The Chaldeans broke up the pillars of brass that were in Yahweh’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in Yahweh’s house, and carried the brass pieces to Babylon.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
- BSB Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon.
- NKJV The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon.
- NASB Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze Sea which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the bronze to Babylon.
- NLT The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Babylonians dismantled the bronze pillars, stands, and great basin of the temple and hauled the metal to Babylon. The glory of Solomon's temple was stripped away as judgment fell.
Overview
The Chaldeans broke up the great bronze furnishings of the temple—the pillars Jachin and Boaz, the movable stands, and the bronze 'sea'—and carried the metal to Babylon. These objects, crafted in Solomon's day, symbolized the temple's splendor and Yahweh's presence among His people. Their destruction signaled that the old covenant sanctuary could not finally hold God's glory, pointing ahead to Christ, the true temple in whom God dwells.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Chr 36:18All the vessels of God’s house, great and small, and the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.
- Lam 1:10The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things: for she has seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom you commanded that they should not enter into your assembly.
- 1 Kgs 7:15For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them.
- 2 Kgs 20:17‘Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh.
- Jer 52:17–20The Chaldeans broke the pillars of brass that were in Yahweh’s house, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in Yahweh’s house in pieces, and carried all of their brass to Babylon.
- 2 Chr 4:12–16the two pillars, the bowls, the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars,
- Jer 27:19–22For Yahweh of Armies says concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city,
- 2 Chr 4:2–6Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim. It was round, five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference.
- 1 Kgs 7:23–45He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in shape. Its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.
- Exod 27:3You shall make its pots to take away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its meat hooks, and its fire pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 25:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
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