Then Solomon began to build Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of God’s house. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits. The porch that was in front, its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold. He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim. He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.
He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving; and they overlaid them with gold. 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. The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, joining to the wing of the other cherub. The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house. He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.
Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty-five cubits height, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. He made chains in the inner sanctuary, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. He set 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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 6, 14, 15, 16 Which is the mountain where Abraham thought to have…
Which is the mountain where Abraham thought to have sacrificed his son, Gen. 22:2.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 2Ch 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house…
2Ch 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where [the LORD] appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Ver. 1. Then Solomon began to build.] {See Trapp on "1Ki 6:1"} &c
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At Jerusalem in mount Moriah.] Where Isaac, as a type of Christ, bore the wood, obeyed his father, and should have been sacrificed. Calvary, where our Saviour suffered, was either a part of this mount, or very near unto it.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 Where the Lord appeared unto David; which place the…
Where the Lord appeared unto David; which place the Lord had consecrated by his gracious appearance there, 1Ch 21:26. Or, which was showed unto David, to wit, to be the place where the temple should be built; which God pointed out to him, partly by his appearance, and principally by his Spirit suggesting this to David at that time. The place that David had prepared, by pulling down the buildings which were upon it, or near it, by levelling the ground, and possibly by marking it out for the temple and courts, the dimensions whereof he very particularly and exactly understood by the Spirit of God. In the threshing-floor, i.e. in the place where that threshing-floor formerly stood.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 10 Here is, I. The place where the temple was…
Here is, I. The place where the temple was built. Solomon was neither at liberty to choose nor at a loss to fix the place. It was before determined (Ch1 22:1), which was an ease to his mind. 1. It must be at Jerusalem; for that was the place where God had chosen to put his name there. The royal city must be the holy city. There must be the testimony of Israel; for there are set the thrones of judgment, Psa 122:4, Psa 122:5. 2. It must be on Mount Moriah, which, some think, was that very place in the land of Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac, Gen 22:2. So the Targum says expressly, adding, But he was delivered by the word of the Lord, and a ram provided in his place. That was typical of Christ's sacrifice of himself; therefore fitly was the temple, which was likewise a type of him, built there. 3. It must be where the Lord appeared to David, and answered him by fire, Ch1 21:18, Ch1 21:26. There atonement was made once; and therefore, in remembrance of that, there atonement was made once; and therefore, in remembrance of that, there atonement must still be made. Where God has met with me it is to be hoped that he will still manifest himself. 4. It must be in the place which David has prepared, not only which he had purchased with his money, but which he had purchased with his money, but which he had pitched upon divine direction. It was Solomon's wisdom not to enquire out a more convenient place, but to acquiesce in the appointment of God, whatever might be objected against it. 5. It must be in the threshold floor of Ornan, which, if (as a Jebusite) it gives encouragement to the Gentiles, obliges us to look upon temple-work as that which requires the labour of the mind, no less than threshing-work dos that of the body.
II. The time when it was begun; not till the fourth year of Solomon's reign, Ch2 3:2. Not that the first three years were trifled away, or spent in deliberating whether they should build the temple or no; but they were employed in the necessary preparations for it, wherein three years would be soon gone, considering how many hands were to be got together and set to work. Some conjecture that this was a sabbatical year, or year of release and rest to the land, when the people, being discharged from their husbandry, might more easily lend a hand to the beginning of this work; and then the year in which it was finished would fall out to be another sabbatical year, when they would likewise have leisure to attend the solemnity of the dedication of it.
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III. The dimensions of it, in which Solomon was instructed (Ch2 3:3), as he was in other things, by his father. This was the foundation (so it may be read) which Solomon laid for the building of the house. This was the rule he went by, so many cubits the length and breadth, after the first measure, that is, according to the measure first fixed, which there was no reason to make any alteration of when the work came to be done; for the dimensions were given by divine wisdom, and what God does shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, or taken from it, Ecc 3:14. His first measure will be the last.
IV. The ornaments of the temple. The timber-work was very fine, and yet, within, it was overlaid with pure gold (Ch2 3:4), with fine gold (Ch2 3:5). and that embossed with palm-trees and chains. It was gold of Parvaim (Ch2 3:6), the best gold. The beams and posts, the walls and doors, were overlaid with gold, Ch2 3:7. The most holy place, which was ten yards square, was all overlaid with fine gold (Ch2 3:8), even the upper chambers, or rather the upper floor or roof - top, bottom, and sides, were all overlaid with gold. Every nail, or screw, or pin, with which the golden plates were fastened to the walls that were overlaid with them, weighed fifty shekels, or was worth so much, workmanship and all. A great many precious stones were dedicated to God (Ch1 29:2, Ch1 29:8), and these were set here and there, where they would show to the best advantage. The finest houses now pretend to no better garnishing than good paint on the roof and walls; but the ornaments of the temple were most substantially rich. It was set with precious stones, because it was a type of the new Jerusalem, which has no temple in it because it is all temple, and the walls, gates, and foundations of which are said to be of precious stones and pearls, Rev 21:18, Rev 21:19, Rev 21:21.
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John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On v1 See Chapter Introduction
See Chapter Introduction
Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 4
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John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17 The place and time of his building the temple,…
The place and time of his building the temple, ver. 1, 2. The dimension and ornaments of it, ver. 3-9. The cherubim in the most holy place, ver. 10-13. The veil, ver. 14. The two pillars, ver. 15- 17.
Moriah - It was the belief of the ancient Jews, that the temple was built on that very place, where Abraham offered up Issac.
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Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 17 Solomon begins to build the temple in the fourth…
CHAPTER III
Solomon begins to build the temple in the fourth year of his
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reign on Mount Moriah, 1, 2.
Its dimensions, ornaments, and pillars, 3-17.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse 1. In Mount Moriah] Supposed to be the same place where Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac; so the Targum: "Solomon began to build the house of the sanctuary of the Lord at Jerusalem, in the place where Abraham had prayed and worshipped in the name of the Lord. This is the place of the earth where all generations shall worship the Lord. Here Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac for a burnt-offering; but he was snatched away by the WORD of the Lord, and a ram placed in his stead. Here Jacob prayed when he fled from the face of Esau his brother; and here the angel of the Lord appeared to David, at which time David built an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor which he bought from Araunah the Jebusite."
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Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 15 2Ch 3:1. In mount Moriah — Part of this…
2Ch 3:1. In mount Moriah — Part of this mountain was in the tribe of Judah, and part of it in the tribe of Benjamin: so that the temple is ascribed to them both. To Judah, Psalm 77:68, 69, and to Benjamin, Deu 33:12. For the greatest part of the courts were in the tribe of Judah; but the altar, the porch, the most holy part of the temple, where the ark and the cherubim were, in the tribe of Benjamin. It was the belief of the ancient Jews, that the temple was built on the very spot where Abraham offered up Isaac. So the Jewish Targum (a paraphrase on the books of Moses, in the Chaldee language) says expressly, adding, But he (Isaac) was delivered by the word of the Lord, and a ram provided in his place. That offering of Isaac was typical of Christ’s sacrifice of himself: therefore fitly was the temple built there, which was also a type of him. Where the Lord appeared unto David — That is, which place the Lord had consecrated by his gracious appearance there, 1Ch 21:26. The place that David had prepared — Which he had not only purchased with his money, but which he had pitched upon by divine direction, and made ready for the purpose by pulling down the buildings that were upon it or near it, by levelling the ground, and possibly by marking it out for the temple and courts, the dimensions whereof he probably very particularly and exactly understood by the Spirit of God. In the thrashing-floor of Ornan — In that place where the thrashing-floor formerly was.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 Where the Lord appeared unto David - The marginal…
Where the Lord appeared unto David - The marginal rendering, or “which was shown to David,” is preferred by some; and the expression is understood to point out to David the proper site for the temple by the appearance of the Angels and the command to build an altar 2Sa 24:17-25; 1Ch 21:16-26.
In the place that David had prepared - This seems to be the true meaning of the passage, though the order of the words in the original has been accidentally deranged.
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Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Moria, which signifies vision; (Calmet) the place pointed out…
Moria, which signifies vision; (Calmet) the place pointed out to Abraham, (Genesis xxii. 2.; St. Augustine, de C.[City of God?] xvi. 32.) and to David, 1 Paralipomenon xxi. 15., and xxii. 1.
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 β. The Building of the Temple, and Making of…
β. The Building of the Temple, and Making of the Holy Vessels: 2Ch_3:1 to 2Ch_5:1.
2Ch_3:1 And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, which was shown to his father David, and which he had prepared in the place of David, in the floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2And he began to build in the second month, on the second1 day in the fourth year of his reign.
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3And this is the foundation of Solomon, to build the house of God: the length after the former measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4And the porch that was before the length, before the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty2; and he 5overlaid it within with pure gold. And the great house he lined with cypress, and overlaid it with fine gold, and made thereon palms and garlands 6And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was 7gold of Parvaim. And he overlaid the house, the beams, the sills, and its walls and its doors, with gold, and graved cherubim on the walls.
8And he made the house of the most holy, that its length before the breadth of the house was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits; and overlaid it with fine gold, to six hundred talents. 9And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold: and he overlaid the upper rooms with gold. 10And he made in the house of the most holy two cherubim of sculptured work, and overlaid them with gold. 11And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long; the wing of the one was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing five cubits, touching the wing of the other 12cherub. And the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing five cubits, joining the wing of the first cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim spread forth twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, and their faces to the house.
14And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and byssus, and raised cherubim thereon.
15And he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five3cubits height; and the capital that was on the top was five cubits. 16And he made chains in the ring,4 and put them on the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, 17and put them on the chains. And he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right and one on the left; and he called the name of the right pillar Jachin, and the name of the left Boaz.
