1 Kings 7:21

Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator records the conclusion of Solomon’s temple construction as the builder finishes the entrance portico. He positions two bronze pillars at the sanctuary's threshold to frame the approach to the holy place.

The words — וַ/יָּ֙קֶם (va/yakem) means “and he set up,” indicating deliberate architectural placement. הָ/עַמֻּדִ֔ים (ha/amudim) translates literally as “the pillars,” identifying the structural objects being installed.

The thread — The placement and naming of these pillars reappear in 2 Chronicles 3:17. The portico they occupy is first measured in 1 Kings 6:3, while the name Boaz connects to the genealogical record in Ruth 4:21.

Why it lands — The text establishes fixed markers at the temple entrance without elaborating on their function. A reader must recognize that the sanctuary's approach is deliberately bounded and named before any ritual activity begins.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 3:17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south and one on the north. The pillar on the south he named Jachin, and the pillar on the north he named Boaz.
1 Kings 6:3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.
Ruth 4:21 Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed,
2 Samuel 7:12 And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
1 Kings 7:12 The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
Isaiah 45:24 Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.
Ezekiel 40:48 Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side.
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Galatians 2:9 And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.