2 Chronicles 3:1–5:1
3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord 1 had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 3:2He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3 3:3These are Solomon’s measurements 2 for building the house of God: the length, in cubits 3 of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 3:4The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, 4 and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 3:5The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold and made palms and chains on it. 6 3:6He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 3:7So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 3:8And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents 5 of fine gold. 9 3:9The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels. 6 And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 3:10In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood 7 and overlaid 8 them with gold. 11 3:11The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 3:12and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 3:13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim 9 stood on their feet, facing the nave. 14 3:14And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
15 3:15In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16 3:16He made chains like a necklace 10 and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 3:17He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.
4 He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits 11 long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2 4:2Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 4:3Under it were figures of gourds, 12 for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4 4:4It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 5 4:5Its thickness was a handbreadth. 13 And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths. 14 6 4:6He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7 4:7And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8 4:8He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9 4:9He made the court of the priests and the great court and doors for the court and overlaid their doors with bronze. 10 4:10And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.
11 4:11Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12 4:12the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13 4:13and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. 14 4:14He made the stands also, and the basins on the stands, 15 4:15and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16 4:16The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. 17 4:17In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. 15 18 4:18Solomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought.
19 4:19So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 4:20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21 4:21the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22 4:22the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets 16 of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.
5 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.
1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks the Lord
2 Syriac; Hebrew foundations
3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
4 Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
5 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
6 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
7 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
8 Hebrew they overlaid
9 Hebrew they
10 Hebrew chains in the inner sanctuary
11 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
12 Compare 1 Kings 7:24; Hebrew oxen; twice in this verse
13 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters
14 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters
15 Spelled Zarethan in 1 Kings 7:46
16 Compare 1 Kings 7:50; Hebrew the entrance of the house
Section Overview
David and Solomon’s preparations had reached their end; next, “Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.” The account of preparation subsequent to God’s first announcement (1 Chron. 17:3–15) has been extensive (14 chapters), but the actual details of the buildings and its furnishings are given briefly. The Chronicler’s account (2 Chron. 3:1–5:1) is only half the length of that in 1 Kings 6:1–38; 7:13–51—and this includes places where he expands on that content.1 He focuses on details that are pertinent to the second temple and his hearers’ context.
First come details of place and date (2 Chron. 3:1–2) and an overview of the dimensions and materials of the building (3:3–7); following are thirteen sections starting in Hebrew with “and he [Solomon] made” (wayyaʻas; 3:8, 10, 14, 15, 16a, 16b; 4:1, 2, 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 9),2 then a section starting “and he made,” with Hiram as the subject (4:11). The overall responsibility is Solomon’s, so the final two “and he made” phrases have “Solomon” as subject (4:18, 19). The movement is from the “vestibule” (3:4) into the “Most Holy Place” and its “cherubim” (3:8–13) and “veil” (3:14); then out again to the “pillars” (3:15–17) and external objects and implements (4:1–22). A final statement joins together Solomon’s building work with David’s “dedicated” items (5:1; cf. 3:1).3
The literary structure is analogous to that of the tabernacle construction (Ex. 36:1–40:33, where “and he made” occurs 52 times). More broadly, just as the tabernacle construction followed in detail God’s previous instructions (Exodus 25–31), so here items that Solomon “made” are those listed in David’s instructions to him from the “hand of the Lord” (cf. comment on 1 Chron. 28:11–19). Mention of the “veil” (2 Chron. 3:14; not in 1 Kings) matches that in the tabernacle (Ex. 26:31), and the golden “nails” (2 Chron. 3:9; not in 1 Kings) are analogous to the tabernacle “hooks” (Ex. 26:32).
The Chronicler’s additions of “gold” also invite comparison with the tabernacle (2 Chron. 3:8, 9, 10; 4:7, 8, 20, 21, 22b, with a further nine matching 1 Kings; “gold” was also inserted in Hiram’s required skills, 2 Chron. 2:7, 14; “gold” is mentioned 44 times each in Exodus 25–31 and 36–40). Gold overlay of temple walls and utensils is well attested in contemporary Egyptian and Mesopotamian writings and physical remains; a contemporary quantitative comparison for the Chronicler’s hearers is the enormous wealth of the Persian Empire—when Alexander the Great captured its capital, Persepolis, he is said to have taken 7,000 tons (around 200,000 talents) of gold.4 A golden temple is to give glory to the King of kings.