2Ch_4:1 And he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits its length, and twenty 2cubits its breadth, and twenty cubits its height. And he made the sea molten; ten cubits from brim to brim, round about, and five cubits its height; 3and a line of thirty cubits compassed it about. And figures of oxen5 were under it, compassing it round about; ten in a cubit, encircling the sea around: two rows the oxen formed, cast out of its mass. 4It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking northward, and three looking westward, and three looking southward, and three looking eastward; and the sea was set on them above, 5and all their hinder parts were inwards. And its thickness was a hand-breadth, and its brim was wrought like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom, 6holding in it (many) baths; it contained three thousand.6 And he made ten lavers, and put five on the right and five on the left, to wash in them; the work of the burnt-offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. 7And he made ten candlesticks of gold, after their plan, 8and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. And he made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right, and five on 9the left: and he made basons of gold a hundred. And he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the door-leaves with brass. 10And he set the sea on the right side eastward, over against the south.
11And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls: and Huram7 finished the work which he made for King Solomon in the house of God. 12The two pillars, and the balls, and the capitals on the top of the two pillars, and the two grates to cover the two balls of the capitals which were on the 13top of the pillars. And the four hundred pomegranates on the two grates; two rows of pomegranates on each grate, to cover the two balls of the capitals 14which were upon the two8 pillars. And he made9 stands, and he made lavers 15, 16upon the stands. One sea, and twelve oxen under it. And the pots, and the shovels, and the forks,10 and all their vessels, made Huram his father for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord, of bright brass. 17In the plain of Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground11 between Succoth and Zeredathah. 18dathah. And Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance; for the weight of the brass was not found out.
19And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the 20golden altar, and the tables with the shew-bread on them. And the candlesticks with their lamps, to burn after their rule before the oracle of costly gold. 21And the flowers, and the lamps, and the snuffers: this was the most 22perfect gold.12 And the knives, and the bowls, and the censers, and the extinguishers of costly gold: and the door of the house, its inner leaves to the most holy place, and the door leaves of the house for the temple, of gold.
Ch 2Ch_5:1.Then was finished all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord: and Solomon brought in the holy gifts of David his father; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments he put among the treasures of the house of God.
EXEGETICAL
Preliminary Remark.—From the description of the building of the temple in 1 Kings 6, 7, the present account is distinguished—1. By this, that in the introduction more precise statements are made with respect to the plan of the building, but less precise with respect to the time when it began, than there (comp. 2Ch_3:1-2 with 1Ki_6:1); 2. By this, that our author describes, in unbroken connection, first (2Ch_3:3-17) the magnitude and arrangement of the edifice itself, then (2Ch_4:1-22) those of its several furnishings in the court and the sanctuary, whereas in 1 Kings 6, 7 this description meets with two considerable interruptions, inasmuch as—a. an account of a divine promise given to the king during the building (2Ch_6:11-13), and—b. a description of a palace-building of Solomon, partly concurrent with that of the temple (2Ch_7:1-11), are there inserted; 3. By a somewhat different arrangement of the several objects enumerated and described in 1 Kings 4. By the greater fulness and circumstantiality of the description, as contained in 1 Kings (for example, with respect to the ten brazen stands, 1Ki_7:27-38, which our author, 2Ch_4:14, only slightly mentions); and 5. By the here again remarkable excerpting habit of the Chronist. In the following exposition, only that which is peculiar to our author will be fully discussed; but with regard to that which he has in common with 1 Kings, or which he, compared with the more ample details there, only briefly notices, reference will be made to the exposition of Bähr (Bibelw. vii. pp. 38–70), which is characterized by solidity and scientific ability.
1. Place and Time of building the Temple: 2Ch_3:1-2.—And Solomon began . . . on mount Moriah. Only here is the site of the temple so named; but the designation is no doubt identical with “the land of Moriah” (אֶרֶץ הַמּוֹרִיָּה, “land of the appearing of the Lord”), Gen_22:2. The place of the celebrated sacrifice of Abraham was even that floor of Ornan on which David presented his offering, and which he had consequently chosen for the site of the temple, the hill lying north-east of Zion, which is now called “the Haram,” after the holy mosque of the Mahommedans standing on it. Comp. Rosen, Das Haram, Gotha 1866, and the plan and description in Ph. Wolff’s Jerusalem (3d edit. 1872), p. 89 ff.—Which was shown to his father David, as the future site of the temple; see 1Ch_21:15 ff. Against this most usual exposition it may certainly be objected (with Keil) that the Niphalנִרְאָה elsewhere denotes, not “be shown,” but “be seen, appear.” Yet the rendering of Keil: “where He (Jehovah) appeared to his father David” (so also the Sept.), has this defect, that the subject Jehovah has to be supplied, and that אֲשֶׁר has to be taken in the sense of אֲשֶׁר שָׁם, as elsewhere only in the phrase בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר (Ew. § 331, c, 3)—(and) which he had prepared in the place of David, which site he (Solomon) had prepared on the place fixed by David. So Berth., Kamph., etc., and in the main Luther, Starke, and other ancients (for example, Rambach: quam domum prœparavit Salomo in loco Davidis). On the contrary, the Sept., Vulg., Syr., etc., translate as if במקום stood before אשׁר הֵכִין, “in the place which David had prepared” (the building of the temple); and Keil, in accordance with his supplying of Jehovah as subject to נִרְאָה, interprets: “who (David) had prepared the house, that is, the building of it, in the place appointed of David.” None of these expositions is quite satisfactory; whence it is natural to suppose some corruption of the text.
2Ch_3:2. And he began to build in the second month, in the second. As בַּשֵּׁנִי cannot well (comp: Luther, etc.) signify “on the second day,” for this would be expressed by בִּשְׁנַיִם לַחֹדֶשׁ or the like (with the cardinal number), it is strongly to be suspected that the word has come into the text by an error of transcription; comp. Crit. Note. The second month is Ziph, corresponding nearly with our May (comp. 1Ki_6:37).—In the fourth year of his reign, that is, as Solomon reigned from 1015, about the year 1012 b.c. (comp. Hitzig, Gesch. p. 10 f., whose chronological determinations otherwise contain much that is arbitrary; among other things, the assumption that Solomon reigned from 1035 b.c., thus, on the whole, not forty but sixty years).
2. The building of the Temple itself; and first, of the Porch and the Holy Place (or the Front and Middle Room): 2Ch_3:3-7.—And this is the foundation of Solomon; these are the fundamental proportions which he employed in building. The inf. Hoph. חוּסַד is used substantively, as in Ezr_3:11.—The length after the former measure, the Mosaic or holy cubit, that, Eze_40:5; Eze_43:13, was a handbreadth longer than the civic cubit of the later time, in and after the exile (comp. on 1Ch_22:13 f.). Only the length and the width of the temple are here given, not its height, which was, 1Ki_6:2, thirty cubits.
2Ch_3:4. And the porch, that was before the length, that extended in front of the oblong house as its entrance,—before the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, was measured in front of the width of the house, twenty cubits. That the breadth or depth of this porch was not twenty cubits, but only ten (1Ki_6:3), is not here said, but follows of necessity from the following statements concerning the size of the most holy place compared with that of the holy place, which was twice as long (comp. 2Ch_3:3 with 2Ch_3:8).—And the height a hundred and twenty. A certainly erroneous statement; a front building of 120 cubits height, before a house only thirty cubits high, could not be called אוּלָם, but would have been a מִגְדָּל, “tower” (Keil). Behind the present defective reading is perhaps concealed the statement that the breadth of the porch was ten cubits: Berth. and Kamph. wish to arrange the text after 1Ki_6:3 : “And the porch, which was before the house, its breadth was ten cubits before it, and the length, which was before the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits.” But there are some objections to this emendation; see Keil, p. 235 (Remark 1).
2Ch_3:5. And the great house he lined with cypress. The holy place is called the great house, as forming the chief room of the whole house. “Line,” חִפָּה, coinciding essentially with the foregoing צִפָּה “overlay,” stands here twice, first of lining the stone with wood, and then of overlaying or plating this wood with gold.—Made thereon palms and garlands, applied to it ornaments of palms and garlands (according to 1Ki_6:18, in the form of bas-reliefs cut in the panels of the wall). תִּמֹּרִים = the fem.תִּמֹּרוֹת used in the same sense, 1Ki_6:29; 1Ki_6:35, figures of palms; this masc. form occurs also Ezek. 41:28. שַׁרְשְׁרוּת, properly, chains of gold wire,—see 2Ch_3:16 and Exo_28:14,—but here ornaments wound like a chain on the gilded walls, representing garlands.
2Ch_3:6. And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty; comp. 1Ch_29:2, and Bähr on 1Ki_6:7.—And the gold was gold of Parvaim, from Parvaim, a country, as the etymon of the probable Indian name seems to indicate, situated in the east, but of unknown, and not to be determined, site. On its conjectured identity with Ophir, and the opinions regarding it, see the excursus after 2 Chronicles 8
2Ch_3:7. And he overlaid the house, the beams, those of the ceiling, as those next named, the sills that are under the doors. Somewhat more precise than the present statements concerning the internal decorations of the house (the holy place with its porch, which are here in question, as 2Ch_3:8 ff. show) are those contained in 1Ki_6:18; 1Ki_6:29-30.
3. The Most Holy Place, with its Cherubic Figures and Veil: 2Ch_3:8-14.—And he made the house of the most holy, that its length . . . twenty cubits. That, besides the length and breadth, the height also was the same, and thus its form was cubic, see 1Ki_6:20. Our author does not specially set forth this certainly symbolic circumstance; on the contrary, his love of the ornamental and magnificent leads him to set forth another circumstance omitted in 1 Kings, that the weight of the gold plating for the inner wall of the most holy place was 600 talents.
2Ch_3:9. And the weight of the nails, that served for fastening the gold plate on the wooden lining of the walls. And this statement concerning the weight of the nails being fifty shekels is peculiar to our author, and characteristic of him; as also the following one in b, concerning the inner gilding of the upper chambers over the most holy place (comp. 1Ch_28:11).
