2 Kings 25:13

25:13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ¹  They took the bronze to Babylon.

2 Kings 25:17

25:17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet ²  high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet ³  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

2 Kings 25:7

25:7 Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch. ⁴  The king of Babylon ⁵  then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.

2 Kings 25:14

25:14 They also took the pots, shovels, ⁶  trimming shears, ⁷  pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ⁸ 

2 Kings 25:16

25:16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple – including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” ⁹  and the movable stands – was too heavy to be weighed.

2 Kings 16:14

16:14 He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new ¹⁰  altar.

2 Kings 16:17

16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” ¹¹  down from the bronze bulls that supported it ¹²  and put it on the pavement.

2 Kings 18:4

18:4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. ¹³  He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time ¹⁴  the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. ¹⁵ 

2 Kings 16:15

16:15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar ¹⁶  offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.” ¹⁷ 

¹ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

² tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

³ tn Heb “three cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”

³ tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

⁵ sn These were used to trim the wicks.

⁶ tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”

⁵ tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (vÿha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (vÿhabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vÿhammÿkhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.

⁶ tn The word “new” is added in the translation for clarification.

⁷ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

⁸ tn Heb “that [were] under it.”

⁸ tn The term is singular in the MT but plural in the LXX and other ancient versions. It is also possible to regard the singular as a collective singular, especially in the context of other plural items.

⁹ tn Heb “until those days.”

¹⁰ tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת (nÿkhash hannÿkhoshet), “bronze serpent.”

⁹ tn That is, the newly constructed altar.

¹⁰ tn Heb “for me to seek.” The precise meaning of בָּקַר (baqar), “seek,” is uncertain in this context. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189.