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2 Crónicas 3

VBL · Chapter 3/36

1Entonces Salomón comenzó a construir el Templo del Señor en Jerusalén, en el monte Moriah, donde el Señor se apareció a su padre David. Este era el lugar que David había dispuesto: la antigua era de Ornán el jebuseo.

2Salomón comenzó la construcción el segundo día del segundo mes de su cuarto año como rey.

3El tamaño de los cimientos que Salomón puso para el Templo de Dios era de sesenta codos de largo y veinte de ancho, (según la antigua medida de codos).

4El pórtico que corría a lo ancho del Templo tenía veinte codos de largo y veinte codos de altura. Cubrió el interior del pórtico con oro puro.

5Recubrió la sala principal con ciprés recubierto de oro fino, con imágenes de palmeras y cadenas.

6Decoró el Templo con hermosas gemas y con oro que importó de Parvaim.

7Cubrió de oro las vigas, los umbrales, las paredes y las puertas del Templo, y esculpió querubines en las paredes.

8Hizo que la sala del Lugar Santísimo se correspondiera con la anchura del Templo: veinte codos de largo y veinte de ancho. Cubrió el interior con seiscientos talentos de oro fino.

9El peso de los clavos era de un siclo por cada cincuenta siclos de oro.

10Hizo para el Lugar Santísimo dos querubines de madera cubiertos de oro.

11La envergadura de los querubines juntos era de veinte codos. Un ala del primer querubín medía cinco codos y tocaba una de las paredes del Templo, mientras que su otra ala, también de cinco codos, tocaba el segundo querubín.

12Del mismo modo, una de las alas del segundo querubín medía cinco codos y tocaba una de las paredes del Templo, mientras que su otra ala, que también medía cinco codos, tocaba al primer querubín.

13Así que la envergadura de estos querubines juntos era de veinte codos. Estaban de pie, de cara a la sala principal.

14Hizo el velo de bordado azul, púrpura y carmesí sobre lino fino, con imágenes de querubines.

15Hizo dos columnas para la fachada del Templo, de treinta y cinco codos, cada una con un capitel de cinco codos de altura.

16Hizo cadenas como en el Lugar Santísimo y las colocó encima de las columnas. También hizo cien granadas ornamentales y las fijó a cada cadena.

17Colocó las columnas frente al Templo, una al sur y otra al norte. A la columna del sur le puso el nombre de Jaquín, y a la del norte el de Booz.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Construction of the temple begins on Mount Moriah, on the very site where David had bought the threshing floor of Ornan. Architectural details are described: dimensions, gold overlay, the carved cherubim, and the two bronze pillars at the entrance, named Jachin and Boaz.

Explanation

The temple's exact location on Mount Moriah connects this moment to two deeply significant earlier events: Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) and David's purchase of the land after the plague (1 Chronicles 21). This geographical continuity suggests that God was guiding the history of his people through centuries toward this culminating point of establishing a permanent place of worship. The extravagant details of gold covering nearly every interior surface show the effort to visually represent the majesty and holiness of God through the physical beauty of the sacred space.

Fun facts

  • The bronze pillars at the temple entrance, named Jachin ('he shall establish') and Boaz ('in him is strength'), stood 35 cubits tall (about 16 meters/52 feet) and were likely decorative and symbolic rather than structural, visually marking the entrance to the sacred space.
  • Solomon's temple had relatively modest dimensions compared to temples of other contemporary ancient civilizations, but it was considered extraordinarily rich in precious materials, especially gold.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crónicas 3:1The temple is built on Mount Moriah, on the very plot David bought from Ornan to raise an altar, told earlier in Chronicles. Jewish tradition links this same mountain to the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac in Genesis — a site with symbolic weight long before it became the temple’s address.
  2. 2 Crónicas 3:2The start of the work is dated with precision — the second month, the second day, the fourth year of Solomon’s reign — a way of anchoring the temple’s construction to an exact historical moment.
  3. 2 Crónicas 3:3The temple’s base measurements — sixty cubits long by twenty wide, a cubit being roughly a foot and a half — follow the same standard used since the tabernacle in the wilderness.
  4. 2 Crónicas 3:4The porch at the entrance had the same width as the house and an impressive height, all overlaid with pure gold inside — a portico built to impress before anyone even entered the temple.
  5. 2 Crónicas 3:5The main hall was lined with cypress wood and then covered with fine gold, decorated with carved palm trees and chains.
  6. 2 Crónicas 3:6Besides the gold, precious stones decorated the house, and the gold used came specifically from Parvaim, a place famous for that metal at the time.
  7. 2 Crónicas 3:7Beams, doorframes, walls, and doors of the temple were all covered with gold, and the walls had carved cherubim — luxury and religious symbolism side by side.
  8. 2 Crónicas 3:8The Most Holy Place, the innermost and most sacred room of the temple, was a perfect cube twenty cubits on each side, covered inside with an enormous amount of fine gold.
  9. 2 Crónicas 3:9Even the nails used there were gold, and the upper chambers were also given this overlay — a level of detail that shows how carefully the project was carried out.
  10. 2 Crónicas 3:10Inside the Most Holy Place, Solomon sets up two cherub statues covered in gold, appearing to stand upright, guarding that most sacred space.
  11. 2 Crónicas 3:11The cherubim’s wings were enormous — five cubits each — and stretched out to touch the wall on one side and the other cherub’s wing in the middle.
  12. 2 Crónicas 3:12The description continues detailing the second cherub’s wings, mirroring the first one’s measurements exactly, forming a symmetrical pair.
  13. 2 Crónicas 3:13Together, the two cherubim’s wings spanned twenty cubits wide, and the figures stood facing inward toward the temple’s main hall.
  14. 2 Crónicas 3:14The veil separating the Most Holy Place was fine linen dyed blue, purple, and crimson, embroidered with cherubim — the same combination used since Moses’s tabernacle.
  15. 2 Crónicas 3:15In front of the temple, Solomon raises two enormous bronze pillars, thirty-five cubits tall, each crowned with a five-cubit capital.
  16. 2 Crónicas 3:16Decorative chains, similar to those in the Most Holy Place, are placed on top of these pillars, along with a hundred carved pomegranates among them — purely symbolic ornament at the entrance.
  17. 2 Crónicas 3:17The two pillars at the temple entrance receive proper names, Jachin and Boaz, which in Hebrew suggest something like ‘he establishes’ and ‘in it is strength.’ They held nothing up above, being purely decorative, but they carried that symbolic meaning right at the entrance for anyone arriving.

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