Bible Strands
2 Kings 25:17
Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Babylonian forces have destroyed Jerusalem, and the captain of the guard is inventorying and dismantling the temple’s bronze pillars and furnishings. This verse records the specifications of the second pillar as the seizure continues.
The words — The text specifies the measurement with קוֹמַת הָעַמּוּד הָאֶחָד (qomat ha-‘ammûd hā’ēḥād, "the height of the pillar, the one") and identifies the top fitting as כֹּתֶרֶת (kōṯereṯ, "capital" or "crown"). These terms denote the exact dimensions being recorded before removal.
The thread — The dimensions align with Solomon’s original construction in 1 Kings 7:15 and are repeated in Jeremiah 52:21. The consistent measurements trace the artifacts from their crafting to their Babylonian confiscation.
Why it lands — The verse demands attention to the precise, physical scale of what was dismantled. It requires the reader to face the concrete reality of the temple’s loss without abstraction.
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
The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 7:15 He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.
- Jeremiah 52:21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.