^3:15In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length²² of 52½ feet,²³ with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high.²⁴^3:16He made ornamental chains²⁵ and put them on top of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments and arranged them within the chains. ^3:17He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and the other on the left.²⁶ He named the one on the right Jachin,²⁷ and the one on the left Boaz.²⁸

Read in Logos

Footnotes

22 The figure given here appears to refer to the combined length of both pillars (perhaps when laid end-to-end on the ground prior to being set up; cf. v. 17); the figure given for the height of the pillars in 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21 is half this (i.e., eighteen cubits).
23 The reads “eighteen cubits” (twenty-seven feet). This apparently reflects an attempt at harmonization with 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21.
24 Heb “and he made before the house two pillars, thirty-five cubits [in] length, and the plated capital which was on its top [was] five cubits.” The significance of the measure “thirty-five cubits” (52.5 feet or 15.75 m, assuming a cubit of 18 inches) for the “length” of the pillars is uncertain. According to 1 Kgs 7:15, each pillar was eighteen cubits (27 feet or 8.1 m) high. Perhaps the measurement given here was taken with the pillars lying end-to-end on the ground before they were set up.
25 The Hebrew text adds here, “in the inner sanctuary,” but the description at this point is of the pillars, not the inner sanctuary.
26 Or “one on the south and the other on the north.”
27 The name “Jachin” appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”
28 The meaning of the name “Boaz” is uncertain. For various proposals, see 126–27 בֹּעַז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (bé’oz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

For the front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits long, each with a capital five cubits high. He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains. He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

In front of the temple he made two pillars, each 27 feet high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars. He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.

NLTNew Living Translation

For the front of the Temple, he made two pillars that were 27 feet tall, each topped by a capital extending upward another 7½ feet. He made a network of interwoven chains and used them to decorate the tops of the pillars. He also made 100 decorative pomegranates and attached them to the chains. Then he set up the two pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one to the south of the entrance and the other to the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And at the front of the house he made two columns, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on their top was five cubits. And he made decorative chains in the inner sanctuary and put them on top of the columns. And he made one hundred pomegranate ornaments, and put them on the chains. And he erected the columns in front of the temple, one on the south and one on the north. He called the name of the southern one Jakin, and the name of the northern one Boaz.

KJV 1900King James Version

Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Public Domain