2 Chronicles 3:1-17

3. BUILDING THE TEMPLE (2 Chronicles 3:1 to 2 Chronicles 5:1)

TEXT

2 Chronicles 3:1. Then Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where Jehovah, appeared unto David his father, which he made ready in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2. And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3. Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was three-score cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4. And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold. 5. And the greater house he ceiled with fir-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and wrought thereon palm-trees and chains. 6. And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7. He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubim on the walls.

8. And he made the most holy house: the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. 9. And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10. And in the most holy house he made two cherubim of image work; and they overlaid them with gold. 11. And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12. And the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13. The wings of these cherubim spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house. 14. And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubim thereon.
15. Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16. And he made chains in the oracle, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17. And he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

2 Chronicles 4:1. Moreover he made an altar of brass; twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. 2. Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass; and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. 3. And under it was the likeness of oxen, which did compass it round about, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast. 4. It 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 upon them above, and all their hinder parts were inward. 5. And it was a handbreadth thick; and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths. 6. He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt-offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

7. And he made the ten candlesticks 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. 8. He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9. Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass. 10. And he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.
11. And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of God: 12. the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, 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 upon the pillars. 14. He made also the bases, and the lavers made he upon the bases; 15. one sea, and the twelve oxen under it. 16. The pots also, and the shovels, and the flesh-hooks, and all the vessels thereof, did Huram his father make for king Solomon, for the house of Jehovah, of bright brass. 17. In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. 18. Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.
19. And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon was the showbread; 20. and the candlesticks with their lamps, to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold; 21. and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, and that perfect gold; 22. and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the firepans, of pure gold. And as for the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, were of gold.

2 Chronicles 5:1. Thus all the work that Solomon wrought for the house of Jehovah was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

PARAPHRASE

2 Chronicles 3:1. Finally the actual construction of the Temple began. Its location was in Jerusalem at the top of Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to Solomon's father, King David, and where the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite had been. David had selected it as the site for the Temple. 2. The actual construction began on the seventeenth day of April in the fourth year of King Solomon's reign. 3. The foundation was ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. 4., A covered porch ran along the entire thirty-foot width of the house, with the inner walls and ceiling overlaid with pure gold! The roof was 180 feet high. 5. The main part of the Temple was paneled with cypress wood, plated with pure gold, and engraved with palm trees and chains. 6. Beautiful jewels were inlaid into the walls to add to the beauty; the gold, by the way, was of the best, from Parvaim. 7. All the walls, beams, doors, and thresholds throughout the Temple were plated with gold, with angels engraved on the walls.

8. Within the Temple, at one end, was the most sacred roomthe Holy of Holiesthirty feet square. This too was overlaid with the finest gold, valued at $18,000,000. 9. Twenty-six-ounce gold nails were used. The upper rooms were also plated with gold.
10. Within the innermost room, the Holy of Holies, Solomon placed two sculptured statues of angels, and plated them with gold. 11, 12, 13. They stood on the floor facing the outer room, with wings stretched wingtip to wingtip across the room, from wall to wall. 14. Across the entrance to this room he placed a veil of blue and crimson finespun linen, decorated with angels.
15. At the front of the Temple were two pillars 52½ feet high, topped by a 7½ foot capital flaring out to the roof. 16. He made chains and placed them on top of the pillars, with 100 pomegranates attached to the chains. 17. Then he set up the pillars at the front of the Temple, one on the right and the other on the left. And he gave them names: Jachin (the one on the right), and Boaz (the one on the left).

2 Chronicles 4:1. He also made a bronze altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and fifteen feet high. 2. Then he forged a huge round tank fifteen feet across from rim to rim. The rim stood 7½ feet above the floor, and was forty-five feet around. 3. This tank was set on the backs of two rows of metal oxen. The tank and oxen were cast as one piece. 4. There were twelve of these oxen standing tail to tail, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east. 5. The walls of the tank were five inches thick, flaring out like the cup of a lily. It held 3,000 barrels of water. 6. He also constructed ten vats for water to wash the offerings, five to the right of the huge tank and five to the left. The priests used the tank, and not the vats, for their own washing.

