2 Chronicles 4

This chapter lists the bronze and gold furnishings made for Solomon’s temple: the great altar, the huge basin called the Sea, the lampstands, tables and courtyards. Huram, a skilled craftsman, did the bronze work. Every item served the worship of God and the cleansing and offering that approach to Him required.

2 Chronicles 4:1

The bronze altar stood in front of the temple, where the sacrifices were burned. It was about thirty feet square and fifteen feet high. No one could draw near to God without first passing the place of sacrifice.

BSA: altar (“place of sacrifice, table for offerings”): The altar was a place where something was given up to God, showing that approaching Him costs a life.

See also: Exodus 27:1-2; Hebrews 9:22.

2 Chronicles 4:2

The Sea was an enormous round basin of cast bronze, about fifteen feet across and seven and a half feet high. Casting such a piece in one mass was a remarkable feat of metalwork.

BSA: cast metal (“poured out, molded”): The bronze was melted and poured into a mold, so the Sea was made as one seamless piece.

2 Chronicles 4:3

Under the rim ran two rows of cast oxen, ten to every cubit. They were cast together with the Sea, not added later. Oxen suggest strength and service, and they were also the common animal of sacrifice.

BSA: oxen (“cattle, domesticated animals”): These were working, sacrificial animals, so the basin was decorated with images of strength and service.

2 Chronicles 4:4

The Sea rested on twelve bronze oxen, in four groups of three facing the four directions, with their backs together under the center. Many Christians see in the twelve a reminder of the twelve tribes, whose priests served on behalf of the whole nation.

BSA: hindquarters (“back parts, rear sides”): The oxen faced outward with their rear toward the middle, so their strength all bore the weight of the basin.

2 Chronicles 4:5

The Sea’s wall was about three inches thick, yet strong enough to hold a vast amount of water. Its rim curved outward like a cup or a lily blossom, joining beauty to usefulness. Even a washing vessel was made lovely for God’s house.

BSA: lily blossom (“flower”): The rim copied the shape of a flower, so the basin looked graceful, not merely practical.

2 Chronicles 4:6

Ten smaller basins held water for rinsing the parts of the burnt offerings. The priests themselves washed in the great Sea. Both show that holy service required cleanness, for the offering and for the one who offers it.

BSA: washing (“to cleanse, purify”): The washing was about purification, not just tidiness, since sacred work needed clean hands and bodies.

See also: Exodus 30:18-21; Hebrews 10:22.

2 Chronicles 4:7

Solomon made ten gold lampstands and set them in the main hall, five on each side. They were made to the plan given for them, so the light of the sanctuary shone as God had directed, not as human taste preferred.

BSA: specifications (“ordained pattern, divine design”): The lampstands followed a pattern that God had ordained, not one the builders invented.

See also: Exodus 25:31-40.

2 Chronicles 4:8

Ten tables were set in the temple, five on each side, for the bread offered before God. Solomon also made a hundred gold bowls for use in the temple service. The abundance reflects a generous, wholehearted offering to the Lord.

See also: 1 Kings 7:48-50.

2 Chronicles 4:9

Solomon built two courtyards around the temple: the court of the priests (the inner court) and the great court for the people. The doors were covered with bronze. Worshipers came in stages, and the structure itself taught that God is to be approached with reverence.

BSA: overlaid (“covered, plated”): The doors were wood covered with a layer of bronze, making them strong and handsome.

2 Chronicles 4:10

The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of the temple area, near the altar and the priests’ working space. Its position kept the washing water close to those who needed it as they went about their duties.

2 Chronicles 4:11

Huram, the craftsman sent from Tyre, made the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls used at the altar. The writer then begins a summary of everything he completed. His work was done for the house of God, so skill became service.

BSA: finished (“completed, brought to an end”): Huram carried out the whole assignment to the end, with nothing left undone.

See also: 2 Chronicles 2:13-14.

2 Chronicles 4:12-13

Two pillars stood at the temple entrance, each topped with a bowl-shaped capital covered with network. Four hundred bronze pomegranates, two rows to each network, decorated them. The pomegranate was a familiar symbol of fruitfulness.

BSA: network (“latticework, intricate pattern”): The capitals were wrapped in a woven-looking bronze lattice, showing fine craftsmanship.

See also: 1 Kings 7:15-22.

2 Chronicles 4:14-15

The summary goes on to the ten movable stands with their basins, then the Sea and its twelve oxen. These were the main water-bearing pieces, all serving the washing that preceded worship.

BSA: stands (“bases, pedestals”): The basins were carried on bronze bases, which let them be placed where needed.

2 Chronicles 4:16

Huram also made the pots, shovels, meat forks and other tools used in the sacrifices. All were of polished bronze, bright and clean. Even the plainest tools of the altar were made with care for the Lord’s house.

BSA: polished (“refined, shining”): The bronze was burnished until it shone, so even humble utensils looked worthy of the sanctuary.

2 Chronicles 4:17

The king had these pieces cast in clay molds in the Jordan plain, between Succoth and Zeredah. The clay soil there suited casting, and casting near the river avoided hauling huge molten pieces over long distances.

BSA: cast (“to pour, like liquid metal”): Molten bronze was poured into molds, and the clay ground gave the makers ready material for them.

2 Chronicles 4:18

So much bronze was used that no one tried to weigh it. The writer wants us to see the scale of what Solomon offered. A king’s wealth and a nation’s labor were spent freely on God’s worship.

BSA: abundance (“large quantity, multitude”): The sheer amount of bronze was too great to count, showing generous giving.

2 Chronicles 4:19

Now the writer turns to the gold furnishings inside the temple: the golden altar of incense and the tables for the Bread of the Presence. This bread was set out before God continually, as a sign of His fellowship with His people.

BSA: Bread of the Presence (“showbread, sacred bread, before God’s face”): The bread was set literally before God’s face, a sign that Israel lived in His presence.

See also: Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:5-9.

2 Chronicles 4:20

Lampstands of pure gold, with their lamps, were to burn before the inner sanctuary as prescribed. The light was never meant to be casual. It shone in front of the place where God dwelt, in the way He had commanded.

BSA: as prescribed (“according to the ordinance, in the manner specified”): The lamps burned according to God’s rule, not by human preference.

See also: Exodus 27:20-21.

2 Chronicles 4:21

The flowers, lamps and tongs were all of gold, and the writer stresses that it was the purest gold. The flowers were decorations shaped like blossoms on the lampstands. Nothing less than the best was given for God’s service.

BSA: purest gold (“perfect, complete, and entirely fine”): The gold was entirely refined, with no lesser metal mixed in.

2 Chronicles 4:22

The wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles and incense burners were also pure gold. So were the temple doors, both the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and those of the main hall. The whole place was set apart for God and clothed in splendor.

BSA: Most Holy Place (“sacred area”): This was the innermost room, where the ark was kept, and its golden doors marked it as the most sacred spot.

See also: 1 Kings 6:31-35.