2 Chronicles Chapter 3
1 Then Solomon began to build the LORD's house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of God's house. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.
4 The porch that was in front, its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5 He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains.
6 He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim.
7 He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving; and they overlaid them with gold.
11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
12 The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, joining to the wing of the other cherub.
13 The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were towards the house.
14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.
15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty-five cubits height, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
17 He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
Footnotes
- Verse 3 (Cubit)
- A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man's arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres.
- Verse 8 (Talent)
- A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 600 talents is about 18 metric tonnes
- Verse 9 (Shekel)
- A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 50 shekels was about 0.5 kilograms or about 16 Troy ounces.
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2 Chronicles Chapter 3 Guide
In this and the following chapter we have the account of the building and furnishing of the Temple. In all fundamental essentials it was on the pattern of the Tabernacle which Moses had made. The proportions and relations were identical, but Solomon's Temple was larger. Its symbolism was exactly the same, though its magnificence was far greater. However, ornamentation was admitted which would have interfered with the express command that no likeness of God was to be attempted. It was a dwelling place for the unseen God, and its structure was representative of the way of man's approach to Him rather than revelatory of the nature of Being. That was a mystery beyond the comprehension of the finite mind, and it was a distinguishing element in the Hebrew religion that it made no attempt to explain. Solomon erected this glorious house on the spot chosen by his father. The story is told here in order to give a graphic and comprehensive idea of the splendour of the house itself.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
2 Chronicles Chapter 3 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The building of the temple.
Verses 1-17
There is a more particular account of the building of the temple in 1Ki 6. It must be in the place David had prepared, not only which he had purchased, but which he had fixed on by Divine direction. Full instructions enable us to go about our work with certainty and to proceed therein with comfort. Blessed be God, the Scriptures are enough to render the man of God thoroughly furnished for every good work. Let us search the Scriptures daily, beseeching the Lord to enable us to understand, believe, and obey his word, that our work and our way may be made plain, and that all may be begun, continued, and ended in him. Beholding God, in Christ, his true Temple, more glorious than that of Solomon's, may we become a spiritual house, a habitation of God through the Spirit.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.