Chapter IV.
1.
The Altar of Brass.
¹Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.
1. an altar of brass, twenty cubits] The brasen altar is referred to in 1 Kings viii. 64; 2 Kings xvi. 14 ff., but it is (strangely) not mentioned among the furnishings of the Temple described in the present text of 1 Kings vii. It is impossible therefore to say whether the Chronicler derives the measurements he here gives from a text of Kings which did contain a description of the brasen altar, or from the altar of the Temple of his own period. The latter is more probable. Some scholars consider it possible that at first Solomon’s Temple contained no artificial altar, the sacrifices being offered on the great natural rock which is now covered by the famous building popularly known as the Mosque of Omar (properly “The Dome of the Rock”).
The great altar was probably a flat oblong expanse, the highest of a series of terraces, of which the base measurement is given by the Chronicler—compare the description of Ezekiel’s altar (Ezekiel xliii. 13 ff.).
2–5 (= 1 Kings vii. 23–26).
The Molten Sea.
²Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.
2. he made the molten sea] Render, he made the sea of molten metal. The “sea” or great laver was a well-known feature in temples (compare Revelation iv. 6), and, originally at least, is likely to have had religious significance, as a symbol of Jehovah’s power over the seas and the rain, or over the primeval Deep upon which His might was exercised in the creation of the world (Genesis i.; Psalms xxiv. 2). For the Chronicler’s view of its purpose, see verse 6.
ten cubits from brim to brim ... and a line of thirty cubits compassed it] The mathematical inaccuracy in the measurements here given—10 in diameter, 30 in circumference—has often been pointed out. But the literal Hebrew is “ten with the cubit ... and thirty with the cubit,” and F. C. Burkitt in a communication to the Cambridge Review for May 13, 1914 offers an interesting vindication of the phrase. He writes “... What the verse says about the circumference of the ‘sea’ is that they stretched a string round it, and when they laid the string out flat they had to go thirty times with the cubit, i.e. a man had to put his elbow down thirty times before he got to the end.” [The distance from the point of the elbow to the tip of the longest finger is 1 cubit.] “No doubt the last time he put his elbow down the string came short: in other words, the ‘sea’ was nine-and-a-bittock across and twenty-nine-and-a-bittock round. As a matter of fact, if a circle be 9 ft. 6 in. across, it is just over 29 ft. 10 in. round. Such a circle I think would be described in Hebrew as ‘ten with the foot-rule’ across and ‘thirty with the foot-rule’ in circumference.”
a line of thirty cubits compassed it] i.e. it was thirty cubits in circumference.
³And under it was the similitude of oxen¹, which did compass it round about, for ten cubits², compassing the sea round about. The oxen¹ were in two rows, cast when it was cast.
3. under it was the similitude of oxen] This reading has the support of the LXX., but can hardly be correct. Read (compare 1 Kings vii. 24), under it there were knops, “knops” being embossed ornaments, imitating probably the fruit or the flowers of the gourd.
for ten cubits] Obviously an error, for the “knops” encircle the sea, and its circumference was thirty not ten cubits. The rendering of the margin “ten in a cubit” gives good sense, but is not a fair translation. Whatever the mistake in the Hebrew may be, it appears in 1 Kings vii. 24 also.
The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast] Correct the reading as before and render, The knops were in two rows, cast when it was cast. It is mentioned as a triumph of the founder’s art that the laver was cast complete, with its ornaments, from the first.
⁴It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set upon them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.
4. three ... and three ... and three ... and three] Thus the base stood “foursquare,” satisfying the Hebrew idea of completeness; compare Revelation xxi. 12–16.
⁵And it was an handbreadth thick; and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths.
5. three thousand baths] In 1 Kings vii. 26, two thousand baths. Whether the textual corruption is to be attributed to 1 Kings or to Chronicles cannot be determined, and further even two thousand baths is an amount exceeding the capacity of a vessel with the measurements given for the sea above. The bath was a measure for liquids equal to about 8¼ gallons.
6 (compare verse 14 and 1 Kings vii. 38, 39).
The Lavers.
⁶He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt offering they washed in them: but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
6. the sea was for the priests to wash in] See, however, the note on verse 2 above regarding its probable significance in early times. For this, the Chronicler’s view of its purpose (as also that of the lavers), compare Exodus xxx. 18–21. The sea in particular would be singularly awkward as a vessel for cleansing purposes, unless all that is meant is that it was used as the receptacle from which water for purification was drawn.
7 (= 1 Kings vii. 49).
The Golden Candlesticks.
