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2 Crônicas 4

ARC · Chapter 4/36

1Tambem fez um altar de metal de vinte covados de comprimento, e de vinte covados de largura, e de dez covados d'altura.

2Fez tambem o mar de fundição, de dez covados d'uma borda até a outra, redondo ao redor, e de cinco covados d'alto; cingia-o em roda um cordão de trinta covados.

3E por baixo d'elle havia figuras de bois, que ao redor o cingiam, e por dez covados cercavam aquelle mar ao redor: e tinha duas carreiras de bois, fundidos na sua fundição.

4E estava sobre doze bois, tres que olhavam para o norte, e tres que olhavam para o occidente, e tres que olhavam para o sul, e tres que olhavam para o oriente; e o mar estava posto sobre elles: e as suas partes posteriores eram para a banda de dentro.

5E tinha um palmo de grossura, e a sua borda foi feita como a borda d'um copo, ou como uma flôr de lis, da capacidade de tres mil batos.

6Tambem fez dez pias; e poz cinco á direita, e cinco á esquerda, para lavarem n'ellas; o que pertencia ao holocausto o lavavam n'ellas: porém o mar era para que os sacerdotes se lavassem n'elle.

7Fez tambem dez castiçaes d'oiro, segundo a sua forma, e pôl-os no templo, cinco á direita, e cinco á esquerda.

8Tambem fez dez mesas, e pôl-as no templo, cinco á direita, e cinco á esquerda: tambem fez cem bacias d'oiro.

9Fez mais o pateo dos sacerdotes, e o pateo grande: como tambem as portadas para o pateo, e as suas portas cobriu de cobre.

10E o mar poz ao lado direito, para a banda do oriente, defronte do sul.

11Tambem Hurão fez as caldeiras, e as pás, e as bacias: assim acabou Hurão de fazer a obra, que fazia para o rei Salomão, na casa de Deus.

12A duas columnas, e os globos, e os dois capiteis sobre as cabeças das columnas: e as duas redes, para cobrir os dois globos dos capiteis, que estavam sobre a cabeça das columnas.

13E as quatrocentas romãs para as duas redes: duas carreiras de romãs para cada rede, para cobrirem os dois globos dos capiteis que estavam em cima das columnas.

14Tambem fez as bases: e as pias poz sobre as bases;

15Um mar, e os doze bois debaixo d'elle;

16Similhantemente os potes, e as pás, e os garfos, e todos os seus vasos, fez Hurão Abihu ao rei Salomão, para a casa do Senhor, de cobre purificado.

17Na campina do Jordão os fundiu o rei na terra argillosa, entre Succoth e Zeredatha.

18E fez Salomão todos estes vasos em grande abundancia: porque o peso do cobre se não esquadrinhava.

19Fez tambem Salomão todos os vasos que eram para a casa de Deus: como tambem o altar d'oiro, e as mesas, sobre as quaes estavam os pães da proposição.

20E os castiçaes com as suas alampadas d'oiro finissimo, para as accenderem segundo o costume, perante o oraculo.

21E as flores, e as alampadas, e os espivitadores d'oiro, do mais perfeito oiro.

22Como tambem os garfos, e as bacias, e as taças, e os incensarios d'oiro finissimo: e quanto á entrada da casa, as suas portas de dentro da sanctidade das sanctidades, e as portas da casa do templo, eram d'oiro.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The details of the temple's construction continue: the bronze altar, the great bronze tank called the 'sea,' the basins for washing, the golden lampstands, the tables, and all the utensils needed for the sacrifices and worship.

Explanation

Each utensil described had a specific ritual function within the sacrificial system established in the Law of Moses centuries earlier, showing continuity between the instructions given in the wilderness and their permanent application in the Jerusalem temple. The great bronze 'sea,' an enormous circular tank supported by twelve sculpted oxen, was used for the ritual purification of the priests, while the ten smaller basins were used to wash the animals designated for sacrifice. The quantity and variety of utensils made of pure gold, rather than just bronze or silver, reinforces the standard of material excellence Solomon sought in order to represent the greatness of God.

