1 Kings 7:15

Two pillars. Specifications concerning various parts of the pillars are given in a number of places, but not in sufficient detail to make the description entirely clear. The main shaft itself seems to have been 18 cu. (1 Kings 7:15; 2 Kings 25:17; Jer. 52:21), with capitals consisting of several members of various sizes, some of 3 cu. (2 Kings 25:17), of 4 cu. (1 Kings 7:19), and 5 cu. (1 Kings 7:16, 2; 2 Chron. 3:15; Jer. 52:22). In 2 Chron. 3:15 the height is given as 35 cu., which some regard as the over-all height, including the various members of the capitals and perhaps the base as well. Others take it to be the length of the two pillars. This finds some support in the fact that in 2 Chron. 3:15 the Heb. ’orek, “length,” is used, whereas here qomah, “height,” is used. The circumference of these pillars is given as 12 cu., which implies a diameter of 5 1/2 ft. (1.7 m.) In Jer. 52:21 we are told that they were hollow, and that the thickness of the brass was “four fingers.”

It is not clear whether the pillars were primarily for use or for ornament. Some believe that they served as supports to the roof of the Temple porch. Others think that they stood by themselves, under or in front of the porch. It is not likely that the purpose was for the support of the roof, for supporting pillars of brass are not employed in buildings of stone, and the measurements do not accord with those of the Temple porch. On Phoenician coins, temples are often pictured with a tall independent pillar on either side. Several clay models of temples excavated in Syria exhibit this feature, as does an actual temple uncovered at Tell Tainat in northern Syria. Every indication is that Solomon’s pillars were intended as works of art, and not as supports for the roof.

The names Jachin, “He shall establish,” and Boaz, probably meaning “in him is strength” (v. 21), doubtless were meant to betoken a realization of the fact that the strength of Israel and all its institutions comes from God (Ps. 28:7, 8; 46:1, 2; 62:7, 8; 140:7; Isa. 45:24; 49:5; Jer. 16:19), and that it is He who establishes the kingdom and His people in righteousness and mercy (Deut. 28:9; 29:13; 2 Sam. 7:12, 13; 1 Kings 9:5; Ps. 89:4; 90:17; Prov. 16:12; 16:5; 54:14). It is significant that when Israel forsook God and righteousness, the nation destroyed itself (Hosea 13:9; 14:1). When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, Solomon’s famous pillars were taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:13; Jer. 52:17).