7. Carefully following God's instructions, he then cast ten gold lampstands and placed them in the Temple, five against each wall; 8. he also built ten tables and placed five against each wall on the right and left. And he molded 100 solid gold bowls. 9. Then he constructed a court for the priests, also the public court, and overlaid the doors of these courts with bronze. 10. The huge tank was in the southeast corner of the outer room of the Temple.
11. Huramabi also made the necessary pots, shovels, and basins for use in connection with the sacrifices. So at last he completed the work assigned to him by King Solomon: 12-16. The construction of the two pillars, The two flared capitals on the tops of the pillars, The two sets of chains on the capitals, The 400 pomegranates hanging from the two sets of chains on the capitals, The bases for the vats, and the vats themselves, The huge tank and the twelve oxen under it, The pots, shovels, and fleshhooks. This skillful craftsman, Huramabi, made all of the above-mentioned items for King Solomon, using polished bronze. 17, 18. The king did the casting at the claybanks of the Jordan valley between Succoth and Zeredah. Great quantities of bronze were used, too heavy to weigh.
19. But in the Temple only gold was used. For Solomon commanded that all of the utensils, the altar, and the table for the Bread of the Presence must be made of gold; 20. also the lambs and lampstands, 21. the floral decorations, tongs, 22. lamp snuffers, basins, spoons, and firepansall were made of pure gold. Even the doorway of the Temple, the main door, and the inner doors to the Holy of Holies were of gold.

2 Chronicles 5:1. So the Temple was finally finished. Then Solomon brought in the gifts dedicated to the Lord by his father, King David. They were stored in the Temple treasuries.

COMMENTARY

Moriah was located on the Eastern side of the city of Jerusalem. It may well have been the place where Abraham went to offer Isaac (Genesis 22:2), although some stoutly dispute this. It is identified as the location of Ornan's threshing floor where David offered the sacrifice that stopped the plague (1 Chronicles 21:18). The place was already hallowed by sacrifice.[49] It was on an elevation commanding attention from all sections of Jerusalem. There seemed to be no doubt that this was Jehovah's choice for the building site for the Temple. Why Solomon waited until the fourth year of his reign is not clear. He might have wanted the beginning to coincide exactly with the four hundred eightieth anniversary of the release from Egypt (1 Kings 6:1). He could have been so busy setting up his kingdom, entering into contracts with other countries, that he could not begin the work any earlier. We suggest that the date when the Temple was begun was about 967 B.C. This historian was careful to mark the second day of the second month for this important event. The rest of Chapter s three and four describe the Temple as it was built.

[49] Clarke, Adam, A Commentary and Critical Notes, Vol. II, p. 638. Spence, H. D. M. The Pulpit Commentary, II Chronicles, p. 31.

The dimensions of the Temple proper (the Holy Place and the Oracle) were sixty cubits by twenty cubits. The Tabernacle had measured thirty cubits by ten cubits. The exact length of the cubit cannot now be determined. It is estimated to have varied between sixteen and twenty-one inches. The usually accepted standard for the cubit is eighteen inches. The porch served as an introduction to the Holy Place and is said to have measured twenty cubits in length and one hundred and twenty cubits in height. There was nothing like this in connection with the Tabernacle. 1 Kings 6:3 describes the porch as twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad, no reference being made to its height. Since the Temple measured thirty cubits in height, the porch would appear to be considerably out of proportion if it was one hundred cubits high. There is no satisfactory way to settle this matter. The interior of the porch was overlaid with pure gold. The skilled artisans who constructed the Tabernacle were experts in gold overlay. In this later day, Huram and his fellow craftsmen brought their finest skills to these tasks.

The greater house (2 Chronicles 3:5) was the Holy Place. The imported fir or cypress wood from Lebanon was used to cover the interior of the Holy Place. Artists carved palm trees and chains of wreathen work in this beautiful wood all of which was then overlaid with gold. This gold overlay would most likely be in the form of a transparency highlighting the grain of wood and the beauty of the carvings in the wood. The use of precious stones was not mentioned in the records in I Kings. 1 Chronicles 29:2 describes David's collection of onyx stones, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones. These were used in beautifying the interior of the Holy Place. The gold of Parvaim (2 Chronicles 3:6) is difficult to identify because the location of Parvaim is unknown. It may describe a kind of gold of rare quality. The complete interior of the Holy Place was carved with cherubim (winged figures) and overlaid with gold. The priest would enter through the golden porch. In the Holy Place the priest walked on a golden floor, looked on walls and ceiling of gold.

The most holy house (the Oracle) measured twenty cubits in all three dimensions. It was a perfect cube (1 Kings 6:20). The most holy place in the Tabernacle was ten cubits in all three dimensions. Since the height of the holy place was thirty cubits, there was another room ten cubits high above the Oracle. This room most likely contained the upper chambers which also were overlaid with gold. A very lavish proportion of gold (600 talents) was applied to the Most Holy Place as an overlay. This Oracle must have been a place of exquisite beauty defying description.

The cherubim in the tabernacle were fashioned out of the gold that formed the mercy seat, the cover for the ark. These were winged figures beneath whose wings the glory of Jehovah rested. These cherubim were in the Temple when the ark was moved into the Oracle. In addition to these cherubim, two cherubim of olivewood (1 Kings 6:23) were made to hover over the ark. Each cherub was overlaid with gold and had a wingspan of ten cubits. The ark rested between these cherubim and the tip of a wing of each cherub touched a wall of the Oracle. The cherubim looked toward the Holy Place. These sacred creatures always represented the presence and the unapproachableness of Jehovah. A wall divided the Oracle from the Holy Place (1 Kings 6:31-32). Two doors of olive-wood provided entrance to the Oracle. This wall was draped with a beautiful multi-colored fine linen veil. Chains of gold were a part of this divider between the Oracle and the Holy Place (1 Kings 6:21).

Two pillars of brass were made to be set at the entrance to the Holy Place. Each of these was thirty-five cubits high with a capital five cubits high crowning the column. The account in 1 Kings 7:15 gives the height of each pillar as eighteen cubits plus the five cubit capital. These dimensions are proportionate with those of the porch. The thirty five cubits in our present reference (2 Chronicles 3:15) may be explained as an error by a scribe. These pillars were ornately decorated and were situated so as to command the entrance to the Holy Place. The one on the right was named Jachin (shall establish). Boaz (in it is strength) was the name for the left pillar. Those who worshipped Jehovah and went in and out of His Temple would be strengthened and established by God.

The great altar of brass was placed in the court of priests and measured twenty cubits by twenty cubits by ten cubits. The altar in the Tabernacle was five cubits by five cubits by three cubits. It has been estimated that as many as forty priests could serve at this altar at one time. The molten sea measured ten cubits in diameter. It was five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference. The walls of the great vessel were four inches thick (a handbreadth). The reference in 1 Kings 7:26 indicates that the sea held two thousand baths. This may refer to the amount of water usually maintained in the vessel. The present reference (2 Chronicles 3:5) states the capacity as three thousand baths. This may be the absolute capacity of the great sea. The estimated content of the bath as a liquid measure varies from about five to twelve gallons. The brim of this great vessel was ornamented like the flower of a lily. It set upon a curiously wrought base consisting of the figures of twelve oxen. The number twelve was typical in its representation of the twelve tribes of Israel. The brazen sea was apparently reserved for the ceremonial washings of the priests.

Whereas there had been but one laver of brass in the Tabernacle, in addition to the great sea in the Temple there were ten lavers of brass. Each of these contained forty baths (1 Kings 7:38) and was mounted on wheels so as to be mobile. These were used for the washing of the offerings and related services. Five of them were placed on either side of the court of priests.

The Temple was lighted by ten golden candlesticks. Five of these were located on either side of the Holy Place. 1 Kings 7:48 mentions the table whereupon the showbread was. Here in 2 Chronicles 3:8 we read about ten tables and 2 Chronicles 4:19 refers to tables whereon was the showbread. In the cleansing of the Temple in 2 Chronicles 29:18 only one table of showbread is mentioned. These ten tables may have been auxiliary to the other services in the Holy Place. The basins of gold would be used in the ministries in the Holy Place. The setting up of the court of priests in which the great altar, the sea, and the lavers were located was accomplished by laying a marble pavement and enclosing the court with three courses of hewn stone and a course of cedar beams (1 Kings 7:12). The great court, or court of Israel enclosed the court of priests and like the other court, it too, was paved and protected by the rock wall.

All of the utensils necessary to the work of the Temple were made by Huram. He completed the pillars of brass with all of their intricate decorations (four hundred pomegranates). The place where the casts were prepared for the works of brass was beyond the Jordan river near the Jabbok. The clay in that region was very useful for this purpose. So much brass was used in the Temple that no attempt was made to keep a record of it. The golden altar of incense, the candlesticks properly ornamented, the snuffers for servicing the lights, the firepans (golden censers), the doors for the Holy Place and the Oracle were all made according to the pattern by the master craftsman, Huram.

LESSON FIFTEEN 5-8

THE ARK AND THE TEMPLE.
SOLOMON'S PRAYER OF DEDICATION.
A GREAT FESTIVAL. SOLOMON AS KING.

3. BUILDING THE TEMPLE-Continued (3-5:1)

INTRODUCTION

The ark was set in the Holy of Holies. The Temple was finished. When the prayer was completed, the Temple was filled with the light of the glory of God. Solomon established himself as the king of Israel.

TEXT

(Scripture text in Lesson Fourteen)

PARAPHRASE

(Scripture text in Lesson Fourteen)

COMMENTARY

Solomon was faithful in all matters that pertained to the Temple. Those vessels that were specifically designed for the Temple services were completed according to their respective patterns. In addition to these there were many sacred vessels acquired in David's day and dedicated to Jehovah. These were placed in special rooms set apart for such treasures. The building of the Temple was complete in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign after seven years of diligent work on the magnificent structure (1 Kings 6:38). Solomon called a great assembly of elders and princes to a meeting in Jerusalem for the purpose of bringing the ark of the covenant into the Temple. Although the Temple was not completed until the eighth month, this significant event of bringing in the ark took place in the seventh month. The seventh month, Tisri, was the first month of the civil year. The first day of this month was the Hebrew New Year. The tenth day was the Day of Atonement. The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated through eight days beginning on the fifteenth day of the month. Through several years the ark had been kept in the tent David had set up for it in Jerusalem. On this important occasion the ark, the Tent, the furnishings and utensils of the old Tabernacle were carried into the Temple. Here is a beautiful picture of the progress of Jehovah's self-revelation. Having completed His purpose with regard to the old Tabernacle, He now causes it to be folded away and laid in storage rooms in the Temple. In its place a grand new institution was brought into being. The day would come when the Temple would have fulfilled its purpose. It too, would be removed, and in its place the grandest institution of all, the Church, would be brought on the scene. The assignment for moving the ark and the Tabernacle was given to the Levites, To underscore the consecration of the king and the people, great numbers of sacrifices were offered. We would assume that these offerings were presented on the altar of burnt offering in the court of priests at the Temple. Of all the parts of the Old Tabernacle, only the ark of the covenant would actually be used in the Temple. Once the ark had contained the tables of the Law, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod. The only treasure in the ark when it was brought into the Temple were the tables of the Law. The manna and Aaron's rod probably had been removed by the Philistines when they had the ark in Samuel's day. The ark was carried into the Oracle and placed beneath the extended wings of the large cherubim which were built for the Oracle. The curious note concerning the staves is not clear. The staves were to remain in the rings of the ark at all times so that it could readily be lifted to the shoulders of priests and moved at Jehovah's direction. The ark with its staves in place was in the Oracle at the time that the writer of II Chronicles completed his record. So the most sacred vessel out of the old Tabernacle was placed in the holiest part of the Temple.