1 Kings 7:15-20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 [a](A)He fashioned two bronze columns, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. 16 He also made two capitals cast in bronze, to be placed on top of the columns, each of them five cubits high. 17 There were meshes made like netting and braid made like chains for the capitals on top of the columns, seven for each capital. 18 [b]He also cast pomegranates, two rows around each netting to cover the capital on top of the columns. 19 The capitals on top of the columns (in the porch) were made like lilies, four cubits high. 20 And the capitals on the two columns, both above and adjoining the bulge where it crossed out of the netting, had two hundred pomegranates in rows around each capital.
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- 7:15 The two bronze columns were called Jachin and Boaz (v. 21; also 2 Chr 3:17); the significance of the names is unclear. The columns stood to the right and left of the Temple porch, and may have been intended to mark the entrance to the building as the entrance to God’s private dwelling. Their extraordinary size and elaborate decoration would have made them the most impressive parts of the Temple visible to the ordinary viewer, who was not permitted into the nave, let alone into the innermost sanctuary. According to Jer 52:21, the columns were hollow, the bronze exterior being “four fingers thick.”
- 7:18–20 The Hebrew text is corrupt in many places here, and alternative readings attested in the ancient versions are secondary attempts to make sense of the text. A clearer description of the columns and their decoration is found in vv. 41–42.
1 Kings 7:15-20
New International Version
15 He cast two bronze pillars,(A) each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.[a] 16 He also made two capitals(B) of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits[b] high. 17 A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in two rows[c] encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.[d] He did the same for each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits[e] high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates(C) in rows all around.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 7:15 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
- 1 Kings 7:16 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 23
- 1 Kings 7:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts made the pillars, and there were two rows
- 1 Kings 7:18 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts pomegranates
- 1 Kings 7:19 That is, about 6 feet or about 1.8 meters; also in verse 38
Jeremiah 52:21-23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
21 As for the pillars, each of them was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in diameter; each was four fingers thick and hollow inside. 22 A bronze capital five cubits high crowned the one pillar, and a network with pomegranates encircled the capital, all of bronze; and so for the other pillar, with pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, a hundred pomegranates surrounding the network.
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Jeremiah 52:21-23
New International Version
21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference[a]; each was four fingers thick, and hollow.(A) 22 The bronze capital(B) on top of one pillar was five cubits[b] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates(C) of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates(D) above the surrounding network was a hundred.(E)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
- Jeremiah 52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
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