2 Chronicles 3:1-17 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David his father… I. THE SITE. 1. Central At Jerusalem. (1) Natural. Jerusalem, the metropolis of the kingdom, the political and religious centre of the country, was entitled to contain the chief symbol round which the political and religious life of the nation was in future to revolve. (2) Appropriate. As the king had a palace in the capital, it was fitting the king's King, Jehovah, should there have a temple. (3) Convenient. Since the temple was to be Israel's meeting-place in their national assemblies, it was better the structure should stand in the chief city of the realm than in a provincial town. (4) Significant. It seemed to say that henceforth Solomon was to seek the security of his throne, the stability of his government, and the welfare of his empire in the worship of Jehovah and the practice of religion. 2. Conspicuous. On Mount Moriah, which had been so named because of Jehovah's appearing on its summit to Abraham (Genesis 22:2), rather than because it had been pointed out to David by Jehovah (Bertheau) - a mountain situated north-east of Zion, and now styled "The Haram," after a Mohammedan mosque with which it is crowned. According to present-day measurements, rising to the height of between 2278 and 2462 feet above the level of the Mediterranean (Conder, 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 359), it was a fitting site for the temple, which, besides being firmly established as founded on a rock, would thereby be visible from afar, and so a centre of attraction for travellers approaching the city. So is Christ's Church, like it, founded on a rock (Matthew 16:18), and, like it, should be a city set upon a hill (Matthew 5:14). 3. Consecrated. In the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (On the suitability of the Haram summit to be a threshing-floor, see Exposition.) In addition to the theophany which had there occurred in connection with the offering of Isaac, a similar manifestation of Jehovah had recently taken place in the lifetime of David (1 Chronicles 21:15-30). It was thus to Solomon a spot doubly hallowed. If in David's eyes, because of the old patriarchal altar that had stood thereon, the place was invested with a special charm, in Solomon's this charm would not be diminished, but intensified, by the recollection of the altar his father had built. II. THE TIME. 1. Specific. "In the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign, began Solomon to build;" i.e. 480 years after the exodus from Egypt (1 Kings 6:1); or, according to another reckoning, 592 years subsequent to that event, 240 after the building of Tyre, and 143 years 8 months prior to the founding of Carthage (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 8:3.1; 'Against Apion,' 1:17, 18). Great events make deep indentations on the memories of men as well as on the course of time. The building of the Solomonic temple, of more than national, was of world-wide importance. 2. Early. It shows the high conception Solomon had of the work delegated to him by his father, as well as marked out for him by God; indicates the earnestness and enthusiasm with which he undertook it, that he set about its performance almost at the earliest possible moment, "in the fourth year of his reign," before erecting for himself a palace, or for his country a chain of forts. It is an Old Testament form of the New Testament lesson, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). III. THE ERECTION. 1. The house, or the temple proper. (1) Its dimensions: 60 cubits long, 20 broad (ver. 3), 30 high (1 Kings 6:2); i.e. taking the cubit at 1.33 feet, 79.8 feet, 26'. feet, and 39.9 feet, or, in round numbers, 80 feet, 27 feet, and 40 feet. (2) Its parts. "The greater house" (ver. 5), i.e. the holy place, or the outer of the two compartments into which the house was divided, and "the most holy house" (ver. 8), or the inner of the two compartments. As this latter was a perfect cube, 20 cubits each way, the former was (internally viewed) a rectangular parallelopiped, of length 40, of breadth 20, of height 30 cubits. Besides these were "the upper chambers" (ver. 9), or the space above the holy of holies, whose dimensions were 20 cubits long, 20 broad, and 10 high. (3) Its ornaments. The house was built of white freestone cut from the royal quarries under Bezetha, the northern hill on which Jerusalem is built (Warren, 'Underground Jerusalem,' p. 60), smoothly polished and laid so skilfully and harmoniously together that "there appeared to the spectators no sign of any hammer or other instrument of architecture, but as if, without any use of them, the entire materials had naturally united themselves together" (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 8:3. 