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2 Chronicles 3:4

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does 2 Chronicles 3:4 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the porch that was before [the house], the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the porch that was before [the house], the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
2 Chronicles 3:4 — American Standard Version

Context — 2 Chronicles 3

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
1Then Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where [Jehovah] appeared unto David his father, which he made ready in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2And he began to build in the second [day] of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
4And the porch that was before [the house], the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5And the greater house he ceiled with fir-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and wrought thereon palm-trees and chains.
6And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.
7He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubim on the walls.
← 2 Chronicles 3:32 Chronicles 3:5 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“the porch--The breadth of the house, whose length ran from east to west, is here given as the measure of the length of the piazza. The portico would thus be from thirty to thirty-five feet long, and from fifteen to seventeen and a half feet broad. the height was an hundred and twenty cubits--This, taking the cubit at eighteen inches, would be one hundred eighty feet; at twenty-one inches, two hundred ten feet; so that the porch would rise in the form of a tower, or two pyramidal towers, whose united height was one hundred twenty cubits, and each of them about ninety or one hundred five feet high [STIEGLITZ]. This porch would thus be like the propylÃ&brvbrum or gateway of the palace of…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The height was an hundred and twenty cubits - This height, which so much exceeds that of the main building 1 Kings 6:2, is probably to be corrected by the reading of the Arabic Version and the Alexandrian Septuagint, “twenty cubits.” But see 2 Chronicles 3:9. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“The height - This being a kind of turret to the building. 2 Chronicles 3:5”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the porch: Joh 10:23; Act 3:11, Act 5:12 an hundred and twenty: As the height of the temple was only thirty cubits, 120 seems too great a height for the porch; but the Syriac, Arabic, and the LXX in the codex Alexandrinus, have only twenty, probably reading, instead of maiah weesrim, "one hundred and twenty," ammoth esrim, "twenty cubits;" which brings it within the proportion of the other measures. 2 Chronicles 3:5”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“The porch and the interior of the holy place. - Ch2 3:4. The porch which was before (i.e., in front of) the length (of the house), was twenty cubits before the breadth of the house, i.e., was as broad as the house. So understood, the words give an intelligible sense. הארך with the article refers back to הארך in Ch2 3:3 (the length of the house), and על־פּני in the two defining clauses means "in front;" but in the first clause it is "lying in front of the house," i.e., built in front; in the second it is "measured across the front of the breadth of the house." (Note: There is consequently no need to alter the text according to Kg1 6:3, from which passage Berth. would interpolate the words…”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification