2 Chronicles 3:15

(d) THE TWO BRONZE PILLARS IN THE PORCH

(2Ch_3:15-17). Comp. 1Ki_7:15-22.

(15) Before the house.—Before the holy place, in the porch.

Two pillars of thirty and five cubits high.—Two pillars thirty and five cubits in length. 1Ki_7:15 says “eighteen cubits,” so also 2Ki_25:17; Jer_52:21; and no doubt correctly. Of the versions, the LXX. and Vulg. have “thirty-five;” the Syriac and Arabic, “eighteen.”

The chapiter—i.e., the capital. French, chapitre. Literally, the ornament. 1Ki_7:16 has “the crown; “so 2Ch_4:12.

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

15–17 (= 1Ki_7:15-22). The Pillars Jachin and Boaz

15. before the house two pillars] Cp. 1Ki_7:21, he set up the pillars at the porch of the temple, and Jer_52:17 (translate, the pillars … that belonged to the house). These pillars were immediately in front of the porch, but (it seems) detached from it. They were cast in brass (2Ch_4:11-17), were hollow (Jer_52:21), and were crowned with “chapiters” (capitals) in shape like bowls (1Ki_7:41). The dimensions of the pillars (without the chapiters) are variously given thus:—

2Ch_3:15

(Heb.)

length

35 cubits.

2Ch_3:15

(LXX.)

height (ὕψος)

35 cubits.

Jer_52:21

(Heb.)

height (ὕψος)

18 cubits.

Jer_52:21

(LXX.)

height (ὕψος)

35 cubits.

1Ki_7:15

(Heb. and LXX.)

height (ὕψος)

18 cubits.

Jer_52:21

(Heb. and LXX.)

circumference

12 cubits.

1Ki_7:15

(Heb.)

circumference

12 cubits.

1Ki_7:15

(LXX.)

circumference

14 cubits.

The purpose for which the pillars were erected is not certainly known. The fact that names were given them (2Ch_3:17) suggests that they were symbols, perhaps of the presence of Jehovah; cp. Isa_19:19, where a pillar, maçççbâh, is regarded (equally with an altar) as “a sign and witness unto the Lord.” Such a pillar might sometimes be used as an altar; cp. 1Ch_11:22 (note) and Gen_28:18; and the “bowls” of the chapiters of Solomon’s two pillars may have been meant to contain something to be burnt in sacrifice. See Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 191, note 1, and Additional Note L, where there is an illustration of a coin shewing two detached pillars standing in front of the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos. The two pillars in the temple of Heracles at Tyre, of which Herodotus (2:44) speaks, were perhaps simply votive offerings.

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.

2Ch 3:15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that [was] on the top of each of them [was] five cubits.

Ver. 15. Also he made before the house two pillars.] These were cast by Hiram, as great ordnance are now-a-days, round and hollow. See on 1Ki 7:15.

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.

2Ch 3:15-16. He also made before the house — That is, before the holy house, or temple, as it is explained 2Ch 3:17; two pillars of thirty and five cubits high — Namely, both taken together, being each near eighteen cubits, 1Ki 7:15. He made chains as in the oracle — Like unto those which he made in the oracle, of which see 1Ki 6:21. And made a hundred pomegranates — In each row, or two hundred in all, as it is said 1Ki 7:20. These pillars, according to the signification of their names, Jachin and Boaz, mean establishment and strength. See the margin.

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

3:15-16 The two pillars set in the porch of the Temple were made of bronze and were ornately decorated (cp. 1 Kgs 7:15-22).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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 giveth to every one but 17 and an half.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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.

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

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)

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).

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".

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

Thirty and five cubits. The height of these pillars is attested in three places to have been 18 cubits (1Ki_7:15; 2Ki_25:17; Jer_52:21) Some therefore think that the height given in our text describes rather the distance of the one pillar from the other, which would be just 35 cubits, if they stood at the extreme points of the line of the porch front; since the wings on each side (5 cubits for the lowest chamber, and 2.5 cubits for the thickness of the walls) would make up this amount. It isfurther noticed with this explanation that their height (18 cubits) with the chapiters (5 cubits) added, would bring them to the same height as the porch, and that their ornamentation agrees with that of the porch. (1Ki_7:19) All this may be the ease. Yet considering other indications of uncertainty about our text, and the fact that the characters yod kheth (18) are easily superseded by lamed he (35), it is perhaps likelier that we have here simply a clerical error. The parallel place tells us that these pillars and the chapiters were cast of brass; that "a line (1Ki_7:15; Jer 52) of twelve cubits not seven did compass either of them about;" that the ornamentation of each chapiter was "a net of checker-work, and a wreath of chain-work;" that upon the five cubits of chapiter there was another "four cubits of lily-work," etc. If this last feature apply to the two pillars, and not (as some think) to the porch only, the pillars would reach a height of 27 cubits, and if it be supposed that they stood on some stone or other superstructure, it may still be that our "thirty-five cubits" has its meaning. Meantime the passage in Jeremiah (Jer 52) tells us that the pillars were hollow, and that the thickness of the metal was "four fingers.

Vers. 15-17.

Our strength and beauty.

