2 Chronicles 3

Solomon Builds the Temple

1 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah^[a] 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.

3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide^[b] (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 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 on the walls.

8 He built the Most Holy Place, 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 weighed fifty shekels.^[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair 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 extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.^[h]

14 He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it.

15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits^[i] long, each with a capital five cubits high.

16 He made interwoven chains^[j] and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates 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]

2 Chronicles 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

The building of the temple.

- There is a more particular account of the building of the ( 1 Kings 6 ) not only which he had purchased, but which he had fixed on by Divine direction. Full instructions enable us to go about our work with certainty and to proceed therein with comfort. Blessed be God, the Scriptures are enough to render the man of God thoroughly furnished for every good work. Let us search the Scriptures daily, beseeching the Lord to enable us to understand, believe, and obey his word, that our work and our way may be made plain, and that all may be begun, continued, and ended in him. Beholding God, in Christ, his true Temple, more glorious than that of Solomon's, may we become a spiritual house, a habitation of God through the Spirit.

Cross References

• 1. Acts 7:47
• 2. S Genesis 28:17
• 3. S 2 Samuel 24:18; 1 Chronicles 21:18
• 4. Ezra 5:11
• 5. Ezekiel 41:2
• 6. Ezekiel 40:16
• 7. Genesis 3:24; 1 Kings 6:29-35; Ezekiel 41:18
• 8. S Exodus 26:33
• 9. Exodus 26:32
• 10. Exodus 25:18
• 11. S Exodus 25:18
• 12. S Exodus 26:31,33; Hebrews 9:3
• 13. Genesis 3:24
• 14. S 1 Kings 7:15; Revelation 3:12
• 15. 1 Kings 7:22
• 16. 1 Kings 7:17
• 17. S 1 Kings 7:20

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "Ornan," a variant of "Araunah"
• [b]. That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
• [c]. That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
• [d]. Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew "and a hundred and twenty"
• [e]. That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
• [f]. That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
• [g]. That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
• [h]. Or "facing inward"
• [i]. That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
• [j]. Or possibly "made chains in the inner sanctuary" ; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
• [k]. "Jakin" probably means "he establishes."
• [l]. "Boaz" probably means "in him is strength."

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 3 & 4

These two chapters give an account of the building of the temple, of the materials, parts, and form of it, and of things belonging to it, and which agrees with 1Ki 6:1-7:51 see the notes there; only here, 1Ch 3:1, mention is made of the particular place where it was built, Mount Moriah; of which see the notes on Ge 22:2, 1Ch 22:1. The dimensions of the house, as the Targum rightly explains, 2Ch 3:3, are said to be after the first measure, either of that of the tabernacle by Moses, or rather of that of the pattern David gave to Solomon, 1Ch 28:11, though some understand it of the greater cubit: the holy place is called the greater house, 2Ch 3:5, being twice as long as the holy of holies; in 2Ch 3:6, we are informed what the precious stones were for, which David and his princes gave for the temple, 1Ch 29:2,8, that they were to decorate the house; and also what sort of gold was used in overlaying it, gold of Parvaim, which some interpret of Peru {h}, in America; but it is a question whether that was then known, or, if it was, must go by another name, since Peru is a late name given by the Spaniards, at their conquest of it. Bochart {i} takes it to be Taprobane, an island in the Indian sea, as if it was Taph Parvan or Provan, the shore of Parvan. Kircher {k} is of opinion it is the same with Javaim, the isles of Java in the same sea, from whence was gold, which is not very likely. Waserus {l} thinks Parvaim is the name of a town which is by Pliny {m} corruptly called Parbacia, which was in the land of Havilah, or the kingdom of the Charazenes, where was the best gold, Ge 2:11,12 though others suppose it to be the same with Ophir, by removing the first letter of the word, to which Pfeiffer {n} inclines, and is as probable as any; and much more probable than what the Jews {o} say, that this gold was so called, because it was red like the blood of "parim", oxen: in 2Ch 3:8, the quantity of gold, with which the most holy place was overlaid, is given, six hundred talents: of which \\see Gill on "1Ki 6:21"\\, In 2Ch 3:9 we read of the nails with which the plates of gold were fastened to the boards, nowhere else mentioned, except in the Vulgate Latin version of 1Ki 6:21, "he fastened the plates with golden nails"; which version perhaps is most correct; the weight of which were fifty shekels of gold; that is, according to the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, each nail weighed so much, which amounted to seventy five pounds of our money {p}. Eupolemus, an Heathen writer {q} speaks of these nails, which he makes to be silver ones; and says they were of the weight of a talent, in the form of a woman's breast, and in number four, with which the plates of gold were fastened, which were of five cubits; I suppose he means there were four of these nails in every plate of five cubits: in 2Ch 4:1 an account is given of an "altar of brass", made by Solomon, we have not elsewhere, only referred to 1Ki 8:64, 9:25 whether this was only covered with brass, as that made by Moses was, as some {r} think; or whether of massy brass, as Dr. Lightfoot {s} because not to be removed as that was, is not certain; the altar of the second temple was of stones unpolished, according to the Misnah {t}, with which agrees

