2 Chronicles 4

He made a bronze altar. It was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

1Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

NoteA cubit was roughly eighteen inches, about the length of a forearm from elbow to fingertip, so this altar was some thirty feet square and fifteen feet high. This was the altar in the open courtyard where animals were burned as offerings, not a table, but a large raised structure with a fire on top.

2He also made a large round basin of cast metal, called the Sea. It measured ten cubits across from rim to rim, five cubits high, and thirty cubits around.

2Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

Note"The Sea" was the name given to this enormous bronze water tank; it is called that simply because of its size. "Cast metal" means the bronze was melted and poured into a mold rather than hammered into shape. The figures given, ten cubits across and thirty around, are round numbers; a circle ten across is closer to thirty-one and a half around.

3Under the rim, figures of oxen circled the whole basin, ten of them for every cubit, going all the way around. They were made in two rows, cast as part of the basin itself.

3And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.

4The basin stood on twelve oxen. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. The basin rested on top of them, and their back ends all pointed inward.

4It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

5The metal was as thick as the width of a hand. Its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.

5And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.

NoteA handbreadth is the width of four fingers, about three inches. A bath was a liquid measure of roughly five to six gallons (around twenty-two liters), so three thousand baths is somewhere near seventeen thousand gallons. The parallel account in 1 Kings 7:26 gives the capacity as two thousand baths.

6He also made ten basins for washing and set five on the right side and five on the left. The parts of the animals for the burnt offering were rinsed in these, but the priests washed themselves in the Sea.

6He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal killed and then burned whole on the altar; the parts had to be rinsed before being placed on the fire. The priests' own washing was a matter of ritual cleanness required before handling holy things, not ordinary hygiene. "Right" and "left" here are the Hebrew wording; since the temple faced east, they correspond to south and north.

7He made ten gold lampstands, following the plan given for them, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.

7And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

NoteA lampstand was a branched stand holding oil lamps, small vessels of olive oil with a wick, rather than anything with candles. "The plan given for them" refers to the pattern or specification laid down for their design.

8He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred gold bowls.

8He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

9He then made the courtyard for the priests and the large court, along with doors for the court, and he covered those doors with bronze.

9Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

NoteThere were two enclosures: an inner courtyard that only priests could enter, holding the altar and the Sea, and a larger outer court where the people gathered.

10He placed the Sea on the south side of the building, at the southeast corner.

10And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.

11Huram also made the pots, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished the work he had agreed to do for King Solomon on the house of God:

11And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;

NoteThis Huram is the master craftsman Solomon brought from Tyre, not King Hiram of Tyre who supplied the timber. The sprinkling bowls were used for catching and throwing the blood of sacrificed animals against the altar.

12that is, the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped tops that sat on the pillars; and the two networks of woven metal that covered the two bowl-shaped tops on the pillars;

12To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;

NoteA capital is the decorated block or crown at the top of a column. These two pillars stood free at the entrance of the temple and had names, Jachin and Boaz (2 Chronicles 3:17). The "networks" were latticework or chain-work of bronze draped over the bowl-shaped capitals.

13and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network, covering the two bowl-shaped tops on the pillars.

13And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars.

NotePomegranates, a round red fruit full of seeds, were a standard decorative motif in the region, used here as hanging ornaments cast in bronze.

14He made the stands, and he made the basins that sat on the stands.

14He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;

NoteThese stands were wheeled bronze carts, described in more detail in 1 Kings 7:27–37, made to move the washing basins around the courtyard.

15He made the one large basin called the Sea, and the twelve oxen that stood under it.

15One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

16Huram-abi also made for King Solomon the pots, the shovels, the meat forks, and all the other equipment for the house of the LORD. All of it was made of polished bronze.

16The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the LORD of bright brass.

Note"Huram-abi" combines his name with a word meaning "my father," used here as a title of respect for a master craftsman rather than as a family relationship. Meat forks were long hooks for lifting cuts of sacrificial meat out of the boiling pots.

17The king had these pieces cast in molds of clay, in the flat land near the Jordan River, between Succoth and Zeredathah.

17In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.

NoteBronze was cast by pouring molten metal into molds; the heavy clay soil of the Jordan valley held the shape well and could stand the heat. Succoth and Zeredathah were towns in that valley, north of the Dead Sea.

18Solomon made all these objects in such large numbers that no one could figure out how much the bronze weighed.

18Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.

19Solomon also made all the objects for the house of God: the gold altar, and the tables that held the bread set out before God,

19And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;

NoteThis gold altar is the small incense altar that stood inside the building, distinct from the large bronze altar for animal offerings outside. The bread set out before God was twelve loaves laid out in the holy place and replaced each week; older translations call it "shewbread," meaning bread of the presence.

20and the lampstands with their lamps, made of pure gold, which were to burn in front of the inner room just as the instructions said,

20Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;

NoteThe inner room is the innermost chamber of the temple, the Most Holy Place. The King James word for it, "oracle," means the inner sanctuary itself, not a prophecy or a person who gives one.

21and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, which he made of gold, the purest gold there was,

21And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold;

22and the wick trimmers, the sprinkling bowls, the ladles, and the firepans for incense, all of pure gold. The doorways of the building were gold too: the inner doors leading to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall.

22And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

NoteWick trimmers were small tongs or snuffers for cutting back a burnt lamp wick. The ladles (King James "spoons") were dishes for handling incense, and the firepans were shallow metal pans for carrying burning coals to make the incense smoke.