2Ch_3:10. Two cherubim of sculptured work, literally, “a work of imagery.” צַֽעֲצֻעִים, from the Arab, root zua, finxit, formavit, only here in the O. T.—Overlaid them with gold, a remark occurring also 1Ki_6:28, but there forming the end of the description of the cherubim.
2Ch_3:10-12. The description of the size and position of the four outspread wings, each five cubits long, is clumsy and circumstantial, after the Eastern fashion, but at the same time perfectly obvious and clear. The expressions for the mutual contact of the tips of the wings are הִגִּיעַ and (once 2Ch_3:12) דבק, properly; cleave, adhœrere.
2Ch_3:13. The wings of these cherubim spread forth twenty cubits, literally, “were spreading forth (effected an expansion of) twenty cubits;” comp. on פּרשׁ, 1Ch_28:18; 2Ch_5:8. Against Berth., who would expel כַּנְפֵי out of the text; see Keil on this passage.—Stood on their feet, and their faces to the house, that is, to the holy place, not to one another, as the faces of the cherubs on the mercy-seat (Exo_25:20). That they had in this upright position a height of ten cubits, the author of 1 Kings (2Ch_6:26) affirms in his more exact statement of the proportions. Are we entitled to infer from the statement of our author the human form of the cherubim? This appears at all events very probable; comp. Bähr on 1Ki_6:23 ff., and Riehm, “Die Cherubim in der Stiftshütte und im Tempel,” Theol. Stud. und Krit. 1871, iii. p. 399 ff., where (as in the treatise De natura et notione symbolica cheruborum, 1864) this theologian certainly, for the oldest time, conceives the cherubim as theophanic storm-clouds, and represents them in the form of birds, but, for the latter time (and certainly for that of Solomon), affirms a change of this prey-bird form to a winged human form. Similarly H. Schultz, Alttestamentl. Theol. i. 337 ff., and Dillmann, Art. “Cherubim” in Schenkel’s Bibel-Lexikon.
2Ch_3:14. And he made the veil of blue, and purple, etc., thus of the same four materials of which the veil in the tabernacle had been made, and interwoven with the same cherubic figures as it was; see Exo_26:31. On this פָּרֹכֶת, the inner veil between the holy and the most holy place, the older description of the temple in 1Ki_6:21 says nothing.
4. The Two Pillars Jachin and Boaz: 2Ch_3:15-17; comp. the much fuller description in 1Ki_7:15-22; 1Ki_7:41-42 (also 2Ch_4:12 f.).—And he made before the house (in the porch) two pillars of thirty and five cubits height; in 1 Kings, rather of eighteen cubits; see Crit. Note.—And the capital that was on the top. Instead of the הַצֶּפֶת, head-piece (from צפה, cover, overlay), the parallel 1Ki_7:16 gives the term כֹּתֶרֶת, “crown, pommel.”
2Ch_3:16. And he made chains in the ring, in the girdle-formed network encircling the top of the pillars, that served for the fastening of the pomegranates, and is otherwise called שְׂבָכָה, network, but here רָבִיד, collar (comp. Gen_41:42; Eze_16:11); for רָבִיד is certainly to be read instead of דְּבִיר, which gives no tolerable sense, and has drawn away the old translations to strange explanations (Vulg.: quasi catenulas in oraculo; Syr. and Arab.: “chains of fifty cubits length,” that is, reaching from the most holy place to the pillars, etc.); comp. the Crit. Note. Moreover, the term רָבִיד seems to be a synonym rather of the שְׂבָכָה, network, mentioned 2Ch_4:12-13, than of the גּלֻּוֹת “balls, rolls,” mentioned in the same place (against Keil).—Made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains, perhaps so “that there was an apple on every link of the chain-like ornament” (Berth.). The number 100, which is given also in Jer_52:23, determines also merely the one of the two rows of pomegranates which hung on every ring or girdle of the network. That each of these bore 100 apples, and thus the sum total of all the apples on both pillars amounted to 400, is stated 2Ch_4:13, in accordance with 1Ki_7:42. On 2Ch_3:17, especially on the names Jachin and Boaz, see Bähr on 1Ki_7:21.
5. The Holy Furniture of the Temple and its Court: 2Ch_4:1-10.
2Ch_4:1. The brazen altar. And he made an altar of brass, the altar of burnt-offering. See more particularly concerning its construction, more exactly described in Eze_43:13-17, and its probably terrace-like appearance, in Keil, Archœol. p. 127, with the plan, plate iii. fig. 2. That our verse has no parallel in 1 Kings 6, 7 is perhaps only accidental, but may arise from this, that there only articles made by Huram (Hiram) are fully described, to which the altar of burnt-offering did not belong. It is, moreover, only incidentally mentioned in 1 Kings, namely, in 2 Chronicles 8 22, 64, on occasion of the dedication of the temple, and again in 2Ch_9:25.
2Ch_4:2-5. The Brazen Sea; comp. 1Ki_7:23-26 and the expositors thereon.—A line of thirty cubits compassed it about, formed the measure of its circumference (the actual existence of such a line is not to be supposed).
2Ch_4:3. And figures of oxen were under it, instead of which 1Ki_7:24 has: “and colocynths (or flower buds, according to Bähr) were under the brim of it round about.” Our בְּקָרִים therefore appears an error of transcription for פְּקָעִים, as in the second member הַבָּקָר for הַפְּקָעִים.
2Ch_4:5. Holding in it (many) baths; it contained three thousand. According to 1Ki_7:26, rather only 2000, which number alone suits the size of the vessel as described in 2Ch_4:2 (comp. Crit. Note). Moreover, the יָכִיל, “it contained,” is by no means disturbing, as Berth. and Kamph. think, who condemn it as a gloss coming into the text from 1 Kings. The pleonastic phrase rather suits the effort of the author to represent the size of the vessel as very great; and the construction is essentially the same as in the following verse.
2Ch_4:6. The Ten Lavers, with the incidental Statement of the Use of the Brazen Sea.—And he made ten lavers. Much more full is 1Ki_7:27-38, where the stands bearing these lavers are described with special minuteness.—To wash in them; the work of the burnt-offering they washed in them, the flesh of the burnt-offerings to be burned on the altar. On הֵדִיחַ, scour, rinse, as a synonym of רחץ, comp. Jos_4:4; Eze_40:38.
2Ch_4:7. The Golden Candlesticks in the Holy Place. The notice of these is wanting, as well as the following one referring to the ten tables, and the next referring to the two courts, in the parallel text 1Ki_7:39, perhaps from a gap in the text. Yet incidental references to these objects are found there; see 1Ki_6:36; 1Ki_7:12; 1Ki_7:48-49.—After their plan, properly, according to their right, כְּמִשְׁפָּטָם, a reference to Exo_25:31 ff.
2Ch_4:8. And he made ten tables, on which to place the ten candlesticks, scarcely for the shew-bread, as seems to follow from 2Ch_4:19; see rather on this passage, as on 1Ch_28:16 (against Light-foot), Starke, Bähr, Keil, etc.—And he madebasins of gold, bowls or tankards for pouring the libation; comp. Amo_6:6; scarcely bowls for receiving the blood of the victim (as Berth. thinks).
2Ch_4:9. And he made the courts of the priests, the smaller or inner court (1Ki_6:36; 1Ki_7:12), or also the upper court, as it is called, Jer_36:10, on account of its greater elevation.—And the great court, the outer (הָֽעֲזָרָה connected with חצר); comp. Eze_43:14 ff; Eze_45:19, where it is distinguished as the “lower” or “new” court, from the inner or upper court of the priests. A more precise description of this outer court is wanting as well in 1 Kings 6, 7, where it is not even mentioned, as in our passage, where only its door leaves overlaid with brass are mentioned.
2Ch_4:10. Addendum concerning the Position of the Brazen Sea; comp. 1Ki_7:39 b.
6. The Brass Works of Huram: 2Ch_4:11-18. The list is opened with the “pots, shovels, and bowls,” objects belonging to the furniture of the altar of burnt-offering in the court, that belong properly to the foregoing section. Even so 1Ki_7:40, where likewise with וַיְּכַל in the middle of the verse we pass to all that was made by Huram.—The pots, and the shovels, and the bowls. הַסִּירוֹת (for which 1Ki_7:40, defectively: הַכִּירוֹת) are the pots for taking away the ashes; הַיָּעִים, the shovels for removing the ashes from the altar; הַמִּזְרָקוֹת (perhaps to be distinguished from מִזְרֽקִים, the sprinkling-bowls or wine tankards in 2Ch_4:8 b), the bowls for receiving and sprinkling the blood.—And Huram finished the work. Comp. from this to the end of the section the almost literally agreeing verses 1Ki_7:40 b–47, and Bähr on the passage. For the partial deviations and errors in our text, see Crit. Note.
2Ch_4:16. And all their vessels. Most recent expositors (also Keil) wish to read, after 1Ki_7:45 : “all these vessels,” אֵת בָּל־ הַכֵּלִים הָאֵלֶּה, because we cannot think in the “vessels” of the vessels hitherto named. But might not the forms (models) be meant in which the various vessels were cast? The allusion to the foundries of the king in the next verse makes this very probable; but the reading הָאֵלֶּה in 1Ki_7:45 appears by no means absolutely settled.—Made Huram his father. For אָבִיו, see on 2Ch_2:12.—Of bright brass, נְחשֶׁת מָרוּק, accus. materiœ; in 2 Kings the equivalent נְחשֶׁת מְמֹרָט stands for this.
