HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 171
2.16 Joppa, an important harbor city in antiquity, today a suburb of Tel Aviv. The logs could have been carried on ships or towed as rafts. Cf. 1 Kings 5.9; Ezra 3.7.
2.17 The land of Israel. Cf. 1 Chr 22.2; 2 Chr 30.25; 34.7. Census. Cf. 1 Chr 21; 22.2. Chronicles insists that no Israelite, but only resident aliens, had to do forced labor. Cf. 2 Chr 8.7–10. According to 1 Kings 5.13–18, omitted by Chronicles, Solomon sends thirty thousand workers to Lebanon, in three monthly shifts.
2.18 Three thousand six hundred. 1 Kings 5.16 has three thousand three hundred, but see the Septuagint of 1 Kings.
2 CHRONICLES 3
Solomon Builds the Temple
1Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had designated, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3These are Solomon’s measurementsa for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits. 4The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, across the width of the house;b and its height was one hundred twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5The nave he lined with cypress, covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it. 6He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold from Parvaim. 7So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8He made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10In the most holy place he made two carved cherubim and overlaidc them with gold. 11The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, five cubits long, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12and of this cherub, one wing, five cubits long, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also five cubits long, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubimd stood on their feet, facing the nave. 14And Solomone made the curtain of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim into it.
15In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16He made encirclingf chains and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right, the other on the left; the one on the right he called Jachin, and the one on the left, Boaz.
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a Syr: Heb foundations
b Compare 1 Kings 6.3: Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Heb they overlaid
d Heb they
e Heb he
f Cn: Heb in the inner sanctuary
3.1–17 Cf. 1 Kings 6.1–7.21. The account of the building of the temple is shorter in Chronicles than in 1 Kings. The Chronicler edits that earlier account to emphasize the parallels between the temple and the tabernacle.
3.1 Mount Moriah. The Temple Mount is identified with the place where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac (Gen 22.2, 14). This site is also the place where David saw an angel with a drawn sword at the time of his census and built an altar (1 Chr 21.1–22.1).
3.2 959 BCE. In 1 Kings 6.1 the temple building begins on the four hundred eightieth anniversary of the exodus. Chronicles generally deemphasizes the exodus.
3.3 The short cubit was 17.4 inches and the long cubit 20.4 inches. It is not clear which of these was considered the old standard. By the short cubit, the temple measures 87 by 29 feet; by the long cubit 102 by 34 feet. The height is not given.
3.4 According to 1 Kings 6.3 the vestibule measures 20 by 10 cubits. One hundred twenty. Elsewhere the temple is 30 cubits high. The verse has been damaged in transmission.
3.5 Nave, the largest room in the temple, where most of the ritual activity takes place. Within it were an incense altar, ten golden lampstands, and the table for the bread of the Presence.
3.6 Parvaim, an unknown site.
3.8 Six hundred talents, 20 tons. David is said to have contributed 100,000 talents of gold (1 Chr 22.14).
3.9 Fifty shekels, 20 ounces, which is too much for one nail, too little for all the nails.
3.10 Cherubim, winged sphinxes, whose backs formed a throne for the invisible Lord.
3.14 Solomon’s temple had doors separating the “most holy place” (holy of holies) from the rest of the building (1 Kings 6.31–32). The curtain may be a projection onto Solomon’s temple from the Second Temple, with influence also from the tabernacle account (Ex 26.31–33; cf. Mt 27.51). At this point Chronicles omits an equivalent to 1 Kings 6.29–7.14. 1 Kings 7.1–12 deals with the king’s palace (cf. 2 Chr 2.1).
3.15–17 The pillars, lacking in the Second Temple, are symbolic and decorative, not structural. Their height in Chronicles is nearly double that in Kings (18 cubits; 1 Kings 7.15). The Chronicler apparently includes in his calculations the circumference (12 cubits; 1 Kings 7.15) and the height of the capital (5 cubits; 1 Kings 7.16).
3.17 Jachin, in Hebrew “he establishes.” Boaz, meaning unknown (also the name of David’s great-grandfather; Ruth 4.17, 21–22). Some scholars interpret these names as the first words in dynastic oracles.
2 CHRONICLES 4
Furnishings of the Temple
1He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. 2Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from rim to rim, and five cubits high. A line of thirty cubits would encircle it completely. 3Under it were panels all around, each of ten cubits, surrounding the sea; there were two rows of panels, cast when it was cast. 4It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set on them. The hindquarters of each were toward the inside. 5Its thickness was a handbreadth; its rim was made like the rim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held three thousand baths.a 6He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the right side, and five on the left. In these they were to rinse what was used for the burnt offering. The sea was for the priests to wash in.
7He made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred basins of gold. 9He made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court; he overlaid their doors with bronze. 10He set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.
11And Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. Thus Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. 14He made the stands, the basins on the stands, 15the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. 17In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. 18Solomon made all these things in great quantities, so that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19So Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22the snuffers, basins, ladles, and firepans, of
pure gold. As for the entrance to the temple: the inner doors to the most holy place and the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.
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a A Hebrew measure of volume
4.1–5.1 Cf. 1 Kings 7.23–51.
4.1 This account of the bronze altar was omitted accidentally in the present text of 1 Kings because this verse and the following verse start the same way: he made. For a description of the altar from the exilic period, see Ezek 43.13–17.