Fun facts

  • The 'bronze sea' had an estimated capacity of about 66,000 liters (roughly 17,000 gallons) of water, an impressive feat of engineering to be supported by only twelve cast bronze oxen statues.
  • All the bronze used in these structures was cast in clay molds on the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zeredah, a large-scale casting technique documented here with unusual detail for ancient texts.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crônicas 4:1The bronze altar stands outside the temple, in the courtyard — considerably larger than the bronze sea described right after — and it is there that animal sacrifices were actually made.
  2. 2 Crônicas 4:2The “molten sea” was a giant bronze basin, resting on twelve carved oxen, used by the priests to wash before their service — quite different from the ten smaller basins, which were for washing the parts of the sacrifice. The size described is enormous for the standards of the time, the kind of piece that impressed anyone visiting the temple.
  3. 2 Crônicas 4:3Two rows of carved oxen decorated the base of the bronze sea underneath, a finishing detail on the giant piece described in the previous verse.
  4. 2 Crônicas 4:4The bronze sea rested on twelve carved oxen, three facing each direction — north, south, east, west — as if carrying that enormous tank on their backs.
  5. 2 Crônicas 4:5The rim of the bronze sea was worked like the rim of a cup or a lily blossom, and it held around sixteen thousand gallons of water — a monumental piece.
  6. 2 Crônicas 4:6Besides the bronze sea, ten smaller basins were used to wash the parts of the sacrificed animals, five on each side — a different function from the large basin, which was only for the priests to wash themselves.
  7. 2 Crônicas 4:7Ten gold lampstands, made following the traditional pattern, are placed in the temple, five on each side — more luxury repeated in series.
  8. 2 Crônicas 4:8Ten tables and a hundred gold basins complete the interior furnishings, also divided five to each side of the temple.
  9. 2 Crônicas 4:9Besides the main building, Solomon builds two courtyards — one reserved for the priests and a larger, open one — with doors overlaid in bronze.
  10. 2 Crônicas 4:10The bronze sea is positioned on the right side of the temple, facing southeast, a specific spot within the complex.
  11. 2 Crônicas 4:11Huram, the craftsman sent by Huram of Tyre, also makes pots, shovels, and basins, wrapping up the portion of the work he did on commission for Solomon.
  12. 2 Crônicas 4:12The list returns to the two bronze pillars at the entrance, with their bowls, capitals, and the decorative network covering those capitals — a summary of what was already described earlier.
  13. 2 Crônicas 4:13Four hundred bronze pomegranates, in two rows per network, decorated the pillars’ capitals — an exact number that shows the account’s care with these ornamental details.
  14. 2 Crônicas 4:14The smaller basins used for washing the sacrifices rested on their own stands, completing the set of courtyard furnishings.
  15. 2 Crônicas 4:15The account briefly mentions once more the bronze sea and the twelve oxen supporting it underneath.
  16. 2 Crônicas 4:16Pots, shovels, forks, and other utensils of polished bronze complete the list of what Huram-abi made for the temple at Solomon’s command.
  17. 2 Crônicas 4:17The king has these bronze pieces cast on the plain of the Jordan, in a clay-rich region between Succoth and Zeredathah — exactly the kind of ground suited to this casting work.
  18. 2 Crônicas 4:18The amount of bronze used was so great that no one even bothered weighing it exactly — a way of marking just how abundant the project’s resources were.
  19. 2 Crônicas 4:19The list of solid gold furnishings — tables, lampstands, forks, basins, even the door hinges — makes clear that luxury was in no short supply in the temple’s interior decoration. It was a concrete way of showing the place’s importance, not only through the building itself but through every object used inside it.
  20. 2 Crônicas 4:20The lampstands of purest gold stayed lit in front of the Most Holy Place, following the custom of keeping that light burning at all times.
  21. 2 Crônicas 4:21Decorative flowers, lamps, and wick trimmers, all of the highest-grade gold, complete the fine finish of these lampstands.
  22. 2 Crônicas 4:22Forks, basins, cups, and censers of purest gold, along with the inner doors of the Most Holy Place and the main entrance also overlaid with gold, close out the temple’s long list of luxury.

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