8 and from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, hath David taken very much brass; with it hath Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.
two pillars, and the bowls, and the crowns on the heads of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two bowls of the crowns that `are' on the heads of the pillars; and the pomegranates four hundred to the two wreaths, two rows of pomegranates to the one wreath, to cover the two bowls of the crowns that `are' on the front of the pillars. And the bases he hath made; and the lavers he hath made on the bases; the one sea, and the twelve oxen under it, and the pots, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their vessels, hath Huram his father made for king Solomon, for the house of Jehovah, of brass purified. In the circuit of the Jordan hath the king cast them, in the thick soil of the ground, between Succoth and Zeredathah. And Solomon maketh all these vessels in great abundance, that the weight of the brass hath not been searched out.
And he formeth the two pillars of brass; eighteen cubits `is' the height of the one pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits doth compass the second pillar. And two chapiters he hath made to put on the tops of the pillars, cast in brass; five cubits the height of the one chapiter, and five cubits the height of the second chapiter. Nets of net-work, wreaths of chain-work `are' for the chapiters that `are' on the top of the pillars, seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the second chapiter. And he maketh the pillars, and two rows round about on the one net-work, to cover the chapiters that `are' on the top, with the pomegranates, and so he hath made for the second chapiter. And the chapiters that `are' on the top of the pillars `are' of lily-work in the porch, four cubits; and the chapiters on the two pillars also above, over-against the protuberance that `is' beside the net; and the pomegranates `are' two hundred, in rows round about on the second chapiter. And he raiseth up the pillars for the porch of the temple, and he raiseth up the right pillar, and calleth its name Jachin, and he raiseth up the left pillar, and calleth its name Boaz; and on the top of the pillars `is' lily-work; and the work of the pillars `is' completed. And he maketh the molten sea, ten by the cubit from its edge unto its edge; `it is' round all about, and five by the cubit `is' its height, and a line of thirty by the cubit doth compass it round about; and knops beneath its brim round about are compassing it, ten by the cubit, going round the sea round about; in two rows `are' the knops, cast in its being cast. It is standing on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east, and the sea `is' upon them above, and all their hinder parts `are' inward. And its thickness `is' an handbreadth, and its edge as the work of the edge of a cup, flowers of lilies; two thousand baths it containeth. And he maketh the ten bases of brass; four by the cubit `is' the length of the one base, and four by the cubit its breadth, and three by the cubit its height. And this `is' the work of the base: they have borders, and the borders `are' between the joinings; and on the borders that `are' between the joinings `are' lions, oxen, and cherubs, and on the joinings a base above, and beneath the lions and the oxen `are' additions -- sloping work. And four wheels of brass `are' to the one base, and axles of brass; and its four corners have shoulders -- under the laver `are' the molten shoulders, beside each addition. And its mouth within the chapiter and above `is' by the cubit, and its mouth `is' round, the work of the base, a cubit and half a cubit; and also on its mouth `are' carvings and their borders, square, not round. And the four wheels `are' under the borders, and the spokes of the wheels `are' in the base, and the height of the one wheel `is' a cubit and half a cubit. And the work of the wheels `is' as the work of the wheel of a chariot, their spokes, and their axles, and their felloes, and their naves; the whole `is' molten. And four shoulders `are' unto the four corners of the one base; out of the base `are' its shoulders. And in the top of the base `is' the half of a cubit in the height all round about; and on the top of the base its spokes and its borders `are' of the same. And he openeth on the tablets of its spokes, and on its borders, cherubs, lions, and palm-trees, according to the void space of each, and additions round about. Thus he hath made the ten bases; one casting, one measure, one form, have they all. And he maketh ten lavers of brass; forty baths doth the one laver contain, four by the cubit `is' the one laver, one laver on the one base `is' to the ten bases; and he putteth the five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house, and the sea he hath put on the right side of the house, eastward -- over-against the south. And Hiram maketh the lavers, and the shovels, and the bowls; and Hiram completeth to do all the work that he made for king Solomon, `for' the house of Jehovah; pillars two, and bowls of the chapiters that `are' on the top of the pillars two, and the nets two, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that `are' on the top of the pillars; and the pomegranates four hundred for the two nets, two rows of pomegranates for the one net, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that `are' on the front of the pillars; and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases; and the one sea, the twelve oxen under the sea, and the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls; and all these vessels, that Hiram hath made to king Solomon `for' the house of Jehovah, `are' of brass -- polished. In the circuit of the Jordan hath the king cast them, in the thick soil of the ground, between Succoth and Zarthan. And Solomon placeth the whole of the vessels; because of the very great abundance, the weight of the brass hath not been searched out.