Section Outline
- II.C.2. Temple Preparation, Building, and Equipping (2:1–5:1) . . .
Response
The Chronicler is concerned to draw attention to both continuity with the past (the tabernacle and Moses’ instructions) and the new developments under David and Solomon, both based upon a word from God. The new elements are consistent with the past but are not the same; a new context calls for appropriate change. Such transformation is even greater with the coming of Christ. His presence and activity fulfills what the past only foreshadowed. Several features of 3:1–5:1 are taken up in the NT.
(1) It was in Jerusalem that God had “appeared” to Abraham and David, and so it became the location of the temple. In Christ the glory of God came to Jerusalem, but the temple of stone was to be destroyed, and the “temple of [Christ’s] body” was raised from the dead (Mark 14:58; 15:29–30; John 1:14; 2:18–21). The sacrifice has been made, and now the temple is a living “house” of all who are in Christ (1 Pet. 2:4–6). In Revelation the “new Jerusalem” is prepared “as a bride”; this time, however, there is “no temple,” for “its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb”—the whole city is the place of the glorious presence of God (Rev. 21:1–3, 9–10, 22).
(2) The Gospel writers tell how at the crucifixion the “curtain [“veil”] of the temple was torn in two” (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). The writer to the Hebrews explores further the significance of this as he tells of the objects and activity in the “Most Holy Place” behind the “second curtain” (Heb. 9:1–10) and contrasts this with the fact that “we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh” (Heb. 10:19–20); we have “a hope” for the future “that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” (Heb. 6:19).
(3) The “sea,” with its ancient imagery of the forces of chaos that threaten, yet for Israel were part of God’s creation—over which he is sovereign—provides a background for the accounts of Christ’s stilling the storm at sea (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25). In Revelation the beast comes out of the sea (Rev. 13:1), but in the end “the sea was no more”; there is no more threat to be overcome (Rev. 21:1). The temple “sea” may also point to the imagery of the “sea of glass” before the throne of God (Rev. 4:6; 15:2).
(4) The rich lavishness of the “gold” of the Most Holy Place foreshadows the picture of the new Jerusalem. The Chronicler’s hearers may have been awed by the use of gold in the Persian Empire in comparison to their own economic situation, and thus the Chronicler reminds them of the gold of the temple; similarly, the people to whom Revelation was addressed could see the riches of the Roman Empire (the “woman sitting on a scarlet beast,” Rev. 17:3–4; “Babylon,” Rev. 18:10, 12, 16), but they were given a vision of the beautiful wealth of the new Jerusalem: the whole city, even the “measuring rod,” is “gold” (Rev. 21:15, 18, 21).
1 Second Chronicles 4:11–5:1 closely follows 1 Kings 7:40–51, so the reduction is even greater elsewhere.
2 Of these only 3:10; 4:2, 6 are in 1 Kings.
3 Martin J. Selman, 2 Chronicles: A Commentary, TOTC (Leicester, UK: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 303–304.
4 Alan R. Millard, “Does the Bible Exaggerate King Solomon’s Golden Wealth?” BAR 15/3 (1989): 20–34.
5 Cf. discussion in Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 203–205.
6 The Hebrew text of verse 4a as a whole appears to be corrupt, and some ancient versions have “twenty cubits” (“cubits” is missing in Hebrew, and meʼah, “100,” is similar to ʼammot, “cubits”); Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 206–207; Dillard, 2 Chronicles, 26. A similar variant is in Ezekiel 42:16.
7 Hill, 1 & 2 Chronicles, 386.
8 Allen, “First and Second Books,” 484–485.
9 Marvin A. Sweeney, I & II Kings: A Commentary, OTL (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2007), 122.
10 Genesis 1:2, 9–10; Job 26:12; Psalms 29:3, 10; 74:13–15; 89:9–10; 93:3–4; 104:5–13, 26; 144:7; Isaiah 27:1; 51:9–10.
11 Japhet, I & II Chronicles, 564.
12 Kings LXX does not include the measurement, suggesting that the number in the present Hebrew text may be a later insertion.
13 Selman, 2 Chronicles, 313.
14 Japhet, I & II Chronicles, 570.
15 McConville, I and II Chronicles, 125.