2). The interior of the house was covered with wood, the walls and the ceiling with cedar, the floor with cypress (1 Kings 6:15), so that no part of the stonework was visible. The wood was ornamented with carved work representing palm trees (ver. 5) and cherubim (ver. 7), the latter on the walls, the former on the roof. In addition were knops or gourde and open flowers (1 Kings 6:18). Similar decorations were carved upon the outer sides of the walls (1 Kings 6:29). The whole house, interior and exterior - walls, roof, beams, posts, doors - was overlaid with gold plates, which received impressions from the carved work underneath. "To say all in a word, Solomon left no part of the temple, neither internal nor external, but what was covered with gold" (Josephus). The gold, of the finest quality (1 Kings 6:20), was fetched from Parvaim, a place of uncertain location - Ophir in Ceylon (Bochart), Ophir in India (Knobel), Peru and Mexico (Ritter), Southern or Eastern Arabia (Bertheau), the peninsula of Malacca (Leyrer, in Herzog), having all been suggested. The veil which divided the compartments was made of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen - the same materials as were employed in constructing the tabernacle vail (Exodus 26:31) - and was ornamented with similar cherubic figures. The precious stones wherewith the walls were garnished are not mentioned. 2. The porch. (1) Its situation: in front of the house. (2) Its dimensions: 20 cubits broad, 120 high, and 10 long (1 Kings 6:3). The disproportion between the ground measures and the altitude has suggested the existence in this place of an error (Keil), or of an intentional exaggeration (Bertheau), though Josephus appears to have regarded it as literally correct ('Ant.,' 8:3. 2). Ewald, who upholds the text as genuine, thinks of a tower rising above the porch to the height of 120 feet ('History of Israel, '3:236); but this is far from probable, indeed statically impossible, and must be rejected. On the assumption of a corrupt text, the question remains how high the porch was. Some say 20 cubits (Keil), or 10 lower than the house; others 30, i.e. the exact height of the house (Bertheau); a third 23, at least as high as the pillars (Merz, in Herzog; Schurer, in Riehm). (3) Its ornaments. Its interior was overlaid with fine gold (ver. 4); its entrance guarded by two massive columns. 3. The pillars. (1) Their names: that on the right Jachin, or, "He shall establish," meaning that in this shrine Jehovah would henceforth permanently abide (1 Kings 8:13; Psalm 87:5; Psalm 139:14), or that through this would the kingdom be henceforth immovably established (Psalm 89:5); that on the left Boaz, signifying "In him, or in it, is strength," and pointing perhaps to the fulness of heavenly might that resides in him who is the sanctuary's God (Isaiah 45:24), or to the consolidation which should henceforth be given to the kingdom through the erection of this temple (Psalm 144:14). Other explanations have been given, as that Jachin and Boaz were the names of the donors or builders of the pillars (Gesenius), or of two youthful sons of Solomon (Ewald), or that the two words should be read together, as if both were inscribed on each pillar, "He will establish, or may he establish, it with strength" (Thenius). Least acceptable of all solutions is that of the Fathers, that the two names were intended to point to the two natures in Christ, in whom, though appearing in a lowly garb of humanity, dwelt the fulness of Divine strength. (2) Their height: thirty-five cubits, inclusive of the chapiter of five cubits with which each was crowned (ver. 15); each shaft eighteen cubits, and each crown five cubits, or both together twenty-three cubits (1 Kings 7:15, 16; Jeremiah 52:21; Josephus, 'Ant.,' 7:3. 4). It has been suggested that, as twice 18 are 36, the Chronicler should be regarded as stating the length of the two columns together. But as this does not get over the discrepancy, it is better to recognize that the original text has suffered some corruption. (3) Their position: before the temple. Whether within the porch (1 Kings 7:21), perhaps supporting the roof, or outside and apart from the building, is contested. (For the arguments on both sides, the Exposition may be consulted.) The ablest art scholars who have given attention to the subject have decided for the latter (see Riehm, 'Hand-worterbuch,' art. "Jaehin and Boaz"). (4) Their parts: first, a hollow column of brass, eighteen cubits high as above mentioned, twelve cubits in circumference, and of metal four fingers thick; and, second, a chapiter or crown of lily-work, i.e. a brass cup shaped like a fully-opened lily - the under part a belly-shaped band of network, bulging out between an under and an upper row of pomegranates strung on chains; above the upper row the lily-shaped cup, or crown, decorated all over with buds, flowers, and leaves like those of lilies. LESSONS. 1. The place due to religion in communities and individuals, the first. 2. The quality of service given to God and the Church, the best. 3. The power of art to express the ideas and emotions of religion. - W. Parallel Verses KJV: Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. |
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