The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
Parallel translations
- WEB The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for Yahweh’s house, the brass of all these vessels was not weighed.
- BSB As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure.
- NKJV The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.
- NASB The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh.
- NLT The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of Solomon.
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 bronze from Solomon's pillars, sea, and stands was so vast it could not be weighed. The narrator recalls the temple's former magnificence even as it is destroyed.
Overview
The text pauses to remember the immense bronze works Solomon had made—the two pillars, the sea, and the stands—whose metal was beyond weighing. This backward glance heightens the tragedy: what had been a wonder of Israel's worship is now reduced to plunder. The contrast between past glory and present ruin underscores that earthly splendor passes away, while God's covenant purposes endure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- 1 Kgs 7:47And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.
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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 25:16 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.
Original language
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