``46 And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them. 47 Then they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new altar according to the former;'' (1 Maccabees 4)

and so Philo {u}: "twenty cubits was the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof"; it was four times as big in its square as that of Moses, and three times higher, and a cubit over, \\see Gill on "Ex 27:1"\\. Hecataeus {w}, an Heathen writer, speaks of this altar as four square, and made of whole and unpolished stones, each side of which was twenty cubits, but the height of it he makes to be twelve cubits, in which he mistakes. It weighed, according to Jacob Leon {x} 7000 arobas of brass, each aroba containing twenty five pounds. The rest of the chapter agrees with the account in the book of Kings.

\\See Gill on "1Ki 6:1"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:2"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:3"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:4"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:5"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:6"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:7"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:8"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:9"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:10"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:11"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:12"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:13"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:14"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:15"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:16"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:17"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:18"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:19"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:20"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:21"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:22"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:23"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:24"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:25"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:26"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:27"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:28"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:29"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:30"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:31"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:32"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:33"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:34"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:35"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:36"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:37"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 6:38"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:1"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:2"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:3"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:4"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:5"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:6"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:7"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:8"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:9"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:10"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:11"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:12"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:13"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:14"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:15"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:16"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:17"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:18"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:19"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:20"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:21"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:22"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:23"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:24"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:25"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:26"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:27"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:28"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:29"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:30"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:31"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:32"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:33"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:34"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:35"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:36"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:37"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:38"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:39"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:40"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:41"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:42"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:43"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:44"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:45"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:46"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:47"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:48"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:49"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:50"\\ \\See Gill on "1Ki 7:51"\\

{h} Erasm. Schmid. de America Orat. ad Calc. Pindar. p. 261. Montani Phaleg. in Calc. Jac. Capellus in loc. {i} Phaleg. l. 2. c. 27. & Canaan, l. 1. c. 46. col. 692. Braunius de Vest. Sacred. Heb. p. 221. {k} Prodrom. Copt. c. 4. p. 119. {l} De Antiqu. Num. Heb. l. 1. c. 6. {m} Nat. Hist l. 6. c. 28. {n} Difficil. Script. Sacr. cent. 3. loc. 16. p. 247. {o} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 45. 1. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 41. 4. Shemot Rabba, sect. 39. fol. 136. 4. {p} Brerewood de Ponder. &c. c. 5. {q} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 34. p. 450. {r} Cunaeus de Rep. Heb. l. 2. c. 5. {s} Prospect of the Temple, ch. 34. p. 2029. So Villalpandus. {t} Middot, c. 3. sect. 4. {u} De Victimis, p. 850. {w} Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408. {x} Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 4. p. 20. 19189-950107-1827-2Ch3.2