2 Chronicles 3
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Construction of the Temple
3 Then Solomon began to build the House of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. He constructed it on the site that David had specified,[a] namely, the threshing floor of Ornan[b] the Jebusite. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
The Sanctuary
3 Now these are the dimensions of the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of God’s house. The length was ninety feet and the width thirty feet.[c] 4 The porch[d] that was in front of the temple building was thirty feet wide, the same as the width of the building, and it was thirty feet high.[e]
He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He lined the larger front room of the building with fir paneling,[f] which he overlaid with fine gold and decorated with palm trees and chains. 6 He beautified the house with dazzling precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim.[g] 7 He also overlaid the house, the beams and rafters, the thresholds and door frames, its walls, and its doors with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the Most Holy Place. It was thirty feet by thirty feet, the same dimensions as the width of the building, and he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold.[h] 9 The weight of the gold nails was more than a pound.[i] He overlaid the upper areas with gold.
The Cherubim
10 In the Most Holy Place he made two carved cherubim that were overlaid with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was thirty feet. One wing of the first cherub was seven and a half feet long and touched the outer wall of the house. The other wing was also seven and a half feet long and touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 One wing of the other cherub was seven and a half feet long and touched the outer wall of the house. The other wing was also seven and a half feet long and touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spread out over thirty feet. They stood upright on their feet, and they faced toward the front of the sanctuary building.[j] 14 He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson material and fine white linen, and he decorated it with cherubim.
Pillars
15 For the front of the house he made two pillars with a combined height of fifty-three feet,[k] and the capitals that were on top of each of them were seven and a half feet tall. 16 He made chains for the inner sanctuary[l] and also put them on the tops of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple building,[m] one on the south side and the other on the north. He named the one on the south Jakin[n] and the one on the north Boaz.[o]
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Or prepared
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 In 2 Samuel 24 he is called Araunah or Aravnah.
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 The measurements are given in cubits of the old measure, a much disputed term. The translation uses 18-inch cubits. Using a long cubit of 20+ inches, the temple would be 105 feet by 35 feet.
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Or entry hall. It is uncertain if this was an unroofed porch or an enclosed vestibule.
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 The Hebrew text reads one hundred twenty cubits (one hundred eighty feet), but the Greek and Syriac texts and the data concerning the height of the pillars for the porch all support a height of twenty cubits (thirty feet). Perhaps the Hebrew word amwt (cubit) was accidentally changed into the word mawt (hundred) by the inversion of two letters. The account in Kings does not give the height of the porch.
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 According to 1 Kings 6:15, the floor was fir and the walls were cedar. This verse in Chronicles does not mention this distinction.
- 2 Chronicles 3:6 The meaning or location of the Hebrew term Parvaim is unknown.
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 Because of widely varying estimates for the weight of a talent (68 pounds to 130 pounds) most translations retain the term talents. The smallest estimated weight of the gold would be about 20 tons. The notes of this translation use the estimate of 75 pounds for a talent.
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 Literally fifty shekels
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 It is uncertain whether this means they faced toward the front entrance of the building (what we would call the front of a church when we are standing outside) or whether they faced toward the back of the building and thus toward the Lord (what we would call the front of a church when we are standing inside).
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 The word combined is not in the Hebrew text, but the parallel text in 1 Kings 7:15 indicates that this is the combined height of the two pillars.
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 See 1 Kings 6:21, which states that the chains were across the front of the inner room.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Here the Hebrew word hekal refers to the whole temple building. Sometimes it refers only to the front room.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin means he establishes.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz means in him is strength.
2 Chronicles 3
Living Bible
3 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 Temple, 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 Guardian Angels engraved on the walls.
8 Within the Temple, at one end, was the most sacred room—the Holy of Holies—thirty feet square. This too was overlaid with the finest gold, valued at millions of dollars. 9 Twenty-six-ounce gold nails were used. The upper rooms were also plated with pure gold.
10 Within the innermost room, the Holy of Holies, Solomon placed two sculptured statues of Guardian Angels and plated them with gold. 11-13 They stood on the floor facing the outer room, with wings stretched wing tip to wing tip across the room, from wall to wall.[a] 14 Across the entrance to this room he placed a veil of blue and crimson finespun linen, decorated with Guardian Angels.
15 At the front of the Temple were two pillars 52-1/2 feet high, topped by a 7-1/2-foot capital flaring out to the roof. 16 He made chains[b] 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).
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 with wings stretched . . . from wall to wall, literally, “one wing of a cherub, five cubits long.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 chains, literally, “chains in the Holy of Holies.”
2 Chronicles 3
King James Version
3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor 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 things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
4 And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5 And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set 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 posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
8 And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, 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 cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.
11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one 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 one 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 cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.
14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16 And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
17 And he reared 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 3
New King James Version
Solomon Builds the Temple(A)
3 Now (B)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at (C)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where [a]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of (D)Ornan[b] the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3 This is the foundation (E)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. 4 And the (F)vestibule that was in front of [c]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was [d]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 (G)The larger [e]room he (H)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 And he made the (I)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper (J)area with gold. 10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. 14 And he made the (L)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
15 Also he made in front of the [f]temple (M)two pillars [g]thirty-five cubits [h]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made (N)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. 17 Then he (O)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand [i]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left [j]Boaz.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Lit. He, following MT, Vg.; LXX the Lord; Tg. the Angel of the Lord
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16ff
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 The holy place, the main room of the temple, 1 Kin. 6:3
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Arab., some LXX mss., Syr. twenty
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 eighteen, 1 Kin. 7:15; 2 Kin. 25:17; Jer. 52:21
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. long
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. He Shall Establish
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. In It Is Strength
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
