2 Chronicles 3 Study Notes

3:1 Mount Moriah was the place God had designated after David saw an angel and a plague was averted (1Ch 21).

3:2 Solomon began the actual building of the temple early in the fourth year of his reign. This means he had not waited long after his coronation to start gathering building materials.

3:3-4 Even though the temple became complex in its details, the basic plan was straightforward. The outline of the temple was a rectangle, thirty feet by ninety feet. Its entryway was a thirty-foot tall portal that covered the entire width of the building. The most holy place, or holy of holies, was a thirty-foot cube that constituted the far end, leaving a room thirty feet wide and sixty feet long as the holy place. This seems small, considering the crowds that would visit the temple, but sacrifices would be offered in the courtyard outside the temple. Only priests would enter the holy place, and then only twice a day—in the morning and in the evening—and only the high priest could enter the most holy place, only once a year.

3:5 The decorations of the holy place included palm trees. The use of botanical motifs went back to the tabernacle (Ex 37:20). God wants us to appreciate the beauty he has instilled in his creation. Embellishment of sacred places with natural objects is wrong only when they become objects of worship or detract from the true worship of God.

3:6-7 The location of Parvaim is unknown. Suggestions have been Farwa in Yemen or el-Farwein in northeast Arabia.

3:8-9 The most holy place was covered with gold. Gold is very heavy, but it is also soft. The easiest way to achieve the gold on the ceiling would have been to apply it to the ceiling beams before they were put in place. The golden nails must have had an iron core, or they could not have sustained hammer blows or held their place given gold’s softness.

3:10-13 On the back wall of the most holy place were two cherubim, each with two wings 7½ feet long, adding up to 30 feet in width, the exact width of the wall.

3:14 The curtain became the highest expression of Phoenician art, with its fabric of many colors, including blue, purple, and crimson.

3:15-17 The design of the temple followed that of the tabernacle, though the temple was constructed from more permanent materials. Solomon did add two new structures—two pillars that were taller than the portico. Each of these pillars had a highly ornate capital, featuring a pomegranate motif. Pomegranates were a part of the decorative theme woven into the garments worn by priests (Ex 28:33), so the pomegranate decorations symbolized the priestly function connected to the temple. The names of the pillars, Jachin and Boaz, signified faith in God, meaning “he will establish” and “strength is in him.”