2 Chronicles 4

The supplementary character of Chronicles is here once more apparent. The author of Kings had omitted to record the dimensions of the brass altar. It stood in the great court 2Ch 6:12-13.

For “oxen” we find in 1Ki 7:24, “knops” or “gourds.” An early copyist, not comprehending the comparatively rare word here used for “gourd,” and expecting to hear of oxen, as soon as the molten sea was mentioned, changed the reading.

Three thousand baths - See 1Ki 7:23 note. It is quite possible that either here or in Kings the text may have been accidentally corrupted.

According to their form - Rather, “after their manner” (compare 2Ch 4:20). There is no allusion to the shape of the candlesticks, which were made, no doubt, after the pattern of the original candlestick of Moses.

The number of the tables (see 2Ch 4:19) and of the basins, is additional to the information contained in Kings.

Huram his father - Or, “Huram his master-workman” (2Ch 2:13 note).

Zeredathah - Or, Zarthan (marginal reference). The writer of Chronicles probably uses the name which the place bore in his own day.

The tables - A single table only is mentioned in 1Ki 7:48; 2Ch 29:18. It is supposed that Solomon made ten similar tables, any one of which might be used for the showbread; but that the bread was never placed on more than one table at a time.

The entry of the house - The text is, by some, corrected by 1Ki 7:50, “the hinges” of the doors of the house, etc.