Jeremiah 52:20

20 The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls that supported the Sea, and the ten washstands that Solomon had made for the Temple of God was enormous. They couldn't weigh it all!

Jeremiah 52:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 52:20

The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls
The two pillars of Jachin and Boaz before mentioned, and the molten or brasen sea, with the twelve bulls or oxen the sea stood upon, ( 1 Kings 7:25 ) ; that [were] under the bases;
or "by the bases", as Jarchi; or rather, "that were instead of bases" F4; for the twelve oxen were the bases on which the molten sea stood: which King Solomon had made in the house of the Lord;
this is mentioned to show that these were the selfsame pillars, sea, and oxen, and other vessels, that Solomon made, that were now carried away; for though Ahaz took down the sea from off the brasen oxen, and put it on a pavement of stones, yet it seems not to have been destroyed; and might be restored to its proper place by Hezekiah, or some other prince; the brass of all these vessels was without weight;
there was no weight sufficient to weigh them; the weight of them could not very well be told; they were so heavy, that in Solomon's time the weight of them was not taken, when they were placed in the temple, so neither when they were taken away, ( 1 Kings 7:47 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (twnkmh txt rva) "qui erant in loco basium", Piscator,

Jeremiah 52:20 In-Context

18 They also took the various bronze-crafted liturgical accessories, as well as the gold and silver censers and sprinkling bowls, used in the services of Temple worship.
19 The king's deputy didn't miss a thing. He took every scrap of precious metal he could find.
20 The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls that supported the Sea, and the ten washstands that Solomon had made for the Temple of God was enormous. They couldn't weigh it all!
21 Each pillar stood twenty-seven feet high with a circumference of eighteen feet. The pillars were hollow, the bronze a little less than an inch thick.
22 Each pillar was topped with an ornate capital of bronze pomegranates and filigree, which added another seven and a half feet to its height.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.