2 Chronicles 3:16

2Ch 3:16 And he made chains, [as] in the oracle, and put [them] on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put [them] on the chains.

2Ch 3:17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Ver. 16,17. See 1Ki 7:17-18; 1Ki 7:21.

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.

For every pillar an hundred, read 1 Kings 7:20.

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

(16) And he made chains, as in the oracle.—Heb., And he made chainwork in the oracle, or chancel, which is clearly corrupt. But if we read kad-debîr for bad-debîr, an infinitesimal change in Hebrew writing, we get the sense which our version suggests: And he made chainwork as in the chancel. It is true that the sacred writer has not told us that the walls of the Holy of Holies were so ornamented, but in 2Ch_3:5 he states it of the great hall or holy place, and 1Ki_6:29 declares that the whole house was adorned with mural carvings. It was quite natural to write, “and he made chainwork as in the oracle,” assuming that such decorations really existed in the inner chamber. There seems therefore to be no need to alter debîr into rabîd, (“collar”) as most commentators have done, although the change is very slight in Hebrew writing. The LXX. had the present Hebrew text, but, apparently, not understanding it transliterated the Hebrew words: “He made serserôth in the dabir.” So Vulg., “as it were chainlets in the oracle.” The Syriac and Arabic have “and he made chains of fifty cubits.”

An hundred pomegranates.—So Jer_52:23. (See 1Ki_7:20; 1Ki_7:42, from which it appears that there were altogether four hundred pomegranates, viz., an upper and lower row of one hundred each upon the chainwork of each pillar. So 2Ch_4:13.)

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

16. he made chains, as in the oracle] R.V. he made chains in the oracle. The words, in the oracle, though found in LXX., are probably a gloss introduced from 1Ki_6:21 (chains … before the oracle). The Chronicler is here speaking of the outside of the Temple, having already described the “oracle,” i.e. the Holy of Holies, in 2Ch_3:8-14. The Heb. word dìbîr was translated “oracle” because it was supposed to be derived from a word meaning “to speak.” It means, however, simply “the hindmost part” of the house (cf. 2Ch_4:20, 2Ch_5:7; 2Ch_5:9).

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.

As in the oracle - This passage is probably corrupt. Our translators supposing that a single letter had fallen out at the beginning of the word translated “in the oracle,” supplied “as.” But we have no reason to suppose there were any “chains” or “festoons” in the “oracle” or most holy place.

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

In, or "as in." (Sa) (Menochius) --- Protestants supply as. (Haydock) --- Hundred, for one row, or 200 for both, 3 Kings. (Du Hamel)

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).

As in the oracle; as he had done, or like unto those which he made, in the oracle; of which see 1Ki 6:21. The particle as is oft understood, as Gen 49:9; Deu 33:22, &c.

An hundred pomegranates in each row, or two hundred in all, as it is said, 1Ki 7:20.

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

Chains, as in the oracle. Though the writer of Chronicles has not in this description mentioned any chains as appertaining to the oracle, yet they are mentioned in the parallel. The selection of what is said has in our present text so much the appearance of haste, that this may account for the abrupt appearance of the allusion here. Otherwise the words, "in the oracle," tempt us to fear some corruptness of text, scarcely safely removed by Bertheau"s suggestion to substitute dybir ("ring") for rybid ("oracle").

A hundred pomegranates. (comp. 2Ch_4:13; 1Ki_7:15, 1Ki_7:18, 1Ki_7:20) These passages indicate that the total number of pomegranates was two hundred for each pillar.

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

and placed them in the chains He made chains at the top of the capital under it, and within the chains he set forms of pomegranates in order to cover the hollow of the capital, as it is written (ibid. verse 41): “to cover the two bowls (גֻלּוֹת) of the chapiters,” and because of its hollow, he calls them גֻלּוֹת. And concerning the net-work (שְׂבָכָה) written there, these are the chains, an expression of (Job 18:8): “and he shall walk on the nets (שְׂבָכָה),” an expression of branches, like (Gen. 22:13): “caught in the hedge (בַּסְּבַךְ) by its horns.” Some interpret it as coif, and Rabbi Eliezer interprets it as branches.

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.