1 Kings 7:15-20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 [a](A)He fashioned two bronze columns, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. 16 He also made two capitals cast in bronze, to be placed on top of the columns, each of them five cubits high. 17 There were meshes made like netting and braid made like chains for the capitals on top of the columns, seven for each capital. 18 [b]He also cast pomegranates, two rows around each netting to cover the capital on top of the columns. 19 The capitals on top of the columns (in the porch) were made like lilies, four cubits high. 20 And the capitals on the two columns, both above and adjoining the bulge where it crossed out of the netting, had two hundred pomegranates in rows around each capital.
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- 7:15 The two bronze columns were called Jachin and Boaz (v. 21; also 2 Chr 3:17); the significance of the names is unclear. The columns stood to the right and left of the Temple porch, and may have been intended to mark the entrance to the building as the entrance to God’s private dwelling. Their extraordinary size and elaborate decoration would have made them the most impressive parts of the Temple visible to the ordinary viewer, who was not permitted into the nave, let alone into the innermost sanctuary. According to Jer 52:21, the columns were hollow, the bronze exterior being “four fingers thick.”
- 7:18–20 The Hebrew text is corrupt in many places here, and alternative readings attested in the ancient versions are secondary attempts to make sense of the text. A clearer description of the columns and their decoration is found in vv. 41–42.
1 Kings 7:15-20
New International Version
15 He cast two bronze pillars,(A) each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.[a] 16 He also made two capitals(B) of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits[b] high. 17 A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in two rows[c] encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.[d] He did the same for each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits[e] high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates(C) in rows all around.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 7:15 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
- 1 Kings 7:16 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 23
- 1 Kings 7:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts made the pillars, and there were two rows
- 1 Kings 7:18 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts pomegranates
- 1 Kings 7:19 That is, about 6 feet or about 1.8 meters; also in verse 38
Ezekiel 40:49
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
49 The vestibule was twenty cubits long and twelve cubits wide; ten steps led up to it, and there were columns by the posts, one on each side.
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Ezekiel 40:49
New International Version
49 The portico(A) was twenty cubits[a] wide, and twelve[b] cubits[c] from front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs,[d] and there were pillars(B) on each side of the jambs.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 40:49 That is, about 35 feet or about 11 meters
- Ezekiel 40:49 Septuagint; Hebrew eleven
- Ezekiel 40:49 That is, about 21 feet or about 6.4 meters
- Ezekiel 40:49 Hebrew; Septuagint Ten steps led up to it
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