2 Chronicles 4
The Message
Temple Furnishings
4 He made the Bronze Altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and ten feet high.
2-5 He made a Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim, there were two parallel bands of something like bulls, ten to each foot and a half. The figures were cast in one piece with the Sea. The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. All the bulls faced outward and supported the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or a lily. It held about 18,000 gallons.
6 He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea.
7 He made ten gold Lampstands, following the specified pattern, and placed five on the right and five on the left.
8 He made ten tables and set five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze.
10 He placed the Sea on the right side of The Temple at the southeast corner.
11-16 He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls.
And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon:
two pillars;
two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars;
two decorative filigrees for the capitals;
four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree);
ten washstands with their basins;
one Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls.
16-18 All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.
19-22 Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God:
the gold Altar;
the tables that held the Bread of the Presence;
the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies;
the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold);
the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers;
the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.
2 Chronicles 4
Common English Bible
Solomon’s temple equipment
4 He[a] also made a bronze altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and fifteen feet high. 2 Then he made a tank of cast metal called the Sea. It was circular in shape, fifteen feet from rim to rim, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. 3 Under the rim were two rows of oxlike figures completely encircling it, ten every eighteen inches, each cast in its mold. 4 The Sea rested on twelve oxen with their backs toward the center, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. 5 The Sea was as thick as the width of a hand. Its rim was shaped like a cup or an open lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.[b] 6 He also made ten washbasins and put five on the south and five on the north. The items used for the entirely burned offerings were rinsed in these. The priests washed in the Sea. 7 He made ten gold lampstands as prescribed and put them in the sanctuary, five on the south and five on the north. 8 He also made ten tables and put them in the sanctuary, five on the south and five on the north, as well as a hundred gold bowls. 9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the great courtyard, with doors covered with bronze for the courtyard. 10 He placed the Sea at the southeast corner.
11 Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished all his work on God’s temple for King Solomon:
12 two columns;
two circular capitals on top of the columns;
two networks adorning the two circular capitals on top of the columns;
13 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, with two rows of pomegranates for each network that adorned the two circular capitals on top of the columns;
14 ten[c] stands with ten[d] basins on them;
15 one Sea;
twelve oxen beneath the Sea;
16 and the pots, the shovels, and the meat forks.
All the things that Huram-abi made for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple were made of polished bronze. 17 The king cast them in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.[e] 18 Due to the very large number of objects, Solomon didn’t even try to weigh the bronze. 19 Solomon also made all the equipment for God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables for the bread of the presence; 20 the lampstands with their lamps, all of pure gold, to burn before the inner sanctuary as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of pure gold; 22 and the wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers of pure gold. As for the temple entrance, the inner doors to the most holy place as well as the doors to the main hall were made of gold.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Solomon or Huram; this ambiguity with the pronoun continues in the following verses, but compare 2 Chron 3:1, 3; 4:11. If Huram is meant, this is a worker whose name is spelled Hiram in 1 Kgs 7:13-14.
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 One bath is approximately twenty quarts or five gallons.
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 LXX and 1 Kgs 7:43; MT he made
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 1 Kgs 7:43; MT he made
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 With 1 Kgs 7:46; Heb Zeredah
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible