3:15 In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length 1 of 52½ feet, 2 with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high. 3
21:20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death; 15 he was buried in the City of David, 16 but not in the royal tombs.
1 sn The figure given here appears to refer to the combined length of both pillars (perhaps when laid end-to-end on the ground prior to being set up; cf. v. 17); the figure given for the height of the pillars in 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21 is half this (i.e., eighteen cubits).
2 tc The Syriac reads “eighteen cubits” (twenty-seven feet). This apparently reflects an attempt at harmonization with 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21.
3 tn Heb “and he made before the house two pillars, thirty-five cubits [in] length, and the plated capital which was on its top [was] five cubits.” The significance of the measure “thirty-five cubits” (52.5 feet or 15.75 m, assuming a cubit of 18 inches) for the “length” of the pillars is uncertain. According to 1 Kgs 7:15, each pillar was eighteen cubits (27 feet or 8.1 m) high. Perhaps the measurement given here was taken with the pillars lying end-to-end on the ground before they were set up.
4 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”
sn The large bronze basin known as “The Sea” was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (see v. 6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
5 tn Heb “ten cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the diameter would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
6 tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
7 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”
8 tn Heb “tracks.” The parallel text in 1 Kgs 10:12 has a different term whose meaning is uncertain: “supports,” perhaps “banisters” or “parapets.”
9 tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
10 tn Heb “there was not seen like these formerly in the land of Judah.”
11 tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”
12 tn Heb “so he will go up from upon me.”
13 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 33).
14 tn Heb “are you not God in heaven?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “yes,” resulting in the positive statement “you are the God who lives in heaven” employed in the translation.
15 tn Heb “and he went without desire.”
16 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
17 tn Or “a fine.”
18 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
19 tn Heb “his words.”
20 tn All three verbal forms (“mocked,” “despised,” and “ridiculed”) are active participles in the Hebrew text, indicating continual or repeated action. They made a habit of rejecting God’s prophetic messengers.
21 tn Heb “until the anger of the