2Ch_4:17. In the plain of Jordan (properly, in the circuit of Jordan) the king cast them, in the clay ground, properly, “in the densities of the ground,” בַּֽעֲבֵי הָאֲדָמָה (or, if the reading בַּֽעֲבִי is to be preferred, sing.: in the density of the ground; ἐν τῷ πάχει τῆς γῆς, Sept.). According to the older exegesis, the phrase denoted: in the clay ground, in argillosa terra (Vulg.). The designation of the hard forms for the casting, which Berth. thinks are mentioned here, should rather be the כָּל־כְּלֵיהֶם of 2Ch_4:16.—Between Succoth and Zeredathah. In 1Ki_7:46 the name of the second place is Zarthan, which is only another form of Zeredathah; comp. Jdg_7:22.
2Ch_4:18. For the weight of the brass was not found out, or was not determined (Berth.); that is, there was so great a quantity, that, etc. (comp. 2Ch_5:6).
7. Enumeration of the Golden Vessels of the Sanctuary, with the Close of the whole Account of the Building: 2Ch_4:19–ch. 2Ch_5:1; comp. 1Ki_7:48-51, which section also deviates much in its first verses from the present one.—And the tables with the shew-bread on them. Originally, perhaps, only an inexact expression (synecdoche), as in 1Ch_28:16, this mention of the שֻׁלְחָנוֹת has here certainly the appearance of a multiplicity of tables for the shew-bread. But 1Ki_7:48 names quite distinctly only one table.
2Ch_4:20. And the candlesticks . . . to burn after their rule (כַּמִּשְׁפָּט, as 2Ch_4:7) before the oracle, the “debir,” that is, the most holy place. The candlesticks had accordingly their place in the holy place immediately before the veil; and so the altar of incense (comp. Heb_9:4).
2Ch_4:21. And the flowers, and the lamps. Comp. Bähr on 1Ki_7:49.—This was the most perfect gold. מִכְלוֹת זָהְב, properly, “perfections of gold”; the elsewhere not occurring מִכְלוֹת (equivalent to מִכְלָל, Psa_50:2, or מִכְלוֹל, Eze_23:12) appears unintelligible to the Sept., and hence the whole clause is omitted. As it appears superfluous along with the costly gold at the close of the verse before, and is wanting in 1Ki_7:49, it awakens critical suspicion.
2Ch_4:22. And the knives, serving perhaps to clean the lamps (with the snuffers), but also for other purposes. Their place among the vessels of the temple is attested also by 2Ki_12:14; Jer_52:18. For the next named bowls see on 2Ch_4:11. The כַּפּוֹת (trays for the incense) and מַחְתּוֹת (extinguishers) are also named 1Ki_7:50 : on the contrary, the סִפּוֹת (basons) named there first are wanting here.—And the door of the house. וּפֶתַח הַבַּיִת appears to be a general collective phrase for the “opening, doorway, outlet of the house;” for it includes two doors, that into the holy place, and that into the holy of holies. The parallel 1Ki_7:50 : וְהַפֹּתוֹת לְדַלְתוֹת הַבַּיִת, leads to the conjecture that וּפֶתַח is perhaps an error for וּפֹתוֹת, “and the hinges” (in which case also לְדַלְתוֹתָו must be put for דַּלְתוֹתָיו).
2Ch_5:1 agrees almost to the letter with 1Ki_7:51. The ו before אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף is best rendered by “namely”; comp. 2Ch_4:19; less probable is the rendering: “as: well the silver as also the gold” (Keil). For these gifts of David, see the account in 1Ch_18:10 f.; also 1Ch_26:26 f., 2Ch_29:3 ff.
γ. The Dedication of the Temple: 2Ch_5:2 to 2Ch_7:10
1. Removal of the Ark from Zion to the Temple: 2Ch_5:2-14
2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark 3of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled unto the king in the feast, which was the seventh month. 4And all the elders of Israel came j and the Levites bore the ark. 5And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels 6that were in the tent; the priests, the Levites,13 brought them up. And king Solomon, and all the assembly of Israel that assembled with him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, that could not be told or numbered for multitude. 7And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the house, the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. 8For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the 9cherubim covered the ark and its staves above. And they made the staves so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark,14 before the oracle, but 10they were not seen without: and they were there unto this day. Nothing was in the ark save the two tables, which Moses put into it at Horeb, where the Lord made [a covenant] with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place—for all the priests 12that were present had sanctified themselves, without observing the courses. And the Levites, the singers all of them, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and their sons and brethren, arrayed in byssus, with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, stood at the east of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests 13sounding with trumpets.15 And the trumpeters and singers were as one [man] to sound aloud with one voice to praise and thank the Lord, and when they lifted up the voice with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of song, and with praising the Lord: For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever: then the 14house was filled with the cloud of the house of the Lord. And the priests could not stand to minister before the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Footnotes:
[1] בַּשֵּׁנִי, which the Sept. and Vulg. do not express, appears a gloss brought into the text by repetition of the foregoing הַשֵּׁנִי.
[2] מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים appears a defective reading, as the Sept. cod. Al., Syr., and Ar. have 20 for 120. Comp. the Exeg. Expl.
[3]According to the parallels 1Ki_7:15, 2Ki_25:17, etc, instead of thirty-five (לה) must apparently be read eighteen (יח).
[4]so according to the emendation of Berth.: בְּרָבִיד, instead of the Masoretic בַּדְּבִיר (Sept. ἐν τῷ δαβίρ), which yields no suitable sense.
[5] בְּקָרִים appears a slip of the pen for פְּקָעִים (1Ki_7:24), as in b, הַבָּקָר for הַפְּקָעִים.
[6]For שְׁלשֶׁת אֲלָפִים is to be read, according to 1Ki_7:26, אַלְפַּיִם (2000); the שׁלשׁת before אלפים seems to have come into the text from the fourfold שׁלשׁת in the verse before.
[7]The Kethib has here Hiram (חירם), the only time this reading occurs in Chronicles.
[8]For עַל־פְּנֵי read עַל־שְׁנֵי, although פְּנֵי stands also in 1Ki_7:42; but see Sept. there.
[9] עָשָׂה seems wrongly written for עֶשֶׂר, as the second time for עֲשָׂרָה. Comp. 1Ki_7:43.
[10] מִזְלָגוֹת is perhaps written wrongly for מִזְרָקוֹת, “sprinkling cups,” 2Ch_3:11. Comp. 1Ki_7:44.
[11]For בַּֽעֲבִי some prints give בַּֽעַבֵי.
[12]The words הוּא מִכְלוֹת זָהָב are not represented in the Sept.
[13]Before הַלְּוִיִּם is to be supplied וְ, according to 1Ki_8:4.
[14] מִן־הָאָרוֹן appears to be an error of transcription for מִן־הַקֹּדֶשׁ.
[15] Kethib: מַֽחֲצֹצְרִים; Keri: מַחְצְרִים; so 2Ch_5:13 and 2Ch_7:6. Comp. Exeg. Expl. on 1Ch_15:24.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 MEASURES AND ORNAMENTS OF THE HOUSE. (Ch2 3:3-7)
MEASURES AND ORNAMENTS OF THE HOUSE. (Ch2 3:3-7)
these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God--by the written plan and specifications given him by his father. The measurements are reckoned by cubits, "after the first measure," that is, the old Mosaic standard. But there is great difference of opinion about this, some making the cubit eighteen, others twenty-one inches. The temple, which embodied in more solid and durable materials the ground-form of the tabernacle (only being twice as large), was a rectangular building, seventy cubits long from east to west, and twenty cubits wide from north to south.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Ch. 2Ch_3:1-2 (= 1Ki_6:1). The Temple Begun
Ch. 2Ch_3:1-2 (= 1Ki_6:1). The Temple Begun
1. in mount Moriah] Gen_22:2.
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in the place that David had prepared] R.V. which he made ready in the place that David had appointed (following the Hebrew, whereas A.V. leaves the Hebrew and agrees with LXX.).
Ornan the Jebusite] See 1Ch_21:15 ff.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–17 (a) SITE AND DATE (2Ch_3:1-2).
(a) SITE AND DATE (2Ch_3:1-2).
(1) At Jerusalem in mount Moriah.—Nowhere else in the Old Testament is the Temple site so specified. (Comp. “the land of Moriah,” the place appointed for the sacrifice of Isaac, Gen_22:2.)
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Where the Lord appeared unto David his father.—So LXX.; rather, who appeared unto David his father. Such is the meaning according to the common use of words. There is clearly an allusion to the etymology of MORIAH, which is assumed to signify “appearance of Jah.” (Comp. Gen_22:14.) Translate, “in the mount of the Appearance of Jah, who appeared unto David his father.” The Vulgate reads: “in Monte Moria qui demonstratus fuerat David patri ejus;” but nir’ah never means to be shown or pointed out. The Syriac, misunderstanding the LXX. (Ἀμωρία), renders “in the hill of the Amorites.”
In the place that David had prepared.—This is no doubt correct, as the versions indicate. The Hebrew has suffered an accidental transposition.
In the threshingfloor of Ornan.—1Ch_21:28; 1Ch_22:1.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Mount Moriah. This name hy; rwOm occurs twice in…
Mount Moriah. This name hy; rwOm occurs twice in the Old Testament, viz. here and Gen_22:2, in which latter reference it is alluded to as "the land of Moriah," and "one of the mountains" in it is spoken of. Whether the name designates the same place in each instance is more than doubtful. In the present passage the connection of the place with David is marked. Had it been the spot connected with Abraham and the proposed sacrifice of Isaac, it is at least probable that this also would have been emphasized, and not here only, but in 2Sa_24:17-25 and 1Ch_21:16-26; but in neither of these places is there the remotest suggestion of such fame of old belonging to it. Nor in later passages of history (e.g. Nehemiah"s rebuilding, and in the prophets, and the New Testament), where the opportunities would have been of the most tempting, is there found one single suggestion of the kind. There am also at fewest two reasons of a positive and intriusic character against Solomon"s Moriah being Abraham"s in that this latter was a specially conspicuous height, (Gen_22:4) and was a secluded and comparatively desolate place, neither of which features attach to Solomon"s Moriah. Nevertheless the identity theory is stoutly maintained by names as good as those of Thomson ("Land and the Book," p. 475); Tristram ("Land of Israel," p. 152); Hengstenberg ("Genuineness of Pentateuch, 2:162, Ryland"s tr.); Kurtz ("History of O. C.," 1:271); and Knobel and Kalisch under the passage in Genesis against Grove (in Dr. Smith"s "Bible Dictionary"); Stanley ("Sinai and Palestine," p. 251;"Jewish Church," 1. 49); De Wette, Bleek, and Tischendorf see "Speaker"s Commentary," under. (Gen_22:2) Though there is some uncertainty as to the more exact form of the derivation of the name Moriah, it seems most probable that the meaning of it may be "the sight of Jehovah." Where the Lord appeared unto David his father. The clause is no doubt elliptical, and probably it is not to be mended by the inserting of the words," the Lord," as in our Authorized Version. We do not read anywhere that the Lord did then and there appear to David, though we do read that "the angel of the Lord" appeared to him (2Sa_24:16, passim; . (1Ch_21:15, 1Ch_21:19, passim) Nor is it desirable to force the niph. preterite of the verb here, rightly rendered "appeared" or "was seen," into "was shown." We should prefer to solve the difficulty occasioned by the somewhat unfinished shape of the clause (or clauses) by reading it in close relation to 1Ch_22:1. Then the vivid impressions that had been made both by works and words of the angel of the Lord caused David to feel and to say with emphasis, "This is the (destined) house of the Lord God," etc. In this light our present passage would read, in a parenthetic manner, "which (i.e. the house, its Moriah position and all) was seen of David;" or with somewhat more of ease, "as was seen of David;" and the following "in the place," etc., will read in a breath with the preceding "began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in the place," etc. David had prepared. (so 1Ch_22:2-4) In the threshing-floor of Ornan (so 2Sa_24:18; 1Ch_21:15, 1Ch_21:16, 1Ch_21:18, 1Ch_21:21-28)
HOMILETICS.
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The Preparation for the building of the temple;
Ver. 1-ch. 1Ch_21:15-17) and had grievously felt it.
2. Where the interposing angel of the Lord appeared, and spoke and stayed the destruction and pestilence, (1Ch_21:27) in answer to confession, repentance, and sacrifice.
3. Where that same sacrifice was offered on the new-builded altar, which was paid for, and everything necessary to the sacrifice upon it paid for by David, that it might as far as possible be the perfect offering of self. The house and the altar were almost synonymous. (1Ch_22:1) And we are reminded of the greatest fact, the central fact, that there is no such thing as a true Church without altar. The one, only true and ever-abiding Church of the living God on earth is the sacred environment of the solemn altar, is founded one with it, built up round about it, grows out of it, commences, as did the temple of David (1Ch_22:2) and Solomon, from it, and ever must have it for its centre.
II THE FACT OF THE DIVINE INSTRUCTION GIVEN FOR THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE IN ALL ITS PARTS. This fact, per se, may be justly regarded as marking:
1. The Divine estimate as to human need of revelation for all that pertains to real religion. There is something that inevitably and invariably differences natural religion from revealed religion. It lacks direction, stability, and a real living connection between the worshipped and the worshipper, the great Adorable and the humble sinful adorer. This is
2. supplied by revelation, which is by most deliberate preference not partial, not fitful, not a thing to be taken or left, but uniform, spreading everywhere and penetrating to each detail.
3. The reverence towards all that affects our spiritual and eternal weal,which Heaven would help us to feel and earnestly to believe in.
4. The kind sympathetic interest with which the August Majesty himselfwould wish to help us assure ourselves that he tends even the human side of religious institutions. He "dwells in light unapproachable," and yet himself is not inaccessible, is not afar off, is nigh to us. What a welcome thought, inspiring thought, that he helps us build our very place of worship! Notice
III THE CAREFULNESS AND EXACTITUDE WHICH THAT DIVINE INSTRUCTION MODELLED FOR OUR IMITATION. After the tabernacle, in time indeed, but second to it in no other sense, nor strictly separable from it, here was the beginning of corporate Church life and institution and building. All things must be done "decently and in order;" "as to the Lord, and not to men" alone; "not with eye-service." And as real religion is the only real life, how sure were all the carefulness and exactitude now prescribed and exemplified to draw up, and constantly to tend to draw up, lesser life, home life, and individual life! The individual life (time and illustrations without number have shown it) will grow more divinely ordered for that man whose taste, whose knowledge, but, above all, whose deep principle reverences, observes, and "observes to do" all the words of such commandments, with those that correspond with them, and are their heirs and successors, as are contained in these chapters.
IV THE PRINCIPLE INVOLVED IN THE MATERIALS AND CONTENTS OF THE TEMPLE, IN THEIR BEING SUFFICIENT IN ALL SMALLEST DETAILS, BEAUTIFUL IN DESIGN AND MAKE, GENUINE AND SOLID, AND COSTLY.
V THE THINGS IN OR BEFORE THE TEMPLE, WHICH WERE GREATER THAN IT. Beside the many lesser vessels and instruments, each of which had its ancillary (and therefore not unimportant) relation to the greater vessels, or to the worship, service, and sacrifices for which those greater were ordained, there were some of special, marked, leading importance; while the distinguishing importance of some others lay strictly in their import. Call attention to just the things which arc said of:
1. The greater house; its gold; its ceiling, with fine gold, palm-tree figures and chains; its walls, with graven cherubim.
2. The most holy house; its fine gold; its two symbolic cherubim; its veil, with wrought cherubim.
3. The two pillars; their height; their chapiters, with chains and pomegranates; their names and respective positions.
The general homiletics of ch. 3. and 4. combined close here, and the more particular homiletics appropriate to ch. 4. separately, follow that chapter.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1, 2.
Beginning to build.
began to build the house of the Lord." We are frequently in a similar position; we are starting some sacred enterprise, which, directly or indirectly, affects the Church of Christ, the kingdom of God. What are the sentiments and what is the spirit appropriate to such an occasion? But we may first learn from the text
I THAT, TO A LARGE EXTENT, OUR POSSESSION IS OUR HERITAGE. It was a very great privilege Solomon was now enjoying, and it must have been felt by him to be a high honour and a keen gratification. How much of it he owed to his father! It was David who conceived the idea; it was he who gained the sanction of Jehovah; it was he who had practically gained the valuable co-oporation of Hiram; (1Ki_5:1) it was he, also, who had secured an admirable and acceptable site for the building. (1Ch_21:18 1Ch_22:1) If we examine we shall find that a very large part of our acquisition, whether it be property (in the usual sense of that word), or knowledge and intellectual power, or honour, or affection, or ever character, is due to that which we have inherited from those who came before us.
II THAT GREATER WORK DEMANDS FULLER PREPARATION. The building of the temple was certainly one of the very first things that Solomon considered and determined upon when he came to the throne. Yet it was not until "the second month, in the fourth year of his reign," that the erection actually commenced. So great a work took large preparation. We show our sense of the real seriousness and magnitude of the work we do for God when we take time and spend strength in its preparation. To go with haste and heedlessness to any sacred work, even though the "house of the Lord" we arc building is not one of magnificence, (1Ch_22:5) is a spiritual mis-demeanour; to enter upon any great undertaking in the name and cause of Jesus Christ without much patient thought and earnest effort in the way of preparation is wholly wrong.
III THAT THE COMMENCEMENT OF A GREAT WORK IS A MEMORABLE MOMENT. It was fitting that the very day when this great work began should he recorded, as it is in Holy Writ (ver. 2). It was a memorable moment in Solomon"s reign and in the history of the Jews. For then began to rise a building which had an immense and, indeed, an incalculable influence on the nation, and so upon mankind. Such times are sacred. Of all those days to which, in later years, we look back with interest and joy, none will stand out so clearly, and none will give us such pure and strong gratification, as the days when we instituted some movement in the cause of Christ, in the service of our fellow-men.
IV THAT THIS HOUR OF COMMENCEMENT SHOULD BE A VERY SACRED TIME TO OUR SOULS. It may well be one of:
1. Joyful eagerness; for there is something very inspiring in the act of commencing a truly noble work it exhilarates and animates the soul. It should also be one of:
2. Special prayerfulness; for then we urgently need the guiding and guarding hand of our God to be upon us.
3. Steadfast purpose; for there will be unanticipated difficulties and disheartening delays, possibly much temporary disappointment and partial failure, and a strong, resolute purpose will be needed to carry us through to the end.
4. Unselfish devotedness. We must ever keep in mind that the "house" we are erecting, of whatever kind it be, is the house "of the Lord." If we fail to realize that it is for Christ that we are working, our labour will lose its excellency, its inspiration, and its reward. C.
HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW Vers. 1-17.
The building of the temple.
I THE SITE.
1. Central At Jerusalem.
(1) Natural. Jerusalem, the metropolis of the kingdom, the political and religious centre of the country, was entitled to contain the chief symbol round which the political and religious life of the nation was in future to revolve.
(2) Appropriate. As the king had a palace in the capital, it was fitting the king"s King, Jehovah, should there have a temple.
(3) Convenient. Since the temple was to be Israel"s meeting-place in their national assemblies, it was better the structure should stand in the chief city of the realm than in a provincial town.
(4) Significant. It seemed to say that henceforth Solomon was to seek the security of his throne, the stability of his government, and the welfare of his empire in the worship of Jehovah and the practice of religion.
