמּקום , to get the required sense; and, further, Bertheau's reasons are not conclusive. הכין means not merely to make ready for (zurüsten ), to prepare, but also to make ready, make (bereiten ), found e.g., 1Ki 6:19; Ezr 3:3; and the frequent use of this word in reference to David's action in preparing for the building of the temple does not prove that it has this signification here also. The clause may be quite well translated, with J. J. Rambach: "quam domum praeparavit (Salomo) in loco Davidis ." The expression "David's place,"for "place which David had fixed upon,"cannot in this connection be misunderstood, but yet it cannot be denied that the clause is stiff and constrained if we refer it to יהוה את־בּית . We would therefore prefer to give up the Masoretic punctuation, and construe the words otherwise, connecting הכין אשׁר with the preceding thus: where Jahve had appeared to his father David, who had prepared (the house, i.e., the building of it), and make בּמקום ד , with the following designation of the place, to depend upon לבנות as a further explanation of the הם בּהר , viz., in the place of David, i.e., on the place fixed by David on the threshing-floor of the Jebusite Ornan; cf. 1Ch 21:18. - In 2Ch 3:2 לבנות ויּחל is repeated in order to fix the time of the building. In 1Ki 6:1 the time is fixed by its relation to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. בּשּׁני , which the older commentators always understood of the second day of the month, is strange. Elsewhere the day of the month is always designated by the cardinal number with the addition of לחרשׁ or יום , the month having been previously given. Berth. therefore considers בּשּׁני to be a gloss which has come into the text by a repetition of השּׁני , since the lxx and Vulg. have not expressed it.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:3

"And this is Solomon's founding, to build the house of God;"i.e., this is the foundation which Solomon laid for the building of the house of God. The infin. Hoph. הוּסד is used here and in Ezr 3:11 substantively. The measurements only of the length and breadth of the building are given; the height, which is stated in 1Ki 6:2, is omitted here. The former, i.e., the ancient measurement, is the Mosaic or sacred cubit, which, according to Eze 40:5 and Eze 43:13, was a handbreadth longer than the civil cubit of the earlier time; see on 1Ki 6:2.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:4-7

The porch and the interior of the holy place . - 2Ch 3:4. The porch which was before (i.e., in front of) the length (of the house), was twenty cubits before the breadth of the house, i.e., was as broad as the house. So understood, the words give an intelligible sense. הארך with the article refers back to הארך in 2Ch 3:3 (the length of the house), and על־פּני in the two defining clauses means "in front;"but in the first clause it is "lying in front of the house,"i.e., built in front; in the second it is "measured across the front of the breadth of the house."

(Note: There is consequently no need to alter the text according to 1Ki 6:3, from which passage Berth. would interpolate the words פּניו על רחבּו בּאמּה ר עשׂר הבּית between על־פּני and הארך , and thereby get the signification: "and the porch which is before the house, ten cubits is its breadth before the same, and the length which is before the breadth twenty cubits."But this conjecture is neither necessary nor probable. It is not necessary, for (1) the present text gives an intelligible sense; (2) the assertion that the length and breadth of the porch must be stated cannot be justified, if for no other reason, for this, that even of the main buildings all three dimensions are not given, only two being stated, and that it was not the purpose of the author of the Chronicle to give an architecturally complete statement, his main anxiety being to supply a general idea of the splendour of the temple. It is not probable; because the chronicler, if he had followed 1Ki 6:3, would not have written על־פּניו , but הבּית על־פּני , and instead of הארך would have written וערכּי , to correspond with רחבּו .)

There is certainly either a corruption of the text, or a wrong number in the statement of the height of the porch, 120 cubits; for a front 120 cubits high to a house only thirty cubits high could not be called אוּלם ; it would have been a מגדּל , a tower. It cannot with certainty be determined whether we should read twenty or thirty cubits; see in 1Ki 6:3. He overlaid it (the porch) with pure gold; cf. 1Ki 6:21.

2Ch 3:5-7

The interior of the holy place. - 2Ch 3:5. The "great house,"i.e., the large apartment of the house, the holy place, he wainscotted with cypresses, and overlaid it with good gold, and carved thereon palms and garlands. חפּה from חפה , to cover, cover over, alternates with the synonymous צפּה in the signification to coat or overlay with wood and gold. תּמּרים .dlo as in Eze 41:18, for תּמּרות , 1Ki 6:29, 1Ki 6:35, are artificial palms as wall ornaments. שׁרשׁרות are in Exo 28:14 small scroll-formed chains of gold wire, here spiral chain-like decorations on the walls, garlands of flowers carved on the wainscot, as we learn from 1Ki 6:18.

2Ch 3:6-7

And he garnished the house with precious stones for ornament (of the inner sides of the walls); cf. 1Ch 29:2, on which Bähr on 1Ki 6:7 appositely remarks, that the ornamenting of the walls with precious stones is very easily credible, since among the things which Solomon brought in quantity from Ophir they are expressly mentioned (1Ki 10:11), and it was a common custom in the East so to employ them in buildings and in vessels; cf. Symbolik des mos. Cult. i. S. 280, 294, 297. The gold was from פּרוים . This, the name of a place rich in gold, does not elsewhere occur, and has not as yet been satisfactorily explained. Gesen. with Wilson compares the Sanscrit parvam , the first, foremost, and takes it to be the name of the foremost, i.e., eastern regions; others hold the word to be the name of some city in southern or eastern Arabia, whence Indian gold was brought to Palestine. - In 2Ch 3:7 the garnishing of the house with gold is more exactly and completely described. He garnished the house, the beams (of the roof), the thresholds (of the doors), and its walls and its doors with gold, and carved cherubs on the walls. For details as to the internal garnishing, decoration, and gilding of the house, see 1Ki 6:18, 1Ki 6:29, and 1Ki 6:30, and for the doors, 1Ki 6:32-35.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:8-9

The most holy place, with the figures of the cherubim and the veil; cf. 1Ki 6:19-28. - The length of the most holy place in front of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, consequently measured in the same way as the porch (2Ch 3:4); the breadth, i.e., the depth of it, also twenty cubits. The height, which was the same (1Ki 6:20), is not stated; but instead of that we have the weight of the gold which was used for the gilding, which is omitted in 1 Kings 6, viz., 600 talents for the overlaying of the walls, and 50 shekels for the nails to fasten the sheet gold on the wainscotting. He covered the upper chambers of the most holy place also with gold; see 1Ch 28:11. This is not noticed in 1 Kings 6.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:10-13

The figures of the cherubim are called צעצעים מעשׂה , sculpture work. The ἁπ. λεγ. . צעצעים comes from צוּע , Arab. ṣâǵ , formavit , finxit , and signifies sculptures. The plur. יצפּוּ , "they overlaid them,"is indefinite. The length of the wings was five cubits, and the four outspread wings extended across the whole width of the most holy place from one wall to the other. The repetition of the clauses האהר הכּרוּב ... האהד כּנף (2Ch 3:11, 2Ch 3:12) has a distributive force: the top of one wing of each cherub reached the wall of the house, that of the other wing reached the wing of the other cherub standing by. In the repetition the masc. מגּיע alternates with the fem. מגּעת , being construed in a freer way as the principal gender with the fem. כּנף , and also with דּבקה , adhaerebat , in the last clause. - In 2Ch 3:12 Bertheau would strike out the word כּנפי because it does not suit פּרשׂים , which occurs in 1Ch 28:17; 2Ch 5:8; 1Ki 8:7, in the transitive signification, "to stretch out the wings."But nothing is gained by that, for we must then supply the erased word after פּרשׂים again. And, moreover, the succeeding clause is introduced by והם , just because in the first clause the wings, and not the cherubim, were the subject. We hold the text to be correct, and translate: "the wings of these cherubim were, for they stretched them out, twenty cubits." והם refers to הכּרוּבים . They stood upon their feet, consequently upright, and were, according to 1Ki 6:26, ten cubits high. "And their faces towards the house,"i.e., turned towards the holy place, not having their faces turned towards each other, as was the case with the cherubim upon the Capporeth (Exo 25:20).

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:14

The veil between the holy place and the most holy, not mentioned in 1Ki 6:21, was made of the same materials and colours as the veil on the tabernacle, and was inwoven with similar cherub figures; cf. Exo 26:31. וּבוּץ כּרמיל as in 2Ch 2:13. עלה על , to bring upon; an indefinite expression for: to weave into the material.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 3:15-17

The two brazen pillars before the house, i.e., before the porch, whose form is more accurately described in 1Ki 7:15-22. The height of it is here given at thirty-five cubits, while, according to 1Ki 7:15; 2Ki 25:17; Jer 52:21, it was only eighteen cubits. The number thirty-five has arisen by confounding יח = 18 with לה = 35; see on 1Ki 7:16. הצּפת ( ἁπ. λεγ. ) from צפה , overlay, cover, is the hood of the pillar, i.e., the capital, called in 1Ki 7:16. כּתרת , crown, capital, five cubits high, as in 1Ki 7:16.

2Ch 3:16

"And he made little chains on the collar (Halsreife), and put it on the top of the pillars, and made 100 pomegranates, and put them on the chains."In the first clause of this verse, בּדּביר , "in (on) the most holy place,"has no meaning, for the most holy place is not here being discussed, but the pillars before the porch, or rather an ornament on the capital of these pillars. We must not therefore think of chains in the most holy place, which extended thence out to the pillars, as the Syriac and Arabic seem to have done, paraphrasing as they do: chains of fifty cubits (i.e., the length of the holy place and the porch). According to 1Ki 7:17-20 and 1Ki 7:41., compared with 2Ch 4:12-13, each capital consisted of two parts. The lower part was a circumvolution (Wulst) covered with chain-like net-work, one cubit high, with a setting of carved pomegranates one row above and one row below. The upper part, or that which formed the crown of the capital, was four cubits high, and carved in the form of an open lily-calyx. In our verse it is the lower part of the capital, the circumvolution, with the chain net-work and the pomegranates, which is spoken of. From this, Bertheau concludes that דּביר must signify the same as the more usual שׂבכה , viz., "the lattice-work which was set about the top of the pillars, and served to fasten the pomegranates,"and that bdbyr has arisen out of בּרביד by a transposition of the letters. בּרביד (chains) should be read here. This conjecture so decidedly commends itself, that we regard it as certainly correct, since רביד denotes in Gen 41:42; Eze 16:11, a necklace, and so may easily denote also a ring or hoop; but we cannot adopt the translation "chains on a ring,"nor the idea that the שׂבכה , since it surrounded the head of the pillars as a girdle or broad ring, is called the ring of the pillars. For this idea does not agree with the translation "chains in a ring,"even when they are conceived of as "chain-like ornaments, which could scarcely otherwise be made visible on the ring than by open work."Then the chain-like decorations were not, as Bertheau thinks, on the upper and under border of the ring, but formed a net-work which surrounded the lower part of the capital of the pillar like a ring, as though a necklace had been drawn round it. רביד consequently is not the same as שׂבכה , but rather corresponds to that part of the capital which is called גּלּה ( גּלּות ) in 1Ki 7:14; for the שׂבכות served to cover the גּלּות , and were consequently placed on or over the גּלּות , as the pomegranates were on the chains or woven work. הגּלּה denotes the curve, the circumvolution, which is in 1Ki 7:20 called הבּטן , a broad-arched band, bulging towards the middle, which formed the lower part of the capital. This arched part of the capital the author of the Chronicle calls רביד , ring or collar, because it may be regarded as the neck ornament of the head of the pillar, in contrast to the upper part of the capital, that consisted in lily-work, i.e., the ball wrought into the form of an open lily-calyx ( כּתרת( xylac- ).

2Ch 3:17

As to the position of the pillars, and their names, see on 1Ki 7:21.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:1

2Ch 4:1-6. The copper furniture of the court. 2Ch 4:1. The altar of burnt-offering . Its preparation is passed over in 1 Kings 6 and 7, so that there it is only mentioned incidentally in connection with the consecration of the temple, 1Ki 8:22, 1Ki 8:54, and 1Ki 9:25. It was twenty cubits square (long and broad) and ten cubits high, and constructed on the model of the Mosaic altar of burnt- offering, and probably of brass plates, which enclosed the inner core, consisting of earth and unhewn stones; and if we may judge from Ezekiel's description, Eze 43:13-17, it rose in steps, as it were, so that at each step its extent was smaller; and the measurement of twenty cubits refers only to the lowest scale, while the space at the top, with the hearth, was only twelve cubits square; cf. my Bibl. Archaeol . i. S. 127, with the figure, plate iii. fig. 2.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:2-5

The brazen sea described as in 1Ki 7:23-26. See the commentary on that passage, and the sketch in my Archaeol . i. plate iii. fig. 1. The differences in substance, such as the occurrence of בּקרים and הבּקר , 2Ch 4:3, instead of פּקעים and הפּקים , and 3000 baths instead of 2000, are probably the result of orthographical errors in the Chronicle. יכיל in 2Ch 4:5 appears superfluous after the preceding מחזיק , and Berth. considers it a gloss which has come from 1 Kings into our text by mistake. But the expression is only pleonastic: "receiving baths, 3000 it held;"and there is no sufficient reason to strike out the words.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:6

The ten lavers which, according to 1Ki 7:38, stood upon ten brazen stands, i.e., chests provided with carriage wheels. These stands, the artistic work on which is circumstantially described in 1Ki 7:27-37, are omitted in the Chronicle, because they are merely subordinate parts of the lavers. The size or capacity of the lavers is not stated, only their position on both sides of the temple porch, and the purpose for which they were designed, "to wash therein, viz., the work of the burnt-offering (the flesh of the burnt-offering which was to be burnt upon the altar) they rinsed therein,"being mentioned. For details, see in 1Ki 7:38. and the figure in my Archaol . i. plate iii. fig. 4. Occasion is here taken to mention in a supplementary way the use of the brazen sea.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:7-8

The golden furniture of the holy place and the courts . These three verses are not found in the parallel narrative 1 Kings 7, where in 1Ki 7:39 the statement as to the position of the brazen sea (2Ch 4:10) follows immediately the statement of the position of the stands with the lavers. The candlesticks and the table of the shew-bread are indeed mentioned in the summary enumeration of the temple furniture, 1Ki 7:48 and 1Ki 7:49, as in the corresponding passage of the Chronicle ( 2Ch 4:19, 2Ch 4:20) they again occur; and in 1Ki 6:36 and 1Ki 7:12, in the description of the temple building, the inner court is spoken of, but the outer court is not expressly mentioned. No reason can be given for the omission of these verses in 1 Kings 7; but that they have been omitted or have dropped out, may be concluded from the fact that not only do the whole contents of our fourth chapter correspond to the section 1 Kings 7:23-50, but both passages are rounded off by the same concluding verse (2Ch 5:1 and 1Ki 7:51).

2Ch 4:7

He made ten golden candlesticks כּמשׁפּטם , according to their right, i.e., as they should be according to the prescript, or corresponding to the prescript as to the golden candlesticks in the Mosaic sanctuary (Exo 25:31.). משׁפּט is the law established by the Mosaic legislation.

2Ch 4:8

Ten golden tables, corresponding to the ten candlesticks, and, like these, placed five on the right and five on the left side of the holy place. The tables were not intended to bear the candlesticks (Berth.), but for the shew-bread; cf. on 2Ch 4:19 and 1Ch 28:16. And a hundred golden basins, not for the catching and sprinkling of the blood (Berth.), but, as their connection with the tables for the shew-bread shows, wine flagons, or sacrificial vessels for wine libations, probably corresponding to the מנקּיּות on the table of shew-bread in the tabernacle (Exo 25:29). The signification, wine flagons, for מזרקים , is placed beyond a doubt by Amo 6:6.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:9-10

The two courts are not further described. For the court of the priests, see on 1Ki 6:36 and 1Ki 7:12. As to the great or outer court, the only remark made is that it had doors, and its doors, i.e., the folds or leaves of the doors, were overlaid with copper. In 2Ch 4:10 we have a supplementary statement as to the position of the brazen sea, which coincides with 1Ki 7:39; see on the passage. In 2Ch 4:11 the heavier brazen (copper) utensils, belonging to the altar of burnt-offering, are mentioned: סידות , pots for the removal of the ashes; יעים , shovels, to take the ashes out from the altar; and מזרקות , basins to catch and sprinkle the sacrificial blood. This half verse belongs to the preceding, notwithstanding that Huram is mentioned as the maker. This is clear beyond doubt, from the fact that the same utensils are again introduced in the summary catalogue which follows (2Ch 4:16).

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:11-18

Summary catalogue of the temple utensils and furniture . - 2Ch 4:11-18. The brass work wrought by Huram.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 4:19-22

The golden furniture of the holy place and the gilded doors of the temple. This section is found also in 1Ki 7:40-50. The enumeration of the things wrought in brass coincides to a word, with the exception of trifling linguistic differences and some defects in the text, with 1Ki 7:40-47. In 2Ch 4:12 והכּתרות הגּלּות is the true reading, and we should so read in 1Ki 7:41 also, since the גּלּות , circumvolutions, are to be distinguished from the כּתרות , crowns; see on 2Ch 3:16. In 2Ch 4:14 the first עשׂה is a mistake for עשׂר , the second for עשׂרה , 1Ki 7:43; for the verb עשׂה is not required nor expected, as the accusative depends upon לՀ¢שׂות , 2Ch 4:11, while the number cannot be omitted, since it is always given with the other things. In 2Ch 4:16 מזלנות is an orthographic error for מזרקות ; cf. 2Ch 4:11 and 1Ki 7:44. ואת־כּל־כּליחם is surprising, for there is no meaning in speaking of the utensils of the utensils enumerated in 2Ch 4:12-16 . According to 1Ki 7:45, we should read האלּה כּל־הכּלים את . As to אביו , see on 2Ch 2:12. מרוּק נחשׁת is accusative of the material, of polished brass; and so also ממרט נח , 1Ki 7:45, with a similar signification. In reference to the rest, see the commentary on 1Ki 7:40.

2Ch 4:19-21

In the enumeration of the golden furniture of the holy place, our text diverges somewhat more from 1Ki 7:48-50. On the difference in respect to the tables of the shew-bread, see on 1Ki 7:48. In 2Ch 4:20 the number and position of the candlesticks in the holy place are not stated as they are in 1Ki 7:49, both having been already given in 2Ch 4:7. Instead of that, their use is emphasized: to light them, according to the right, before the most holy place ( כּמּשׁפּט as in 2Ch 4:7). As to the decorations and subordinate utensils of the candlesticks, see on 1Ki 7:49. To זהב , 2Ch 4:21 (accus. of the material), is added זהב מכלות הוּא , "that is perfect gold." מכלה , which occurs only here, is synonymous with מכלל , perfection. This addition seems superfluous, because before and afterwards it is remarked of these vessels that they were of precious gold ( סגוּר זהב ), and it is consequently omitted by the lxx, perhaps also because מכלות was not intelligible to them. The words, probably, are meant to indicate that even the decorations and the subordinate utensils of the candlesticks (lamps, snuffers, etc.) were of solid gold, and not merely gilded.

