2 Chronicles chapter 4

Opulent furnishings for Solomon’s temple.

 


 

OPULENT FURNISHINGS FOR SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

 

VERSE 1. Then he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

he made an altar of bronze. It sat in the courtyard, directly in front of the temple.

twenty cubits long. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

So the altar was 30 feet long by 30 feet wide by 15 feet high.

 

VERSE 2. Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim. It was round, five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference.

the molten sea. Or “pool” or “reservoir.” It was a round basin. It is sometimes referred to as “the Sea of cast metal.”

The size of this basin was 15 feet in diameter by 7-1/2 feet deep.

The huge copper sea was for priests to wash in. Maybe they were covered in blood from slaughtering animals.

 

VERSE 3. Under it was the likeness of oxen, which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

Under it was the likeness of oxen. Under the the sea of cast metal was a frieze. It consisted of two rows of engraved bulls.

 

VERSE 4. It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hindquarters were inward.

It stood on twelve oxen. These probably represented the twelve tribes of Israel and their arrangement in the wilderness camps

 

VERSE 5. It was a handbreadth thick. Its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It received and held three thousand baths.

three thousand baths. A bath is about 5.6 U. S. gallons or 21.1 liters, so 3,000 baths is about 16,800 gallons or 63.3 kiloliters.

 

VERSE 6. He also made ten basins, and put five on the right hand and five on the left, to wash in them. The things that belonged to the burnt offering were washed in them, but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

the sea was for the priests to wash in. It served as a wash basin for the priests.

 

VERSE 7. He made the ten lamp stands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left.

ten lamp stands. The former tabernacle had only one lampstand.

 

VERSE 8. He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold.

 

VERSE 9. Furthermore he made the court of the priests, the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze.

 

VERSE 10. He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

 

VERSE 11. Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished doing the work that he did for king Solomon in God’s house:

Huram. Previously he was called Huram-Abi:

2 Chronicles 2:13. Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi,

 

VERSE 12. the two pillars, the bowls, the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars,

 

VERSE 13. and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks—two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.

 

VERSE 14. He also made the bases, and he made the basins on the bases—

 

VERSE 15. one sea, and the twelve oxen under it.

 

VERSE 16. Huram-abi also made the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all its vessels for king Solomon, for the LORD’s house, of bright bronze.

Huram-abi. The suffix “abi” means “his father.”

 

VERSE 17. The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.

 

VERSE 18. Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance, so that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

 

VERSE 19. Solomon made all the vessels that were in God’s house: the golden altar, the tables with the show bread on them,

 

VERSE 20. and the lamp stands with their lamps to burn according to the ordinance before the inner sanctuary, of pure gold;

 

VERSE 21. and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold that was purest gold;

 

VERSE 22. and the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans of pure gold. As for the entry of the house, its inner doors for the most holy place and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.

 


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2 CHRONICLES

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Mount Moriah, The Cloud of Glory

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.