GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 3:3-9
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3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide (using the cubit of the old standard). 4 The porch at the front of the temple was twenty cubits long across the width of the building and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main hall with pine and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold that was used was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the house, the beams, rafters, thresholds and door frames, walls and doors with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls. 8 He built the Most Holy Place. It was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide, the same as the width of the building. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The gold nails weighed fifty shekels. He also overlaid the upper areas with gold.
In this passage about the construction of the main building of the temple, the Holy Place, there is a little something to be noticed in each verse.
3:3 “90 by 30.” The Holy Place was twice the size of the tent that God commanded Moses to make (which was 10 cubits, or 15 feet, wide). These measurements had been approved by the Lord when David made the design. The cubit that was used here was the “old standard,” the cubit used by Noah to build the ark. A cubit is the distance from the carpenter’s elbow to his fingertip. In almost all men, the distance is doubled when measured from the center of his chest to his fingertip, and it follows that four cubits is the distance from fingertip to fingertip, or about six feet.
3:4 The word ha-ulam means a kind of entryway, or porch (NIV “portico”). The Hebrew text makes the height of this chamber incredibly tall (180 feet), and that might be a scribal error (the words “cubit” and “hundred” are somewhat similar in form).
3:5 The palm tree and chain designs were aesthetically pleasing. While the “chain design” may simply have been a convenient pattern, the idea of a chain could also have been a reminder of God’s protection around his people, while the palm trees were an added reminder of God’s blessings for his people.
3:6 It’s uncertain how the precious stones would have been used; perhaps to represent dates or nuts in the palm trees, or used to join the intersections of various parts of the chain design. The added comment that the gold was “the gold of Parvaim” is hard to understand. Parvam is also a Sanskrit word that can mean “first” or “best,” and so does the word resonate with Genesis 2:11-12, where we are told that the gold of that land of Havilah is “good gold”? Another interesting theory involves a tenth century Arab historian who knew of a gold mine in northeastern Arabia called El-Farwain, similar to “Parvaim.” Notice that the “he” throughout these verses is really Solomon (3:1), but working through his hired artist, Huram-Abi.
3:7 This verse describes the gold overlay of many of the architectural details. The verbs for “overlay,” “cover” and “carve” are all in the piel verb stem. There are three verbs that occur eight times in all in verses 4-7. They are: Chaphah (חפה) to panel (wood), to cover or overlay (with gold), Tsaphah (צפה) to overlay (with gold), to adorn (with stones), and Patach (פתח) to carve (in wood).
In the ordinary (qal) stem, chaphah means to cover a head, either with a veil (2 Samuel 15:30) or the head of a condemned man (Esther 7:8). The piel stem intensifies a verb or suggests repeated action, such as tapping out gold leaf or putting on many gold plates. This also might be described as the distributive use of the verb.
The word tsaphah is a more general word for “covering” something, such as when one paints an object or glazes a pot (Proverbs 26:23). Here in verse 4 it appears to mean the general covering of the temple interior with gold plating. In verse 6 the same word means to “adorn” with precious stones, which means to carefully arrange and attach them. This would be a piel verb where the emphasis is on the aim or result.
Finally, there is patach. This word means to do something repetitively, as a carver in wood, gold or stone (verse 7). This form of the word is used sometimes in the original work of the tabernacle in the time of Moses (Exodus 28:9; 28:11; and 28:36).
In verses 8 and 9, the Most Holy Place is described in terms of the value of gold that was used, but also the value or weight of the nails. The nails present a problem in interpretation. The weight given is fifty shekels– about a pound and a quarter, or 18 ounces. This is too heavy for a single nail, but too light for all the nails that would have been used. However, if only the nail heads were gold, or capped with gold then the amount would make more sense.
The “upper areas” must mean the ceilings of the chambers (which were covered in hides in Moses’ time, Exodus 26:14), but also the upper chamber above the Holy of Holies. Since it was a cube, there was room for a small chamber above it. This was perhaps an access room so that a workman could be lowered into the Most Holy Place if a repair had to be made to the paneling or floor, since they could not enter through the curtain. This is a guess by ancient Israelite commentators who read the letter of Numbers 18:7 but not the spirit of the prohibition, nor perhaps the definite statement: “Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” It is my opinion that “workmen” would never have made repairs to the interior of the Most Holy Place, nor Levites, nor ordinary priests, but that, should some repair be necessary, it could be carried out on the one day when the High Priest could enter to offer incense and pour out blood for the atonement of the people. He might also have been able to re-nail a wall panel without losing either time or dignity, since he was God’s servant and specifically charged with the care of the sanctuary (Numbers 18:5).
Everything in the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was made of gold, or covered with gold, to display God’s holiness, his purity, and his divinity. The gemstones adorning the work here and there were equally precious, showing the variety of God’s creation and his concern for all creation (Jonah 4:11; Hebrews 4:13; Matthew 10:29). Even the nails were gold or gold-capped; not the smallest detail is too small for God (Isaiah 60:22); no matter is too small for God’s attention, or ours (Matthew 5:18). Give him glory in everything that you do! If you need to change a diaper, imagine that the diaper pail is lined with gold, and more importantly, know that the infant you care for is in your care because God loves that infant, and has given you every task to look after and love that baby. If you need to change the garbage, imagine that the garbage can is lined with gold and carved with cherubim and palm trees and beautiful chains connecting all of God’s creation together. Your task is important to taking care of the cleanliness of your household, and can even symbolize in your heart the removal of sin from your life; it is atonement pictured in the most ordinary terms. Give God glory in everything you do, everything you say, and in your very thoughts. His mercy endures forever!
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 3:3-9 Glory in gold