2Ch 4:22

מזמּרות , knives, probably used along with the snuffers for the cleansing and trimming of the candlesticks and lamps, are not met with among the utensils of the tabernacle, but are here mentioned (Chr. and Kings), and in 2Ki 12:14 and Jer 52:18, among the temple utensils. Along with the מזרקות , sacrificial vessels (see on 2Ch 4:8), in 1Ch 28:17 מזלנות , forks of gold, are also mentioned, which are not elsewhere spoken of. Among the utensils of the tabernacle we find only מזלגות of brass, flesh-forks, as an appurtenance of the altar of burnt-offering (Exo 27:3; Exo 38:3; Num 4:14; cf. 1Sa 2:13.), which, however, cannot be intended here, because all the utensils here enumerated belonged to the holy place. What purpose the golden forks served cannot be determined, but the mention of golden knives might lead us to presuppose that there would be golden forks as well. That the forks are not mentioned in our verse does not render their existence doubtful, for the enumeration is not complete: e.g., the ספּות , 1Ki 7:50, are also omitted. כּפּות , vessels for the incense, and מחתּות , extinguishers, as in 1Ki 7:50. Instead of דּלתותיו הבּית וּפּתח הבּית , "and as regards the opening (door) of the house, its door-leaves,"in 1Ki 7:50 we have הבּית לדלתות והפּתת , "and the hinges of the door-leaves of the house."This suggests that פתח is only an orthographical error for פּתת ; but then if we take it to be so, we must alter דּלתותיו into לדלתותיו . And, moreover, the expression הבּית פּתת , door-hinges of the house, is strange, as פּות properly denotes a recess or space between, and which renders the above-mentioned conjecture improbable. The author of the Chronicle seems rather himself to have generalized the expression, and emphasizes merely the fact that even the leaves of the doors in the most holy place and on the holy place were of gold; - of course not of solid gold; but they were, as we learn from 2Ch 3:7, overlaid with gold. This interpretation is favoured by the simple זהב being used without the predicate סגוּר . To the sing. פּתח no objection can be made, for the word in its fundamental signification, "opening,"may easily be taken collectively.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 5:1

2Ch 5:1 contains the conclusion of the account of the preparation of the sacred utensils as in 1Ki 7:51, and with it also the whole account of the building of the temple is brought to an end. The ו before את־הכּסף and את־הזּהב corresponds to the Lat. et - et , both - and also. As to David's offerings, cf. 1Ch 18:10 and 1Ch 18:11; and on the whole matter, compare also the remarks on 1Ki 7:51.

Constable: 2Ch 1:1--9:31

III. THE REIGN OF SOLOMON chs. 1--9

The Chronicler's main interest in David's reign, as we have seen, focused on the Davidic Covenant with its promises to David and his descendants. In recounting the events of Solomon's reign he proceeded to emphasize the temple that Solomon built. Almost everything he mentioned about Solomon ties in with the temple somehow. The writer of Kings, on the other hand, emphasized many different aspects of Solomon's reign, though his interest was particularly Solomon's fidelity to the Mosaic Covenant (1 Kings 1-11). In the rest of 2 Chronicles the writer likewise pointed out how the kings who succeeded Solomon cared for the temple and perpetuated temple worship.

When the Chronicler wrote his history there was controversy over the second temple (i.e., the temple that Ezra built). Some of the residents in and around Jerusalem opposed its construction (Ezra 4:4-24; Hag. 1:2-4). If the returned exiles were to renew their (Mosaic) covenant relationship with God, they had to have a temple. There they could obey the laws regarding expiation of sin, worship, and fellowship with God (cf. Exod. 25:8).

Furthermore, when the Chronicler lived the Israelites realized that God had not fulfilled the promises concerning David's son completely in Solomon's day or during any of his successors' reigns. They looked for a Messiah to appear who would be both a king and a priest. The prophets had given revelation that such a person would come someday. He would be a perfect king who would rule the whole world, not just Israel (Ps. 2; et al.). Moreover he would be a priest, not of the Aaronic order, but of the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110; et al.). David was the first king of Israel who served as a faithful priest after this order. He personally offered sacrifices and led the people in worship as well as in government. David's successors on the throne did the same things. The prophets promised that Messiah would build a house (temple) for God. He would give attention to His people's worship of God and their fellowship with God. He would be a man of peace compared to David who was a man of war (1 Chron. 22:7-9). David's rule was the kind of rule the coming King would establish. Consequently the writer of Chronicles measured all David's successors by the standard of David and his kingdom.

Concern for temple worship marked David's rule, as we have seen in 1 Chronicles 17-29. The King who would fulfill God's covenant promises to David would have to possess similar zeal for temple worship (cf. John 2:17). The writer viewed Solomon as a second David and compared him to David as Joshua compares to Moses.² The Chronicler reviewed the histories of David's successors to see if any one of them was that King. He showed in 2 Chronicles that none was. He was yet to come.

When Solomon began to rule he stepped onto a political stage in the ancient Near East that God had prepared. There were no major empires reaching out to conqueror surrounding territories because these empires had internal problems that demanded their attention. Some of them were experiencing harassment from their neighbors. Consequently Solomon was free to solidify David's gains in an atmosphere of peace.

Constable: 2Ch 2:1--5:2

B. The Building of the Temple 2:1-5:1

Solomon was a model of the ultimate Davidic temple builder. Consequently the writer gave his temple construction much attention. This was Solomon's major accomplishment from the writer's point of view.

Constable: 2Ch 3:1-9

2. The temple proper 3:1-9

The mention of Mount Moriah as the site of the temple (v. 1) recalls God's provision of a substitute sacrifice for Isaac on that very spot (Gen. 22:2, 14).⁸ The temple would later stand there, and the high priest would offer a substitute sacrifice for Israel on the Day of Atonement each year there.

The glory of the temple was not so much its size as its quality and appearance. The writer stressed the gold that overlaid it and its general magnificence. Its significance was that it represented the glory of Yahweh, the greatest of all gods (2:5). In the ancient Near East a god's house (temple) represented the god.

Constable: 2Ch 3:10--5:2

3. The temple furnishings 3:10-5:1

The cherubim (3:10-13) represented angelic beings (cf. Gen. 3:24). Probably they looked more like the sculptured combination human-animal-bird creatures that archaeologists have discovered in the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian capitals than like pudgy winged children. This child motif is traceable to medieval Christian artists. The cherubim evidently stood against the back (west) wall of the temple and faced east toward the ark.⁹ They were twice as high as human beings.

The two pillars (3:15-17) were evidently contemporary freestanding objects that served as visual aids designed to emphasize God's faithfulness and strength in establishing Israel (cf. 1 Kings 7:21; 2 Chron. 7:16). They were probably 18 rather than 35 cubits high (cf. 1 Kings 7:15).¹⁰

God designed the temple furnishings (ch. 4) to enable the priests to carry out the instructive ritual that the Mosaic Law prescribed. The furnishings and ritual taught and reminded everyone who viewed them lessons about God, man, and the relationship between them that God's grace had made possible.

"The Chronicler . . . fashioned his account of Solomon as temple builder, with his helper Huram-Abi (2 Chr 4:16), on that of Bezalel, the tabernacle supervisor of building, and his helper Oholiab (Exod 36:1-2). Solomon is seen as the new Bezalel and Huram-Abi as the new Oholiab."¹¹

The whole temple was a tribute to the greatness of Yahweh. It enhanced His reputation (2:4).

Guzik: 2Ch 3:1-17

2 Chronicles 3 - The Building of the Temple

A. Where and when the temple construction began.

1. (1) The location of the temple.

Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

a. Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah: This place had been previously identified as the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Here it is specifically located as Mount Moriah. This was the same hill where Abraham offered Isaac (Genesis 22:2), and the same set of hills where Jesus would later die on the cross (Genesis 22:14).

i. "Where Isaac, as a type of Christ, bore the wood, obeyed his father, and should have been sacrificed. Calvary, where our Saviour suffered, was either a part of this mount, or very near unto it." (Trapp)

b. Began to build the house of the LORD: This was when the actual construction began. All David's prior plans and preparations anticipated the actual beginning of the work. One can plan and prepare endlessly and never begin to build, but Solomon began to build the house of the LORD.

2. (2) When the construction began.

And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

a. On the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign: This was probably in the year 967 B.C. Connecting this with 1 Kings 6:1, this marking point shows just how long Israel lived in the Promised Land without a temple. The tabernacle served the nation well for more than 400 years. The prompting to build them temple was more at the direction and will of God than out of absolute necessity.

b. In the fourth year of his reign: This doesn't mean that Solomon delayed his obedience for four years. He probably started to organize the work right away. There is some evidence that it took three years to prepare timber from Lebanon for use in building. If Solomon began the construction of the temple in the fourth year of his reign, he probably started organizing the construction in the very first year of his reign.

B. A Description of the temple.

1. (3-7) The building in general.

This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. And the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. The larger room he paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. He also overlaid the house; the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors; with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

a. For building the house of God: This chapter will describe the building of the temple and its associated areas. There are four main structures described.

· The temple proper (the foundation which Solomon laid), divided into two rooms (the holy place and the most holy place).

· The vestibule or entrance hall on the east side of the temple proper (the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary). It was thirty feet (10 meters) wide and fifteen feet (5 meters) deep, and the same height as the temple proper. "Its height measurement should read twenty cubits high (NIV, REB, NEB), as against a literal translation of MT, 'and its height 120'." (Selman)

· The three-storied side chambers (described in 1 Kings 6:5) which surrounded the temple proper on the north, south, and west sides.

· A large courtyard surrounding the whole structure (the inner court mentioned in 1 Kings 6:36).

b. He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty: This is one description among many that give us an idea of how beautiful the temple was and how Solomon spared no expense in making it beautiful.

i. "The reference to 'precious stones' may suggest mosaics, inlaid in the floor." (Payne)

c. He carved cherubim on the walls: This was after the pattern of the tabernacle, which had woven designs of cherubim on the inner covering. Therefore when one entered the temple they saw cherubim all around - as one would see in heaven (Psalm 80:1, Isaiah 37:16, and Ezekiel 10:3). These angelic beings worship God perpetually in heaven.

i. One might saw that we don't worship angels but we do worship with them.

2. (8-14) The Most Holy Place.

And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper area with gold. In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

a. And he made the Most Holy Place: Special attention was given to the Holy of Holies or Most Holy place. It was a 30-foot (10 meter) cube, completely overlaid with gold. It also had two large sculptures of cherubim (15-foot or 5 meters in height), which were overlaid with gold.

b. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold: There was gold everywhere in the temple, but especially in the Most Holy Place. The walls were covered with gold (1 Kings 6:20-22), the floor was covered with gold (1 Kings 6:30) and gold was hammered into the carvings on the doors (1 Kings 6:32).

i. There was gold everywhere on the inside of the temple. "Such was Christ's inside (Colossians 2:9); in his outside was no such desirable beauty (Isaiah 53:2); so the Church's glory is inward (Psalm 44:13), in the hidden man of the heart (1 Peter 3:4)." (Trapp)

c. Two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold: These two large sculptures inside the Most Holy Place faced the entrance to this inner room, so as soon as the High Priest entered he saw these giant guardians of the presence of God facing him.

i. "If it were image work - cherubims were made like boys - yet this is no plea for Popish images; since they are flatly forbidden; and God made the law for us, not for himself." (Trapp)

d. And he made the veil: This was the important barrier separating the holy place from the Most Holy Place. Only one man once a year could go behind the veil and enter the Most Holy Place.

i. "To most Israelites, therefore, the temple was an unseen world. God had drawn near to them, but the way to him was hedged around with many restrictions." (Selman)

ii. Spiritually speaking, in dying for our sins Jesus with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).

iii. In the temple, this veil was torn from top to bottom at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51), showing that through His death, there is no longer a barrier to the Most Holy place.

iv. Now the Most Holy Place is open to us: brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is His flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20). The torn veil of Matthew 27:51 also symbolizes the broken body of Jesus, through which we have access to the Most Holy Place.

3. (15-17) The pillars of the temple.

Also he made in front of the temple two pillars thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. Then he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz.

a. In front of the temple two pillars thirty-five cubits high: 1 Kings 7:15 tells us that these pillars were actually made of bronze. They were two very impressive adornments to the front of the temple.

b. He called the name of the one on the right hand Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz: These two pillars were so impressive that they were actually given names. Jachin means He shall establish and Boaz means in strength.

i. Every time someone came to the house of the LORD in the days of Solomon they said, "Look! There is 'He Shall Establish.' And there is 'In Him Is Strength.'" It set them in the right frame of mind to worship the LORD. When the crowds gathered at the morning and evening sacrifice to worship the LORD, the Levites led the people standing in front of the temple with these two great, bronze pillars behind them. It was always before them: He Shall Establish and In Him Is Strength.

ii. One could say that the house of God itself was Jachin and Boaz. That temple was established by God, and built by the strength of God. Every time they looked at that temple, they knew that God liked to establish and strengthen things.

iii. The house of God was a place where people experienced what the pillars were all about. At that house, people were established in their relationship with God. At that house, people were given strength from the LORD. From this building, it should go out to the whole community: "Come here and get established. Come here and receive the strength of God."

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Guzik: 2Ch 4:1-22

2 Chronicles 4 - Furnishings for the Temple and Its Court

A. The furnishings of the temple.

1. (1) The bronze altar.

Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

a. He made a bronze altar: The idea behind the Hebrew word for altar is essentially, "killing-place." This was the place of sacrifice, the center for worship and service for the priests and the people.

i. "Just as in the tabernacle, the altar was the first main object to be met as one entered the sanctuary court. It demonstrates that God may be approached only through sacrifices." (Payne)

ii. We also have an altar: We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat (Hebrews 13:10). Our altar - our "killing-place" - is the cross, where Jesus died for our sins and we follow by dying unto self and living for Jesus.

b. Twenty cubits: Essentially, this altar was large (about 30 feet or 10 meters square) and about twice as large as the altar originally built for the tabernacle (Exodus 27:1-2).

c. Ten cubits its height: The altar was raised significantly. The altar was set up high, "That all the people might see the burnt-offerings, and be imminded of their sins and of their Saviour; for the ceremonial law was their gospel." (Trapp)

2. (2-6) The washing basins for the temple.

Then he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained three thousand baths. He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

a. Then he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other: The huge laver was more than 15 feet (5 meters) across, and was used for the ceremonial washings connected with the priests themselves.

i. "Priests who did not wash to make themselves clean would die (Exodus 30:20)." (Selman)

i. "It was used by priests for cleansing their hands and feet and perhaps also to supply water to the standing basins for the rinsing of offerings (2 Chronicles 4:10)." Poole believes that perhaps water came out of the bulls that formed the foundation of the Sea.

b. It stood on twelve oxen: This large pool of water was set upon sculptured oxen. "Prefiguring, say some, the twelve apostles, who carried the water of life all the world over." (Trapp)

i. It contained three thousand baths: "In 1 Kings 7:26, it is said to hold only two thousand baths. Since this book was written after the Babylonian captivity, it is very possible that reference is here made to the Babylonian bath, which might have been less than the Jewish." (Clarke)

c. He also made ten lavers: These additional basins were used for washing and cleaning the animal parts in the rituals of sacrifice.

3. (7) The lampstands, tables, and bowls.

And he made ten lampstands of gold according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred bowls of gold.

a. And he made ten lampstands . . . He also made ten tables: The work of the temple required lampstands for light and tables to hold the showbread, the bread that represented the continual fellowship of Israel with God. Notably, the old tabernacle had one lampstand and one table. The temple fittingly displayed a greater light and a greater dynamic of fellowship.

b. And he made one hundred bowls of gold: "The 'sprinkling bowls' were not particularly associated with the tables by seem rather to have been used for collecting the blood of sacrifices, which was then sprinkled about the altar in the temple services of atonement." (Payne)

4. (9-10) The court of the temple.

Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

a. He made the court of the priests: This was also known as the inner court, the court of the temple open only to the priests.

b. And the great court: This was the outer court, the place in the temple precincts open to the assembly of Israel as a whole.

i. "Yet this very division into two courts (2 Kings 23:12) gave concrete expression to the fact that under the older testament there had not yet been achieved that universal priesthood of the believers that would come about through Jesus Christ. In him all the people of God have direct access to the Father." (Payne)

B. The work of Huram from Tyre.

1. (11-17) Huram's furnishings for the temple.

Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars); he also made carts and the lavers on the carts; one Sea and twelve oxen under it; also the pots, the shovels, the forks; and all their articles Huram his master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zeredah.

a. Then Huram made: Huram was half Israeli and half Gentile, and he was the best craftsman around. Solomon hired him to do all his work - that is, the fine artistic work of the temple.

b. The pots and the shovels and the bowls: These articles were of special note for the Chronicler, because these were some of the only articles that were recovered and used from the first temple period into the days of the Chronicler.

i. "The emphasis on the temple vessels, as well as the association between Tent and temple, underlines the continuity represented by the temple. The return of the temple vessels to the second temple was one of the chief signs that post-exilic Israel remained a worshipping community of covenant people (cf. Ezra 1:7-11; 6:5; 8:24-34)." (Selman)

2. (18-22) Summary of the furnishings for the temple.

And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined. Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was the showbread; the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold; the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.

a. Such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined: "The weight could not be found out. This was as it should be. There was no attempt to keep an accurate account of what was given to the service of God. Even Solomon's left had did not know what his right hand did. There is a tendency in all of us to keep a strict account of what we give to God . . . but the loftiest form of devotion overleaps such calculation." (Meyer)

b. With the flowers and the lamps: "The symbolism of flora and fauna in the temple may either indicate God's sovereignty over the created order to be another allusion to the harmony of all created things in God's presence as in the Garden of Eden." (Selman)

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Guzik: 2Ch 5:1-14

2 Chronicles 5 - The Ark is brought to the Temple

A. The finished temple.

1. (1) Completion of the work.

So all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

a. All the work that Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished: This was the great achievement of Solomon's life. He began this ambitious project shortly after he came to the throne, and now it was finished, certainly much to his satisfaction.

b. Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: This reminds us of just how much David did for the temple. He even designed, made, and dedicated some the furnishings of the temple.

2. (2-5) The furniture of the temple is brought in before the assembled nation.

Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD up from the City of David, which is Zion. Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. So all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

a. Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes: The official installation of the ark of the covenant into the temple was an extremely important occasion. Solomon wanted representatives of the entire kingdom to have a part in this memorable event.

b. The priests and the Levites brought them up: This properly respected the pattern designated by the Mosaic Law. Solomon wanted representatives of the entire kingdom to witness the event, but not at the expense of disobedience to God's command.

3. (6-10) The ark comes into the Most Holy Place of the temple.

Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. And the poles extended so that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.

a. Sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude: Solomon went "over-the-top" in his effort to honor and praise God on this great day.

b. Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD: The temple wasn't "open" until the ark of the covenant was set in the most holy place. The ark was the most important item in the temple.

c. Under the wings of the cherubim: The interior of the temple was richly decorated with the designs of cherubim, which surround the throne of God in heaven. This design of the temple was after the pattern of the tabernacle, which had woven designs of cherubim on the inner covering.

i. "The statement that 'they are still there today' must have been quoted by Ezra from his sources (2 Chronicles 9:2), particularly from 1 Kings (8:8), out of those portions that were written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. The ark had been gone for over a century by Ezra's day." (Payne)

d. Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb: At an earlier point in Israel's history there were three items in the ark of the covenant. Earlier, inside the ark were the golden pot that had the manna (Exodus 16:33), Aaron's rod that budded (Numbers 17:6-11), and the tablets of the covenant (Exodus 25:16). We don't know what happened to the golden pot of manna and Aaron's rod, but they were not in the ark when Solomon set it in the most holy place.

e. When the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt: The reminder of the deliverance from Egypt is significant, because there is a sense in which this - some 500 years after the Exodus - is the culmination of the deliverance from Egypt. Out of Egypt and into the wilderness Israel, out of necessity, lived in tents - and the dwelling of God was a tent. Now since Solomon built the temple, the dwelling of God among Israel was a building, a place of permanence and security.

B. The glory of God fills the temple.

1. (11-12) The praise of the Levites at the installation of the ark of the covenant.

And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions), and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets;

a. For all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions: Normally the priests and Levites worked at the temple according to a strict schedule. Yet on this day, all the priests and Levites were on duty before the LORD.

b. And the Levites who were the singers: It was right that on this day praise be focused to the LORD, and not to Solomon or David. In reality, this was the LORD's house, not David's or Solomon's.

2. (13-14) The cloud of God's glory fills the temple.

Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever," that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

a. That the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud: This was the cloud of glory, seen often in the Old and New Testaments, sometimes called the cloud of Shekinah glory. It is hard to define the glory of God; we could call it the radiant outshining of His character and presence. Here it is manifested in a cloud.

· This is the cloud that stood by Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22).

· This is the cloud of glory that God spoke to Israel from (Exodus 16:10).

· This is the cloud from which God met with Moses and others (Exodus 19:9, 24:15-18, Numbers 11:25, 12:5, 16:42).

· This is the cloud that stood by the door of the Tabernacle (Exodus 33:9-10).

· This is the cloud from which God appeared to the High Priest in the Holy Place inside the veil (Leviticus 16:2).

· This is the cloud of Ezekiel's vision, filling the temple of God with the brightness of His glory (Ezekiel 10:4).

· This is the cloud of glory that overshadowed Mary when she conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35).

· This is the cloud present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:34-35).

· This is the cloud of glory that received Jesus into heaven at His ascension (Acts 1:9).

· This is the cloud that will display the glory of Jesus Christ when He returns in triumph to this earth (Luke 21:27, Revelation 1:7).

i. It is worthy of note that this great outpouring of the glory of God came in the context of intense and dedicated praise. God pours out His glory when His people praise Him. "We can never expect to have God in this house, or in our own houses, or in our own hearts, until we begin to praise him. Unless as a people we unanimously, with one heart, though with many tongues, extol the King of kings, farewell to the hope that he will give us his presence in the future." (Spurgeon)

ii. "There is an order in this work which we do well to consider. Work performed according to the divine order, offered in sacrifice and praise, is acceptable to God. Such work He receives by possessing it with His own presence and glory." (Morgan)

b. So that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud: The extreme presence of the glory of God made normal service impossible. The sense of the presence of God was so intense that the priests felt it was impossible to continue in the building.

i. "As soon as the temple is opened for business, all the carefully planned ceremonies and services have to be suspended because God takes over the entire building for himself. The temple is to be for God's glory, not for that of human beings." (Selman)

ii. Jesus Himself was greater than the cloud that filled the temple and when He came it was fitting for the priests' temple service to stop. "This showed that the Levitical ministry should cease when the Lord Christ came." (Trapp)

iii. "The glory of God had filled the house, and the priests were set aside. Where God is, man is forgotten. You will think little of the minister save for his work's sake - you will talk the less of the man when you shall see the Master." (Spurgeon)

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Contradiction: 2Ch 4:5

15. Did Solomon build a facility containing 2,000 baths (1 Kings 7:26), or over 3,000 baths (2 Chronicles 4:5)?

(Category: misunderstood the author's intent, or copyist error)

The Hebrew verb rendered "contained" and "held" is different from that translated "received"; and the meaning may be that the sea ordinarily contained 2,000 baths. But when filled to its utmost capacity it received and held 3,000 baths. Thus the chronicler simply mentions the amount of water that would make the sea like a flowing spring rather than a still pool. This informs us that 3,000 gallons of water were required to completely fill the sea which usually held 2,000 gallons.

Another solution follows a theme mentioned earlier, that the number in Hebrew lettering for 2000 has been confounded by the scribe with a similar alphabetical number for the number 3,000.

It should be noted that Shabbir (in his debate on 25th February 1998 against Jay Smith in Birmingham, UK) quoted this "contradiction" and added to it saying that if the bath had a diameter of 10 cubits it cannot possibly have had a circumference of 30 cubits as the text says (since 'pi' dictates that it would have a circumference of 31.416 or a 9.549 diameter).

Shabbir made the humorous comment "Find me a bath like that and I will get baptized in it!" But Shabbir did not read the text properly or was just going for a cheap, displaced laugh. Why? Because the text says that it was about 8cm thick and had a rim shaped like a lily. Therefore it depends on where you measure from. The top or bottom of the rim or the inside or outside for the vessel would all give a different diameter; and depending on whether you measure at the top of the rim or at the narrower point, you would get a different circumference.

In other words, Shabbir may well be getting baptized if someone can be bothered to make a replica!

(Haley pg. 382; Light of Life II 1992:192)

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF CHRONICLES were also considered as one by the ancient Jews, who called them "words of days," that is, diaries or journals, being probably compiled from those registers that were kept by the king's historiographers of passing occurrences. In the Septuagint the title given them is Paraleipomenon, "of things omitted," that is, the books are supplementary because many things unnoticed in the former books are here recorded; and not only the omissions are supplied, but some narratives extended while others are added. The authorship is commonly ascribed to Ezra, whose leading object seems to have been to show the division of families, possessions, &c., before the captivity, with a view to the exact restoration of the same order after the return from Babylon. Although many things are restated and others are exact repetitions of what is contained in Kings, there is so much new and important information that, as JEROME has well said, the Chronicles furnish the means of comprehending parts of the New Testament, which must have been unintelligible without them. They are frequently referred to by Christ and the Apostles as forming part of "the Word of God" (see the genealogies in Mat. 1:1-16; Luk. 3:23-38; compare 2Ch 19:7 with 1Pe 1:17; 2Ch 24:19-21 with Mat 23:32-35).

JFB: 2 Chronicles (Outline)