1. Conspicuous. On Mount Moriah, which had been so named because of Jehovah"s appearing on its summit to Abraham, (Gen_22:2) rather than because it had been pointed out to David by Jehovah (Bertheau) a mountain situated north-east of Zion, and now styled "The Haram," after a Mohammedan mosque with which it is crowned. According to present-day measurements, rising to the height of between 2278 and 2462 feet above the level of the Mediterranean (Conder, "Handbook to the Bible," p. 359), it was a fitting site for the temple, which, besides being firmly established as founded on a rock, would thereby be visible from afar, and so a centre of attraction for travellers approaching the city. So is Christ"s Church, like it, founded on a rock, (Mat_16:18) and, like it, should be a city set upon a hill. (Mat_5:14)
2. Consecrated. In the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (On the suitability of the Haram summit to be a threshing-floor, see Exposition.) In addition to the theophany which had there occurred in connection with the offering of Isaac, a similar manifestation of Jehovah had recently taken place in the lifetime of David. (1Ch_21:15-30) It was thus to Solomon a spot doubly hallowed. If in David"s eyes, because of the old patriarchal altar that had stood thereon, the place was invested with a special charm, in Solomon"s this charm would not be diminished, but intensified, by the recollection of the altar his father had built.
II THE TIME.
1. Specific. "In the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign, began Solomon to build;" i.e. 480 years after the exodus from; (1Ki_6:1) or, according to another reckoning, 592 years subsequent to that event, 240 after the building of Tyre, and 143 years 8 months prior to the founding of Carthage (Josephus, "Ant.," 8:3.1; "Against Apion," 1:17, 18). Great events make deep indentations on the memories of men as well as on the course of time. The building of the Solomonic temple, of more than national, was of world-wide importance.
2. Early. It shows the high conception Solomon had of the work delegated to him by his father, as well as marked out for him by God; indicates the earnestness and enthusiasm with which he undertook it, that he set about its performance almost at the earliest possible moment, "in the fourth year of his reign," before erecting for himself a palace, or for his country a chain of forts. It is an Old Testament form of the New Testament lesson, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you". (Mat_6:33)
III THE ERECTION.
1. The house, or the temple proper.
(1) Its dimensions: 60 cubits long, 20 broad (ver. 3), 30 high; (1Ki_6:2) i.e. taking the cubit at 1.33 feet, 79.8 feet, 26". feet, and 39.9 feet, or, in round numbers, 80 feet, 27 feet, and 40 feet.
(2) Its parts. "The greater house" (ver. 5), i.e. the holy place, or the outer of the two compartments into which the house was divided, and "the most holy house" (ver. 8), or the inner of the two compartments. As this latter was a perfect cube, 20 cubits each way, the former was (internally viewed) a rectangular parallelopiped, of length 40, of breadth 20, of height 30 cubits. Besides these were "the upper chambers" (ver. 9), or the space above the holy of holies, whose dimensions were 20 cubits long, 20 broad, and 10 high.
(3) Its ornaments. The house was built of white freestone cut from the royal quarries under Bezetha, the northern hill on which Jerusalem is built (Warren, "Underground Jerusalem," p. 60), smoothly polished and laid so skilfully and harmoniously together that "there appeared to the spectators no sign of any hammer or other instrument of architecture, but as if, without any use of them, the entire materials had naturally united themselves together" (Josephus, "Ant.," 8:3. 2). The interior of the house was covered with wood, the walls and the ceiling with cedar, the floor with cypress, (1Ki_6:15) so that no part of the stonework was visible. The wood was ornamented with carved work representing palm trees (ver. 5) and cherubim (ver. 7), the latter on the walls, the former on the roof. In addition were knops or gourde and open flowers. (1Ki_6:18) Similar decorations were carved upon the outer sides of the walls. (1Ki_6:29) The whole house, interior and exterior walls, roof, beams, posts, doors was overlaid with gold plates, which received impressions from the carved work underneath. "To say all in a word, Solomon left no part of the temple, neither internal nor external, but what was covered with gold" (Josephus). The gold, of the finest quality, (1Ki_6:20) was fetched from Parvaim, a place of uncertain location Ophir in Ceylon (Bochart), Ophir in India (Knobel), Peru and Mexico (Ritter), Southern or Eastern Arabia (Bertheau), the peninsula of Malacca (Leyrer, in Herzog), having all been suggested. The veil which divided the compartments was made of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen the same materials as were employed in constructing the tabernacle vail (Exo_26:31) and was ornamented with similar cherubic figures. The precious stones wherewith the walls were garnished are not mentioned.
2. The porch.
(1) Its situation: in front of the house.
(2) Its dimensions: 20 cubits broad, 120 high, and 10 long. (1Ki_6:3)
The disproportion between the ground measures and the altitude has suggested the existence in this place of an error (Keil), or of an intentional exaggeration (Bertheau), though Josephus appears to have regarded it as literally correct ("Ant.," 8:3. 2). Ewald, who upholds the text as genuine, thinks.of a tower rising above the porch to the height of 120 feet ("History of Israel, "3:236); but this is far from probable, indeed statically impossible, and must be rejected. On the assumption of a corrupt text, the question remains how high the porch was. Some say 20 cubits (Keil), or 10 lower than the house; others 30, i.e. the exact height of the house (Bertheau); a third 23, at least as high as the pillars (Merz, in Herzog; Schurer, in Riehm).
(3) Its ornaments. Its interior was overlaid with fine gold (ver. 4); its entrance guarded by two massive columns.
3. The pillars.
1. Their names: that on the right Jachin, or, "He shall establish," meaning that in this shrine Jehovah would henceforth permanently abide (1Ki_8:13; Psa_87:5 Psa_139:14) or that through this would the kingdom be henceforth immovably established; (Psa_89:5) that on the left Boaz, signifying "In him, or in it, is strength," and pointing perhaps to the fulness of heavenly might that resides in him who is the sanctuary"s, (Isa_45:24) or to the consolidation which should henceforth begiven to the kingdom through the erection of this temple. (Psa_144:14) Other explanations have been given, as that Jachin and Boaz were the names of the donors or builders of the pillars (Gesenius), or of two youthful sons of Solomon (Ewald), or that the two words should be read together, as if both were inscribed on each pillar, "He will establish, or may he establish, it with strength" (Thenius). Least acceptable of all solutions is that of the Fathers, that the two names were intended to point to the two natures in Christ, in whom, though appearing in a lowly garb of humanity, dwelt the fulness of Divine strength.
2. Their height: thirty-five cubits, inclusive of the chapiter of five cubits with which each was crowned (ver. 15); each shaft eighteen cubits, and each crown five cubits, or both together twenty-three cubits. (1Ki_7:15, 1Ki_7:16; Jer_52:21; Josephus, "Ant., " 7:3. 4) It has been suggested that, as twice 18 are 36, the Chronicler should be regarded as stating the length of the two columns together. But as this does not get over the discrepancy, it is better to recognize that the original text has suffered some corruption.
3. Their position: before the temple. Whether within the porch, (1Ki_7:21) perhaps supporting the roof, or outside and apart from the building, is contested. (For the arguments on both sides, the Exposition may be consulted.) The ablest art scholars who have given attention to the subject have decided for the latter (see Riehm, "Hand-worterbuch," art. "Jaehin and Boaz").
4. Their parts: first, a hollow column of brass, eighteen cubits high as above mentioned, twelve cubits in circumference, and of metal four fingers thick; and, second, a chapiter or crown of lily-work, i.e. a brass cup shaped like a fully-opened lily the under part a belly-shaped band of network, bulging out between an under and an upper row of pomegranates strung on chains; above the upper row the lily-shaped cup, or crown, decorated all over with buds, flowers, and leaves like those of lilies.
LESSONS.
1. The place due to religion in communities and individuals, thefirst.
2. The quality of service given to God and the Church, the best.
3. The power of art to express the ideas and emotions of religion. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 Then Solomon began to build the house of the…
2Ch_3:1-14
Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem.
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The surpassing beauty of the temple
I. That God did not need this lavish expenditure of gold and gems and rich ornaments
II. Yet Divine condescension accepted this offering of human gratitude.
III. The beauty and costliness of the temple served to impress the mind of surrounding nations with the feelings of the people of israel towards their great God.
IV. The adornment of the temple a rebuke to mere utilitarian views. (Biblical Museum.)
And he began to build in the second day of the second month.
Memorable days
Have we not all had memorable days?
1. The day when the boy left home.
2. The day when the young man finds his first friend in business, the head that can direct him, the hand strong enough to give him assurance of protection, the voice all strength and music that charmed his fears away, and gave him consciousness of latent possibilities of his own.
3. The day when the young man got his first practical hold of life and business, how much he made in his first little profit, the very first sovereign he made by his own wits and energy. Do not let all days be alike; save yourselves from so running one day into another as to drop the dignity, the accent, the significance of special occasions. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God.--
Life-building
The building of the temple is a striking example of life-building.
I. Solomon began with instruction. Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed: literally, Now this is the ground-plan. So many people are building without a ground-plan. It would seem as if they were attempting to perform the impossibility of building from the top; they have no foundations, no great principles; there is a brick here, and a stone there, and a beam of wood yonder, but there is no grand scheme. Solomon was instructed. Then Solomon was not a born builder that is to say, a man who needed no instruction, no hint, no apprenticeship, in these things. He was a man who began with instruction. A man is none the worse for having his little book of instructions in his pocket when he goes abroad. The book is not a large one in mere superficies, but who can declare in arithmetical numbers its cubical contents? Every line is a volume; every sentence is a time-bill; every proposition is a philosophy. Even Solomon accepted instruction. It is never wise to be beyond a hint, beyond the counsel of experience.
II. Solomon began well: what wonder if he continue well? He said he would start life with the dowry of wisdom. No accidents could happen to Solomon, because he started at the right point; accepted the true definition of life, and walked in the light of wisdom. If it happened that Solomon should ever trifle with that light, conceal it, modify it, despise it, he would go to the devil. No matter if he had built s thousand temples, he would land in perdition if he ceases to walk in the ways of wisdom. No man can build himself up to heaven, however many temples he may build; he must build up from within--in the matter of conviction, principles, life, character, he must blossom into purity, he must fructify into love.
