The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 34

e.bnut three million 11nd three qlllntors of succeeding cbernbim mensmings, is the our nl()ney, but in Poole's C'etimnto nc11rer exact double of thl\t observed by Moses dot1ble t.h;,t I The Hebrew, Phcenician, and (l;;xod. xxxvii. 6-9). Tho 1wight of tho Ass:-,rian unit of weight is the same, and ch,•rubim, ten cubits, not mentioned in our one quite dillc>rent from the Egyptian. The text, is given in the po.ro.llel (1 Kings 11"/ver 1alent (Hebrew, ciccar, ,~:;i) contnined vi. 26). 60 mrtnehs, eiu,h maneh being equal to 50 Ver. 13.-Their fa.oes wero inward ; shekels, a11d a shekel being worth 220 grains: Hebrew, "were to the house," viz. to tho i.r. there were 3000 shekels, or 660,000 grains, holy place. 'fhe position of these cherubim, in snch talent. But the gold talent con- both as to wings and fo.ces, wne clcnrly tained 100 manchs, the rnaneh 100 shekels, different from tbat of those for the t.uber- and the shekel l 32 grains, rnal-ing this gold 110.cle of Moses. Thero they "oover tho talent the equinilcnt of 10,000 shekels, or mercy-seat with their wings, and thoir faces 1,320,000 grains. The "holy shekel," or nre one to another ... toward the mercy- "shekel of the sanctuary," could he either scat were the faces of the cherubim" of gold or silver (Exod. xxxviii. -l, 5). (For (Exod. xxv. 20: xxxvii. 9). May this some treatment of this still unsatisfactory o.lterntion in the time of Solomon indicate subject, see Dr. Smith's' Dible Dictionary,' possibly one more advance in the develop- iii. 1727-1736; and Conder's 'Handbook ing outlook of Divine meroy to a whole t.o the Bible,' 2nd edit., pp. 64--78, 81,) world? Neither this place nor the po.ro.llel , er. 9.-The weight of the nails, fifty makes it certain whether the cherubim, that ahekels of gold. According to the above are here said to stand on their feet, stood scale, therefore, this weight would be a on the ground, e.e some say they did. As twelve-thousandth part for the nails of all regards those of the tabemncle, the preposi- the weight of the overlaying plates of gold. tions used in Exod. xxv. 18, 19 and xxxvii. The upper chambers. This is the first men- 7, 8 appear to lay stress on their position tion of these "chambers" in the present being a fixture at and on each extremity of description, but they have been alluded to the mercy-seat. by ti,e Cllronicle writer before, in 1 Chron. Ver. 14.-The veil of blue, and purple, and x:x~iii. 11. What or where they were ie as orimson, and :fine linen (so Exod. xxvi. 31, yet not certainly ascertained. Presumably 33, 35; xxxvi. 35; xl. 3, 21). It ie remark- they were the highest tier of those cham- able that our parallel (l Kings vi.) does bers which surrounded three sides of the not make mention of the veil, though a main bnilding. But some think they were feature of which so much wae always macle a superstructure to the holy of holies; others, (Matt. xxvii. 51 ; Mark xv. 38; Luke xxiii. high chambers in the supposed very lofty 45; Heb. vi. 19; ix. 3). On the other hand, superstructure of the porch. Both of' these it ie remarkable that our present passage enppoeitions seem to ne of the unlikeliest. does not make mention of the folding" doors It would, however, be much more satisfactory, of olive tree," which, with "the veil," inter- considering that all the subject before and cepted the approach to the oracle (1 Kings after treats of the most holy place, to be vi. 31, 32), nor of the po.rtition walls (1 able to coDDect this expression in some way Kings vi. 16) in which they were situate, with it, nor is there any reason evident for nor of the "partition chains [l Kings vi. 21] overlaying richly with gold the aforesaid of gold before the oracle." chambers (eh.. iL 4 compared with ::uii. Ver. 15.-Thirty and five oubite. The 11) of the third tier. height of these pillars ie attested in three Ver. 10.-Image work. The word in the places to have been 18 cubits (1 Kings vii. Hebrew text (□':\l~P.~) translated thns in our 15; 2 Kings xxv. 17; Jer. Iii. 21). Some Authorized Versfon ie a word unknown. therefore think that the height given in Gesenius traces it to "an unused" Hebrew our text describes rather the distance of root V1%, of Arabic derivation (meaning the one pillar from the other, which would "to carry on the trade of a goldsmith"), be just 35 cubits, if they stood at the ex- e.nd offers to translate it "statuary" work treme points of the line of the porch front: witll the Vulgate (opu,8 statuariwm). The since the wings on each side (5 cubits for parallel (1 Kings vi. 23) gives simply" wood the lowest chamber, and 2~ cubits for the of oil" (not "olive," Neh. viii. 15), i.e. the thickness of the walls) would mo.ke up this oleaeter tree wood. It is obvious that some amount. It is further noticed with this of the characters of these words would go explanation that their height (18 cubits) some way to make the other unknown word. '\\"ith the chapitere (5 cubits) aclded, would But it must be confessed that our text shows bring them to the sarne height us the porch, no external indications of a corrupt reading. and that their ornamentation agrees with Yer. 11.-Twenty cubit■ . Thie, like all that of the porch (1 Kings vii. 19). All this the preceding cubit meaeurings of the temp lo may ho the case. Yet considering other foundations and height!!, and with all the indications of uncertaint.r about our text, ou. m. 1-17.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 35