2 Chronicles 4

1 Then he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

2 Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim. It was round, five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference.

3 Under it was the likeness of oxen, which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

4 It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hindquarters were inward.

5 It was a handbreadth thick. Its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It received and held three thousand baths.

6 He also made ten basins, and put five on the right hand and five on the left, to wash in them. The things that belonged to the burnt offering were washed in them, but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

7 He made the ten lamp stands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left.

8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold.

9 Furthermore he made the court of the priests, the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze.

10 He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

11 Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished doing the work that he did for King Solomon in God’s house:

12 the two pillars, the bowls, the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars,

13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks—two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.

14 He also made the bases, and he made the basins on the bases—

15 one sea, and the twelve oxen under it.

16 Huram-abi also made the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all its vessels for King Solomon, for the LORD’s house, of bright bronze.

17 The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.

18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance, so that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

19 Solomon made all the vessels that were in God’s house: the golden altar, the tables with the show bread on them,

20 and the lamp stands with their lamps to burn according to the ordinance before the inner sanctuary, of pure gold;

21 and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold that was purest gold;

22 and the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans of pure gold. As for the entry of the house, its inner doors for the most holy place and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.

Around 2 Chronicles 4

Context

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

AI explanation

2 Chronicles 4 · 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 furnishings follow the house. Solomon makes a bronze altar twenty cubits square. Then he casts the molten sea, a huge round basin ten cubits across, resting on twelve bronze oxen that face north, west, south and east, with a rim like the flower of a lily. It holds three thousand baths and is for the priests to wash in. He makes ten basins for the offerings, ten golden lamp stands and ten tables, a hundred golden basins, and a court for the priests with doors overlaid in bronze. The craftsman Huram-abi, whose work is credited to him, makes the pots, shovels and bowls, and the two pillars with their networks and four hundred pomegranates. The metal was cast in the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zeredah, and there was so much bronze that its weight was never worked out. The chapter ends with the golden altar and the table for the bread.

Background

The washing basins echo the tabernacle of Exodus 30 and 38. Chronicles parallels 1 Kings 7 here and describes the temple as built to continue the worship begun in the wilderness, with more of everything. Some details, such as the size of the sea, are discussed by readers because the measurements are rounded. Many scholars think the book was written after the exile for people rebuilding worship.

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