III. Solomons instructions were sufficient. Sometimes we wish that we had a rehearsal of life, and that we might come back and begin at the beginning, and walk in the light of experience. There is something better than experience, and that is revelation. The Christian claims that the whole map or chart of life is to be found in the Book of God; and co it is. So there need be no pensive desire for a trial-trip in the ways of life.
IV. Solomon had a definite purpose in view: he was building a temple. Definiteness of purpose economise time, enables strength to issue in the noblest accomplishments. A man will have good reason to know what he is doing if he pay attention to Providence. There need not be so much darkness in the ways of life as is often supposed. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL NOTES.] In two chapters is narrated the building…
CRITICAL NOTES.] In two chapters is narrated the building of the temple, which correspond with 1 Kings 6,
7. Here greater fulness of description, and more precise introduction and different arrangement of things described.
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2Ch_3:1-2.—Place and time of building. Moriah (Gen_22:2), from which was named the land of Moriah—“land of the appearing of the Lord.” Appeared, “which was shown to David,” as future site (1Ch_21:15). Prepared, fixed (1Ch_22:5). O nan, see 2Sa_24:18; 1Ch_21:18. 2Ch_3:2. Second day not in original. Translation should be “He began to build in the second month in the fourth year of his reign” [Speak. Com.], about 1012 B.C.
2Ch_3:3-7.—The holy house and porch. These measures afterwards given. Instructed, founded (marg.), and translation should be, “Now this is the ground-plan of Solomon for the building of the house of God.’ Cubits, i.e., cubits after the old Mosaic standard. Threescore, only length and width given here, not height, as 1Ki_6:2. 2Ch_3:4. Porch, in length as breadth of the house. Height a difficulty. Speak. Com. proposes to read 20 for 120. Overlaid (1Ki_6:22). 2Ch_3:5. Greater house, i.e., the holy place or chief room of the house, double in area the holy of holies. Ceiled. The walls were lined with cedar, and the floor with fir, the ceiling only to be covered with fir and overlaid with gold (1Ki_6:15). Palm, for ornaments (1Ki_6:29). Chains, probably garlands or festoons. 2Ch_3:6. Garnished, covered, or “paved the house with precious and beautiful marble” [Kitto]. Stones, gems for “its beautification” (cf. 1Ch_29:2). Parraim, not found elsewhere, generally taken for a place, but uncertain what place. 2Ch_3:7. House, the holy place still spoken of, the whole of whose beams, posts, &c., had the same decorations.
2Ch_3:8-14.—The most holy house, i.e., sanctuary or holy of holies. For its dimensions, see 1Ki_6:20. Six hundred talents, an addition to narrative in Kings. 2Ch_3:9. Nails, to fasten the gold plate on the wooden lining of the walls. Upper chambers, given 1Ch_28:11; their position uncertain. 2Ch_3:10. Cherubims (cf. image), moveable work; sculptured work. Original word only found here. 2Ch_3:11-13. Their position described. They stood on floor, occupying each a space ten cubits in height and in width (1Ki_6:23). Wings touched each other over the ark, and stretched across from wall to wall. Faces not looking at each other, like the cherubs of Moses (Exo_37:9), but looking outward from the most holy to the holy place. 2Ch_3:14. Vail, an important addition to Kings. Blue, exactly the same colours as that of tabernacle (Exo_26:31).
2Ch_3:15-17.—The pillars and their ornaments. High (marg.). Long refers to distance of one from the other; height given 1Ki_7:15; 2Ki_25:17; confirmed by Jer_52:21-22. They appear to have stood on a line with the front of the porch; their position defined obscurely. 2Ch_3:16. Chains, chaplets or festoons in the manner of the oracle, which must have had similar chain work (cf. 1Ki_6:21). Bertheau reads “in a ring,” so as to go all round the neck as a necklace. 2Ch_3:17. Reared before the temple, conspicuous to beholders. Jachin, he will establish. Boaz, strength. Possibly proper names, and may belong to supposed younger sons of Solomon [Ewald]. The LXX. trans. direction and strength. “Lit., Jachin would seem to be, as rendered in the margin, ‘He will establish,’ while Boaz may either be ‘in strength,’ or ‘in him is strength,’ or ‘in it is strength.’ The meaning was probably, ‘God will establish in strength’ (i.e., firmly) the temple and the religion connected with it” [Speak. Com.].
HOMILETICS
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.—2Ch_3:1-14
This first work that Solomon undertook was long in preparation but lasting in effect. “Of all monuments of the internal administration of Solomon, none is to be compared in itself or in its effect on the future character of the people with the building of the temple. It was far more than a mere architectural display. It supplied the framework of the history of the kingdom of Judah. There is hardly any reign which is not in some way connected with its construction or its changes” [Stanley].
I. The site chosen. Consecrated by the offering of Isaac and the gracious appearance of the angel to David. The place selected by David, bought with his money, and prepared by his labours—pulling down buildings, levelling rocks, marking out dimensions—revealed by the Spirit of God (1 Chr. 22:1, 18, 26). Solomon not at liberty to fix nor at a loss to find a place. Wisdom to submit to God’s appointment and to be guided by his providence.
II. The specifications given. “These are the ground plans, &c.” (2Ch_3:3). There must be foundation or ground plan—many build “in the air,” build from the top, build without principles, plan, or good materials. We have need to be “instructed,” not born natural architects like the bee and the beaver. In life-building keep to the “first measure,” the divine rule. This the only guide, the only foundation. No other can be laid.
III. The time the work commenced. In the second month and fourth year of his reign. Time more specific in 1Ki_6:1. Memorable day. Many such in Christian life; not monotonous and commonplace—“red-letter days” crises in life to remind and help. The day when born again, when school was entered, when home was left. The month when business started or the Christian church entered. “The year after” some great event. The deliverance from Egypt, from sickness or spiritual bondage. “Days should speak” of plans formed and work commenced, of special providences and significant events.
IV. The form of the building erected. First, the Porch and its Pillars (2Ch_3:15-17). “The most startling novelty of the building in which foreign architects had freest play. In materials it was probably suggested by Assyrian, in elevation by Egyptian architecture, while Tyrian sculptors displayed their art to the full in the two elaborate pillars. They stood immediately under the porch, within, but not supporting it, and were called, either from the workmen or from their own firmness and solidity, Jachin and Boaz. Their golden pedestals, bright brazen shafts, rich capitals, light festoons, were thought prodigies of art so remarkable that the Israelites were never wearied of recounting their glories” [Stanley]. Second, the Holy Place, “the greater house” (2Ch_3:5), double the area of the Holy of Holies. “The whole interior was lined with boards richly decorated with carved work, clusters of foliage and flowers, among which the pomegranate and lutus, or water-lily, were conspicuous, and overlaid, excepting the floor, with gold, either by gilding or in plates” (1 Kings 6) [Jamieson]. Third, the Most Holy Place. Its upper chambers (2Ch_3:9); sculptured cherubim of colossal size, their faces inwards conformably to their use, which was to vail the ark (2Ch_3:10-13). The vail between the Holy and the Most Holy Place (2Ch_3:14) displayed the beauty of colour, embossed with cherubims, and made of four materials. This pattern given to Solomon (1Ch_29:11-12), not the invention of human architects. Destitute of invention, we may gather materials and work according to pattern. But remember the builder depends upon the architect. “Except the Lord build the house, &c.”
THE DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE
I. Solid in its form. Stones and pillars indicate strength and duration. Whatever God builds is strong and solid. The earth is “established”; the hills are “everlasting”; the church is built on a rock. “The foundation of the Lord standeth sure.”
II. Costly in its materials. Not only grand and massive in style, but costly. Best cedars, best gold, and “costly stones” (1Ki_7:10). The porch, the holy place, and “the most holy house overlaid with gold.” To the artistic use of precious metals was added the glory of coloured gems. “Garnished the house with precious stones for beauty” (2Ch_3:6).
III. Beautiful in its appearance. The temple of nature is beautiful. The sky spread out as curtains, and the stars shine as lamps. The decorations of the Temple were not a form of mere “barbaric splendour” as thought by some writers. The skill of the smith, the sculptor, and the engraver lavished upon substances and in a place rarely seen by the eye of man. In its symmetry, order, and design, the work was an offering to Jehovah, whose presence filled the temple. The house of the earthly Jerusalem was a type of the glorified Church, “the city of pure gold, like unto clear glass.”
“And it is a joy that in every age
The greatest works of mind or hand have been
Done unto God” [Bailey’s Festus].
THE SURPASSING BEAUTY OF THE TEMPLE.—2Ch_3:6
Observe—I. That God did not need this lavish expenditure of gold and gems and rich ornaments. They were all perishable things. II. Yet divine condescension accepted this offering of human gratitude. III. The beauty and costliness of the temple not without their uses. The temple so adorned served to impress the mind of surrounding nations with the feelings of the people of Israel towards their great God. IV. The adornment of the temple a rebuke of the utilitarian views of those who are advocates of a Judas-like economy, and who regard as waste all that is given to God beyond the bare necessities of the case [Bib. Mus.].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
2Ch_3:4. Within with pure gold. Such was Christ’s inside (Col_2:9); in his outside was no such desirable beauty (Isa_53:2); so the church’s glory is inward (Psa_45:13), in the hidden man of the heart (1Pe_3:4) [Trapp].
2Ch_3:5. Gold and fir.
1. The best things employed for God.
2. The best employed with no niggard spirit and empty hand.
3. The best applied to secure harmony, beauty, and strength.
The lofty buildings set forth “the germs of all Christian architecture and the principle of national worship in fixed places for ever.”
“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.”
2Ch_3:10-13. Cherubims.
1. Image work, painted to impress mind and life. Symbols of spiritual truths. “The eye may help the fancy and the soul; but if our creed be only painted, it is as a painted wing: you will always find it where you left it—a wing that cannot flutter, much less fly, a wing that is useless in every respect” [Dr. Parker].
