19 And Solomon made all the vessels used in the house of God, the gold altar and the tables on which the holy bread was placed,
But when he had become strong, his heart was lifted up in pride, causing his destruction; and he did evil against the Lord his God; for he went into the Temple of the Lord for the purpose of burning perfumes on the altar of perfumes. And Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty of the Lord's priests, who were strong men; And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God.
And at the sounding of the sixth angel a voice came to my ears from the horns of the gold altar which is before God,
But you have been lifting yourself up against the Lord of heaven, and they have put the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your women, have taken wine in them; and you have given praise to gods of silver and gold, of brass and iron and wood and stone, who are without the power of seeing or hearing, and without knowledge: and to the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not given glory;
Belshazzar, while he was overcome with wine, gave orders for them to put before him the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem; so that the king and his lords, his wives and his other women, might take their drink from them. Then they took in the gold and silver vessels which had been in the Temple of the house of God at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his other women, took wine from them.
And the pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the brass vessels used in the Lord's house, they took away. And the cups and the fire-trays and the basins and the pots and the supports for the lights and the spoons and the wide basins; the gold of the gold vessels, and the silver of the silver vessels, the captain of the armed men took away.
In the space of two years I will send back into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon:
And Cyrus the king got out the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; Even these Cyrus made Mithredath, the keeper of his wealth, get out, and he gave them, after numbering them, to Sheshbazzar, the ruler of Judah. And this is the number of them: there were thirty gold plates, a thousand silver plates, twenty-nine knives, Thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins, and a thousand other vessels. There were five thousand, four hundred gold and silver vessels. All these were taken back by Sheshbazzar, when those who had been taken prisoner went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and took him away to Babylon, with the beautiful vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah, his father's brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
And you are to make a table of the same wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high, Plated with the best gold, with a gold edge all round it; And make a frame all round it, as wide as a man's hand, with a gold edge to the frame. And make four gold rings and put them at the four angles, on the four feet of the table; The rings are to be fixed under the frame to take the rods with which the table is to be lifted. Make rods of the same wood, plated with gold, for lifting the table. And make the table-vessels, the spoons and the cups and the basins for liquids, all of the best gold. And on the table at all times you are to keep my holy bread.
And gold by weight for the tables for the holy bread for every table, and silver for the silver tables;
And the brass pillars in the house of the Lord, and the wheeled bases, and the great brass water-vessel in the house of the Lord, were broken up by the Chaldaeans, who took the brass to Babylon. And the pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the brass vessels used in the Lord's house, they took away. And the fire-trays and the basins; the gold of the gold vessels and the silver of the silver vessels, were all taken away by the captain of the armed men.
And Solomon had all the vessels made for use in the house of the Lord: the altar of gold and the gold table on which the holy bread was placed; And the supports for the lights, five on the right side and five on the left before the inmost room, of clear gold; and the flowers and the lights and all the instruments of gold; And the cups and the scissors and the basins and the spoons and the fire-trays, all of gold; and the pins on which the doors were turned, the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and the doors of the Temple, all of gold.
And take the best meal and make twelve cakes of it, a fifth part of an ephah in every cake. And put them in two lines, six in a line, on the holy table before the Lord. And on the lines of cakes put clean sweet-smelling spices, for a sign on the bread, an offering made by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath day regularly, the priest is to put it in order before the Lord: it is offered for the children of Israel, an agreement made for ever.
And he made the altar for the burning of spices, using the same hard wood; it was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high; the horns made of the same. The top and the sides and the horns were all plated with the best gold; and he put an edge of gold all round it. And he made two gold rings, placing them on the two opposite sides under the edge, to take the rods for lifting it. The rods he made of the same hard wood, plating them with gold. And he made the holy oil and the perfume of sweet spices for burning, after the art of the perfume-maker.
And you are to make an altar for the burning of perfume; of hard wood let it be made. The altar is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high, and its horns are to be made of the same. It is to be plated with the best gold, the top of it and the sides and the horns, with an edging of gold all round it. Under the edge on the two opposite sides, you are to make two gold rings, to take the rods for lifting it. And make these rods of the same wood, plating them with gold. And let it be placed in front of the veil before the ark of the law, before the cover which is over the law, where I will come face to face with you. And on this altar sweet spices are to be burned by Aaron every morning when he sees to the lights. And every evening, when he puts the lights up in their places, the spices are to be burned, a sweet-smelling smoke going up before the Lord from generation to generation for ever. No strange perfume, no burned offering or meal offering, and no drink offering is to be offered on it. And once every year Aaron is to make its horns clean: with the blood of the sin-offering he is to make it clean once every year from generation to generation: it is most holy to the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 4
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
2Ch 4:1. Altar of Brass.
1. he made an altar of brass—Steps must have been necessary for ascending so elevated an altar, but the use of these could be no longer forbidden (Ex 20:26) after the introduction of an official costume for the priests (Ex 28:42). It measured thirty-five feet by thirty-five, and in height seventeen and a half feet. The thickness of the metal used for this altar is nowhere given; but supposing it to have been three inches, the whole weight of the metal would not be under two hundred tons [Napier].
2Ch 4:2-5. Molten Sea.
2. he made a molten sea—(See on 1Ki 7:23), as in that passage "knops" occur instead of "oxen." It is generally supposed that the rows of ornamental knops were in the form of ox heads.
3. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast—The meaning is, that the circular basin and the brazen oxen which supported it were all of one piece, being cast in one and the same mould. There is a difference in the accounts given of the capacity of this basin, for while in 1Ki 7:26 it is said that two thousand baths of water could be contained in it, in this passage no less than three thousand are stated. It has been suggested that there is here a statement not merely of the quantity of water which the basin held, but that also which was necessary to work it, to keep it flowing as a fountain; that which was required to fill both it and its accompaniments. In support of this view, it may be remarked that different words are employed: the one in 1Ki 7:26 rendered contained; the two here rendered, received and held. There was a difference between receiving and holding. When the basin played as a fountain, and all its parts were filled for that purpose, the latter, together with the sea itself, received three thousand baths; but the sea exclusively held only two thousand baths, when its contents were restricted to those of the circular basin. It received and held three thousand baths [Calmet, Fragments].
2Ch 4:6-18. The Ten Lavers, Candlesticks, and Tables.
6. ten lavers—(See on 1Ki 7:27). The laver of the tabernacle had probably been destroyed. The ten new ones were placed between the porch and the altar, and while the molten sea was for the priests to cleanse their hands and feet, these were intended for washing the sacrifices.
7. ten candlesticks—(See on 1Ki 7:49). The increased number was not only in conformity with the characteristic splendor of the edifice, but also a standing emblem to the Hebrews, that the growing light of the word was necessary to counteract the growing darkness in the world [Lightfoot].
11. Huram made—(See on 1Ki 7:40).