The dimensions of these pillars are still unsettled and uncertain. But there can be no question as to their main characteristics, and very little doubt as to their spiritual significance. Their obvious size and their names speak of strength; the decorations which they bore speak of beauty. Standing where they stood, in or at the porch of the house of the Lord, they were standing monuments of the two closely related truths

I THAT WE SHOULD RECOGNIZE IN GOD HIMSELF STRENGTH AND BEAUTY.

1. Strength. Our temptation is to trust in the strong barrier of sea or mountain range; in the powerful army and navy with all their equipments; in the vigorous and sagacious policy of our statesmanship; in the amplitude of pecuniary resources, etc. But the strength of a country, as also of a man, is in God. If his favour is turned away, all our material advantages will fail us. Rabshakeh"s multitudes of armed Assyrians disappear at the stroke of the God of Israel; the rich man, with his full barns and his cherished plans, leaves his wealth behind him when God says, "Thy soul is required of thee." But to the faithful Hezekiah the favour of Jehovah proves an ample shield against the threatening enemy. And they are blessed who "walk in the light of God"s countenance;" for he is "the glory of their strength: and in his favour shall their horn be exalted". (Psa_89:15, Psa_89:17) The wise nation and the wise man will not look complacently around them to find the secret and source of their strength; they will look up toward him that dwelleth in the heavens, and say, "Jachin; Boaz;" "he will establish;" "in him is strength.

2. Beauty. We are inclined to boast of the beauty of the landscape; or of the persons of our sons and daughters; or of our palaces and castles and cathedrals; or of our "pleasant pictures," and fair gems and jewels. But our delight should be, first and most, in him whose Divine character is perfect; who unites in himself, with completest symmetry, all possible attributes; who is as merciful as he is pure; who is as pitiful as he is righteous; who is as gentle as he is strong; whom we can not only adore and honour, but delight in and love. We go to the house of the Lord that we may behold "the beauty of the Lord"; (Psa_27:4) and especially that we may dwell upon the beauties and the glories of the character of that Son of man who was "holy, harmless, undefiled," in whose mouth no guile was found, but in whose life every grace that can adorn humanity was seen by those that knew him.

II THAT WE SHOULD SEEK FROM GOD OUR STRENGTH AND BEAUTY. The Israelites went up to the house of the Lord that by obedient sacrifice, by reverent worship, by believing prayer, they might secure the favour of the Most High. If we would gain from God the strength we need, and that spiritual excellency which is the true beauty of the nation and the individual, we must go to God to seek it. We must present ourselves before him from whom all strength and glory come. We must seek him

(1) in confession, and in Christ who is our Propitiation;

(2) in reverent worship;

(3) in earnest and believing prayer for his upholding power and for his shaping hand.

Then will he make us strong to overcome and to accomplish; beautiful to attract and to win. C.

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

The two brazen pillars before the house, i.e., before the porch, whose form is more accurately described in Kg1 7:15-22. The height of it is here given at thirty-five cubits, while, according to Kg1 7:15; Kg2 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 Kg1 7:16. הצּפת (ἁπ. λεγ.) from צפה, overlay, cover, is the hood of the pillar, i.e., the capital, called in Kg1 7:16. כּתרת, crown, capital, five cubits high, as in Kg1 7:16.

Ch2 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 Kg1 7:17-20 and Kg1 7:41., compared with Ch2 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 Kg1 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 Kg1 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-).

Ch2 3:17

As to the position of the pillars, and their names, see on Kg1 7:21.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Solomon also made ... He made ... he also made ... He set up

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

thirty-five cubits ... five cubits

"35 cubits ... 5 cubits." A cubit is 46 centimeters. AT: "16.1 meters ... 2.3 meters" (See: Numbers and Biblical Distance)

the capitals

decorations on top of the pillars

one hundred pomegranates

"100 pomegranates" (See: Numbers)

on the right hand ... on the left

"on the right side ... on the left side" or "on the south side ... on the north side"

he named

"Solomon named"

Jakin

Possibly a name to describe God as "The One who establishes." (See: How to Translate Names)

Boaz

This name means "in strength" and is possibly used here to describe God because it means, "In Him is strength." (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

column

pomegranate

temple

right hand

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

thirty-five cubits long i.e., the height. And in I Kings (7:15): “And he cast the two pillars of copper, eighteen cubits, etc.” Rabbi Solomon (Rashi to Kings) explained that he cast them both together and subsequently divided them in two, and the missing cubit is not counted because it is unlike the work of the rest of the pillar, as is written there in the section (7:22): “And upon the top of the pillars was lily work.” Rabbi Joseph [Kara] also explained it in this manner, but it is not acceptable to me, for what is the meaning of its height being eighteen, but this is how I heard it, that he surely cast them both together, and then divided them in two; so we find that each one was seventeen and a half cubits, and the capital, which was the chapiter, as is stated there, its thickness was half a cubit, making each one eighteen cubits.

and the capital - Heb. וְהַצֶּפֶת. That is the overlay (צִפּוּי) like (verse 10): “and he (sic) overlaid them (וַיְצַפֶּה) with gold.” I.e., it was made like a sort of hollow (conical) hat, whose thickness was half of a cubit from below, and when it is inverted and placed on the pillar, it is found to be eighteen cubits: in I Kings (7:16-20), it is called chapiters (כֹּתָרוֹת), an expression of a crown (כֶּתֶר), as it is written: “And two chapiters (כּתָרוֹת), etc.”

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.