2. Stood, denoting attendance and service. “They serve who also stand and wait” (cf. Psa_103:20).
3. Wings extended, to teach alacrity in service, “swift as an angel.”
4. Faces inward, not fixed on a throne and faced towards worshippers. God only must be worshipped, not angels who merely attend and vail their faces before him. “Whatever the cherubim were, it is certain that they were in no sense representations or emblems of deity, like the winged figures of Assyria and Egypt, with which they have been often compared … the representation simply expresses the claim of Jehovah, the God of Israel, of such lordship over all creation as is hymned in the seraphic song of Isa_6:3” [Ellicott, O. T. Com.].
2Ch_3:17. Jachin and Boaz establishment and strength in temple work (cf. 1Ki_7:21). “The pillars were richly decorated and placed in a very conspicuous position in front of, and detached from, the temple. The one on the dexter side was named ‘Jachin,’ that is, ‘He shall establish,’ and that on the sinister side ‘Boaz,’ that is, ‘In it is strength.’ These names seem to show that they were memorial columns, such as have often been erected in one form or another in all ages, and that they commemorated the Lord’s work in establishing his kingdom and presence in Jerusalem. They thus expressed to future ages the thanksgiving words of David: ‘Lord, by thy favour thou hast settled strength for my mountain’ (Psa_20:7, marg.); ‘Honour and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary’ (Psa_96:6)” [J. H. Blunt]. Showing not only by the matter—brass—but by the names of these pillars, what steadfastness the elect stand in before God, both for present and future. For present they have strength in themselves—Boaz, i.e., in it is strength; for future God will so direct and establish them with his grace—Jachin, i.e., he shall direct or establish, that they shall never wholly depart from him. “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out” (Rev_3:12) [Trapp].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
2Ch_3:6. Stones for beauty. The lavish use of the precious metals in ornamentation was a peculiar feature of early Oriental architecture [Speak. Com.]. ’Tis the eternal law that first in beauty should be first in might [Keats]. Precious stones. They who are not made saints in a state of grace shall never be saints in glory. The stones which are appointed for that glorious temple above are hewn and polished and prepared for it here, as the stones were wrought and prepared in mountains for the building of the temple at Jerusalem [Leighton].
2Ch_3:7-10. The mission of art. Art is on a mission for the great common people. It is to educate them. It is to elevate them. It is to refine them. It is to do its work now, no longer for the palace, no longer for the temple, but for that which has something of both the palace and the temple in it—for the family. Art is aiming at the household, and when it shall have done its work there, it will be with such resplendent and wondrous fruits as shall make all the past as nothing in the comparison. We are just on the eve of this great development. The wealth of the world is increasing, so that men are beginning to be able to make their houses richer than Grecian temples used to be [Beecher].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Particulars relating to the Temple
Particulars relating to the Temple
This and the following chapter abbreviate what is recorded in 1 Kings 6, 7.
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1. Moriah] Here the designation of the Temple hill, but in Gen_22:2 of the 'land' in which was situated the hill where Isaac was to be sacrificed. Where the Lord appeared unto] better 'which was shown unto,' i.e. by the acceptance of the king's sacrifice (1Ch_21:28; 1Ch_22:1).
3. These are the things, etc.] RV 'these are the foundations which Solomon laid': the v. going on to give the ground plan. After the first measure] This implies that the length of the cubit had changed between the time of Solomon and that of the writer of Chronicles. Ezekiel (Eze_40:5) speaks of a cubit measuring a cubit and a hand-breadth, which, if the smaller cubit was equal to 6 hand-breadths (about 18 in.), must have been equivalent to 7 (about 21 in.). In estimating the size of the Temple, the cubit, for the sake of convenience, has been reckoned at 18 in.; if the cubit of 21 in. was the one really employed, the dimensions must be modified accordingly.
4. An hundred and twenty] One MS of the LXX has 'twenty.' The figures given in the text are suitable only for a tower, not a porch.
5. The greater house] i.e. the Holy Place. Cieled] The walls, as well as the roof, were lined with wood. Chains] i.e. festoons of chain work, carved in relief. 6. Parvaim] unknown.
10. Of image work] LXX has 'wroughtin wood': cp. 1Ki_6:23; 1 Kings 11. Twenty cubits] This was the length of the four wings together.
13. Inward] RV 'toward the house': i.e. the Holy Place.
14. The vail] This is not mentioned in Kings.
15. Thirty and five] In 1Ki_7:15; 'eighteen': see also 2Ki_25:17; Jer_52:21.
16. Chains, as in the oracle] The text is probably corrupt; the chains must be 'the wreaths of chain work' of 1Ki_7:17, which were carved on the capitals.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v2 second month
second month
i.e. May.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 CHAPTER 3 The Building of the Temple
CHAPTER 3 The Building of the Temple
1. The place (2Ch 3:1-2)
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2. The dimensions (2Ch 3:3)
3. The porch and holy place (2Ch 3:4-7)
4. The most holy (2 Chron. 3:4-18)
5. The brazen pillars (2Ch 3:15-17)
First, the place is mentioned where the house of the LORD was built, “in Mount Moriah (Gen. 22), where [the LORD] appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” The building began in the second day of the second month in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. From 1Ki 6:1 we learn that this was the 480th year from the Exodus. Counting forty years to one generation we have exactly twelve generations. This figure can be chronologically verified. The internal measurement given in verse 3 is sixty cubits long (about ninety feet), twenty cubits wide (about thirty feet), and thirty cubits high (about forty-five feet). Then there was the porch. The height of the porch is given as 120 cubits, which is evidently the error of a copyist; it should be twenty cubits, or perhaps thirty. For the full description see annotations on 1 Kings 6. Notice again the description of the cherubim overlaid with gold. These are not the cherubim upon the ark, but they were great figures made by Solomon. Each was ten cubits high. Their great wings met over the mercy seat upon which were the cherubim, which look down upon the mercy-seat. The Solomonic cherubim looked outwards. The word “inward” in verse 13 is a wrong translation. On the meaning of this attitude of these gigantic cherubim, see comment on 1Ki 6:23-30. In verse 14, the veil is mentioned, of which we read nothing in 1 Kings 6. This veil was woven of the same material and in the same manner as the one in the tabernacle (Exo 26:31).
The two pillars called Jachin (He will establish) and Boaz (In Him is strength) are the symbols of the stability of the government of this earth in the glorious reign of Christ, which is typified by the reign of Solomon and the house he built.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 10 The Sanctuary Proper
The Sanctuary Proper
v. 1. Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, one summit of the range of hills which went under the general name of Zion, where the Lord appeared unto David, his father, rather, which was shown to his father David, namely, as the future site of the Temple, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, after the unfortunate census which David had arranged.
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v. 2. And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign, 1Ki 6:1. The rock platform which had formed the threshing-floor of Ornan, or Araunah, afforded room for the Sanctuary proper, but for the other buildings and the courts special foundations had to be prepared, all this requiring an immense amount of work.
v. 3. Now, these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God, these are the fundamental proportions which he employed in erecting the Temple. The length by cubits after the first measure, the cubit of the old Mosaic standard, about twenty-one inches, was threescore cubits and the breadth twenty cubits, these being the proportions of the Sanctuary proper.
v. 4. And the porch that was in the front of the house, a kind of covered area-way, or portico, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, the depth being ten cubits, 1Ki 6:3, and the height was an hundred and twenty, the effect being that of a tower or double tower, such as were used in other temples of ancient times: and he overlaid it within with pure gold, making it the most magnificent entrance of the ancient world.
v. 5. And the Greater House, the Holy Place, he ceiled with fir-tree, he veneered it with cypress, noted for its ability to withstand every kind of weather, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm-trees and chains, garlands in the form of chased work cut in the panels of the wall.
v. 6. And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty, that is, he paved the house with beautiful and costly marble; and the gold was gold of Parvaim, especially noted for its purity.
v. 7. He overlaid also the house, on the inside, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold, either in heavy gilding or in plates, 2Ch 6:18; 2Ch 29:30, and graved cherubim on the walls.
v. 8. And he made the Most Holy House, at the western end of the Sanctuary, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, the room thus forming a cubical space; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents, estimated at $18,000,000.
v. 9. And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold, these nails being used to fasten the gold plate to the wooden lining of the walls. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. The building of the Temple was a work of obedience and love, just as all our work for the Lord should be.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15 Then Solomon began to build ... He prepared ...…
Then Solomon began to build ... He prepared ... He began ... that Solomon laid
The readers should understand that Solomon probably commanded other people to do the actual work. AT: "Then Solomon's workers began to build ... They prepared ... They began ... that Solomon's workers laid" (See: Metonymy)
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Mount Moriah
This is the name of a mountain. (See: How to Translate Names)
Ornan the Jebusite
"Ornan" is the name of a man. "Jebusite" is the name of a people group. (See: How to Translate Names)
the second day of the second month
"day 2 of month 2." This is the second month of the Hebrew calendar. The second day is near the middle of April on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
in the fourth year
"in year 4" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here the narrator begins to explain the dimensions and the design of the temple.
sixty cubits ... twenty cubits
"60 cubits ... 20 cubits." A cubit is 46 centimeters. AT: "27.6 meters long ... 9.2 meters" (See: Numbers and Biblical Distance)
translationWords
Solomon
house of God
Jerusalem
thresh
Jebus
day
year
reign
found
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 17 3:1-4a Although in Chronicles the Temple is the central…
3:1-4a Although in Chronicles the Temple is the central topic of Solomon’s reign, attention to its actual architecture and furnishings is considerably less than that found in Kings (e.g., 1 Kgs 6:2-10).
3:1 While Kings emphasizes the time when the Temple was built, Chronicles places great emphasis on the Temple’s building site and the significance of the location. Geographically, it was in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where the Lord had appeared to David; it was selected under David’s authority, and it was the sacred place where the plague was stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Abraham bound Isaac in the land of Moriah (Gen 22:2), and tradition associated the Temple Mount as the place where the Lord provided for Abraham (Gen 22:14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.