• SOLEMN OFFERING OF SOLOMON AT GIBEON. (2Ch 1:1-6)
• HIS CHOICE OF WISDOM IS BLESSED BY GOD. (2Ch 1:7-13)
• HIS STRENGTH AND WEALTH. (2Ch 1:14-17)
• SOLOMON'S LABORERS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE. (2Ch 2:1-2)
• HIS MESSAGE TO HURAM FOR SKILFUL ARTIFICERS. (2Ch 2:3-10)
• HURAM'S KIND ANSWER. (2Ch 2:11-18)
• PLACE AND TIME OF BUILDING THE TEMPLE. (2Ch 3:1-2)
• MEASURES AND ORNAMENTS OF THE HOUSE. (2Ch 3:3-7)
• DIMENSIONS, &C., OF THE MOST HOLY HOUSE. (2Ch 3:8-13)
• ALTAR OF BRASS. (2Ch 4:1)
• MOLTEN SEA. (2Ch 4:2-5)
• THE TEN LAVERS, CANDLESTICKS, AND TABLES. (2Ch 4:6-18)
• THE DEDICATED TREASURES. (2Ch 5:1)
• BRINGING UP OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. (2Ch 5:2-13)
• SOLOMON BLESSES THE PEOPLE AND PRAISES GOD. (2Ch. 6:1-41)
• GOD GIVES TESTIMONY TO SOLOMON'S PRAYER; THE PEOPLE WORSHIP. (2Ch 7:1-3)
• SOLOMON'S SACRIFICES. (2Ch 7:4-11)
• GOD APPEARS TO HIM. (2Ch 7:12-22)
• SOLOMON'S BUILDINGS. (2Ch 8:1-6)
• THE CANAANITES MADE TRIBUTARIES. (2Ch 8:7-11)
• SOLOMON'S FESTIVAL SACRIFICES. (2Ch 8:15-18)
• THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITS SOLOMON; SHE ADMIRES HIS WISDOM AND MAGNIFICENCE. (2Ch 9:1-12)
• HIS RICHES. (2Ch. 9:13-28)
• REHOBOAM REFUSING THE OLD MEN'S GOOD COUNSEL. (2Ch 10:1-15)
• REHOBOAM, RAISING AN ARMY TO SUBDUE ISRAEL, IS FORBIDDEN BY SHEMAIAH. (2Ch. 11:1-17)
• HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN. (2Ch 11:18-23)
• REHOBOAM, FORSAKING GOD, IS PUNISHED BY SHISHAK. (2Ch 12:1-12)
• HIS REIGN AND DEATH. (2Ch 12:13-16)
• ABIJAH, SUCCEEDING, MAKES WAR AGAINST JEROBOAM, AND OVERCOMES HIM. (2Ch. 13:1-20)
• ASA DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ch 14:1-5)
• HAVING PEACE, HE STRENGTHENS HIS KINGDOM WITH FORTS AND ARMIES. (2Ch 14:6-8)
• HE OVERCOMES ZERAH, AND SPOILS THE ETHIOPIANS. (2Ch 14:9-15)
• JUDAH MAKES A SOLEMN COVENANT WITH GOD. (2Ch 15:1-15)
• ASA, BY A LEAGUE WITH THE SYRIANS, DIVERTS BAASHA FROM BUILDING RAMAH. (2Ch 16:1-14)
• JEHOSHAPHAT REIGNS WELL AND PROSPERS. (2Ch 17:1-6)
• HE SENDS LEVITES TO TEACH IN JUDAH. (2Ch 17:7-11)
• HIS GREATNESS, CAPTAINS, AND ARMIES. (2Ch 17:12-19)
• JEHOSHAPHAT AND AHAB GO AGAINST RAMOTH-GILEAD. (2Ch. 18:1-34)
• JEHOSHAPHAT VISITS HIS KINGDOM. (2Ch 19:1-4)
• HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JUDGES. (2Ch 19:5-7)
• TO THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. (2Ch 19:8-11)
• JEHOSHAPHAT, INVADED BY THE MOABITES, PROCLAIMS A FAST. (2Ch. 20:1-21)
• THE OVERTHROW OF HIS ENEMIES. (2Ch 20:22-30)
• HIS REIGN. (2Ch 20:31-37)
• JEHORAM SUCCEEDS JEHOSHAPHAT. (2Ch 21:1-4)
• HIS WICKED REIGN. (2Ch 21:5-7)
• EDOM AND LIBNAH REVOLT. (2Ch 21:8-17)
• AHAZIAH SUCCEEDING JEHORAM, REIGNS WICKEDLY. (2Ch 22:1-9)
• ATHALIAH, DESTROYING THE SEED ROYAL SAVE JOASH, USURPS THE KINGDOM. (2Ch 22:10-12)
• JEHOIADA MAKES JOASH KING. (2Ch 23:1-11)
• ATHALIAH SLAIN. (2Ch 23:12-15)
• JEHOIADA RESTORES THE WORSHIP OF GOD, AND SETTLES THE KING. (2Ch 23:16)
• JOASH REIGNS WELL ALL THE DAYS OF JEHOIADA. (2Ch 24:1-14)
• JEHOIADA BEING DEAD. (2Ch 24:15-16)
• JOASH FALLS INTO IDOLATRY. (2Ch 24:17-22)
• HE IS SLAIN BY HIS SERVANTS. (2Ch 24:23-27)
• AMAZIAH BEGINS TO REIGN WELL. (2Ch 25:1-4)
• HAVING HIRED AN ARMY OF ISRAELITES AGAINST THE EDOMITES, AT THE WORD OF A PROPHET HE LOSES A HUNDRED TALENTS AND DISMISSES THEM. (2Ch 25:5-10)
• HE PROVOKES JOASH TO HIS OVERTHROW. (2Ch 25:17)
• UZZIAH SUCCEEDS AMAZIAH AND REIGNS WELL IN THE DAYS OF ZECHARIAH. (2Ch 26:1-8)
• HIS BUILDINGS. (2Ch 26:9-10)
• HIS HOST, AND ENGINES OF WAR. (2Ch 26:11-15)
• HE INVADES THE PRIEST'S OFFICE, AND IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (2Ch 26:16-21)
• JOTHAM, REIGNING WELL, PROSPERS. (2Ch 27:1-4)
• HE SUBDUES THE AMMONITES. (2Ch 27:5-9)
• AHAZ, REIGNING WICKEDLY, IS AFFLICTED BY THE SYRIANS. (2Ch. 28:1-21)
• HIS IDOLATRY IN HIS DISTRESS. (2Ch 28:22-27)
• HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ch 29:1-2)
• HE RESTORES RELIGION. (2Ch 29:3-11)
• THE HOUSE OF GOD CLEANSED. (2Ch. 29:12-36)
• HEZEKIAH PROCLAIMS A PASSOVER. (2Ch 30:1-12)
• THE ASSEMBLY DESTROYS THE ALTARS OF IDOLATRY. (2Ch 30:13-27)
• THE PEOPLE FORWARD IN DESTROYING IDOLATRY. (2Ch 31:1-10)
• HEZEKIAH APPOINTS OFFICERS TO DISPOSE OF THE TITHES. (2Ch 31:11-19)
• HIS SINCERITY OF HEART. (2Ch 31:20-21)
• SENNACHERIB INVADES JUDAH. (2Ch. 32:1-20)
• AN ANGEL DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS. (2Ch 32:21-23)
• HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS AND RECOVERY. (2Ch 32:24-26)
• HIS RICHES AND WORKS. (2Ch 32:27-33)
• MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ch 33:1-10)
• HE IS CARRIED UNTO BABYLON, WHERE HE HUMBLES HIMSELF BEFORE GOD, AND IS RESTORED TO HIS KINGDOM. (2Ch 33:11-19)
• HE DIES AND AMON SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ch 33:20-25)
• JOSIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ch 34:1-2)
• HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ch 34:3-7)
• HE REPAIRS THE TEMPLE. (2Ch 34:8-18)
• AND, CAUSING THE LAW TO BE READ, RENEWS THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE PEOPLE. (2Ch 34:19-33)
• JOSIAH KEEPS A SOLEMN PASSOVER. (2Ch. 35:1-19)
• HIS DEATH. (2Ch 35:20-27)
• JEHOAHAZ, SUCCEEDING, IS DEPOSED BY PHARAOH. (2Ch 36:1-4)
• JEHOIAKIM, REIGNING ILL, IS CARRIED INTO BABYLON. (2Ch 36:5-8)
• ZEDEKIAH'S REIGN. (2Ch 36:11-21)
• CYRUS' PROCLAMATION. (2Ch 36:22-23)

TSK: 2 Chronicles 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ch 3:1, The place and time of building the temple; 2Ch 3:3, The measure and ornaments of the house; 2Ch 3:11, The cherubims; 2Ch 3:14, The vail and pillars.

TSK: 2 Chronicles 4 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ch 4:1, The altar of brass; 2Ch 4:2, The molten sea upon twelve oxen; 2Ch 4:6, The ten lavers, candlesticks, and tables; 2Ch 4:9, The courts, and the instruments of brass; 2Ch 4:19, The instruments of gold.

TSK: 2 Chronicles 5 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ch 5:1, The dedicated treasures; 2Ch 5:2, The solemn induction of the ark into the oracle; 2Ch 5:11, God being praised, gives a visible sign of his favour.

Poole: 2 Chronicles 3 (Chapter Introduction)

CHRONICLES CHAPTER 3

The place and time of building the temple. The measure and ornaments thereof, 2Ch 3:1-9 . The cherubims, 2Ch 3:10-13 . The veil and the pillars, 2Ch 3:14-17 .

Poole: 2 Chronicles 4 (Chapter Introduction)

CHRONICLES CHAPTER 4

The altar of brass, 2Ch 4:1 . The molten sea upon twelve oxen, 2Ch 4:2-5 . The ten lavers, candlesticks, and tables, 2Ch 4:6-8 . The courts, and the instruments of brass, 2Ch 4:9-18 . The instruments of gold, 2Ch 4:19-22 .

Poole: 2 Chronicles 5 (Chapter Introduction)

CHRONICLES CHAPTER 5

The dedicated treasures, 2Ch 5:1 . The solemn induction of the ark into the oracle, 2Ch 5:2-10 . Glory and praise is sung to God, who appeareth in a cloud, which filled the house, 2Ch 5:11-14 .

Or, even (as that particle is oft understood) the silver and the gold the remainder of those vast sums mentioned 1Ch 22:14 .

MHCC: 2 Chronicles 3 (Chapter Introduction)

The building of the temple.

MHCC: 2 Chronicles 4 (Chapter Introduction)

The furniture of the temple.

MHCC: 2 Chronicles 5 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Ch 5:1-10) The ark placed in the temple.

(2Ch 5:11-14) The temple filled with glory.

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Book of Chronicles

This book begins with the reign of Solomon and the building of the temple, and continues the history of the kings of Judah thenceforward to the captivity and so concludes with the fall of that illustrious monarchy and the destruction of the temple. That monarchy of the house of David, as it was prior in time, so it was superior in worth and dignity to all those four celebrated ones of which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed. The Babylonian monarchy I reckon to begin in Nebuchadnezzar himself - Thou art that head of gold, and that lasted but about seventy years; The Persian monarchy, in several families, about 130; the Grecian, in their several branches, about 300; and 300 more went far with the Roman. But as I reckon David a greater hero than any of the founders of those monarchies, and Solomon a more magnificent prince than any of those that were the glories of them, so the succession was kept up in a lineal descent throughout the whole monarchy, which continued considerable between 400 and 500 years, and, after a long eclipse, shone forth again in the kingdom of the Messiah, of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end. This history of the Jewish monarchy, as it is more authentic, so it is more entertaining and more instructive, than the histories of any of those monarchies. We had the story of the house of David before, in the first and second books of Kings, intermixed with that of the kings of Israel, which there took more room than that of Judah; but here we have it entire. Much is repeated here which we had before, yet many of the passages of the story are enlarged upon, and divers added, which we had not before, especially relating to the affairs of religion; for it is a church-history, and it is written for our learning, to let nations and families know that then, and then only, they can expect to prosper, when they keep in the way of their duty to God: for all along the good kings prospered and the wicked kings suffered. The peaceable reign of Solomon we have (ch. 1-9), the blemished reign of Rehoboam (ch. 10-12), the short but busy reign of Abijah (ch. 13), the long and happy reign of Asa (ch. 14-16), the pious and prosperous reign of Jehoshaphat (ch. 17-20), the impious and infamous reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah (ch. 21-22), the unsteady reigns of Joash and Amaziah (ch. 24, 25), the long and prosperous reign of Uzziah (ch. 26), the regular reign of Jotham (2Ch 27:1-9), the profane and wicked reign of Ahaz (ch. 28), the gracious glorious reign of Hezekiah (ch. 29-32), the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon (ch. 33), the reforming reign of Josiah (ch. 34, 35), the ruining reigns of his sons (ch. 36). Put all these together, and the truth of that word of God will appear, Those that honour me I will honour, but those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. The learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology, suggests that the historical books which were written after the captivity (namely, the two books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah) have more mistakes in names and numbers than all the books of the Old Testament besides, through the carelessness of transcribers: but, though that should be allowed, the things are so very minute that we may be confident the foundation of God stands sure notwithstanding.

