2 Chronicles 4:19

And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(c) CATALOGUE OF OBJECTS IN GOLD—CONCLUSION

(2Ch 4:19 -2Ch_5:1). 1Kings 7:48-50.

The narrative still coincides in the main with that of Kings, allowing for one or two remarkable alterations.

(19) For the house.—In the houses (without proposition, comp. 2Chronicles 4:11).

The golden altar also.—Literally, both the golden altar and the tables, and upon them the Presence bread. So LXX. and Vulg. The parallel passage, 1Kings 7:48, says, and the table on which (was) the Presence bread (in) gold. (See Note on 2Chronicles 4:8, supr., and 1Chronicles 28:16.) On the one hand, the chronicler in these three passages consistently speaks of tables, although the book of Kings mentions one table only; and, on the other hand, elsewhere he actually speaks himself of “the Pure Table,” and “the Table of the Pile,” as if there were only one such table (2Chronicles 13:11; 2Chronicles 29:18).

The difficulty cannot be solved with certainty; but it seems likely that, finding mention of a number of tables in one of his sources, the chronicler has grouped them all together with the Table of Shewbread. thus gaining brevity at the cost of accuracy. In Ezekiel 40:39 eight tables of hewn stone are mentioned, whereon they slew the sacrificial victims.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:1-22 The furniture of the temple. - Here is a further account of the furniture of God's house. Both without doors and within, there was that which typified the grace of the gospel, and shadowed out good things to come, of which the substance is Christ. There was the brazen altar. The making of this was not mentioned in the book of Kings. On this all the sacrifices were offered, and it sanctified the gift. The people who worshipped in the courts might see the sacrifices burned. They might thus be led to consider the great Sacrifice, to be offered in the fulness of time, to take away sin, and put an end to death, which the blood of bulls and goats could not possibly do. And, with the smoke of the sacrifices, their hearts might ascend to heaven, in holy desires towards God and his favour. In all our devotions we must keep the eye of faith fixed upon Christ. The furniture of the temple, compared with that of the tabernacle, showed that God's church would be enlarged, and his worshippers multiplied. Blessed be God, there is enough in Christ for all.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The tables - A single table only is mentioned in 1 Kings 7:48; 2 Chronicles 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. Huram made—(See on [417]1Ki 7:40).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which were of gold; and so are distinguished from those ten tables mentioned 2 Chronicles 4:8, which seems to have been made of silver. Compare 1 Chronicles 28:16.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

See Introduction to Chapter 4

Geneva Study Bible

And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the {h} shewbread was set;

(h) In Hebrew, the bread of the faces because they were set before the ark, where the Lord showed his presence.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19–5:1 (= 1 Kings 7:48-51). The Vessels of Gold. The Completion of the Work

19. that were for the house] R.V. that were in the house.

the tables whereon the shewbread was set] R.V. the tables whereon was the shewbread. In 1 Kings 7:48 (parallel passage), the table (sing.); a reading probably to be accepted here also; cp. note on 2 Chronicles 4:8.

2 Chronicles 4:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The golden furniture of the holy place and the gilded doors of the temple. This section is found also in 1 Kings 7:40-50. The enumeration of the things wrought in brass coincides to a word, with the exception of trifling linguistic differences and some defects in the text, with 1 Kings 7:40-47. In 2 Chronicles 4:12 והכּתרות הגּלּות is the true reading, and we should so read in 1 Kings 7:41 also, since the גּלּות, circumvolutions, are to be distinguished from the כּתרות, crowns; see on 2 Chronicles 3:16. In 2 Chronicles 4:14 the first עשׂה is a mistake for עשׂר, the second for עשׂרה, 1 Kings 7:43; for the verb עשׂה is not required nor expected, as the accusative depends upon לעשׂות, 2 Chronicles 4:11, while the number cannot be omitted, since it is always given with the other things. In 2 Chronicles 4:16 מזלנות is an orthographic error for מזרקות; cf. 2 Chronicles 4:11 and 1 Kings 7:44. ואת־כּל־כּליחם is surprising, for there is no meaning in speaking of the utensils of the utensils enumerated in 2 Chronicles 4:12-16. According to 1 Kings 7:45, we should read האלּה כּל־הכּלים את. As to אביו, see on 2 Chronicles 2:12. מרוּק נחשׁת is accusative of the material, of polished brass; and so also ממרט נח, 1 Kings 7:45, with a similar signification. In reference to the rest, see the commentary on 1 Kings 7:40.

2 Chronicles 4:19-21

In the enumeration of the golden furniture of the holy place, our text diverges somewhat more from 1 Kings 7:48-50. On the difference in respect to the tables of the shew-bread, see on 1 Kings 7:48. In 2 Chronicles 4:20 the number and position of the candlesticks in the holy place are not stated as they are in 1 Kings 7:49, both having been already given in 2 Chronicles 4:7. Instead of that, their use is emphasized: to light them, according to the right, before the most holy place (כּמּשׁפּט as in 2 Chronicles 4:7). As to the decorations and subordinate utensils of the candlesticks, see on 1 Kings 7:49. To זהב, 2 Chronicles 4:21 (accus. of the material), is added זהב מכלות הוּא, "that is perfect gold." מכלה, which occurs only here, is synonymous with מכלל, perfection. This addition seems superfluous, because before and afterwards it is remarked of these vessels that they were of precious gold (סגוּר זהב), and it is consequently omitted by the lxx, perhaps also because מכלות was not intelligible to them. The words, probably, are meant to indicate that even the decorations and the subordinate utensils of the candlesticks (lamps, snuffers, etc.) were of solid gold, and not merely gilded.