2 Chronicles 4 explained: Furnishing Solomon's Temple

The great bronze altar (v. 1)

This was the main altar in the open courtyard, where animal sacrifices were burned, about 9 meters (30 feet) square and 4.5 meters high. It was far larger than the altar from Moses' time, which was five cubits square, and some older interpreters suggested it was built to hold the many offerings of a larger, richer nation.

The giant bronze Sea (vv. 2-5)

The 'Sea' was a huge round bronze tank of water standing on twelve bronze bulls facing outward in four directions, which may echo Israel's twelve tribes, though that is a guess. The parallel account in 1 Kings gives a smaller capacity, and scholars are not sure whether this reflects a copying difference or a different way of measuring.

Basins, lamps, tables, courts (vv. 6-10)

The ten smaller basins were for rinsing the parts of animals offered as sacrifices, while the Sea was where priests washed themselves before serving. Ten gold lampstands and ten tables stood inside the building, set out in matching rows on each side.

Huram's bronze work (vv. 11-18)

Huram, a master metalworker from the neighboring city of Tyre, finished the bronze items, including two great pillars at the entrance decorated with rows of pomegranates, a fruit often understood as a symbol of life and plenty. The pieces were cast in clay molds in the Jordan valley, and so much bronze was used that no one could work out its weight.

The gold furnishings inside (vv. 19-22)

Inside the building the furnishings were gold, including the incense altar and the tables for the 'bread of the Presence,' loaves kept continually set out before God. Many readers see the shift from bronze outside to gold inside as marking growing holiness toward the Most Holy Place, the innermost room, though the text itself does not say so.

Key verse: 2 Chronicles 4:19

Something to think about

Why do you think people across history have poured so much wealth and skill into places of worship, and what do you make of that impulse?