2 Chronicles 3:13

2Ch 3:13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces [were] inward.

Ver. 13. And their faces were inward.] Heb., Toward the house; i.e., toward the holy place, called the greater house. {2Ch 3:5}

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.

(13) The wings of these cherubims.—Or, These wings of the cherubim.

Spread themselves forth.—Were outspreading (participle), 1Ch_28:18.

And they stood.—Were standing. They were ten cubits high (1Ki_6:26).

Inward.—See margin. Translate, toward the chamber. The cherubs did not face each other like the cherubim on the mercy seat (Exo_25:20).

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

13. twenty cubits] Extending across the width of the whole house.

on their feet] Not “couchant” nor “rampant” but standing as the winged bulls of Assyria stand.

inward] R.V. towards the house, as though to protect the Holiest Place from violation from anyone advancing through the house.

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.

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.

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

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

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).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Their faces were inward; Hebrew, "were to the house," viz. to the holy place. The position of these cherubim, both as to wings and faces, was clearly different from that of those for the tabernacle of Moses. There they "cover the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces are one to another toward the mercy-seat were the faces of the cherubim". (Exo_25:20 Exo_37:9) May this alteration in the time of Solomon indicate possibly one more advance in the developing outlook of Divine mercy to a whole world? Neither this place nor the parallel makes it certain whether the cherubim, that are here said to stand on their feet, stood on the ground, as some say they did. As regards those of the tabernacle, the prepositions used in Exo_25:18, 19 and Exo_37:7, 8 appear to lay stress on their position being a fixture at and on each extremity of the mercy-seat.

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

Inward - Hebrew. towards the house, that is, the most holy house.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

twenty cubits

A cubit is 46 centimeters. AT: "9.2 meters" (See: Biblical Distance)

He made ... he fashioned

The readers should understand that Solomon probably commanded other people to do the actual work. AT: "Solomon's workers made ... they fashioned" (See: Metonymy)

blue, purple, and crimson wool

Translate these words as you did in 2 Chronicles 2:7.

fine linen

"high quality cloth" or "the best cloth"

translationWords

curtain

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

standing on their feet on the floor of the House to the west.

with their faces to the House To the inside, for their heads were not erect, so that they should appear as though looking outward, but their heads were bent and looking before them, as it is written (Exod. 25:20): “and their faces [shall be] one toward the other,” but here it says. “with their faces to the House,” but rather their heads were facing each other, and their heads were also bent toward the House, toward the inside, and the Ark was standing in the place of the wing spread of the two cherubim, and the wings of the cherubim were inclined from the wall and shielded the Ark cover and the Ark with their wings. Aside from these cherubim were the cherubim that Moses had made from the Ark cover, still attached and clinging to the Ark cover and standing upon it. Do not be surprised about this, because likewise, Solomon made ten tables and ten candelabra, besides those of Moses.

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.