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles 3 (Chapter Introduction)

It was a much larger and more particular account of the building of the temple which we had in the book of Kings than is here in this book of Chronicles. In this chapter we have, I. The place and time of building the temple (2Ch 3:1, 2Ch 3:2). II. The dimensions and rich ornaments of it (2Ch 3:3-9). III. The cherubim in the most holy place (2Ch 3:10-13). IV. The veil (2Ch 3:14). V. The two pillars (2Ch 3:15-17). Of all this we have already and an account, 1 Kings 6, 7.

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles 4 (Chapter Introduction)

We have here a further account of the furniture of God's house. I. Those things that were of brass. The altar for burnt-offerings (2Ch 4:1), the sea and lavers to hold water (2Ch 4:2-6), the plates with which the doors of the court were overlaid (2Ch 4:9), the vessels of the altar, and other things (2Ch 4:10-18). II. Those that were of gold. The candlesticks and tables (2Ch 4:7, 2Ch 4:8), the altar of incense (2Ch 4:19), and the appurtenances of each of these (2Ch 4:20-22). All these, except the brazen altar (2Ch 4:1), were accounted for more largely, 1Ki 7:23, etc.

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles 5 (Chapter Introduction)

The temple being built and furnished for God, we have here, I. Possession given to him, by bringing in the dedicated things (2Ch 5:1), but especially the ark, the token of his presence (2Ch 5:2-10). II. Possession taken by him, in a cloud (2Ch 5:11-14). For if any man open the door of his heart to God he will come in, Rev 3:20.

Constable: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

Introduction

For an explanation of the title, writer, date, scope, and purpose of this book, see my comments in my notes on 1 Chronicles. Second Chronicles continues the historical narrative begun in 1 Chronicles.

Message¹

Even though 1 and 2 Chronicles give one continuous story the emphasis in 2 Chronicles is different from that in 1 Chronicles. In 1 Chronicles the emphasis is the importance of the temple in national life. However in 2 Chronicles the emphasis is the impotence of the temple in national life. First Chronicles condemns rationalism in national life, the idea that we can get along without God. Second Chronicles condemns ritualism in national life, the idea that what satisfies God is external conformity rather than internal reality. First Chronicles emphasizes the importance of recognizing God in national life. Second Chronicles emphasizes the importance of following up that formal recognition with actual recognition in attitudes and actions. Second Chronicles is a negative lesson because in it we see that the Israelites' recognition of God was only formal, not actual.

In the first part of the book (chs. 1-9) we have the story of Solomon. It is a demonstration of the impotence and uselessness of merely formal religion. This comes through in four respects.

First, Solomon's inheritance was more than the throne of Israel. His throne only gave him the opportunity to fulfill God's purpose for his life. That purpose was to enable the people to acknowledge Yahweh's rule over them that the temple symbolized. This had been David's great passion in life. He wanted the people to realize that national strength came from submission to God's heavenly throne. Solomon appreciated that fact. When he offered his first sacrifice as king to God he did so at the old tabernacle, not at the temporary tent where the ark resided. He realized that Israel's strength lay in her relationship to God that the tabernacle symbolized. His temple was to become the tabernacle's successor. Solomon's real inheritance then was his opportunity to build the temple as a reminder to the people of how important it was for them to recognize Yahweh as their real Ruler.

Second, Solomon's greatness was not really his wealth and political influence. These were the results of his greatness. His real greatness lay in his humility before God and in his intercession for the people with God. He got away from these things, but when he began to reign he had the essentials of greatness.

Third, Solomon's service was not most importantly the administration of Israel, though he did that well. His primary service to the nation was the erection of the temple, which the writer emphasized.

Fourth, Solomon's failure was more significant than that he oppressed the people and that he set the stage for the division of the kingdom. It was essentially the fact that he ceased to recognize God's rule over him and his kingdom, the very thing the temple he had built promoted. His life became self-centered rather than God-centered. He stopped submitting to the Word of God. For Solomon the temple became only an outward form, not the expression of his inward life. It became an object of ritual rather than the expression of reality. In the years that followed, what had become true of Solomon became true of the whole nation.

In the second part of the book (chs. 10-36) we have the history of the nation Solomon ruled. It is an illustration of the impotence and uselessness of merely formal religion. Let me point this out in four respects.

First, the division of the kingdom resulted because Rehoboam did not acknowledge God's sovereignty over the nation in reality even though he did so formally. Rehoboam continued the true form of worship in Judah, but Jeroboam substituted a new form of worship in Israel. In both cases the worship was only a matter of formal observance, not a matter of reality. That is why both nations failed.

Second, the degeneracy of the kingdom of Judah, as well as Israel, continued because most of the kings and people that followed continued worship only as a matter of formal observance. This resulted too in increasing neglect of even the form. People do not continue to observe a form of worship that is devoid of power very long. Mere formalism dies eventually, as it should. The real issue in Judah was apostasy, infidelity.

Third, the reformations in the kingdom began at the temple. Asa restored the altar. Jehoshaphat sent messengers throughout the land to read the Word of God to the people. Joash renovated the temple. Hezekiah reopened it and revitalized worship in it. Josiah repaired it. In each case, conditions were appalling when these reformations began. In Asa's day the altar was in disrepair. In Jehoshaphat's day the people were ignorant of God's Word. In Joash's day Athaliah had damaged the temple. In Hezekiah's day no one came to the temple. Its doors were shut and its worship abandoned. In Josiah's day not one copy of the Law was available. When the king heard the copy that someone had found in the rubble of the temple read, he was completely unfamiliar with it. Throughout this period of history, about 350 years in chapters 10-36, the nation moved farther and farther from God.

Fourth, the ultimate disaster in the kingdom was the burning of the temple and the captivity of the people. All through the years Solomon's temple had stood as a reminder to the people to recognize God's rule over them as a nation. It had become a hollow symbol, the symbol of a formal ritualism rather than the symbol of a vital relationship. It was only fitting that when the nation ceased to exist and the people left their land the Babylonians destroyed the temple.

If 1 Chronicles teaches that it was necessary that the people recognize God, 2 Chronicles teaches that if that recognition is only formal and ceremonial it is not only useless but impotent.

That is the message of this book. If our recognition of God is only formal and not real, that recognition will be useless for us and impotent in us.

I would like to apply this lesson to us.

First, let me remind you of the similarity that exists between ourselves and the Israelites. They had a physical, material temple. We are a spiritual temple (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. 1 Pet. 2:4-10, esp. vv. 5, 9-10). As the presence of God filled Solomon's temple at its beginning, God's presence filled the church at its beginning (2 Chron. 5:13-14; Acts 2:1-4). As Solomon's temple was the center of national life in Israel, so the church is to be the center of international life in the world. As God intended Solomon's temple to remind His people of His heavenly rule over them, so God intended the church to remind all people of God's rule over them. As Solomon's temple became simply a symbol of a form of worship, so can the church. We must remember what we are here to do, namely to call people to recognize God's gracious and beneficent rule over them that can result in their blessing.

Second, let me point out some manifestations of formalism in the church today. One of these is insistence on doctrinal orthodoxy without a corresponding vital spiritual life. This is what James called dead faith (James 2:20). This can be the possession of both individual Christians and local churches. I do not mean to suggest that doctrinal orthodoxy is unimportant. I am not suggesting that we tear down the temple. But let us make sure that our theological edifice is having its full effect and not merely giving us a false sense of God's approval. It is possible to argue for the correctness of our views and to curse the person who does not share them. That is an evidence of formalism. It is possible to go to church faithfully and yet to live out of church as though there were no God. That is ritualism. It is possible to worship God earnestly and then to goof off at work. That is formalism, ritualism, empty hypocrisy.

Third, let me point out the consequences of formalism. The most serious consequence is not only that a church will fail to be what God wants it to be. It is also that it will fail to do what God has placed it on the earth to do. As Israel failed to bring the light of God's revelation to the world, the church can fail to do so too. Our nation and our world can rush headlong toward godlessness if we are content merely with playing church. We Christians can bear the marks of unworthy conduct, cowardice in the face of wrong, and carelessness about what is right. If we do, we will be useless and impotent. Why is the modern church unlike the Jerusalem church in Acts 2? It is different because of formalism, ritualism, lack of reality. The world has no time or patience with formalism. Why are so many local churches not growing? They are stagnant because the Christians in them are just going through motions. There is no evidence to others that they are anything but useless and impotent. Is your Christian life vital, or are you just going through motions?

Constable: 2 Chronicles (Outline)

Outline

(Continued from notes on 1 Chronicles)

III. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-9

A. Solomon's wisdom and prosperity ch. 1

B. The building of the temple 2:1-5:1

1. Preparations for building the temple ch. 2

2. The temple proper 3:1-9

3. The temple furnishings 3:10-5:1

C. The dedication of the temple 5:2-7:10

1. The installation of the ark 5:2-14

2. Solomon's address 6:1-11

3. Solomon's prayer 6:12-42

4. The celebration of the people 7:1-10

D. God's blessings and curses 7:11-22

E. Solomon's successes chs. 8-9

1. Solomon's political success 8:1-11

2. Solomon's religious success 8:12-16

3. Solomon's economic success 8:17-9:28

4. Solomon's death 9:29-31

IV. The reigns of Solomon's successors chs. 10-36

A. Rehoboam chs. 10-12

1. The division of the nation ch. 10

2. Rehoboam's kingdom ch. 11

3. The invasion by Egypt ch. 12

B. Abijah 13:1-14:1

C. Asa 14:2-16:14

1. Asa's wisdom 14:2-15

2. Asa's reform ch. 15

3. Asa's failure ch. 16

D. Jehoshaphat chs. 17-20

1. Summary of Jehoshaphat's reign 17:1-6

2. The strength of Jehoshaphat's kingdom 17:7-19

3. Jehoshaphat and Ahab ch. 18

4. Jehoshaphat's appointment of judges ch. 19

5. Victory over the Moabite-Ammonite alliance 20:1-30

6. Jehoshaphat's failures 20:31-37

E. Jehoram ch. 21

F. Ahaziah ch. 22

G. Athaliah ch. 23

H. Joash ch. 24

I. Amaziah ch. 25

J. Uzziah ch. 26

K. Jotham ch. 27

L. Ahaz ch. 28

M. Hezekiah chs. 29-32

1. The cleansing and rededication of the temple ch. 29

2. Hezekiah's Passover 30:1-31:1

3. Re-establishment of proper worship 31:2-21

4. The invasion by Sennacherib 32:1-23

5. Hezekiah's humility and greatness 32:24-33

N. Manasseh 33:1-20

O. Amon 33:21-25

P. Josiah chs. 34-35

1. Josiah's reforms ch. 34

2. Josiah's Passover 35:1-19

3. Josiah's death 35:20-27

Q. The last four kings 36:1-21

1. Jehoahaz 36:1-4

2. Jehoiakim 36:5-8

3. Jehoiachin 36:9-10

4. Zedekiah 36:11-21

R. The edict of Cyrus 36:22-23

Constable: 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON.

INTRODUCTION.

As the former Book shews how David was chosen to rule over God's peculiar people, so this [Book] explains briefly the reign of Solomon, in the nine first chapters; and in the rest, that of nineteen of his successors, who governed two tribes till the captivity, while Israel was divided. (Worthington)

Gill: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES

This, and the preceding, were but one book originally, but divided into two because of the size of it, so that this is only a continuation of the former history; that ends at the death of David; this begins with the reign of Solomon, goes through that, and the reigns of all the kings of the house of David; of the kings of Judah only, after the separation of the ten tribes, quite down to the captivity of Judah in Babylon, and reaches to the deliverance of the Jews from thence by Cyrus, and contains an history of four hundred and seventy nine years. It treats not at all of the kings of Israel, after the separation, only of the kings of Judah, through whom the line of the Messiah was drawn; and though it omits several things recorded of them in the book of Kings, yet it gives abundance of anecdotes not to be met with there, which are of great use and advantage in history to know.

Gill: 2 Chronicles 3 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 3 & 4

These two chapters give an account of the building of the temple, of the materials, parts, and form of it, and of things belonging to it, and which agrees with 1Ki 6:1 see the notes there; only here, 1Ch 3:1, mention is made of the particular place where it was built, Mount Moriah; of which see the notes on Gen 22:2. The dimensions of the house, as the Targum rightly explains, 2Ch 3:3, are said to be after the first measure, either of that of the tabernacle by Moses, or rather of that of the pattern David gave to Solomon, 1Ch 28:11, though some understand it of the greater cubit: the holy place is called the greater house, 2Ch 3:5, being twice as long as the holy of holies; in 2Ch 3:6, we are informed what the precious stones were for, which David and his princes gave for the temple, 1Ch 29:2, that they were to decorate the house; and also what sort of gold was used in overlaying it, gold of Parvaim, which some interpret of Peru ^h, in America; but it is a question whether that was then known, or, if it was, must go by another name, since Peru is a late name given by the Spaniards, at their conquest of it. Bochart ⁱ takes it to be Taprobane, an island in the Indian sea, as if it was Taph Parvan or Provan, the shore of Parvan. Kircher ^k is of opinion it is the same with Javaim, the isles of Java in the same sea, from whence was gold, which is not very likely. Waserus ^l thinks Parvaim is the name of a town which is by Pliny ^m corruptly called Parbacia, which was in the land of Havilah, or the kingdom of the Charazenes, where was the best gold, Gen 2:11 though others suppose it to be the same with Ophir, by removing the first letter of the word, to which Pfeiffer ⁿ inclines, and is as probable as any; and much more probable than what the Jews ^o say, that this gold was so called, because it was red like the blood of "parim", oxen: in 2Ch 3:8, the quantity of gold, with which the most holy place was overlaid, is given, six hundred talents: of which See Gill on 1Ki 6:21, In 2Ch 3:9 we read of the nails with which the plates of gold were fastened to the boards, nowhere else mentioned, except in the Vulgate Latin version of 1Ki 6:21, "he fastened the plates with golden nails"; which version perhaps is most correct; the weight of which were fifty shekels of gold; that is, according to the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, each nail weighed so much, which amounted to seventy five pounds of our money ^p. Eupolemus, an Heathen writer ^q speaks of these nails, which he makes to be silver ones; and says they were of the weight of a talent, in the form of a woman's breast, and in number four, with which the plates of gold were fastened, which were of five cubits; I suppose he means there were four of these nails in every plate of five cubits: in 2Ch 4:1 an account is given of an "altar of brass", made by Solomon, we have not elsewhere, only referred to 1Ki 8:64 whether this was only covered with brass, as that made by Moses was, as some ^r think; or whether of massy brass, as Dr. Lightfoot ^s because not to be removed as that was, is not certain; the altar of the second temple was of stones unpolished, according to the Misnah ^t, with which agrees"46 And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them. 47 Then they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new altar according to the former;'' (1 Maccabees 4)and so Philo ^u: "twenty cubits was the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof"; it was four times as big in its square as that of Moses, and three times higher, and a cubit over, See Gill on Exo 27:1. Hecataeus ^w, an Heathen writer, speaks of this altar as four square, and made of whole and unpolished stones, each side of which was twenty cubits, but the height of it he makes to be twelve cubits, in which he mistakes. It weighed, according to Jacob Leon ^x 7000 arobas of brass, each aroba containing twenty five pounds. The rest of the chapter agrees with the account in the book of Kings.

Gill: 2 Chronicles 4 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 3 & 4

These two chapters give an account of the building of the temple, of the materials, parts, and form of it, and of things belonging to it, and which agrees with 1Ki 6:1 see the notes there; only here, 1Ch 3:1, mention is made of the particular place where it was built, Mount Moriah; of which see the notes on Gen 22:2. The dimensions of the house, as the Targum rightly explains, 2Ch 3:3, are said to be after the first measure, either of that of the tabernacle by Moses, or rather of that of the pattern David gave to Solomon, 1Ch 28:11, though some understand it of the greater cubit: the holy place is called the greater house, 2Ch 3:5, being twice as long as the holy of holies; in 2Ch 3:6, we are informed what the precious stones were for, which David and his princes gave for the temple, 1Ch 29:2, that they were to decorate the house; and also what sort of gold was used in overlaying it, gold of Parvaim, which some interpret of Peru ^h, in America; but it is a question whether that was then known, or, if it was, must go by another name, since Peru is a late name given by the Spaniards, at their conquest of it. Bochart ⁱ takes it to be Taprobane, an island in the Indian sea, as if it was Taph Parvan or Provan, the shore of Parvan. Kircher ^k is of opinion it is the same with Javaim, the isles of Java in the same sea, from whence was gold, which is not very likely. Waserus ^l thinks Parvaim is the name of a town which is by Pliny ^m corruptly called Parbacia, which was in the land of Havilah, or the kingdom of the Charazenes, where was the best gold, Gen 2:11 though others suppose it to be the same with Ophir, by removing the first letter of the word, to which Pfeiffer ⁿ inclines, and is as probable as any; and much more probable than what the Jews ^o say, that this gold was so called, because it was red like the blood of "parim", oxen: in 2Ch 3:8, the quantity of gold, with which the most holy place was overlaid, is given, six hundred talents: of which See Gill on 1Ki 6:21, In 2Ch 3:9 we read of the nails with which the plates of gold were fastened to the boards, nowhere else mentioned, except in the Vulgate Latin version of 1Ki 6:21, "he fastened the plates with golden nails"; which version perhaps is most correct; the weight of which were fifty shekels of gold; that is, according to the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, each nail weighed so much, which amounted to seventy five pounds of our money ^p. Eupolemus, an Heathen writer ^q speaks of these nails, which he makes to be silver ones; and says they were of the weight of a talent, in the form of a woman's breast, and in number four, with which the plates of gold were fastened, which were of five cubits; I suppose he means there were four of these nails in every plate of five cubits: in 2Ch 4:1 an account is given of an "altar of brass", made by Solomon, we have not elsewhere, only referred to 1Ki 8:64 whether this was only covered with brass, as that made by Moses was, as some ^r think; or whether of massy brass, as Dr. Lightfoot ^s because not to be removed as that was, is not certain; the altar of the second temple was of stones unpolished, according to the Misnah ^t, with which agrees"46 And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them. 47 Then they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new altar according to the former;'' (1 Maccabees 4)and so Philo ^u: "twenty cubits was the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof"; it was four times as big in its square as that of Moses, and three times higher, and a cubit over, See Gill on Exo 27:1. Hecataeus ^w, an Heathen writer, speaks of this altar as four square, and made of whole and unpolished stones, each side of which was twenty cubits, but the height of it he makes to be twelve cubits, in which he mistakes. It weighed, according to Jacob Leon ^x 7000 arobas of brass, each aroba containing twenty five pounds. The rest of the chapter agrees with the account in the book of Kings.

Gill: 2 Chronicles 5 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 5 & 6

The words with which chapter five begins are the same with 1Ki 7:51 and what is contained in that and chapter six is much the same with 1Ki 8:1 on which see the notes; the blessing of Solomon on the people of Israel, which is there, is here omitted, and two verses are here added, much the same with Psa 132:8.