2 Chronicles 3-4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Building the Temple
3 Then Solomon began(A) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah(B) where the Lord[a] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[b] the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon’s foundations[c] for building God’s temple: the length[d] was 90 feet,[e] and the width 30 feet.[f] 4 The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet[g] wide; its height was 30 feet;[h][i] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. 5 The larger room[j] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,(C) and he carved cherubim on the walls.(D)
The Most Holy Place
8 Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet,[k] and its width was 30 feet.[l](E) He overlaid it with 45,000 pounds[m] of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was 20 ounces[n] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.
10 He made(F) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. 11 The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet:[o] the wing of one was 7½ feet,[p] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet,[q] touching the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other[r] cherub was 7½ feet,[s] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet,[t] reaching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet.[u] They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.[v]
14 He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.(G)
The Bronze Pillars
15 In front of the temple(H) he made two pillars, each 27 feet[w][x] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet[y] high. 16 He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.(I) He made 100 pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin[z] and the one on the left Boaz.[aa]
The Altar, Reservoir, and Basins
4 He made a bronze altar(J) 30 feet[ab] long, 30 feet[ac] wide, and 15 feet[ad] high.
2 Then he made the cast metal reservoir,(K) 15 feet[ae] from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[af] high and 45 feet[ag] in circumference. 3 The likeness of oxen[ah] was below it, completely encircling it, 10 every half yard,[ai] completely surrounding the reservoir. The oxen were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast. 4 It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 The reservoir was three inches[aj] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold 11,000 gallons.[ak]
6 He made 10 basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.(L) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,(M) but the reservoir was used by the priests for washing.
The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts
7 He made the 10 gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(N) 8 He made 10 tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(O) He also made 100 gold bowls.
9 He made the courtyard(P) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He put the reservoir on the right side, toward the southeast.(Q) 11 Then Huram[al](R) made(S) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
Completion of the Bronze Furnishings
So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: 12 two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 13 the 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars(T)). 14 He also made the water carts[am](U) and the basins on the water carts. 15 The one reservoir and the 12 oxen underneath it, 16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi[an](V) made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
Completion of the Gold Furnishings
19 Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the bread of the Presence;(W) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;(X) 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[ao] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 LXX; Tg reads the Angel of the Lord; MT reads He
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 = Araunah in 2Sm 24:16-24
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Tg reads The measurements which Solomon decreed
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Lit length—cubits in the former measure—
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Lit 60 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads 120 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit The house
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 Lit 600 talents
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 Lit 50 shekels
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:12 Syr, Vg; MT reads the one
- 2 Chronicles 3:12 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:12 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Lit the house
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Hb uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit 35 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 = He Will Establish
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 = Strength Is in Him
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Lit 10 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Lit 10 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 Lit the stands
- 2 Chronicles 4:16 Lit Huram my father
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms
2 Chronicles 3-4
New International Version
Solomon Builds the Temple(A)
3 Then Solomon began to build(B) the temple of the Lord(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(E)
3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). 4 The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[c] long across the width of the building and twenty[d] cubits high.
He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(G) and chain designs. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(H) on the walls.
8 He built the Most Holy Place,(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[e] of fine gold. 9 The gold nails(J) weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.
10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[h]
14 He made the curtain(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(N) worked into it.
15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(O) which together were thirty-five cubits[i] long, each with a capital(P) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(R) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[k] and the one to the north Boaz.[l]
The Temple’s Furnishings(S)
4 He made a bronze altar(T) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.[m] 2 He made the Sea(U) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits[n] high. It took a line of thirty cubits[o] to measure around it. 3 Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.[p] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
4 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.(V) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 It was a handbreadth[q] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.[r]
6 He then made ten basins(W) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings(X) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.
7 He made ten gold lampstands(Y) according to the specifications(Z) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.
8 He made ten tables(AA) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.(AB)
9 He made the courtyard(AC) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.
11 And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.
So Huram finished(AD) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:
12 the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);
14 the stands(AE) with their basins;
15 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
16 the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.
All the objects that Huram-Abi(AF) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth(AG) and Zarethan.[s] 18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze(AH) could not be calculated.
19 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:
the golden altar;
the tables(AI) on which was the bread of the Presence;
20 the lampstands(AJ) of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;
21 the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);
22 the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes(AK) and censers;(AL) and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan
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