2 Chronicles 3:11

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Chronicles 3:11 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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2 Chronicles 3:11 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-chronicles/3/11.

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English Translation
The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one [cherub] was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was [likewise] five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one [cherub] was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was [likewise] five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the wings of the cherubim, their length was 20 cubits, one wing was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and another wing five cubits, reaching to a wing of the other cherub.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one [cherub] was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was [likewise] five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the wall of the temple, and its other wing was five cubits long and touched the wing of the other cherub.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the wall of the temple, and its other wing was five cubits long and touched the wing of the other cherub.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one `cherub' was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was `likewise' five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    And the winges of the Cherubims were twentie cubites long: the one wing was fiue cubites, reaching to the wall of the house, and the other wing fiue cubites, reaching to the wing of the other Cherub.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the other cherub.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    as to the wings of the cherubs, their length `is' twenty cubits, the wing of the one `is' five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing `is' five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    as for the wings of the cherubim, their length [is] twenty cubits, the wing of the one [is] five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing [is] five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    The wings of the cherubs were twenty cubits long all together; the wing of one cherub was five cubits long, reaching to the wall of the room; the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the wings of the cherubim, their length was 20 cubits, one wing was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and another wing five cubits, reaching to a wing of the other cherub.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    The wingspan of the cherubim together was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched one Temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the second cherub.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    Their outstretched wings were twenty cubits across; one wing, five cubits long, touching the wall of the house, and the other, of the same size, meeting the wing of the other winged one.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

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לְקִ֣יר
qîyr
H7023
“to/for · wall of”
Preposition + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
Part of Speech
Preposition + Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Masculine
Number
Singular
State
Construct
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H6979

TWOT: 2022

wall, side - wall (of house or chamber) - the sides (of the altar)
  1. וְכַנְפֵי֙ kânâph H3671 “and · wings of” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Feminine, Dual, Construct
  2. הַכְּרוּבִ֔ים kᵉrûwb H3742 “the · cherubim” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  3. אָרְכָּ֖ם ʼôrek H753 “length · their” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  4. אַמּ֣וֹת ʼammâh H520 “cubits” Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute
  5. עֶשְׂרִ֑ים ʻesrîym H6242 “twenty” Adjective, Cardinal number, Both, Plural, Absolute
  6. כְּנַ֨ף kânâph H3671 “wing of” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
  7. הָאֶחָ֜ד ʼechâd H259 “the · one” Particle, Definite Article + Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  8. לְאַמּ֣וֹת ʼammâh H520 “to/for · cubits” Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute
  9. חָמֵ֗שׁ châmêsh H2568 “five” Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  10. מַגַּ֨עַת֙ nâgaʻ H5060 “touching” Verb, Hiphil, Participle Active, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  11. הַבַּ֔יִת bayith H1004 “the · house” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  12. וְהַכָּנָ֤ף kânâph H3671 “and · the · wing” Conjunction + Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  13. הָאַחֶ֨רֶת֙ ʼachêr H312 “the · other” Particle, Definite Article + Adjective, Adjective, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  14. אַמּ֣וֹת ʼammâh H520 “cubits” Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute
  15. חָמֵ֔שׁ châmêsh H2568 “five” Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  16. מַגִּ֕יעַ nâgaʻ H5060 “touching” Verb, Hiphil, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  17. לִכְנַ֖ף kânâph H3671 “to/for · wing of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
  18. הַכְּר֥וּב kᵉrûwb H3742 “the · cherub” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  19. הָאַחֵֽר ʼachêr H312 “the · other” Particle, Definite Article + Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

20
words
11
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Grammatical profile

