1 Kings 7:21

21 And he set the two pillars in the porch of the temple; and when he had set the right half pillar, he called it by name Jachin, that is, steadfast; in like manner he raised up the second pillar, and he called the name thereof Boaz, that is, strength. (And he placed the two pillars in the vestibule of the Temple; and when he had raised up the right-hand pillar, he named it Jachin, that is, Steadfast; and in like manner he raised up the left-hand pillar, and he named it Boaz, that is, Strength.)

1 Kings 7:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 7:21

And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple
Not at the door or entrance into the temple, as Jarchi, but at the entrance into the porch:

and he set up the right pillar;
or the pillar on the right hand as you went in, which was on the north, the front being east:

and called the name thereof Jachin;
which signifies "he will establish", i.e. the house to which here was an entrance, so long as the pure worship of God should continue in it:

and he set up the left pillar;
or the pillar on the left hand, which was to the south, unless the position of them was as you come out:

and called the name thereof Boaz;
which signifies "in him", or "it is strength", namely, in the Lord that dwelt there; for this has no respect to Boaz, a prince of the house of Judah, from whom all its kings sprung, as the Targum, in ( 2 Chronicles 3:17 ) suggests. These names were given them not by Hiram the artificer, but by Solomon, and which were very expressive; not so much of the nobility of the kingdom of the house of David, as the Targum intimates; or of the church of God, the pillar and ground of truth; as of Christ himself, and the two natures in him, and of his royal dignity, signified by the crowns or chapiters on them, decorated as they were, whose legs are as pillars of marble, and in whom are righteousness and strength; which is no small encouragement to those who are entering into the church of God the temple was a type of; who, should they fear, being feeble and weak, that they should totter and fall, here stands Jachin, to let them know the Lord will establish and settle them; or that they should never hold out to the end, here is Boaz to direct them to Christ, in whom their strength lies, see ( Song of Solomon 4:15 ) ( Isaiah 45:24 ) . Allusion is had to these, ( Revelation 3:12 ) .

1 Kings 7:21 In-Context

19 And the pommels, that were upon the heads of the pillars in the porch, were made as by work of lily, of four cubits; (And the capitals, that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule, were shaped like lilies, four cubits in height;)

20 and again other pommels in the highness of [the] pillars above, by the measure of the pillar, set against the works like nets; and two hundred orders of pomegranates were in the compass of the second pommel. (and on the capitals, on the tops of the two bronze pillars, above the networks, were two hundred pomegranates in two rows, around each capital.)

21 And he set the two pillars in the porch of the temple; and when he had set the right half pillar, he called it by name Jachin, that is, steadfast; in like manner he raised up the second pillar, and he called the name thereof Boaz, that is, strength. (And he placed the two pillars in the vestibule of the Temple; and when he had raised up the right-hand pillar, he named it Jachin, that is, Steadfast; and in like manner he raised up the left-hand pillar, and he named it Boaz, that is, Strength.)

22 And he set upon the heads of the pillars a work by the manner of a lily; and (so) the work of the pillars was made perfect. (And on the very top of the pillars was lily work; and so the work of the pillars was finished, or completed.)

23 Also he made a molten sea, that is, a washing vessel for priests, round in compass, of ten cubits from brink to brink; the highness thereof was of five cubits; and a cord of thirty cubits went about it by compass. (And he cast the bronze Sea, that is, a washing vessel for the priests, and it was ten cubits across from brim to brim; its highness was five cubits; and it took a cord thirty cubits long to go all around it.)