2 Chronicles
Verse 1. Moria, which signifies vision; ( Calmet.) the place pointed out to Abraham, (Genesis 22:2. Saint Augustine de Calmet. xvi. 32.) and to David. 1 Chronicles 21:15 and 22:1.
EXPLANATIONS
2 Chronicles 3
Historical chapter commentary
2 Chronicles
Verse 2. Second. Hebrew adds, ( D.) “in the second day of the second month.” Prot. and so forth Bible.
2 Chronicles
Verse 3. By the first, or ancient measure, used before the captivity. The Babylonian cubit was a hand smaller, as Ezechiel (40:3) intimates. Calmet.—Solomon used the same cubit as Moses, but doubled the proportions. Menochius.
2 Chronicles
Verse 4. A hundred. The Arab. and some copies of the Septuagint read only twenty. Capellus and Toinard would substitute, ten cubits. A small change in the Hebrew might occasion these variations. Calmet.—In 3 Kennicott. 7:2 we find the height was thirty cubits: but that might be only to the first floor. Many think that the temple was 120 cubits high: but Salien ( A. 3024) explains it of the four-square tower, ( Menochius.) in the front. Calmet.
2 Chronicles
Verse 5. House. between the most holy place and the porch, ( Tirinus.) or it may comprise all but the porch. Hebrew “he covered (or boarded) all this great house.” Calmet.—Deal boards interspersed with those of cedar. 3 Kennicott. 6:9. Tirinus.—Fine, (obrizi.) Hebrew “of Parvaim, which is probably the same as Sepharvaim, Ophir, and so forth not far from Media and Colchis. Calmet.
2 Chronicles
Verse 8. Amounting to about, is not in Hebrew Bible.
2 Chronicles
Verse 9. Sicles. This weight seems enormous for each nail. Mariana supposes every nail weighed one sicle. But who will believe that only fifty were used? Hebrew “And the weight of the nails was fifty,” and so forth The Syr. and Arab. omit this verse entirely.—Chambers, or rather “the ceiling.”
2 Chronicles
Verse 10. Work. Hebrew “of the work of young men,” or resembling them. Munster—Septuagint “the work of wood.” Vulg. lit. “of sculpture work,” ( Bible.) as Le Clerc renders the original. Some moderns translate, “of a work like men in motion.” Mariana, Buxtorf—The cherubims were in an erect posture.
2 Chronicles
Verse 11. Cubits, comprising the breadth of their body. Each occupied ten cubits.
2 Chronicles
Verse 13. Toward. Hebrew “inward;” looking at each other, (Exodus 25:20) or towards the altar of holocausts.
2 Chronicles
Verse 14. A veil. Abulensis places it between the court and the holy: but Jansenius would have it before the holy of holies. It seems rather that there was a veil in both places, (Barad. t. ii. b. iii. 23. Menochius.) as Josephus (viii. 2 and xii. 10.) clearly intimates; and Saint Paul speaks of the second veil. Hebrews 9:3. It is not certain which of them was torn at the death of Jesus Christ. Matthew 27:51. Cherubims; extraordinary figures. Calmet.
2 Chronicles
Verse 15. Five. 3 Kennicott. 7:15 we read each was eighteen cubits. It is probable that each was 17½ and the other half was for the crown, ( Calmet.) or cornice. Bible.
2 Chronicles
Verse 16. In, or “as in.” Sa. Menochius.—Protestants supply as. Bible.—Hundred, for one row, or 200 for both. 3 Kennicott. D.
2 Chronicles
Verse 17. Booz. “Stability and strength” are derived from God alone. Thus Solomon designed to insinuate that God established the harmony of the universe. Bible.—An orrery, or globe, was therefore placed on each of these pillars. Parkhurst, in con.
2 Chronicles
A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
2 Chronicles
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 600 talents is about 18 metric tons
2 Chronicles
A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 50 shekels was about 0.5 kilograms or about 16 Troy ounces.