⁷And he made the ten candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
7. ten candlesticks] Rather, the ten lamp-stands. Allusion to ten lamp-stands or candlesticks is found elsewhere only in 1 Kings vii. 49, a late passage. In view of the frequent references to one candlestick with seven lamps (compare Zechariah iv.; Exodus xxv. 31 ff.), the question arises whether the ten ever had historical reality, or were simply a fiction of tradition. The reference to candlesticks of gold and of silver in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 15 does not help us, for it depends on the same evidence, sound or unsound, which the Chronicler had for the present passage. Some scholars feel that there must be some ground for the statement; but no positive conclusion is yet possible.
according to the ordinance] Compare Exodus xxv. 31–37, xl. 4.
in the temple] In 1 Kings vii. 49 more precisely, before the oracle, i.e. before the Holy of Holies.
8.
The Tables and Basons.
⁸He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.
8. ten tables] In verse 19 “the tables (plural) whereon was the shewbread” are mentioned (compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 16), but the parallel passage (1 Kings vii. 48) has “the table” (singular), and elsewhere both in Chronicles and in the rest of the Old Testament one table only is assigned to the shewbread (2 Chronicles xiii. 11, xxix. 18). Probably therefore the ten tables here mentioned were not for the shewbread, although the Chronicler may have thought so. The same uncertainty attaches to this tradition of ten tables as to that of the ten candlesticks (see previous note); and it is held by some that these tables were for the support of the candlesticks.
basons] These were used for dashing the blood of the sacrifices against the altar.
9, 10.
The Two Courts.
⁹Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.
9. the court of the priests, and the great court] The phrases reflect the conditions of the second Temple with which the Chronicler was familiar, when the inner court was confined to the use of the priests, the outer one being for the people. Solomon’s Temple, strictly speaking, had only one court, for in “the other court” stood Solomon’s house (1 Kings vii. 8). This “other court” seems to be called the “middle court” (2 Kings xx. 4, margin), and the “upper court” (Jeremiah xxxvi. 10). The “great court” (1 Kings vii. 12) was perhaps a third court containing not only the king’s house, but all the royal buildings as well. The Hebrew word for “court” in all the above passages is ḥāṣēr, but here the “court (ḥāṣēr) of the priests” is distinguished from a court called the “great court” (Hebrew “great ‘azārāh”). Perhaps the Chronicler wishes to make the same distinction when he says that Solomon’s great prayer was offered (vi. 13) in “the court” (Hebrew ’azārāh). Compare xx. 5 (note).
¹⁰And he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.
10. the sea] See verses 2–5. Its position is stated in accordance with 1 Kings vii. 39.
11–18 (= 1 Kings vii. 40–47).
The Works of Huram.
This section is taken from the parallel passage of 1 Kings. The variations are few.
¹¹And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of God:
11. Huram] For the form of the name see note on ii. 3.
¹²the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two chapiters which were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars; ¹³and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon¹ the pillars.
12. two pillars] See iii. 15–17.
the bowls] i.e. the bowl-shaped part of the capital of a pillar.
the chapiters] In modern English “capitals.”
¹⁴He made also the bases, and the lavers made he upon the bases; ¹⁵one sea, and the twelve oxen under it.
14. He made also the bases, and the lavers made he upon the bases] A simple correction of the Hebrew text gives, And the ten bases and the ten lavers on the bases, as in 1 Kings vii. 43.
¹⁶The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all the vessels thereof, did Huram his father make for king Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass.
16. the fleshhooks] Hebrew mizlāgōth. In verse 11 and 1 Kings vii. 45 (the parallel passages) the basons (Hebrew mizrāḳōth).
Huram his father] See note on ii. 13.
¹⁷In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.
17. in the clay ground] G. A. Smith (Historical Geography, p. 488) speaks of traces of old brick-fields found by Sir C. Warren in the Jordan valley. It is possible, however, that the Hebrew is defective and that the true reading is at the ford of Adamah, but on the whole it is best to keep the reading in the text (see Barnes on 1 Kings vii. 46).
Succoth] Succoth is probably Tell Deir ‘Alla, east of Jordan, about one mile north of the Jabbok.
Zeredah] (1 Kings xi. 26); but in 1 Kings vii. 46 (Revised Version) Zarethan (compare Joshua iii. 6, Revised Version). Its site is not known, beyond the obvious inference that it was near the Jordan and not very far from Succoth. Joshua iii. 16 states that it was near Adam (the modern el Damieh).
¹⁸Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out¹.
18. Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance] In 1 Kings vii. 47, And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many.
19–V. 1 (= 1 Kings vii. 48–51).
The Vessels of Gold.
The Completion of the Work.
¹⁹And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon was the shewbread;
19. the golden altar] This was the altar of incense (compare 1 Maccabees i. 21 ff.), which according to Exodus xxx. 1 ff. stood within the tabernacle and was made of acacia wood (compare however, Exodus xxxix. 38). Both passages in Exodus are of late, post-exilic, date, and as no mention of this altar is made by Ezekiel, it was probably a feature not of the first but of the second Temple.
the tables whereon was the shewbread] In 1 Kings vii. 48 (parallel passage), the table (singular); a reading probably to be accepted here also; compare note on verse 8.
²⁰and the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold;
20. the oracle] See note on iii. 16.
²¹and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold;
21. the flowers] These were ornaments on the golden candlesticks; compare Exodus xxxvii. 19.
²²and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the firepans, of pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, were of gold.
22. the firepans] in which fire was carried to and from the altar.
the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple] The “[greater] house” or “temple” is here distinguished from the “most holy place” or “shrine.” Compare iii. 5, 8.
were of gold] According to the more probable reading of 1 Kings vii. 50 the hinges were of gold; the doors themselves were of olive wood overlaid with gold (1 Kings vi. 31, 32).
¹Thus all the work that Solomon wrought for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
Chapter V. 1. all the vessels] the word may be taken to include weapons, spoils of war, compare 2 Samuel viii. 7 ff.; 1 Chronicles xviii. 11.
V. 2–VIII. 10.
The Dedication of the Temple.
Chapter V.
2–10 (= 1 Kings viii. 1–9).
The Ark brought into the Sanctuary.
This section is taken almost verbatim from 1 Kings.
²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
2. Then Solomon assembled] The same verb in the Hebrew as in 1 Chronicles xv. 3 (see note there) and in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 1.
the city of David] See 1 Chronicles xi. 5, note on the strong hold of Zion.
³And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.
3. the feast] i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e. after the fruit harvest.
in the seventh month] In 1 Kings the name of the month is given as Ethanim, but this word was perhaps obsolete when the Chronicler wrote; at any rate we know that in post-biblical times the seventh month was regularly called Tisri.
⁴And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.
4. the Levites took up the ark] According to 1 Kings the priests performed this duty. In the days of David and Solomon all Levites were possible priests, Levi being the name of the priestly clan and not of a lower order of priests. At a later period the Levites were regarded as a class subordinate to the priests, having duties distinct from those of the priests—e.g. the task of bearing the tabernacle and all its furniture (see Numbers i. 50, etc.). The Chronicler believing that this distinction had been in force from the time of Moses onwards “corrects” the text of Kings by changing “priests” into “Levites”: compare 1 Chronicles xv. 2, 12, 13. See the special note on 1 Chronicles vi., pp. 51 f.
⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these did the priests the Levites bring up. ⁶And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
5. the tent of meeting] i.e. the Mosaic tabernacle, which the Chronicler believed to have been in existence in the time of David and Solomon, and to have been at Gibeon (i. 3 f.). The parallel statement in Kings comes not from the early sources but from the hand of a late reviser.
the priests the Levites] here the older phrase, which does not indicate a distinction between Priests and Levites, has been allowed to stand, perhaps “because certain utensils might well have been borne by the priests” (so Curtis), or possibly through slight carelessness on the Chronicler’s part. The parallel in Kings has “the priests and the Levites.”
⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
7. the priests brought in the ark] Only the priests might lawfully place the Ark within the Holy of Holies (compare Numbers iv. 5 ff.). The Chronicler therefore had no cause for changing priests into Levites here.
into the oracle] See iii. 16, note.
⁹And the staves¹ were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there it is, unto this day.
9. from the ark] Read (with LXX. and 1 Kings viii. 8) from the holy place. One standing in the Holy Place and looking towards the Holy of Holies could see the heads of the staves.
and there it is, unto this day] These words are taken over with the loss of one letter (which here makes the difference between singular and plural) from 1 Kings viii. 8, but they are out of place in Chronicles, for when the Chronicler wrote the Ark had long ago disappeared. The vessels which were brought back from the Babylonian captivity are specified in Ezra i. 9, 10, but the Ark of the covenant is not reckoned among them.
¹⁰There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, when¹ the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
10. which Moses put there] Exodus xl. 20.
at Horeb] Deuteronomy v. 2.
11–14 (= 1 Kings viii. 10, 11).
The Descent of the Glory of
the Lord.
¹¹And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their courses;
11. out of the holy place] The priests could remain neither in the Holy of Holies where they had deposited the Ark, nor even in the Holy Place, but were driven altogether out of the Temple building into the Temple court (compare verse 14).
11–13a. for all ... his mercy endureth for ever] a long parenthesis added by the Chronicler to intimate that the whole body and not merely the monthly “course” of priests and of Levitical singers were present (verses 11b–12); and to suggest the grandeur of the musical service (verse 13a).
11. their courses] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1–19.
¹²also the Levites which were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
12. Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons] Compare 1 Chronicles xxv. 1–7.
psalteries ... harps] See 1 Chronicles xiii. 8, notes.
at the east end of the altar] Looking westward, facing the Holy of Holies. To face the east was to turn the back upon the sanctuary; Ezekiel viii. 16.
trumpets] See 1 Chronicles xv. 24, note.
¹³it came even to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music¹, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, ¹⁴so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
13. of music] Rather, as margin, for song.
for his mercy endureth for ever] 1 Chronicles xvi. 41.
was filled with a cloud] Exodus xl. 34, 35.