  • 2 verbs
  • 12 nouns
  • 6 adjectives

Verb forms

  • מַגַּ֨עַת֙ Hiphil · Participle Active
  • מַגִּ֕יעַ Hiphil · Participle Active

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וְכַנְפֵי֙ wing H3671 ×4
  • אַמּ֣וֹת cubit H520 ×3
  • הַכְּרוּבִ֔ים cherub H3742 ×2
  • חָמֵ֗שׁ five H2568 ×2
  • מַגַּ֨עַת֙ to touch H5060 ×2
  • הָאַחֶ֨רֶת֙ other H312 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 41 words from the Hebrew and 37 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 20 Hebrew tokens and 35 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Chronicles 3:11 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְכַנְפֵי֙ הַכְּרוּבִ֔ים אָרְכָּ֖ם אַמּ֣וֹת עֶשְׂרִ֑ים כְּנַ֨ף הָאֶחָ֜ד לְאַמּ֣וֹת חָמֵ֗שׁ מַגַּ֨עַת֙ לְקִ֣יר הַבַּ֔יִת וְהַכָּנָ֤ף הָאַחֶ֨רֶת֙ אַמּ֣וֹת חָמֵ֔שׁ מַגִּ֕יעַ לִכְנַ֖ף הַכְּר֥וּב הָאַחֵֽר

The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one [cherub] was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was [likewise] five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Chronicles 3:11 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ὁ πτέρυξ ὁ χερουβιν ὁ μῆκος πῆχυς εἴκοσι καί ὁ πτέρυξ ὁ εἷς πῆχυς πέντε ἅπτομαι ὁ τοῖχος ὁ οἶκος καί ὁ πτέρυξ ὁ ἕτερος πῆχυς πέντε ἅπτομαι ὁ πτέρυξ ὁ χερουβ ὁ ἕτερος

And the wings of the cherubs were twenty cubits in length: and one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house: and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on 2 Chronicles 3:11 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Ch 3:11 And the wings of the cherubims [were] twenty cubits long: one wing [of the one cherub was] five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing [was likewise] five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.

2Ch 3:12 And [one] wing of the other cherub [was] five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing [was] five cubits [also], joining to the wing of the other cherub.

Ver. 11, 12. See on 1Ki 6:24, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

2Ch 3:11-13. The wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long — Which was just the breadth of the most holy place. And they stood on their feet — As servants, being designed, it seems, to represent the angels, those ministers of God who do his pleasure, Psa 103:21, and who always attend the Divine Majesty. And their faces were inward — Toward the ark, that it might appear they were not set there to be adored, for then they would have been formed as sitting on a throne, and their faces would have been toward their worshippers.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long.—Their length was, altogether, twenty cubits; so that, being outspread, they reached from wall to wall of the Holy of holies, which was twenty cubits wide. Of this breadth each cherub covered half, or ten cubits, with his wings, which were five cubits apiece in length. Obviously the inner wing of each cherub met the inner wing of the other in the middle of the wall.

One wing . . . other cherub.—The wing of the one, extending to five cubits, was touching the wall of the chamber, and the other wing—five cubits—was touching the wing of the other cherub.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

11. one wing] R.V. the wing.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

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

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Pulpit Commentary

Twenty cubits. This, like all the preceding cubit measurings of the temple foundations and heights, and with all the succeeding cherubim measurings, is the exact double of that observed by Moses. (Exo_37:6-9) The height of the cherubim, ten cubits, not mentioned in our text, is given in the parallel. (1Ki_6:26)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

And the wings of the cherubim - their length was twenty cubits How so? The wing of one was five cubits, and the end of the five reached the wall of the House to the south, and the other wing reached the wing of the other cherub, which was at its side, totaling ten cubits for one cherub, and so for the other one. It is found that the wing of one cherub reached the north, and the wing of one cherub reached the south. It follows that they were as long as the entire western wall, which was twenty cubits [long]. And concerning their bodies, our Sages said, (Yoma 21a), that they stood miraculously, [i.e., they did not occupy space]. But according to the simple explanation of the matter, it appears to me that their bodies protruded from them like a bird which spreads its wings, that its body protrudes outside its wings, (See B.B. 99a) and their height is delineated in I Kings (6:26): “The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the second cherub.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 20 words (11 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is qîyr (“wall”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “wall” (qîyr) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. What does the repetition of “wing” (4× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  3. The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
  4. «מַגַּ֨עַת֙» is a Hiphil Participle Active verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  5. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

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