4.2–5 According to Chronicles the molten sea serves the purposes of purification (cf. Ex 30.18–21). In the temple of Solomon it may have symbolized the cosmic sea dragon.
4.2 The circumference should be 31.4 cubits. Either thirty is an approximation, or the measurement was calculated from a different place on the rim (inside versus outside).
4.4 The twelve animals supporting the sea face outward and look toward each of the four compass points. The number twelve implies the twelve tribes of Israel (cf. Num 2; Ezek 48.30–35).
4.5 Three thousand baths. 1 Kings 7.26 reads “two thousand baths,” a calculation based on a hemispherical rather than a cylindrical shape. A bath was approximately 6 gallons or 22 liters.
4.6 There are ten basins in Solomon’s temple, according to the Chronicler; the tabernacle only had one. Similarly, the tabernacle had but one lampstand and one table, not ten as in Chronicles (vv. 7–8). An elaborate description of the basins and their stands in 1 Kings 7.27–38 is omitted in Chronicles.
4.7 Golden lampstands, perhaps symbolizing the presence of God.
4.8 In the tabernacle, a single table was used for the bread of the Presence. The function of the ten tables in Chronicles is not clear, though the lampstands may have been placed on them.
4.9 Court of the priests, called the inner court in 1 Kings 6.36; 7.12.
4.10–22 A close parallel to 1 Kings 7.39–50 that is perhaps a later addition. These verses ascribe production of various materials to Huram while the rest of chs. 3–4 gives credit to Solomon. The mention of inner doors (v. 22) contradicts the Chronicler’s idea that a curtain closed off the holy of holies (3.14).
4.11 Huram-abi from Tyre (2.13) makes other miscellaneous furnishings.
4.16 Chronicles does not tell us where Solomon discovered the great quantities of bronze. Recent archaeology demonstrates that the copper from Timna and the valley of Elah was not mined in Solomon’s time.
4.17 Solomon makes molds for his bronze castings in the clay of the Jordan River. Succoth and Zeredah (better “Zarethan,” following 1 Kings 7.46), cities just east of the Jordan River.
2 CHRONICLES 5
1Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Brought into the Temple
2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3And all the Israelites assembled before the king at the festival that is in the seventh month. 4And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites carried the ark. 5So they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 6King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be numbered or counted. 7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day. 10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenanta with the people of Israel after they came out of Egypt.
11Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions), 12all the levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kindred, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with one hundred twenty priests who were trumpeters. 13It was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.
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a Heb lacks a covenant
5.1 Dedicated. Cf. 1 Chr 18.1–13; 26.25–27; 29.1–5. Solomon stores the silver, gold, and temple vessels in the treasuries (1 Chr 28.12). There may be a pun in Hebrew on the name “Solomon” and the verb was finished.
5.2–14 Cf. 1 Kings 8.1–11. In Chronicles the whole nation of Israel participates in major cultic events, but in this case the idea is already present in 1 Kings.
5.3 Festival…in the seventh month, Tabernacles (Booths).
5.4 The Chronicler has the Levites carry the ark (cf. 1 Chr 15.2, 11–15) and supports them wherever possible. In 1 Kings 8.3 the priests carry the ark.
5.5 The ark has already been brought to Jerusalem by David (1 Chr 15–16); now the tent of meeting (the tabernacle) is brought from Gibeon (1.3) and presumably stored in the temple. Priests and the Levites, better “the levitical priests.”
5.7 The priests alone could enter the most holy place. Cf. Num 4.5–20; Ezek 44.10–14.
5.9 Holy place. The NRSV emends, following the Septuagint and 1 Kings 8.8; the Hebrew reads “the ark.” To this day, taken over from 1 Kings 8.8. The ark no longer existed at the time Chronicles was written.
5.10 Two tablets. According to a later tradition attested by Heb 9.4, a jar of manna and Aaron’s rod were also in the ark (cf. Ex 16.32–34; Num 17.10–11). Horeb, the preferred word for Sinai in Deuteronomy–2 Kings (see 1 Kings 8.9).
5.11–13 Most of the text of these verses is an addition by the Chronicler.
5.12 The levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. Cf. 1 Chr 16.37–41.
5.13 For he is good…forever, a couplet frequently used in Chronicles (1 Chr 16.34, 41; 2 Chr 7.3, 6; 20.21).
5.13–14 The temple is filled with the cloud of the glory of the LORD, just as the tabernacle had been at its dedication (Ex 40.34–38). The marks of a theophany are seen by the priests. A second theophany, approving the temple, appears in 7.1–3, where it is visible to all the people.
2 CHRONICLES 6
Dedication of the Temple
1Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would reside in thick darkness. 2I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to reside in forever.”
3Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying, 5‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that my name might be there, and I chose no one as ruler over my people Israel; 6but I have chosen Jerusalem in order that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 8But the LORD said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name; 9nevertheless you shall not build the ho
use, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made; for I have succeeded my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 11There I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
12Then Solomona stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands. 13Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven. 14He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant in steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart—15you who have kept for your servant, my father David, what you promised to him. Indeed, you promised with your mouth and this day have fulfilled with your hand. 16Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant, my father David, that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children keep to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ 17Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant David.
18“But will God indeed reside with mortals on earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you. 20May your eyes be open day and night toward this house, the place where you promised to set your name, and may you heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 21And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; may you hear from heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.