2 Chronicles 3


2 Chronicles 3 is the third chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or of the second part of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BC. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingship of Solomon. The focus of this chapter is the construction of the temple in Jerusalem.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex and Codex Leningradensis, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

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Temple construction begins (3:1–4)

This section records the start of temple construction, a parallel of 1 Kings 6. The structure of the temple was based on the desert tabernacle and linked to Abraham. Whereas the books of Kings contains the calculation of dates and months from the year of Solomon's accession and from the Exodus, the Chronicles focused more on the exact location and authentication.

Verse 1

The temple's interior (3:5–17)

Verses 6–7 indicates a mosaic made with precious stones on the floor.
The repeated phrase 'he made' emphasizes the similarity to the report in Exodus, portraying the parallels between the temple and the tabernacle. The golden nails in verse 9 parallel with the golden nails in Exodus 26:32, 37, although fifty shekels of gold is probably a symbolic number. The Chronicles focuses on the construction material and position of the cherubims, while omitting the height. The curtain described in verse 14 is also mentioned in the writing of Josephus, recalling that of the tabernacle.

Verse 9

  • "50 shekels": about 1¼ pounds or 575 grams, as a "shekel" was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams