2 Chronicles 3

1 Then Solomon began to build the LORD’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

2 He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of God’s house: the length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.

4 The porch that was in front, its length, across the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

5 He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains.

6 He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim.

7 He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls.

8 He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.

9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.

10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving, and they overlaid them with gold.

11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.

12 The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, joining to the wing of the other cherub.

13 The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.

14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.

15 Also he made before the house two pillars thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

17 He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Around 2 Chronicles 3

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

2 Chronicles 3 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The chapter opens with a place: Solomon begins to build on Mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. The date is given too, the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. After that the text reads like a builder's account. The house is sixty cubits long and twenty wide. The porch is overlaid with pure gold, the large room is paneled with cypress and fine gold, and carved palm trees and chains decorate it. The most holy place is twenty cubits square, overlaid with six hundred talents of fine gold. Two carved cherubim stand there, their wings reaching twenty cubits in all, and a veil of blue, purple, crimson and fine linen hangs before them. Outside, two bronze pillars stand, one on the right named Jachin and one on the left named Boaz.

Background

The threshing floor links this chapter to 1 Chronicles 21. Mount Moriah is also the name used for the land where Abraham went in Genesis 22, and tradition has long connected the two, though the text here does not say so. The description parallels 1 Kings 6 and 7. The cubit measures and the weights of gold should be taken as the writer gives them. Many scholars date Chronicles after the exile.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 1 November 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes