2 Chronicles 4

2 Chronicles 4:1

MOREOVER, he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. The making this altar so many cubits high, may seem to contradict God’s command, Exod. xx. 26. But see what I have noted there, to shew how the ascent might be so contrived, that the priest’s nakedness should not be discovered. The making it of brass also was, no doubt, by the direction of God, who told David how such things should be made, (1 Chron. xxviii.) as L’Empereur very well observes. GOO A^‘COMMENTARY UPON [chap. iv. Vcr. 2. Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in comj)ass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it roztnd about.’] This and (he following verses are explained 1 Kings vii. 23. Vcr. 3. And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it roundabout; ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about.’] Theso oxen are called knops in 1 Kings vii. 24. which were little protuberances, or bunches, round about the lips of the lavcr, in the figure of oxen. There were ten of them in every cubit, and the circumference being thirty cubits, there were three hundred of them in one row; and they being cast in two rows, one under another, were six hundred in all. Two rows of oxen were cast, wlven it was cast.] They were not fastened on afterward, but cast together with the vessel itself. So’Kimchi and Jarchi; the latter of which thus explains it:. They were not joined to it by nails or solder, but all cast together with the sea.

2 Chronicles 4:4

It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking towards the north, and three looking towards the west, and three looking towards the south, and three looking towards the east: and the sea was set’ above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.] See upon 1 Kings vii. 25.

2 Chronicles 4:5

And the thickness of iCiuas a hand-breadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand batlis. See this account reconciled with that in 1 Kings vii. 26. The Targum here thus paraphrases: Three thousand baths of things dry, and two thousand of things liquid. But others better explain it, that the quantity of water which was commonly in it was two thousand baths; but if it were filled up to the top it would hold three thousand.

2 Chronicles 4:6

He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand; and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as tliey offered for the burnt-offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.] See there, 1 Kings vii. 38, 39.

2 Chronicles 4:7

And he made ten candlesticks of gold. See upon 1 Kings vii. 49. According to their form, and set them in the temple, five on’ the right hand, and five on the left.] Those words, according to their form,‘are thus translated by the Targum, as was convenient or agreeable to them. Or the meaning may be, according to the pattern which David gave him.

2 Chronicles 4:8

He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left; and he made a hundred basons of gold. See upon 1 Kings vii. 48. Some have observed, that there was the very same furniture made by Solomon for the most holy place that was made by Moses; but in the holy place there was an augmentation made of ten candlesticks and ten tables. But they should have remembered, that Solomon also added two cherubims, and of a larger size, to the most holy place, which were not there before.

2 Chronicles 4:9

Furthermore, he. made the court of the j>riests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.] See 1 Kings vi. 3G. w T here the court of the priests is called the inner court, it being next the sanctuary: and by the great court hero is meant the court of the people, to which he made doors.

2 Chronicles 4:10

And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south. iee my notes upon 1 Kings vii. 39.

2 Chronicles 4:11

And nuram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Iluram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God. See there, 1 Kings vii. 40. He did not stir from the work, but finished it all before he left Solomon’s service.

2 Chronicles 4:12

To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels. Or, the globes, as we now speak, and as the.Targum translates it. And the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars; and the two wreatlts to cover the tivo pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars.] This is there explained, 1 Kings vii. 41.

2 Chronicles 4:13

And four hundred pomegranates, on the tivo wreaths, &c. See ver. 42.

2 Chronicles 4:14

And he made bases, &c. See ver. 43.

2 Chronicles 4:15

One sea, and twelve oxen under it. See ver.

2 Chronicles 4:16

The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Iluram his father make to king Solomon, for the house of the Lord, of bright brass. In 1 Kings vii. 45. it is said, which Hiram made: and that is the meaning here; for the words are best translated Hiram Abi, or Abif, did make. See upon chap. ii. 13. which seems more easy than other expositions which may be given of the words. For some think Solomon calls him his father, out of great respect to him; or, because he was the inventor of all this excellent work, (as in Gen. iv. 20, 21.) or it is a short speech, for Hiram and his father..

2 Chronicles 4:17

In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zeredathah. See 1 Kings vii. AG.

2 Chronicles 4:18

Tlius Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance. More for ornament and grandeur, than for necessary use. For the weight of the brass could not be found out.] See 1 Kings vii. 47.

2 Chronicles 4:19

And Solomon made all tlie vessels that were for the house of God. That is, for the sanctuary. The golden altar also, and the tables whereon the sheta-r bread was set.] One table only was made by Moses, but Solomon made ten, (ver. 8.) for the greater convenience of the priests in their ministration: that they might have a table at hand, whereon to set the bread which they took ofF, when they set on new upon the table of shew-bread. But it is not improbable, that tables in the plural arc put for table in the singular, and that he speaks of that on which the bread stood before the Lord. Which, I suppose, was of gold, as the other w T ere of silver.

2 Chronicles 4:20

Moreover, the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner. Which God had appointed in the law of Moses. • Before the oracle, of pure gold.] Here the Targum calls the oracle, the house of expiations: because into this most holy place the high-priest went with the blood, to make atonement on the great day of expiation.

2 Chronicles 4:21

And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold. The Hebrew word miklot, whicli signifies perfection, denotes gold most purified, as Kimchi saitli their doctors expound it. But he thinks it signifies simply, all these vessels were of gold.

2 Chronicles 4:22

And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold. See upon 1 Kings vii. 50. And the entry of the house, tlie inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, tvere of gold.] They were not entirely of massy gold, but of wpod, (as we read 1 Kings vi. 31, &c.) covered with plates of gold, (ver. 35.. and see 1 Kings xviii. 16.)