2 Chronicles4
New King James Version
1Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.
2Then he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
3And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
4It 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; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward.
5It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained three thousand baths.
6He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
7And he made ten lampstands of gold according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.
8He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred bowls of gold.
9Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze.
10He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.
11Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God:
12the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars;
13four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars);
14he also made carts and the lavers on the carts;
15one Sea and twelve oxen under it;
16also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles Huram his master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
17In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zeredah.
18And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was the showbread;
20the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary,
21with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold;
22the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 2 Chronicles 4.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The furniture of the temple. (1-22).
vv1-22
Here is a further account of the furniture of God's house. Both without doors and within, there was that which typified the grace of the gospel, and shadowed out good things to come, of which the substance is Christ. There was the brazen altar. The making of this was not mentioned in the book of Kings. On this all the sacrifices were offered, and it sanctified the gift. The people who worshipped in the courts might see the sacrifices burned. They might thus be led to consider the great Sacrifice, to be offered in the fulness of time, to take away sin, and put an end to death, which the blood of bulls and goats could not possibly do. And, with the smoke of the sacrifices, their hearts might ascend to heaven, in holy desires towards God and his favour. In all our devotions we must keep the eye of faith fixed upon Christ. The furniture of the temple, compared with that of the tabernacle, showed that God's church would be enlarged, and his worshippers multiplied. Blessed be God, there is enough in Christ for all.
Key Words
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
מִזְבֵּחַ: an altar
נְחֹשֶׁת: copper, hence, something made of that metal, i.e. coin, a fetter; figuratively, base (as compared with gold or silver)
עֶשְׂרִים: twenty; also (ordinal) twentieth
אַמָּה: properly, a mother (i.e. unit of measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a bond of the entrance)
אֹרֶךְ: length
רֹחַב: width (literally or figuratively)
עֶשֶׂר: ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits)
קוֹמָה: height
יָם: a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water; specifically (with the article), the Mediterranean Sea; sometimes a large river, or an artifical basin; locally, the west, or (rarely) the south
Cross References
2 Chronicles 4Parallel account of the construction and dimensions of the molten sea.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel account detailing the placement of the ten lavers.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel account of the golden tables and other furniture of the temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel account of Huram completing the various vessels and instruments.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The prohibition of steps to the altar is modified by the introduction of priestly garments.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Priestly linen breeches allowed for ascending the elevated brazen altar safely.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Explains the difference in capacity (two thousand vs. three thousand baths).
Supported by JFB
The supporting twelve oxen directed toward the four cardinal directions.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The original tabernacle pattern ('their form') prescribed by God to Moses.
Supported by Matthew Poole
David's inspired plans specifying gold and silver tables.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies the master artisan Huram-abi ('Huram his father').
Supported by Matthew Poole
The geographical location of the clay ground casting in the Jordan plain.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The tabernacle predecessor of the molten sea used for priestly washing.
Parallel description of the construction of the inner court.
Parallel list of the golden entry doors and holy instruments.