And he maketh the molten sea; ten by the cubit, from its edge unto its edge, round in compass, and five by the cubit its height, and a line of thirty by the cubit doth compass it, round about. And the likeness of oxen `is' under it, all round about encompassing it, ten in the cubit, compassing the sea round about; two rows of oxen are cast in its being cast. It is standing on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east, and the sea `is' upon them above, and all their hinder parts `are' within. And its thickness `is' a handbreadth, and its lip as the work of the lip of a cup flowered with lilies; taking hold -- baths three thousand it containeth. And he maketh ten lavers, and putteth five on the right, and five on the left, to wash with them; the work of the burnt-offering they purge with them; and the sea `is' for priests to wash with.
And the pillars of brass that `are' to the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brasen sea that `is' in the house of Jehovah, have the Chaldeans broken, and they bear away all the brass of them to Babylon; and the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they minister, they have taken away; and the basins, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups, the gold of that which `is' gold, and the silver of that which `is' silver, hath the chief of the executioners taken. The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen that `are' beneath the bases, that king Solomon made for the house of Jehovah, there was no weighing of the brass of all these vessels. As to the pillars, eighteen cubits `is' the height of the one pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits doth compass it, and its thickness `is' four fingers hollow. And the chapiter upon it `is' of brass, and the height of the one chapiter `is' five cubits, and net-work and pomegranates `are' on the chapiter round about, the whole `is' of brass; and like these have the second pillar, and pomegranates. And the pomegranates are ninety and six on a side, all the pomegranates `are' a hundred on the net-work round about.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 18
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 18 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The events recorded in these three chapters are all narrated in the second book of Samuel also, and in the same order. First, there are grouped together in our 18th chapter, and in 2 Sam 8, in such a manner as to afford a general view of the whole, all the wars which David carried on victoriously against all his enemies round about in the establishment of the Israelitish rule, with a short statement of the results, followed by a catalogue of David's chief public officials. In 1 Chron 19 and in 2 Sam 10 we have a more detailed account of the arduous war against the Ammonites and Syrians, and in 1 Chronicles 20:1-3 and 2 Samuel 12:26-31 the conclusion of the war with the capture of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites; and finally, in 1 Chronicles 20:4-8, we have a few short accounts of the victories of the Israelitish heroes over giants from the land of the Philistines, which are inserted in 2 Samuel 21:18-22 as a supplement to the last section of David's history. Apart from this last section, which is to be regarded even in the Chronicle as an appendix, we find the arrangement and succession of the events to be the same in both books, since the sections which in 2 Samuel 9:1-13 and 2 Samuel 11:1-12, 2 Samuel 11:25, stand between the histories of the wars, contain sketches of David's family life, which the author of the Chronicle has, in accordance with his plan, omitted. Even as to individual details the two narratives are perfectly agreed, the divergences being inconsiderable; and even these, in so far as they are original, and are not results of careless copying, - as, for instance, the omission of the word נציבים , 1 Chronicles 18:6, as compared with 1 Chronicles 18:13 and 2 Samuel 8:6, and the difference in the numbers and names in 1 Chronicles 18:4, 1 Chronicles 18:8, as compared with 2 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 4:8, are, - partly mere explanations of obscure expressions, partly small additions or abridgments. For the commentary, therefore, we may refer to the remarks on 2nd Samuel, where the divergences of the Chronicle from the record in Samuel are also dealt with. With 1 Chronicles 18:1-13 cf. 2 Samuel 8:1-14; and with the register of public officials, 2 Samuel 18:14-17, cf. 2 Samuel 8:15-18.
Examples of paraphrastic explanation are found in 1 Chronicles 18:1, where the figurative expression, David took the bridle of the mother out of the hands of the Philistines, i.e., deprived them of the hegemony, is explained by the phrase, David took Gath and her cities out of the hands of the Philistines, i.e., took from the Philistines the capital with her daughter cities; and in 1 Chronicles 18:17, כּהנים is rendered by, the first at the king's hand. Among the abridgments, the omission of David's harsh treatment of the Moabites who were taken prisoners is surprising, no reason for it being discoverable; for the assertion that the chronicler has purposely omitted it in order to free David from the charge of such barbarous conduct, is disposed of by the fact that he does not pass over in silence the similar treatment of the conquered inhabitants of Rabbah in 1 Chronicles 20:3. Instead of this, the chronicler has several historical notes peculiar to himself, which are wanting in the text of Samuel, and which prove that the author of the Chronicle has not derived his account from the second book of Samuel. Such, e.g., is the statement in 1 Chronicles 18:8, that Solomon caused the brazen sea and the pillars and vessels of the court of the temple to be made of the brass taken as booty in the war against Hadadezer; in 1 Chronicles 18:11, the word מאדום , which is wanting in Samuel, as מארם , which in 1 Chronicles 18:11 of that book is used in place of it, probably stood originally in the Chronicle also. Such also are the more accurate statements in 1 Chronicles 18:12 as to the victory over the Edomites in the Valley of Salt (see on 2 Samuel 8:13).