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2 Chronicles 3

2 Chronicles 3:1–14, World English Bible

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  1. 1 Then Solomon began to build Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
  2. 2 He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
  3. 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. 4 The porch that was in front, its length, across the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
  5. 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. 6 He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim.
  7. 7 He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls.
  8. 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. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
  10. 10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving, and they overlaid them with gold.
  11. 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. 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. 13 The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
  14. 14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.

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7 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these

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  • Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on 2 Chronicles 3:1But he made that temple which was beyond this a wonderful one indeed, and such as exceeds all description in words; nay, if I may so say, is hardly believed upon sight; for when he had filled up great valleys with earth, which, on account of their immense depth, could not be looked on, when you bended down to see them, without pain, … he made it to be on a level with the top of the mountain, on which the temple was built, and by this means the outmost temple, which was exposed to the air, was even with the temple itself.
    But he made that temple which was beyond this a wonderful one indeed, and such as exceeds all description in words; nay, if I may so say, is hardly believed upon sight; for when he had filled up great valleys with earth, which, on account of their immense depth, could not be looked on, when you bended down to see them, without pain, … he made it to be on a level with the top of the mountain, on which the temple was built, and by this means the outmost temple, which was exposed to the air, was even with the temple itself.

    Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 8.3.9; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition

    A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.

  • Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on 2 Chronicles 3:13–14They stood on their feet, as servants, their faces inward toward the ark (Ch2 3:13), that it might appear they were not set there to be adored (for then they would have been made sitting, as on a throne, and their faces towards their worshippers), but rather as themselves attendants on the invisible God. We must not worship angels, but we must worship with angels; … The veil that parted between the temple and the most holy place, Ch2 3:14. This denoted … the distance which the worshippers were kept at; but, at the death of Christ, this veil was rent; for through him we are made nigh, and have boldness not only to look, but to enter, into the holiest. On this he was wrought cherubim. Heb. he caused them to ascend, that is, they were made in raised work, embossed. Or he made them on the wing in an ascending posture, as the other two that stood on their feet in an attending posture, to remind the worshippers to lift up their hearts, and to soar upwards in their devotions.
    They stood on their feet, as servants, their faces inward toward the ark (Ch2 3:13), that it might appear they were not set there to be adored (for then they would have been made sitting, as on a throne, and their faces towards their worshippers), but rather as themselves attendants on the invisible God. We must not worship angels, but we must worship with angels; … The veil that parted between the temple and the most holy place, Ch2 3:14. This denoted … the distance which the worshippers were kept at; but, at the death of Christ, this veil was rent; for through him we are made nigh, and have boldness not only to look, but to enter, into the holiest. On this he was wrought cherubim. Heb. he caused them to ascend, that is, they were made in raised work, embossed. Or he made them on the wing in an ascending posture, as the other two that stood on their feet in an attending posture, to remind the worshippers to lift up their hearts, and to soar upwards in their devotions.

    Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 3:10–17; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.

  • Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on 2 Chronicles 3:1In Mount Moriah - Supposed to be the same place where Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac; so the Targum: “Solomon began to build the house of the sanctuary of the Lord at Jerusalem, in the place where Abraham had prayed and worshipped in the name of the Lord. This is the place of the earth where all generations shall worship the Lord. Here Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac for a burnt-offering; but he was snatched away by the Word of the Lord, and a ram placed in his stead. Here Jacob prayed when he fled from the face of Esau his brother; and here the angel of the Lord appeared to David, at which time David built an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor which he bought from Araunah the Jebusite.”
    In Mount Moriah - Supposed to be the same place where Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac; so the Targum: “Solomon began to build the house of the sanctuary of the Lord at Jerusalem, in the place where Abraham had prayed and worshipped in the name of the Lord. This is the place of the earth where all generations shall worship the Lord. Here Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac for a burnt-offering; but he was snatched away by the Word of the Lord, and a ram placed in his stead. Here Jacob prayed when he fled from the face of Esau his brother; and here the angel of the Lord appeared to David, at which time David built an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor which he bought from Araunah the Jebusite.”

    Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 3:1–2; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.

  • Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on 2 Chronicles 3:6he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty--better, he paved the house with precious and beautiful marble [KITTO]. It may be, after all, that these were stones with veins of different colors for decorating the walls. … There was an under pavement of marble, which was covered with planks of fir.
    he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty--better, he paved the house with precious and beautiful marble [KITTO]. It may be, after all, that these were stones with veins of different colors for decorating the walls. … There was an under pavement of marble, which was covered with planks of fir.

    Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 3:6–7; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.

  • Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on 2 Chronicles 3:1The statements as to the place where the temple was built (Ch2 3:1) are found here only. Mount Moriah is manifestly the mountain in the land of Moriah where Abraham was to have sacrificed his son Isaac (Gen 22:2), which had received the name המּוריּה, i.e., “the appearance of Jahve,” from that event. … We must therefore translate: “on mount Moriah, where He had appeared to David his father.”
    The statements as to the place where the temple was built (Ch2 3:1) are found here only. Mount Moriah is manifestly the mountain in the land of Moriah where Abraham was to have sacrificed his son Isaac (Gen 22:2), which had received the name המּוריּה, i.e., “the appearance of Jahve,” from that event. … We must therefore translate: “on mount Moriah, where He had appeared to David his father.”

    Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 3:1–2; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.

  • Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on 2 Chronicles 3:6And he garnished the house with precious stones for ornament (of the inner sides of the walls); … the ornamenting of the walls with precious stones is very easily credible, since among the things which Solomon brought in quantity from Ophir they are expressly mentioned (Kg1 10:11), and it was a common custom in the East so to employ them in buildings and in vessels; … The gold was from פּרוים. This, the name of a place rich in gold, does not elsewhere occur, and has not as yet been satisfactorily explained.
    And he garnished the house with precious stones for ornament (of the inner sides of the walls); … the ornamenting of the walls with precious stones is very easily credible, since among the things which Solomon brought in quantity from Ophir they are expressly mentioned (Kg1 10:11), and it was a common custom in the East so to employ them in buildings and in vessels; … The gold was from פּרוים. This, the name of a place rich in gold, does not elsewhere occur, and has not as yet been satisfactorily explained.

    Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 3:6–7; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.

  • Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on 2 Chronicles 3:14The veil between the holy place and the most holy, not mentioned in Kg1 6:21, was made of the same materials and colours as the veil on the tabernacle, and was inwoven with similar cherub figures; cf. Exo 26:31.
    The veil between the holy place and the most holy, not mentioned in Kg1 6:21, was made of the same materials and colours as the veil on the tabernacle, and was inwoven with similar cherub figures; cf. Exo 26:31.

    Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 3:14; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.