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Equipment for the Temple(A)

(B)King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high. He also made a round tank of bronze, 7½ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank[a] were two rows of decorations, one above the other. The decorations were in the shape of bulls, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons. (C)They also made ten basins, five to be placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. They were to be used to rinse the parts of the animals that were burned as sacrifices. The water in the large tank was for the priests to use for washing.

7-8 (D)They made ten gold lampstands according to the usual pattern, and ten tables, and placed them in the main room of the Temple, five lampstands and five tables on each side. They also made a hundred gold bowls.

They made an inner courtyard for the priests, and also an outer courtyard. The doors in the gates between the courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The tank was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.

11-16 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all the objects that he had promised King Solomon he would make for the Temple:

    The two columns
    The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
    The design of interwoven chains on each capital
    The 400 bronze pomegranates arranged in two rows around the design of each capital
    The ten[b] carts
    The ten basins
    The tank
    The twelve bulls supporting the tank
    The pots, shovels, and forks

Huram the master metalworker made all these objects[c] out of polished bronze, as King Solomon had commanded, for use in the Temple of the Lord.

17 The king had them all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zeredah[d] in the Jordan Valley. 18 So many objects were made that no one determined the total weight of the bronze used.

19 King Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar and the tables for the bread offered to God; 20 the lampstands and the lamps of fine gold that were to burn in front of the Most Holy Place, according to plan; 21 the flower decorations, the lamps, and the tongs; 22 the lamp snuffers, the bowls, the dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals. All these objects were made of pure gold. The outer doors of the Temple and the doors to the Most Holy Place were overlaid with gold.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:3 Probable text All around … tank; Hebrew unclear.
  2. 2 Chronicles 4:11 Probable text (see 1 K 7.40-45) ten; Hebrew he made.
  3. 2 Chronicles 4:11 One ancient translation all these objects; Hebrew all their objects.
  4. 2 Chronicles 4:17 (see Zarethan 1 K 7.46).

The Temple’s Furnishings(A)

He made a bronze altar(B) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.[a] 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. 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.

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. 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]

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.

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.

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)

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