Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Solomon builds a magnificent temple and places before it two columns, Jachin and Boaz.
Vulgate Text: 2 Paralipomenon 3:1-17
1. And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which had been shown to David his father, in the place which David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2. And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3. And these are the foundations which Solomon laid to build the house of God: the length in cubits according to the first measure, sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4. And the porch before the front, which extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits; and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits; and he overlaid it within with the purest gold. 5. And the greater house he covered with boards of fir wood, and fastened plates of fine gold throughout; and he carved upon it palms, and as it were little chains interlacing one another. 6. He also paved the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty. 7. And the gold was of the finest quality, with the plates of which he covered the house, and its beams, and posts, and walls, and doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls. 8. He also made the house of the Holy of Holies: the length according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits; and the breadth likewise twenty cubits; and he covered it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents. 9. He also made golden nails, so that each nail weighed fifty shekels; and the upper chambers also he covered with gold. 10. He also made in the house of the Holy of Holies two cherubim, of sculptured work, and covered them with gold. 11. The wings of the cherubim extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits and touched the wall of the house; and the other wing, having five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12. In like manner the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, and touched the wall; and its other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub. 13. So the wings of both cherubim were spread out and extended twenty cubits; and they stood upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the outer house. 14. He also made a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, and wove cherubim in it. 15. Before the doors of the temple also he set two columns, which were thirty-five cubits high; and the capitals on top of them were five cubits. 16. He also made as it were little chains in the oracle, and set them upon the tops of the columns; and a hundred pomegranates, which he set between the chains. 17. And these columns he placed in the vestibule of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left; the one on the right he called Jachin, and the one on the left, Boaz.
I have explained this chapter in 3 Kings chapter VI.
Verse 1: On Mount Moriah
1. ON MOUNT MORIAH — on which Abraham of old had offered his son Isaac to God, Genesis XXII, 14; whence on the same mountain Christ the antitype offered Himself as a holocaust to God for the salvation of the world. For the mount of Calvary is a part, or an extension, of Mount Moriah.
Verse 3: Cubits According to the First Measure
3. CUBITS IN LENGTH ACCORDING TO THE FIRST MEASURE — because there was a second measure, by which these 60 cubits were divided and measured into two sections, namely so that the Holy Place had 40 cubits from them, and the remaining 20 belonged to the Holy of Holies. See what was said in 3 Kings chapter VI, verse 1, toward the end.
Verse 5: The Greater House
5. THE GREATER HOUSE (so he calls the Holy Place, which was larger than the Holy of Holies) HE COVERED WITH FIR BOARDS — of fir, but interspersed with "cedar panels," as is said in 3 Kings VI, 9.
Verse 7: The Gold Was of the Finest Quality
7. AND THE GOLD WAS OF THE FINEST QUALITY — In Hebrew, it was gold of Parvaim, that is, dug from a place called Ophir, and by aphaeresis Parvaim, or as the Septuagint translates, gold from Pharnaim. So also Pagninus, Vatablus, Arias, Marinus, and others who think Parvaim is Peru. For the word seems to be the same in both cases, and the same letters. And Parvaim is said to be in the dual form, because the region of Peru is twofold, namely greater and lesser. But the name Peru was then unknown, and is still unknown to the natives of Peru. For it was given to that region recently by the Spaniards, from a nearby river so named, as Joseph Acosta, who lived in Peru for fifteen years, testifies in book I of De Novo Orbe, chapter XIV.
Marinus in his Lexicon writes that some derive Parvaim from par, that is, a young bull, because the gold of Parvaim is reddish like the blood of a young bull.
It is better to say that Ophir and Parvaim are in the East Indies, and that they are Sumatra, Taprobane, Pegu, and other gold-bearing regions there, which were called Ophir by Solomon and the Hebrews, and Parvaim from the root phara, that is, "it bore fruit," because they are supremely fruitful and most abundantly productive of gold.
Verse 10: In the Oracle
10. IN THE ORACLE — that is, as in the oracle. For these little chains were on the columns, similar to the little chains of the oracle, or the Holy of Holies.