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2 Chronicles 4
New English Translation

4 He made a bronze altar, 30 feet[a] long, 30 feet[b] wide, and 15 feet[c] high. 2 He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”[d] It measured 15 feet[e] from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood 7½[f] high. Its circumference was 45 feet.[g] 3 Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every 18 inches[h] all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”[i] 4 “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.[j] 5 It was four fingers thick, and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons.[k] 6 He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in “The Sea.”

7 He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. 8 He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made 100 gold bowls. 9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the large enclosure and its doors;[l] he plated their doors with bronze. 10 He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.

11 Huram Abi[m] made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon.[n] 12 He made[o] the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 13 the 400 pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), 14 the ten[p] movable stands with their ten[q] basins, 15 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 16 and the pots, shovels, and meat forks.[r] All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord’s temple[s] were made from polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in earth foundries[t] in the region of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. 18 Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze.[u]

19 Solomon also made these items for God’s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence[v] was kept, 20 the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary, 21 the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 22 the pure gold trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:1 tn Heb “20 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 30 feet (9 m).
  2. 2 Chronicles 4:1 tn Heb “20 cubits.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 4:1 tn Heb “10 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
  4. 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”sn The large bronze basin known as “The Sea” was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (see v. 6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
  5. 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “10 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the diameter would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
  6. 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “5 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
  7. 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it 30 cubits all around.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 4:3 tn Heb “ten every cubit.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 4:3 tn Heb “rows being cast with its casting.”
  10. 2 Chronicles 4:4 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 4:5 tn Heb “3,000 baths” (note that the capacity is given in 1 Kings 7:26 as “2,000 baths”). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so 3,000 baths was a quantity of about 18,000 gallons (66,000 liters).
  12. 2 Chronicles 4:9 tn Heb “and the doors for the enclosure.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 4:11 tn Heb “Huram,” but here this refers to Huram Abi (2 Chr 2:13). The complete name has been used in the translation to avoid possible confusion with King Huram of Tyre.
  14. 2 Chronicles 4:11 tn Heb “Huram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of God.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 4:12 tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.
  16. 2 Chronicles 4:14 tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (ʿasah, “he made”), which probably should be emended to עֶשֶׂר (ʿeser, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).
  17. 2 Chronicles 4:14 tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (ʿasah, “he made”), which probably should be emended to עֲשָׂרָה (ʿasarah, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).
  18. 2 Chronicles 4:16 tc Some prefer to read here “bowls,” see v. 11 and 1 Kgs 7:45.
  19. 2 Chronicles 4:16 tn Heb “Huram Abi made for King Solomon [for] the house of the Lord.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 4:17 tn Or perhaps, “molds.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 4:18 tn Heb “Solomon made all these items in great abundance so that the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 4:19 tn Heb “the bread of the face/presence.”sn This bread offered to God was viewed as a perpetual offering to God. See Lev 24:5-9.
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2 Chronicles 4
The Voice

4 The temple altar was bronze and incredibly large—30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.

2-5 A large basin, called “the sea,” was cast—15 feet in diameter, 90 inches deep, 45 feet in circumference, and 3 inches thick. The brim was shaped like a lily blossom or like the lip of a cup with figures[a] cast in two rows all around it, 10 figures every 18 inches, and held 18,000 gallons.[b] The basin was supported by a rectangular stand made of 15-foot-tall statues resembling oxen. The 12 oxen were in two rows, three facing each direction with their hind ends at the center of the stand, all cast in one piece. 6 The priests used the sea to cleanse themselves, but offerings were washed in other basins. Ten smaller basins flanked the sea, five on the right and five on the left, and the burnt offerings were cleansed in those before they were sacrificed. 10 The sea stood on the right side of the house, facing southeast.[c]

7 Ten golden lampstands were cast according to God’s requirements, and they were in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. 8 Next to the lampstands were ten tables, five on the right and five on the left, and the temple was stocked with 100 golden bowls. 9 Then the court of the priests, the great court, and its bronzed doors were built.

11 Huram, who was sent by the king of Tyre to help Solomon, made the pails, shovels, and bowls. When he finished his duties for the construction of the temple, he had made 12 the two columns, their capitals, the globes of the capitals, and the two networks of decorative chains covering the two globes of the capitals. 13 On the chains were 400 pomegranates—two rows of pomegranates on each network that covered the globes of the capitals on the pillars. 14-15 He had also made the sea with the twelve oxen underneath, the basins, and their stands. 16 Huram-abi used polished bronze for the pails, shovels, forks, and all other utensils commissioned by King Solomon and used in the Eternal’s house. 17-18 Great quantities were cast in the clay molds on the banks of the Jordan River between the cities of Succoth and Zeredah with an immeasurable amount of bronze.

The magnificence of the temple is reflected in the amount of gold Solomon used.

19 He made everything inside the house of the True God, including the golden altar; the tables (which displayed the unleavened bread); 20 the golden lampstands (which burned in front of the most holy place as required); 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs (all of pure gold); 22 the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the fire pans (all of solid gold); and the entrance to the house, the inner doors accessing the most holy place, and the doors of the main room (all of gold).

Footnotes

  1. 4:2-5 Literally, gourds, possibly oxen
  2. 4:2–5 1 Kings 7:26 “12,000 gallons”
  3. 4:10 Verse 10 was moved forward to help retain the continuity of the description.
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2 Chronicles 4
New International Version

The Temple’s Furnishings(A)

4 He made a bronze altar(B) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.[a] 2 He made the Sea(C) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits[b] high. It took a line of thirty cubits[c] to measure around it. 3 Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.[d] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

4 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.(D) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 It was a handbreadth[e] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.[f]

6 He then made ten basins(E) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings(F) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

7 He made ten gold lampstands(G) according to the specifications(H) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

8 He made ten tables(I) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.(J)

9 He made the courtyard(K) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

11 And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finished(L) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

12 the two pillars;

the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

14 the stands(M) with their basins;

15 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

16 the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.

All the objects that Huram-Abi(N) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth(O) and Zarethan.[g] 18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze(P) could not be calculated.

19 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:

the golden altar;

the tables(Q) on which was the bread of the Presence;

20 the lampstands(R) of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;

21 the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);

22 the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes(S) and censers;(T) and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:1 That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high
  2. 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
  3. 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
  4. 2 Chronicles 4:3 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
  5. 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
  6. 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters
  7. 2 Chronicles 4:17 Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan
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