2 Chronicles 3
Amplified Bible
The Temple Construction in Jerusalem
3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to his father David, in the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.(A) 2 Solomon began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
Dimensions and Materials of the Temple
3 Now this is the [measurement of the] foundation which Solomon laid for the house of God: the length in cubits—by the old standard of measure—was sixty cubits (90 ft.), and the width was twenty cubits (30 ft.). 4 The porch in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it inside with pure gold. 5 He overlaid the main room [the Holy Place] with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with palm trees and chains. 6 And he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house [the Holy Place] with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 Now he made the room of the Holy of Holies: its length equaling the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10 And in the Holy of Holies he made two sculptured cherubim, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits: one wing of one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the other cherub’s wing. 12 The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim stood on their feet, their faces toward the Holy Place (the main room). 14 He made the veil [between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] of blue, purple, and crimson colors, and [a]fine linen, and embroidered cherubim on it.
15 He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each one was five cubits. 16 He made chains [like a necklace] in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right, the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin (may He establish) and the one on the left Boaz (in Him is strength).
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:14 I.e. byssus, a fine white fabric.
2 Chronicles 3
English Standard Version
Solomon Builds the Temple
3 (A)Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (B)on Mount Moriah, where the Lord[a] had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, (C)on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon's (D)measurements[b] for building the house of God: (E)the length, in cubits[c] of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house,[d] and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 (F)The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold (G)and made palms and chains on it. 6 He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—(H)and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 (I)And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents[e] of fine gold. 9 The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels.[f] And he overlaid (J)the upper chambers with gold.
10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood[g] and overlaid[h] them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim[i] stood on their feet, (L)facing the nave. 14 (M)And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
15 (N)In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16 He made chains like a necklace[j] and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 (O)He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks the Lord
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Syriac; Hebrew foundations
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 Hebrew they overlaid
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Hebrew they
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 Hebrew chains in the inner sanctuary
2 Chronicles 3
Expanded Bible
Solomon Builds the Temple(A)
3 Then Solomon began to build the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah [Gen. 22:2]. This was where the Lord had appeared to David, Solomon’s father. Solomon built the ·Temple [L house] on the place David had prepared on the threshing floor of ·Araunah [or Ornan; 1 Chr. 21:15, 18–28] the Jebusite. 2 Solomon began building in the ·second month [or second day of the second month; C midspring] of the fourth year ·he ruled Israel [of his reign].
3 Solomon used ·these measurements [or this foundation] for building the ·Temple [L house] of God. It was ·ninety feet [L sixty cubits] long and ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits] wide, using the old ·measurement [standard]. 4 The ·porch [portico; vestibule; entry room] in front of the main ·room [hall] of the ·Temple [L house] was ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits] long and ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits; or L one hundred twenty cubits] high.
He ·covered [overlaid] the ·inside of the porch [main hall; nave] with ·pure [fine] gold. 5 He put panels of ·pine [cypress; juniper; evergreens] on the walls of the ·main room [main hall; nave] and ·covered [overlaid] them with ·pure [fine] gold. Then he ·put [decorated/ornamented it with] designs of palm trees and chains in the gold. 6 He ·decorated [adorned] the ·Temple [L house] with ·gems [precious stones] and gold from Parvaim. 7 He ·put [overlaid] gold on the ·Temple’s [L house’s] ceiling beams, ·doorposts [thresholds], walls, and doors, and he carved ·creatures with wings [cherubim] on the walls.
8 Then he made the ·Most Holy Place [T Holy of Holies]. It was ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits] long and ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits] wide, ·as wide as [corresponding to the width of] the ·Temple [L house]. He ·covered [overlaid] its walls with ·about forty-six thousand pounds [L six hundred talents] of ·pure [fine] gold. 9 The gold nails weighed ·over a pound [L fifty shekels]. He also ·covered [overlaid] the upper rooms with gold.
10 He ·made [sculpted; modeled] two ·creatures with wings [cherubim] for the ·Most Holy Place [T Holy of Holies] and ·covered [overlaid] them with gold. 11 The wings of the ·gold creatures [cherubim] were ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits] across. One wing of one creature was ·seven and one-half feet [L five cubits] long and touched the ·Temple [L house] wall. The creature’s other wing was also ·seven and one-half feet [L five cubits] long, and it touched a wing of the second ·creature [cherub]. 12 One wing of the second creature touched the other side of the room and was also ·seven and one-half feet [L five cubits] long. The second creature’s other wing touched the first creature’s wing, and it was also ·seven and one-half feet [L five cubits] long. 13 Together, the creatures’ wings were ·thirty feet [L twenty cubits] across. The creatures stood on their feet, facing the ·main room [main hall; nave].
14 He made the ·curtain [veil] of ·blue [violet], purple, and ·red thread [crimson cloth/yarn], and ·expensive [fine] linen, and he ·put [worked; embroidered] designs of ·creatures with wings [cherubim] in it.
The Pillars and Furnishings for the Temple(B)
15 He made two pillars to stand in front of the ·Temple [L house]. They were ·about fifty-two feet [L thirty-five cubits; C possibly the combined length of the two] tall, and the capital on top of each pillar was over ·seven feet [L five cubits] tall. 16 He made ·a net of [interwoven] chains and put them on the tops of the pillars. He made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 Then he put the pillars up in front of the Temple. One pillar stood on the ·south [L right] side, the other on the ·north [L left]. He named the ·south [L right] pillar Jachin [C “he establishes”] and the ·north [L left] pillar Boaz [C “in him is strength”].
2 Chronicles 3
New International Version
Solomon Builds the Temple(A)
3 Then Solomon began to build(B) the temple of the Lord(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(E)
3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). 4 The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[c] long across the width of the building and twenty[d] cubits high.
He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(G) and chain designs. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(H) on the walls.
8 He built the Most Holy Place,(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[e] of fine gold. 9 The gold nails(J) weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.
10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[h]
14 He made the curtain(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(N) worked into it.
15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(O) which together were thirty-five cubits[i] long, each with a capital(P) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(R) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[k] and the one to the north Boaz.[l]
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.
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